Terry must keep his head down for sake of England

Matthew Syed writes today in The Times about his incredulity that John Terry has managed to maintain his status as England captain despite a downward spiralling of his public image in recent months.

As a nation, England need Terry to stay out of the limelight for the next 6 months. His influence on England's remarkable run of results under Fabio Capello cannot be underestimated. Terry is the man, after all, that Capello turned to after his extensive audition period for the role, and who are we to question the judgement of the man who has given England their smoothest passage to a major tournament in living memory?

The Chelsea man may not be the most spectacular footballer in the world - indeed he may not even be the most talented central defender England can boast - but his leadership qualities on the pitch and within a team environment are second to none, and that is what England will need if they are to get through the sternest of challenges that await them if they are to reach the latter stages in South Africa.

However, by accepting money from three "businessmen" (undercover reporters for the News of The World) for a private tour of Chelsea's training facility, and the secretive nature in which he handled the situation, Terry has done his best to throw his tenure as England captain into the spotlight of public scrutiny. There is no doubt that Terry is in footballing terms the best man to lead England at the World Cup, but he is becoming something of a PR disaster (not helped by his family), and the integrity that is expected of someone who is asked to lead their country has slipped away from him in the light of this incident. He needs to tread carefully from now on and avoid any more slip-ups, or else England might be forced to look elsewhere for the man to lead them to glory.

I'm sure Mr Capello will be in contact with Terry before the England squad next gets together in March, to remind him of his responsibility to his country and the high standards that are expected of him in his elevated position as leader of the nation's hopes. I only hope it gets through to him, and we can enjoy the run up to the tournament safe in the knowledge that we don't have to worry about the conduct of Terry, of whom so much is expected next summer.

Lennon and Defoe make Capello's job easier

Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon moved yesterday to end the debate over two of England's so-called "up-for-grabs" places for the final squad to take to South Africa.

Of course, this was only one performance against a Wigan side so woeful on the day that you wondered quite how they could beat anyone in this league, let alone Chelsea as they did just a few weeks ago. Of course, there is a long season ahead and plenty of opportunities for other players to impress, as well as chances for Lennon and Defoe to fall down the pecking order.

However, this display by the pair was so emphatic that I doubt it will be surpassed by any of the other England hopefuls this season. Lennon notched up a goal and three superb assists, and appeared to silence the critics who have slammed his ability to deliver accurate crosses, while Defoe went some way to burying the debate over who is England's best goal-poacher with a stunning display of his finishing talents.

Whatever Mr Capello's thoughts on the matter, it is clear that Lennon and Defoe have thrown down the gauntlet to their challengers, and the likes of Walcott, Wright-Phillips and Milner, and Owen, Bent and Agbonlahor will be hard pushed to make a more convincing case than the diminutive Spurs duo forwarded at White Hart Lane yesterday. This was the kind of football that gets people off their seats, the kind of football that is a credit to the game, and the kind of football that fans will want to see of England next summer.

Breaking News: England B Won't Win World Cup

England's friendly defeat to Brazil on Saturday in Doha really proved nothing more than we already knew: that England's B team aren't good enough to win a World Cup, and that the expectations of the English public become distorted beyond reasonable levels in the run-up to any major tournament.

This starting XI was nothing like the side that England will line up with for their first match of the finals in South Africa - in fact only one player from that team will be guaranteed to start if fit. However, the prevailing mood of the British public in the wake of this narrow defeat is almost inevitably one of gloomy pessimism at our chances next summer.

Let's face it, England's reserve players are not really fit to lace the boots of the first-choicers, but as Patrick Barclay suggests in The Times this morning, is this really much of a surprise?

Maybe it would be better if we all harked back to the days of good ol' Sven, when no-one actually cared about the outcome of such meaningless friendlies.