Fabio Capello made an announcement today that saddened more than surprised a lot of England fans. He officially resigned as manager of the England national team in the wake of the FA's decision to strip John Terry of the captain's arm band. Terry was stripped of the captaincy for a second time in the midst of allegations that he racially abused Anton Ferdinand (Rio Ferdinand's brother) during a match between QPR and Chelsea last year. The case has yet to be tried in Britain's courts.
First off, on John Terry. He is the captain of my favorite team, Chelsea, and I support him. Yet it's easy to see that he's been a rather large douche a few times. As I mentioned, this is the second time he has lost the armband. The first was prior to the 2010 World Cup after he had an affair with Wayne Bridge's wife. The racism charges are yet another big black eye. I don't think John Terry is a racist. Granted, I don't know him. However, people say things when they get mad that they don't always mean. That doesn't make it right, at all. Self control is something we all need to learn, and it can be seen as an even more important trait for a public figure to have. It's different here in the USA. We don't face the same kind of official charges for saying such things, but I'd like to think we don't tolerate it anymore either. The Chelsea and former England captain needs to have his head examined.
The thing about Capello was that he wanted it his way. He was reluctant to strip Terry of the arm band the first time around, initially claiming it was something to be handled between Bridge and Terry. However, he eventually bowed to the FA in the lead up to South Africa. He was not about to do it again.
To say the FA cucked this up is an understatement. Yes, Capello told Italian TV he didn't agree with it. However, for the FA then to come out and throw all of this breach of contract garbage out there didn't help. At best, this issue with Terry's big mouth should have been handled LAST YEAR. At worst, it should have been left until Terry's court date. Now they're down a captain and a manager, with Euro 2012 right around the corner. It's also worth nothing that percentage wise, Capello was the winingest manager in England history.
This is something I care about a lot. Even as an American, I'm an ardent England supporter. Everyone else here celebrates their heritage, and England is mine. The only time I don't pull for them is when they play the USA. Now you have players revolting via twitter and many more issues than you would have had if it would have been handled earlier.
Many suspect Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp will be Capello's replacement, particularly now that he has been cleared of Tax evasion charges. I agree with this move. Get him in, and get on with it. Sorry, Spurs fans.
I'm sorry to see Capello go. I wish him good luck. Hopefully the FA can get this straightened out and John Terry can learn to control himself.
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