Back as captain, Terry wary of becoming fall-guy

Posted Thursday, March 24, 2011 by chinadaily.com

"It's not important at any football club and we are no different here," he said. "There are certain players at clubs who don't get on with each other. We know that, that's life."

Back as captain, Terry wary of becoming fall-guy
England manager Fabio Capello (C) gives a team talk including Wayne Rooney (L) and John Terry during a team training session in London Colney, north of London March 22, 2011.

There were no dissenters, however, at training on Tuesday morning in front of Capello.

"He called us together, he spoke, saying 'John will be permanent captain again, He's done well on and off the field over the last year. Anyone got any questions or things to say?,"' Terry recalled. "No one said anything ... so I'll respect anyone who comes to me personally and we deal with it one on one."

But facing his teammates again as captain and a barrage of hostile media questions made Terry anxious.

"I had the worst night's sleep ever (on Monday)," Terry said. "I was pretty nervous to be honest. Coming out today and having to deal with the questions and stuff like that. It was like the first day back at school, really, an intimidating thing, even though I've been in this position many times before."

Terry maintained that Rio Ferdinand is not bitter despite his reign as captain lasting just 13 months. Injuries have restricted Ferdinand to just four England appearances in that time, with the defender missing the entire World Cup and now set to miss the rest of this season.

« Previous 123 Next »