Terry set to meet Capello for talks

John Terry’s future as England captain hung in the balance Friday as Fabio Capello prepared to deliver his judgement on whether the Chelsea defender should lead his country to the World Cup.

Capello, England’s head coach, was due to meet Terry face-to-face for the first time since the publication of reports that he had an extra-marital affair with the former partner of international team-mate Wayne Bridge.

The Italian was under intense pressure to strip Terry of the captaincy from sections of the media that have spent the last week lambasting the married father of two over his alleged infidelity with Vanessa Perroncel, an underwear model who has a son with Bridge but is now estranged from the Manchester City left-back.

Capello has offered no indication that he will bow to the pressure, however, and comments from Stuart Pearce, who coaches England’s under-21s and helps the Italian with the senior squad, were interpreted in some quarters as a sign that Terry would survive.

Pearce on Thursday described Terry as a “fantastic captain, in footballing terms on and off the pitch” and accused his critics in the media of subjecting the player to an unjustified “witch hunt”.

Capello was left in no doubt about the extent to which the scandal has gripped the country when he was greeted by a huge media scrum at Heathrow airport following his return to England from Switzerland, where he had been recuperating from knee surgery.

The head coach was briefed by his assistant Franco Baldini and his talks with Terry were expected to cover the issues of whether he and Bridge will be able to play in the same squad and the possibility of further embarrassing revelations in the run-up to the World Cup.

Capello will not have been reassured on that score by a report in Friday’s Daily Mail which claimed that an an associate of Terry’s management agents had offered to rent his personal box at Wembley stadium for a “cash” payment of 4,000 pounds.

The 12-seat box is one of Terry’s perks as England captain and Football Association rules expressly forbid him from renting it to a third party. His spokesman denied that the player was involved in the alleged attempt to sell seats in the box.

Although Terry has been widely condemned in the press, a poll published Friday indicated that public opinion is fairly split with 46 percent of those quizzed supporting a sacking while 39 percent believe he should keep the captaincy.

Just over half of respondents to the PoliticsHome poll felt there was no need for the public to know about the affair, which only became public knowledge after a judge quashed an injunction against publication which Terry’s lawyers had obtained on right-to-privacy grounds.

Former England rugby captain Will Carling, whose own career was marked by periodic tabloid interest in his love life, on Friday urged Capello to take a stance that events in Terry’s private life are none of his business and should have no bearing on the player’s role with England.

“Otherwise we go through every sportsman that plays for England and go through his private life, does that affect what he does?” Carling asked.

“Is that why he’s captain of England – because he’s meant to be pure and never meant to transgress in any form? For me no, he’s captain of England because he’s a good player and the players follow him.”

Capello however may find it tough to stick to that line if Bridge, a popular figure in the England squad, decides he cannot be part of a team led by Terry.

That would inevitably have some impact on morale but the only alternative would be dropping Terry altogether, which no one expects Capello to do.