How Fabio Capello lost friends and alienated Rio Ferdinand by recalling John Terry as England captain
Without provocation Fabio Capello has alienated one of the most respected members of the England squad and staked his credibility on the integrity of a player who has let him down.
Fuming: Rio Ferdinand is understood to be angry by the way Fabio Capello has recalled John Terry as England captain Photo: REUTERS
By Duncan White 10:15PM GMT 19 Mar 2011
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Rio Ferdinand stepped in when John Terry’s behaviour off the field had made his position as captain untenable. Now he has been demoted without the basic courtesy of a phone call.
The decision is Capello’s to make, and it carries significant risk. The way he has gone about it has left Ferdinand questioning whether he will play for the Italian again.
So why has Capello changed his mind about Terry, having said repeatedly before that he would not captain the side under him?
“It is important to understand the value of the players at every moment,” he said. “You can change what you decided. I think people who respect others can change.
“When you see the player changing, you can change your decision. I think it is normal in life.” So Terry has, at 30, grown up? “He made mistakes but it is normal for the people to make mistakes. He understood the mistake and he learned from it. All the people learn from mistakes.”
And what about Terry’s mutinous South Africa press conference? “Yes, he is a leader but sometimes the leader can make mistakes,” Capello said, laughing.
“Not only him but you, me, all the people. He made mistakes when I decided he was no longer captain but after one year...it is good.”
Has age brought out the liberal softie in a man whose personal politics hug the right touchline? Hardly.
As much as he finds some of the more decadent habits of the modern footballer distasteful he doesn’t really care what they get up to away from England duty. It was the publicity that Terry’s indiscretions attracted which prompted Capello to sack him a year ago.
The problem was he paid lip service to the whole footballer-as-role-model shtick at the time and that will come back to haunt him if Terry returns to the front pages. Terry’s behaviour off the pitch will be scrutinised as much as on it.
So why has Capello done it? Having downplayed the importance of captaincy in the past and having regained a bit of credibility with the friendly win in Denmark was it necessary to create this kind of distraction? Capello’s argument is that the Wales game presents a unique, charged occasion that requires strong leadership. But why could Terry not deputise for Ferdinand?
Now he has risked division between himself and his players, many of whom are close to Ferdinand. Having read the Capello camp equivocating from day to day over the last week has made him appear at best aloof, at worst uninterested.
So, how did the story spiral out of control?
Capello bumps into a journalist in the business lounge while watching Arsenal play in Barcelona. He reveals he is thinking about re-instating Terry. Perhaps not realising the resonance of what he is saying he is unprepared when the story breaks. There are echoes of his retiring David Beckham from international football last August before he had even spoken to the player.
A source in the England management team briefs journalists that no final decision has been made and Ferdinand is assured on Sunday morning that he retains Capello’s support. Terry is back, it seems, but only as a deputy.
Monday lunchtime it is all change again. At a media lunch Capello sends out mixed messages as he gives off the record briefings.
At the press conference afterwards he fails to clarify the picture, but says: “I think I need to make a decision about a permanent captain. It will not be for just one game.” PR disaster? Malcolm Tucker would have sworn himself into apoplexy.
He made it clear he wanted to speak to Ferdinand at Old Trafford when he came to watch the Marseille game. How formally this meeting was arranged is not clear.
Ferdinand’s camp implied the England manager was just hoping to bump into their player. Regardless, Ferdinand avoided it by watching from a box.
Ferdinand is understood to be angry by the way this has been handled. There is an obvious contradiction in Capello harping on the value of the captaincy while at the same time treating an England captain so shabbily.
The problem is exacerbated by his dislike of talking on the phone (especially in English) and his almost blank refusal to talk to players directly. Everything goes through Franco Baldini, the general manager, and that has been the source of some of the confusion.
Capello’s only concession is that he made a mistake by saying he wanted to change his captain permanently at the Monday press conference. “After I used the word ’permanent’ [it changed],” he said. “I was focused on the Welsh game and I thought a lot about this game and the captaincy.
"I decided John Terry would be the captain for this game because after the game in Copenhagen, the way the armband was moved around was upsetting for him.
"He was my first choice when I decided on the permanent captain. I had spoken with the doctors of Manchester United and Liverpool and I knew that Rio and Steven pGerrard] were injured. I wanted to announce my decision the day before the game because I wanted to speak with the players, I wanted to speak with John Terry.
“But the word ’permanent’ decided everything. After what happened, I decided that John Terry, after one year of punishment, will be the permanent captain.”
This is a wild hand in a game that Capello is desperate not to lose. His stack of chips is dwindling and with it a reputation that was largely unblemished in two decades of club management.
Vindication, as always, can only come with results. If those turn against him he is running out of allies. This is not a time to be losing friends.
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