John Terry Removed As English Captain, Installed As Convenient Scapegoat

Remember last weekend, when I wrote about John Terry’s affair with a former teammate’s ex-wife, and how little it had to do with soccer? Well, it apparently had enough to do with it to have Terry removed as the Three Lions’ captain.

In a statement, England manager Fabio Capello explains:

⇥⇥“After much thought, I have made the decision that it will be best for me to take the captaincy away from John Terry. ⇥⇥⇥⇥“As a captain with the team, John Terry has displayed extremely positive behaviour. However, I have to take into account other considerations and what is best for all of the England squad.⇥⇥

⇥⇥⇥⇥⇥“What is best for all of the England team has inspired my choice.”⇥⇥

If I’ve read that correctly, Terry’s “extremely positive behaviour” on the field was almost instantly canceled by “other considerations” that have nothing to do with his on-pitch performance and everything to do with getting a mistress pregnant. Terry’s situation, to my mind, doesn’t call into question his ability to lead a soccer team, but his ability to stay faithful to his wife and/or use contraception.

What it does do is create a convenient scapegoat for all involved in the British World Cup effort. Keeping Terry on as captain would have made it easy to spin the decision as being about Capello’s faith in him; removing the captaincy allows the press to blame Terry for undermining the team if their run goes awry. (Think Eugene Robinson at the Falcons’ only Super Bowl: Did anyone blame Dan Reeves?)

And things will go awry. England’s national pride in and expectations for their team outstrip its talent -- though they may have the hottest player in the world come summer should Wayne Rooney continue his tear -- and the likely exit will bring the typical recriminations and blame. Capello preemptively redirecting all of that to Terry is a masterstroke of caboose-covering that was only made possible by the defender’s inability to keep his libido under wraps.

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