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.