What’s the most significant line in this whole sordid saga?
What Fabio Capello said.
Capello said : I want John to tell me everything.
The Italian has been in Switzerland recovering from knee surgery and told JT to say nothing and do nothing until he could meet with him.
That meeting takes place today.
My considered view is this : If JT doesn’t tell Capello everything, he won’t be England captain on Sunday. If he does tell him everything, he won’t be England captain on Sunday.
If Terry is NOT England captain at 4p.m. on Sunday, it becomes a more normal derby match.
On Sunday, Capello will be in Warsaw and he definitely does not want to be embarrassed by this ghastly subject during the draw for 2012 qualification. That draw is at 11a.m.
His No.2 Franco Baldini phoned round every England player as soon as the story broke last Friday and asked : Will you play for England in the World Cup under his captaincy? I assume most players will have said “Yes.”
The only thing that could save Terry is that none of the other candidates for the armband is squeaky clean.
And it’s conceivable that Capello could fudge it by appointing an onfield captain and an off-field captain, who would be Beckham.
In case you’ve been in Tierra del Fuego all week, Vanessa Perroncel lis the lingerie model who had a kid with Wayne Bridge but they split after three years and Vanessa still lives in Oxshott, a village in Surrey, 200 yards from Terry and Toni, who are her very close friends. Toni is JT’s childhood sweetheart, wife and mother of their twins.
I gather that, in a roomful of girls, Vanessa stands out. She’s very alluring, as a lingerie model would need to be. Ashley Cole, Joe Cole and Scott Parker also live in Oxshott but none of them is the fifth “unknown” player to have an affair with her.
Way back on Sunday, November 8th, The News of the World splashed the story that JT’s father was a dope dealer and that was the day of the Chelsea-Man United game. Terry scored and Chelsea won 1-0.
Last Saturday, at Burnley, the Chelsea fans sang, “One England captain, there’s only one England captain!” Then Anelka scored and the fans still sang, “One England captain, there’s only one England captain!” Thus inspired, Terry headed the winner against Burnley.
On Wednesday, Chelsea were not up for it at Hull. Their midfield was lackadaisical in a 1-1draw and Terry’s form was affected by the media blitz. Hull were the better side and Phil Brown, a good tactician, targeted Petr Cech, their weak link, and played a fiery pressing game with plenty of crosses. Hull might have won and Ancelotti admitted a draw was a fair result.
But Chelsea WILL be up for it on Sunday.
We have had Chelsea v Arsenal almost every year, every season, for decades, with Arsenal in red shirts and Chelsea in all blue, it’s a derby date in the calendar, a fixture embedded in London’s sporting life.
If John Terry plays on Sunday, in a game being screened all round the world, and he is still England captain, the whole event is about him and how he handles the media storm. And that would be too bizarre, too much pressure, even for him.
However, with this bloated EPL circus you never know. It’s the Wild West of world sport, it’s Hollywood Babylon, it’s massive wealth, insane debts, sexual antics by morons earning obscene wages and living in a parallel universe, not really on the same planet as the rest of us.
Two weeks ago Chelsea v Arsenal was a key fixture in the title race. But, just before a game like this, we have never had the England captain on the front pages all week in a World Cup year. This situation is unprecedented, squalid, ugly beyond belief.
What can I tell you about Arsenal?
That Wenger was very, very tense before the Man United game.
He made them train on Monday after their pathetic capitulation.
He was furious in training on Monday.
Can’t see Nasri playing at Chelsea. Doesn’t deserve to. But who else has he got? Only Diaby.
Arshavin has scored one goal in eight games at centre forward. He should not be playing there.
I don’t like 4-3-3 because Arsenal don’t have the players to play it properly.
What else did I hear yesterday? Plenty that’s not printable.
(1) Sagna, Gallas, Clichy and Vermaelen were all unfit for Manchester United. None of the back four was properly fit. But they all played because the alternatives were Sol and Silvestre.
(2) Arsenal was the only club Huntelaar would have left Milan for.
(3) Barcelona only paid Arsenal 6.8 million euros for Thierry Henry.