England coach Fabio Capello was set to meet with John Terry on
Friday to discuss his future as captain following a media storm
over his private life.
Capello refused to answer reporters' questions outside his
London home before going to his Wembley Stadium office to
deliberate over whether Terry can continue to lead England going
into the World Cup.
Terry woke up to more potentially damaging headlines and
negative opinion pieces Friday about his personal conduct, a week
after the married Chelsea defender lost a High Court battle to ban
publication of an alleged relationship with England teammate Wayne
Bridge's former girlfriend.
Terry was due to explain his actions to Capello once he had
completed a Chelsea training session ahead of Sunday's
top-of-the-table Premier League match against Arsenal.
"I think from Capello's point of view he will look at the
player and he will decide himself if removing the captaincy from
him will affect him as a player and that then affects his
performances," former England manager Graham Taylor said.
Capello tasked assistant Franco Baldini with discovering how
Bridge has reacted to the allegations involving ex-girlfriend
Vanessa Perroncel, who is the mother of his child.
Baldini held talks at Wembley with Manchester City manager
Roberto Mancini about Bridge, who is Ashley Cole's understudy in
the England squad.
"I said it is not a good moment in his head but it's not a
problem on the (City) training ground," Mancini said. "It's
important he can play now and not think about the other person."
Capello is keen to announce the decision on the captaincy
before traveling to Warsaw, Poland for Sunday's draw for the 2012
European Championship qualifying.
If the issue is not resolved before then, it could
potentially overshadow the UEFA event and in turn have negative
implications for England's bid to host the World Cup in 2018 or
'22.
Stripping Terry of the captaincy or accepting his resignation
would leave Capello with a key appointment to make four months
before the Italian goes with England to South Africa.
Vice-captain Rio Ferdinand was overlooked for the job after
Capello took charge in 2008 and would be a leading candidate, but
the 31-year-old center back has struggled for match action for
Manchester United this season due to ongoing injury problems.
Capello could follow the Italian example of appointing the
player with the most international appearances, which would see
34-year-old midfielder David Beckham regain the armband.
A key concern for Capello over appointing a potential
successor to Terry is ensuring that player had no damaging
indiscretions in his private life that could be revealed ahead of
the World Cup.
