Every week the SoccerBible engages in debate over football's hottest topics, and this week there was only one major issue up for debate - should John Terry continue as England captain? Well that debate is now elementary as John Terry has been axed as England captain!
Interestingly, after putting this question to the vote, we got quite an even response from our SoccerBible readers:
54% - John Terry should keep the captain's armband
46% - John Terry should resign as England captain
Understanding this was quite a sensitive issue, and not a debate that was just based on football, we presented the following arguments for and against whether John Terry should have led England at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. But now the decision has been made do you agree it was right to axe John Terry as England captain?
JASON BURT (The Telegaph) - "Senior officials at the Football
Association have told Fabio Capello that many of them think John Terry
should no longer be England captain. If “dressing room harmony” has been damaged by Terry’s
affair with Wayne Bridge’s former partner, then his
position is untenable."
JASON DE VOS (CBC News) - "There are unwritten rules in every sport, little reminders to athletes that the game should be played in a certain manner, with honour and integrity. In order to be an effective captain, you must establish trust and respect with both the players and the coaching staff. You do this by maintaining the highest standards of professionalism in everything that you do on and off the field. John Terry is going to learn the meaning of you reap what you sow."
HENRY WINTER (The Telegaph) - "I like Terry, the one natural leader in the England dressing room, a player so passionately committed to the cause of St George that he willingly endures jabs just to get his stiff back through games, but this really is an embarrassment too far. It’s time for him to stand down. Terry is not the type to resign, so this could drag on, a damaging plot-line in the drama of England’s 2010 World Cup preparations. Every press conference will experience detours down tawdry paths."
OLIVER HOLT (Daily Mirror) - "Are we willing to accept losing the team’s leader and our best defender a few months before the World Cup because he did not conform to a moral code? Some people will say ‘yes’, but if they wish to visit that sanction on Terry, why is Ashley Cole still in the England team when he cheated on his wife?
The same thing applies to many others in the England squad. Why weren’t they sacked when they stepped out of line? Because let’s face it, most of them have.
So if you want to sack Terry, you have to sack a lot of the rest of the England team, too. It’s all or nothing."
ROBBIE SAVAGE (Derby County) - "The debate seems to be entirely focused on whether John should lose the armband or not.
If he was stripped of the captaincy but stayed part of the team would anyone look at him differently?
So if he stays in the squad it might as well be as captain because people are not going to change their opinion.
John Terry's talent as a player isn't in question. I've played against him many times and he's certainly one of the two best centre backs in the country. He's a brilliant on-field leader who showed his courage with the winner at Burnley last Saturday."
MARTIN LIPTON (Daily Mirror) - "Fabio Capello is veering towards letting John Terry keep the England captaincy if there is no steady drip-feed of further damaging allegations of infidelity, the Italian is prepared to give Terry his continued support irrespective of the public backlash it could cause. Capello, who has discussed the matter with assistant Franco Baldini, has been given assurances by FA chairman Lord Triesman and chief executive Ian Watmore that the decision is his alone."
JOIN THE DEBATE - WAS SACKING JOHN TERRY AS ENGLAND CAPTAIN THE RIGHT DECISION?