John Terry Is England’s Player Manager As He Guns For Capello: Words And Pictures
AH, the passion. Ivory Coast lose 1-3 to Brazil and the African team’s manager erupts. The Ivory Coast manager is one Sven Goran Eriksson, and his face as his side got well beaten should reminded England fans what went before. You want passionless, blank-faced zeal? You can’t handle it.
This and Italy’s draw with New Zealand should serve to remind England that not all is lost.
But the Countdown to CRAP-ello is on – that time when Fabio Capello becomes a figure of blame. But he’s done little wrong. John Terry can preen and pout but England is not Chelsea. Terry is no strutting top dog immune from the bullet.
Having been demoted from the England skipper’s berth for alleged disloyalty to his own wife and best mate (NSFW) Terry might do well to wind his neck in.
Says John Terry at the end of what appeared to be his pitch for the England player-manager’s role:
“If it upsets him, so what?’’
What he said – the highlights
“I went to see Franco after the game and said ‘look, let everyone have a beer and speak to the manager. Flippin’ hell, let’s just switch off’.
“For the first time since the manager has taken over he let us have a beer. Usually everyone goes straight back to their room and stays there. There was me, Lamps, Wazza, Aaron Lennon, Jamo, Crouchy, Jonno, Jamie Carragher and Stevie sat there talking about the game. To sit there and have a beer with mates after the game, which is probably what the fans were doing, just like any normal person, was good.
“Obviously it was the manager’s birthday. He was sitting there with a bottle of red wine with the staff and it was nice. It was more relaxed from him and us. The lads have been uptight, so we need to relax. Hopefully that tension will go. It was good to get things off our chest.’’ They had plenty to debate following the supine display hours earlier.
“There was no tackling, no one winning headers, no one winning second balls,’’ added Terry. “Things have got to be upped: tempo, momentum, belief. No player had that fire in the belly the other night. On Wednesday, everyone will have that. Sod it. It’s make or break. We owe it to the fans. If we don’t qualify, they can boo all they want…
“When things don’t go too well it is important the lads stay together. That is what we had the other night when we expressed ourselves. I will probably get in trouble now…
“He [Joe Cole] and Wayne are the only two who can open up defences. Listen, Joe is one of the best players in our country…
“We have a responsibility to ourselves, to the manager and everyone else to voice that opinion and hope he takes it on board. If it upsets him then I’m on the verge of just saying: ‘You know what? So what? I’m here to win it for England’.
”If we can’t be honest with each other then there’s no point in us being here. I see Nico [Anelka] was sent home for voicing his opinion, so maybe a few of us will be sent home! Whether the manager changes it to go with five in midfield, and Wayne up on his own, I don’t know. The manager has the final decision. But something needs changing…
“It’s not one of those things where the manager calls the shots and that’s it. That’s good about him. He obviously has his ways, his ways have been good previously and at the same time he’s prepared to listen and change a little bit. It’s the same at Chelsea…
“But after the last few weeks, we are seeing a different side to him [Capello], he’s more relaxed and he came to me this morning and said what had I done on my day off? I told him I went to a township, saw a local football game. I was a bit tentative when I told him I went to a vineyard. I thought he was going to tell me off for going…
“When he’s calm, he’s calm but when he’s angry, he’s really angry. He’s storming around the dressing room, kicking and throwing things. He shows real passion. That’s what he demands from us. He knows we’ve got the ability, which is probably why he gets so frustrated. I firmly believe he’s the right man to take us forward. I have 100 per cent confidence in the manager.’’
Thing is, England have been dire – so, like him or not, Terry might be what was needed to at least fire up himself and some of the team…
Posted: 21st, June 2010 | In: Sports Comments (6) | TrackBack | Permalink
