12 minute quickie: Terry is quickly sacked as England captain by Capello

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John Terry was sacked as England captain just 12 minutes after meeting Fabio Capello on Friday.

The showdown talks occurred in Capello's office at Wembley on Friday afternoon.

Terry arrived at the national stadium confident he will remain as skipper, but it took just 12 minutes for Capello to swing the axe.

Capello has now promoted vice-captain Rio Ferdinand to captain and has made Steven Gerrard vice-captain. Manchester United central defender Ferdinand will lead the team in this year's World Cup.

Terry has been axed as national skipper after it was revealed in the media that he had an affair with former best friend and England teammate's Wayne Bridge's ex-girlfriend, French-born Vanessa Perroncel. Bridge and Perroncel have since split up.

Terry's wife, Toni, has been at the couple's holiday home in Dubai and has spoken regularly with Terry on the phone. It is thought that she wants to try and sort out their marriage rather than divorcing.

Terry has also reportedly paid Perroncel £800,000 to stop her revealing more details about the affair.

Ferdinand will be England's 107th captain and if England win this year's World Cup, it'll be Ferdinand, not Terry, who will lift the trophy.

Capello was today in Warsaw where the draw for the Euro2012 qualifiers took place. And England players now know for sure that they mustn't anger their Mafia Don-lookalike boss.

John Terry in tears as he's sacked as England captain hours after buying silence of Vanessa Perroncel for £800,000


By Jeremy Armstrong
6/02/2010
The Mirror


Cheating John Terry was in tears yesterday after being sacked as captain by England boss Fabio Capello.

The love rat Chelsea star, 29, was stripped of the armband in a 12-minute showdown with the no-nonsense Italian coach at Wembley.

Capello described the decision as “what is best for all of the England squad”.

It was the 12-minute quickie that John Terry would rather forget.

The first England player to lose the captaincy over a sex scandal arrived at Wembley just after 2pm yesterday for his moment of truth with national team boss Fabio Capello.

Just hours earlier the £170,000-a-week star had struck a £800,000 deal with his mistress Vanessa Perroncel, 33, to buy her silence.

Terry, 29, thought the agreement might help save his skin and keep alive his dream of hoisting the World Cup as skipper this summer.

But he was a dead man walking as he emerged from his black chauffeur-driven Audi A8 in the underground car park and took the lift to the fourth floor for his final appearance at Wembley as England captain.


The Don: England boss Fabio Capello leaves his home in Belgravia, central London, on Friday to travel to Wembley for the showdown with Terry

He arrived wearing a garish lumberjack-style jacket, but quickly shed it to reveal a smart suit and tie as he walked through the long narrow
corridors at the national stadium to Fabio’s spacious office, overlooking the pitch.

Half an hour later he was heading for the exit, head bowed and knowing he would no longer be leading out the national side.

Capello, renowned as a strict, even brutal, disciplinarian, allowed Terry to explain what happened with Vanessa, former girlfriend of England team mate Wayne Bridge.

Sitting at a table with his No 2 Franco Baldini, the Italian then let Terry know “in no uncertain terms” what he thought of his behaviour.

The Chelsea defender had barely warmed the seat when he was informed that he was being stripped of the captaincy with immediate effect.

Previous England captains, since 1975

Gerry Francis: 1975-1976
Kevin Keegan: 1976-1977
Emlyn Hughes: 1977-1979
Kevin Keegan: 1979-1982
Mick Mills: 1982
Bryan Robson: 1982-1991
Gary Lineker: 1990-1992
Stuart Pearce: 1992-1993
David Platt: 1993-1995
Tony Adams: 1996
Alan Shearer: 1997-2000
David Beckham: 2000-2006
John Terry: 2006-2010
Rio Ferdinand: 2010-

A source at the FA said: “It was all over in a flash. Terry gave his version of events and then Capello told him his decision. Terry was very upset at the end. But Capello was impressed by his reaction – Terry said he would give his all for the team no matter who got the job of captain.”

The Italian made his decision following talks with Baldini at the start of the week – and before the latest revelations of Terry selling his box through a middle man at Wembley for £4,000.



The "Terrygate" scandal has echoes of the controversy surrounding the United States team in 1998. Two years previously, the US manager, Steve Sampson, made midfielder John Harkes "Captain For Life", meaning Harkes could be the United States captain for as long as he wished. However, after Harkes led the United States in a successful 1998 World Cup qualification campaign, Sampson dropped Harkes from the World Cup squad, citing "leadership issues." This month, when the John Terry affair became public, Sampson and Eric Wynalda, who was a teammate of Harkes's in the US team, revealed that an alleged affair between Harkes and Wynalda's wife had prompted Harkes' sudden dissmissal.

After the meeting, Capello said he had given it a lot of thought. He praised Terry’s previous “extremely positive” role as captain.

But he added: “I have to take into account other considerations and what is best for all of the England squad.”

An emotional Terry said later he “fully respected” Capello’s decision. He added: “I will continue to give everything for England.”


The new captain: Rio Ferdinand

But he pointedly did not express any remorse or regret for his actions.

And last night it was revealed that Terry lost the respect of his England teammates after failing to say sorry for “misleading” them over his affair.

The defender, 29, sent text messages to several international stars saying that the rumours of his fling with his mate’s girl were “rubbish”. But after the High Court injunction was overturned allowing papers to report the truth, his claims fell apart.

A source said: “Despite this, he steadfastly refused to apologise for leading everyone up the garden path. In fact, he just kept quiet. If he had said sorry, the damage would have been limited.

“But by staying silent, he made things much worse. The players resented being taken for a ride. Any respect or trust he had was completely lost – and Capello was aware of this.”

Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand, who was at the centre of a scandal over a missed drugs test in 2003, will now lead England in South Africa this summer, with Steven Gerrard as vice captain.



News of Terry’s axe as skipper came as a shock to his former mistress yesterday.

Vanessa, 33, who was being televised with PR guru Max Clifford, looked stunned as the announcement came and mouthed: “Oh my God… he’s been dropped!”

Later, as she denied rumours of affairs with other Chelsea players, she said she was “sorry” he had lost the captaincy.

She added: “In recent days I have been the centre of a great deal of press speculation and comment. The details of my friendship with John and his family have been the subject of intense and wholly unfair and untrue media speculation.

“I now find myself subject to other unsubstantiated and false claims which have appeared in the papers over the past few days.”

Vanessa, who has a young son with Bridge and was also a friend of Terry’s wife Toni, added: “I have decided not to speak publicly about the speculation since it only seems to add more fuel to the fire.”

Fans and ex-players were mainly philosophical last night over Terry losing the captain’s armband.

Mark Perriman, of the England Supporters Cub, said: “It was always about morale rather than morals, and Capello clearly thought having Terry as England captain would split the dressing room.”

Ex-England star Mark Hateley, who played under Capello at AC Milan between 1984 and 1987, said: “It’s probably the right decision. We need 11 captains out there on the pitch.”

Former Liverpool hero and Mirror columnist Mark Lawrenson said: “He should have resigned as soon as this became public. There are only so many times you can step out of line.”

dailymail.co.uk
 
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