John Terry may have been heading Chelsea four points clear at the top of the Premiership table on Saturday night, but his actions off-the-pitch were dominating the Saturday newspapers. Consequently, his winner at Burnley will pass no more than into the record books and it leaves a black mark on the FA if they don’t react.
On Friday afternoon, the High Court lifted an injunction imposed by Terry’s lawyers which has seen the tabloids take full advantage of the opportunity. It is alleged that Terry had an affair with French model Vanessa Perroncel. Perroncel was the girlfriend of Terry’s former Chelsea team-mate, Wayne Bridge. It is unclear yet whether the affair took place whilst Terry & Bridge played together at Stamford Bridge. The left-back, who now plays for Manchester City has refused to comment on the story, but as he plays for England, as Ashley Cole’s understudy, this could turn into a very tricky situation.
The FA has refused to comment on the story and Chelsea, as expected, are totally backing their captain 100%. However, the furrowed silence from both camps, plus the clear appeal to have an injunction in place, suggests that JT has been playing away. Not only does his have a fight on his hands to save his marriage with childhood sweetheart, Toni Poole, but the England captaincy. Fabio Capello is currently out of the country, but he has been known for his strict acts of discipline at former clubs Real Madrid, Juventus & AS Roma. Surely Capello has to act and a quiet word won’t do the trick. Although Terry’s place in the side shouldn’t be in jeopardy, his captaincy should be.
This isn’t the first time that John Terry has faced public scrutiny. Only two months ago, the News of the World alleged Terry was present when an undercover journalist accepted a £10,000 bribe for Terry to give him a behind-the-scenes tour of Chelsea’s training ground. Previously, he has also been caught gambling and was involved in an incident back in 2002, outside a nightclub with Jody Morris, which led to an unsavoury trial, which he was eventually cleared. If England ends up winning the World Cup this summer, they need to do it with a captain who is squeaky clean and Fabio Capello has a big decision to make now. Surely, Terry can’t lead the team into the finals now; he is a man now under a lot of pressure to deliver. The FA must act with immediate efficiency.
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