And so it continues.

The FA have yet again failed to provide any sensible moral leadership after the announcement by the CPS on Wednesday that they will be pressing charges against John Terry for racial abuse. This blog has made it’s position clear on John Terry and his inadequacies as England captain so we’ll turn our attention instead to this latest abdication of responsibility by the FA.

Let’s assume for the purposes of the argument that the FA are the board of a corporate entity and that John Terry is their CEO. Let’s imagine that this entity is a public company employing thousands of people and that their shareholders are the biggest public pension funds in the country and thus represent ordinary men & women from all walks of life.

Now lets imagine that one of the employees makes a complaint that the CEO has called him a “black c**t” and that a number of fellow employees have witnessed the incident. Based on the above scenario my question is this, would the corporate board:

 a) Put out a statement saying innocent until proven guilty and that the CEO will remain in position pending the outcome of a criminal process.

or

b) Immediately suspend the CEO pending the criminal process on the basis that as the CPS believe there is a case to answer their CEO’s position is at least temporarily untenable.    

The answer is so obvious that even my 9 year old can work it out and it is baffling that the FA seem to think that their “innocent until proven guilty” stance is anything but a cop out. The England captain should be a shining example of moral & behavioural standards in English football and even though the current incumbent has breached these requirements on numerous occasions surely a criminal charge is the alarm bell that will jolt the FA into some sensible action by at least suspending him from England duty pending the outcome of the criminal case. There is clear evidence that the huge amounts of money in English football are creating a moral vacuum and it is in this environment that we need strong, considered and brave leadership – instead we get the FA with their indecisive, weak and morally empty response.

I don’t dream of England success in Euro 2012, I’d much rather see strong leadership emerge at the FA and with it a team that I can be proud of, win or lose.

Captain Disaster

The phrase “John Terry, England captain” sticks in my throat.

Now let me be clear,  I’m no Johnny  come lately to the” how can this man be England captain” bandwagon – I’ve been a fully paid up member for years but it does seem to me that the allegations against his suitability for the role are so over-whelming that it beggars belief that he’s clung onto the armband for the best part of 5 years.

Allegedly sell the England Captains box to corporate punters? Not a problem. Allegedly take backhanders for people to go round the Chelsea training ground? Play on. Shag one of your team mates’ girlfriends? Par for the course. Allegedly call someone a black c**t? All in a day’s work.

I’m sure that so called friends and teammates will rally round and offer support, sycophantic journalists will defend him as “a man’s man” leading by example in the tough, tough world of premier league football and they’ll all call his spat with Ferdinand nothing more than a case of Gucci handbags at five paces.  But this highlights a deeper problem which is that so idolised are these players that normally lucid people lose their ability to rationalise this appalling behaviour in a sober & measured fashion.

Anyone with a small semblance of reason can see that John Terry is a bad example to young kids, his behaviour demeans the men of character who have preceded him as England captain and who have borne that great honour with dignity, respect  & humility.

Nothing would please me more than to hear that Rio Ferdinand has decided to withdraw from the next England squad on principle, to be followed by other men of character in the England team who are prepared to sacrifice a game of football for a deeper & more meaningful stand against all that is wrong with certain elements of the footballing elite in this country. Sadly this is about as likely as a player coming out and saying that referees are undervalued, under-paid and deserve more respect (all of which are true by the way).  

John Terry has no place being the England captain, he’s an embarrassment and the sooner he’s replaced with someone who is willing to use the position to make a positive contribution to football in particular and society in general the better.

Normally the anxiety of supporting England in a major  soccer tournament starts a few weeks before the action kicks off.

Rooney sees Red in Montenegro

In 1996 we had the distraction of some pre season high jinks in the infamous dentist’s chair in Hong Kong whereas  2 years later it was Teddy Sheringham sharing a smoke with a mystery blonde in a Portuguese nightclub.

Ahead of the World Cup in Japan in 2002 we stepped  things up a gear via the “will he, won’t he” saga of Beckham’s broken metatarsal in a Spring Champions league game and that particular injury again got our worry levels going prior to 2006, with Rooney the victim this time around.   In 2010 we moved away from injuries & booze related faux pas to a new genre of pre tournament distraction when the England captain decided it was a good idea to have an affair with the Mother of one of his team mate’s children and was subsequently stripped of the captaincy, but in a quick return to normal service his successor was then injured & left the squad shortly before the first group game.

My point is this, 3-4 weeks ahead of a tournament I’m not only ready for but expecting a series of catastrophe’s to befall the England soccer squad – it is the natural way of things.

However ahead of Euro 2012 (which starts June 2012) we have now broken all pre tournament anxiety records with the news, a full 8 months prior to the tournament and with 8 teams still involved in play offs, that we’ll be without our best player for the 3 group games.

I have no quibble with the stance taken by UEFA against Rooney, he’s had plenty of chances to amend his behaviour and should know better, but my God it’s hard work being an England fan.     

The formula for the English World Cup squad has become very very simple.  Win or go home.

With draws against the US and Algeria to open the 2010 tournament, the goal hungry English needs to turn the screws and put up a couple goals if they have any hope of advancing.  Slovenia is the only team in Group C who has been able to gain a victory.

England will get their chance to advance on June 23 when they take on that same Slovenia squad.  If they’re unable to get the victory on Wednesday it may be one of the biggest let downs and failures in the history of the World Cap.  Many experts predicted that the English would at the very least play in the semi-finals, so for them to possibly be going home by next weekend  would be a massive disaster.

I guess only time will tell.  Let’s get this one Lads!

Dubbed English football’s ‘golden generation’, only to fall flat at UEFA EURO 2004 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, South Africa 2010  may well be the last chance of international silverware for some of the most well-known faces in the world game.

However, he appointment of Fabio Capello appears to have brought fresh vigour to the Three Lions’ squad, many of whom have a point to prove after lacklustre displays when it mattered most under Sven-Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren. With the tournament due to take place in the South African winter, conditions which should suit the English players and style, so excuses will be at a premium should Wayne Rooney and Co fall short once more.

The Lions open up the tournament on Saturday(12 June) vs the USA without their team captain and star defender Rio Ferdinand.

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