Fabio Capello says that John Terry made ‘a big mistake’
Beware what you wish for – you might just get it.
On Sunday John Terry addressed a press conference at the England World Cup squad’s training camp at Rustenburg in South Africa, which appeared to be him speaking on behalf of a group of players who were on collision course with their manager.
If the former England captain wanted to make a stand it is one that he now seems destined to be making on his own.
Twenty-fours, and one seemingly uneventful team meeting later, the under-fire manager, Fabio Capello, looked supremely unruffled and made it quite clear that any shots that had been fired had only been aimed at Terry’s foot – and that they were an injury of a self-inflicted nature. Putting the situation in his perspective Capello was moderate in his words but there were no less withering in their delivery when he described it as “one mistake of one player – no more.”
In a television interview Capello said that Terry had made a "big mistake" in deciding to use a press conference that was itself televised live as a platform from which to publicly announce his views about the course of England's World Cup campaign thus far.
Capello came to the England job with a reputation of being both authoritarian and ruthless when dealing with dissenters during his time in club management. And his reaction to Terry’s claim of problems within the squad was met head-on, and it gave a clear indication that the former England captain may have stepped over the line with his comments, whatever the intentions that may have prompted the Chelsea centre-back to make them.
"When you speak, you have to speak privately," Capello said, adding of Terry’s decision to go public. "This is a big mistake - you have to speak with me and the players."
Capello also said that, as manager, players who wished to express an opinion had the opportunity because “my door is open, always. If you want to speak with me, he [a player], can speak with me," which he pointed out had not been the case at the team meeting on Sunday evening when he said that "no players made comments.”
The Italian added: “Every time we had a meeting I ask the captain ‘Problems? You want to say something?’ Never. I read something just yesterday that John Terry said this. I don’t understand why he doesn’t speak with me every time.”
While Capello is clearly unhappy about the situation he said that: “I think it has more disappointed some players because, when you speak, you have to speak privately – this is the big mistake.
“This is a very big mistake. I know sometimes some players want to speak more with you [the media] than with the other players. The mistake is that you have to speak with the players, with me and with the dressing room.”
Terry appears to be an increasingly isolated figure in this melodrama, with teammates distancing themselves from his comments that there was resentment with Capello's methods and the Italian said: "Look, I spoke with some players. Only John Terry said this. No-one spoke to me about problems."
There are some observers who had suggested that Terry’s comments could have a galvanising effect on an England squad that appears to be drifting out of a competition for which they were considered capable of winning. Even Capello is prepared to take at least a strand of that argument. “I hope sometimes from the big mistake comes the big performance,” he said.
When Capello touched on the issue of whether Joe Cole should be in the team for Wednesday’s vital Group C match with Slovenia – something which Terry had put high on his personal wish-list - it was to question whether it was right to automatically believe that Cole was a better alternative to those who had played in England’s first two matches in this year’s finals.
"It's another mistake to speak about one player,” Capello said. “Because it’s no respect for the other players that have played before. Always the player thinks individually - I have to think about the team. I respect Joe Cole, he’s one of the 23 players that are here, and you have to respect each one.”
Whether Terry was acting as a lone voice, or thought that he was articulating the views of others who then failed to back him is a question that can only be answered from within the squad, but the player was already engaged in a damage-limitation exercise last night.
"It was never my intention to upset the manager or players and if I did, I apologise," Terry told the Daily Mail. "I went into the press conference with the intention of being honest. I was asked a question. Maybe I went too far.
"I have told the manager he has my total support and I would like to stress that I don't believe I have been a disruptive influence in the camp. I would now like to put this episode behind me and concentrate on trying to win what is a massive game for England. All I was trying to do was stress how it important it is to me to try and win the World Cup."
Three points and a clean sheet against Slovenia would end a lot of stress for everyone.
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