Football’s newest low (From The Northern Echo)

Football’s newest low

4:19pm Tuesday 7th February 2012 in Comment

ENGLAND’S cricketers returned to type yesterday – after a brief flicker as the world’s best Test team they have been thoroughly humbled by Pakistan – and our football team found a new way to test the nation’s patience.

Manager Fabio Capello effectively went behind his employers’ backs and criticised their decision to remove John Terry as England captain until he has faced trial over allegations of racial abuse.

The Football Association did discuss the decision with Capello, and it did note his opposing opinion, before making its announcement.

We believe that it is right that Terry should have been stood down as captain.

In the same way that Energy Secretary Chris Huhne could not have continued in government with the distraction of a dishonesty charge surrounding him, England could not have entered a major tournament with the distraction of a charge of a racial nature circling their captain.

Capello thought otherwise. He is allowed his opinion, but there are times when we must all accept a collective decision that we disagree with – there are very few people who could so publicly bad-mouth their superiors and get away with it.

But the FA’s internal disciplinary regime is a sideshow in this. The simple truth is that £6m-a-year Capello should have bitten his tongue and kept his mouth shut. Quite why he felt it necessary to reopen this sorry episode is unclear.

Perhaps it is because, as an Italian, he doesn’t understand the English maxim about letting sleeping dogs lie.

He has now stirred those dogs up and they are yapping noisily about his squad, unsettling it further and driving even greater divisions among the players.

Worse, he is alienating the footballing public. They want to see calmness in a crisis, unity at the top and commitment on the pitch. They are tired of the same old rows embroiling the same old faces leading to the same old tired underperformance at a major tournament.

Perhaps we should brush the lot of them out and sweep in a new generation of youngsters and see if we can have a fresh, clean start.