The Big Question

Hi everyone,

I wanted to gauge reaction to something I hope will be a big success on the site, a ‘question of the day’ that is open to anyone on the board. When I created the board it was because I’d made a huge amount of mates on 606 and I was loathe to have to lose touch with them due to the cutbacks. I realised quickly though that it wasn’t just our little community and there were several others so opened it up to the masses (to which thank you for coming onboard!).
What I’d like though is a bigger community spirit (sound like David Cameron here!) and for everyone to feel they can participate in other areas so I thought of this.

The Big Question

Everyday a global announcement (one that appears on all boards) with a simple question (and often a poll) shall go up, everyone is most welcome to take part but I request that people who have a good knowledge of the subject in hand don’t immediately lambast those with a passing interest as this is to hopefully encourage more interaction across the boards rather than scare them off!
If you have a topic that you’d like to be asked please let myself or one of the moderator/admin team and we will look at using it.

So to get the ball rolling I’ve gone with what is currently covering every back page in the papers...

Should John Terry have been reinstated as England Captain?

Yes - I don't believe he should have been relieved of it in the first place (except perhaps temporarily). In the many lack lustre performances we've seen from the England team over the last couple of years, JT has almost always been one palyer who still seems to be putting everything into it and wearing the 3 lions with pride.

With Rio's injury problems, he could hardly expect to be kept on as captain, and Gerrard in and out with injuries as usual, there doesn't seem to be much other choice.

All this talk of him being a bad role model is bunk. Anyone who puts a footballer (any footballer) up as a role model for the young needs their head examining anyway

Agree with Davie.

I don't care what Terry does outside of the England squad, he plays from the heart and gives 100%, i'm not Ferdy's biggest fan and didn't want him as Captain, nor did i want Gerrard or Lampard. Terry is the natrual choice, and Beckham came back from worse and did a great job.

The whole incident from last year has blown over, and after Ferdinand, Gerrard, Lampard and everyone else has had their chance, the fact is John Terry is the best England captain we've had for decades.

John Terry is England's Bobby Moore, and I honestly think that if none of the Terry/Bridge/Bridge's ex Mrs thing had never come out, and Terry remained captain, then England would have done far better at the World Cup.

Marky,

Half the problem at the World Cup was that Terry was doing a better job than the England Captain and he didn't like it.

Marky wrote:John Terry is England's Bobby Moore

funny. I though Bobby Moore was Englands Bobby Moore.

I'm sure if I thought about it longer there would be issues I cared about less, but will be honest none are springing readily to mind

If the news stories are true that John Terry split the dressing room over his off-field activities then I don't see how having him as a captain could ever be a good thing.

The key role of a captain (especially in international football) is to unite a dressing room. If somebody has lost the ability to do that, for whatever reason, then he is not the right man for the job.

If he has the full support of everyone then he should be considered, but his abilities have to be weighed against the chances of another issue arising that could be divisive.

LondonJonnyO wrote:

Marky wrote:John Terry is England's Bobby Moore

funny. I though Bobby Moore was Englands Bobby Moore.

I meant this generation's England's Bobby Moore.

Enforcer wrote:If the news stories are true that John Terry split the dressing room over his off-field activities then I don't see how having him as a captain could ever be a good thing.

The way I read it, it was only a split dressing room BECAUSE the players supported him. Bringing him back shouldn't have an adverse effect unless there really are other players in the squad who feel strongly against him

Davie wrote:

Enforcer wrote:If the news stories are true that John Terry split the dressing room over his off-field activities then I don't see how having him as a captain could ever be a good thing.

The way I read it, it was only a split dressing room BECAUSE the players supported him. Bringing him back shouldn't have an adverse effect unless there really are other players in the squad who feel strongly against him

I didn't see many players begging Wayne Bridge to come back and play for England....

Playing for England is different to captaining England though. I think most people realise that Terry is the best CB you've got, whereas I guess it is debatable whether Bridge would be picked at the moment.

The way I read it, it was only a split dressing room BECAUSE the players supported him. Bringing him back shouldn't have an adverse effect unless there really are other players in the squad who feel strongly against him

From what I heard (and obviously this may well be tittle-tattle), the split in the camp was due to the appointment of Gerrard as captain and that those in Terry’s camp thinking it was a huge double standard simply due to the fact that Gerrard’s misdemeanours have never seen the light of a paper yet due to high court injunctions yet are well known amongst the players. At the World Cup it flared up into Rooney (Gerrard’s mate) and Terry having a fight on the training pitch.
This is all internet rumours though and none of it is confirmed.

England lack a true leader.

Gerrard has rarely performed for England, and the armband never changed that, Ferdy has been injured all too frequently and Lampard doesn't command the pitch enough to warrant being considered!

Was treated harshly in my opinion, it's not like he's the only player to cause controversy, Wayne Rooney and Ashley Cole spring, but was made an example of because he was the england captain, pathetic if you ask me, whats good enough for one is good enough for all, but if these three players mentioned were excluded from the England team it would have been a disaster.

A bigger question is does it really matter? Football isn't like cricket where being a captain is an important job for selection purposes - it should be a meaningless title that is only used for promotional purposes.

Other countries don't place anywhere near as much emphasis on who is their captain as England and the fact that our FA has spent any amount of time on this probably shows exactly why we will not win a major tournament any time soon! It is only important when the FA is wining and dining as they can invite the captain along as if it is something special.

50 years ago, a captain was important because it was the link between the manager and the rest of the players but now any decent standard of club has a management team anyway that bridge that gap. Apart from calling heads or tails at the beginning of a match and making the oh so bold decision of whether to kick off or not, whoever is captain will not change anything about their game. England, like all teams, have natural leaders and these should not need labelling.

As for John Terry, he'll only use his new title to claw back some of the money that he needs to pay off his gambling debts. He's already recently remortgaged his house and when his Chelsea days are up he'll be famous again as the first big earning player that went bankrupt. We will sadly laugh at him like a Tyson...

IMO yes.

I understand i may be a bit bias due to being a Chelsea fan (since i was 5, now 18, do the maths )

I know what happened off the pitch was a disgrace but i would say this for any player and i do think that he seems a good leader on the pitch at least. What else matters? The pitch is what matters, not off it. I don't think the Media help at all when these stories come out and happen, all they do is stir up trouble but everyone knows that.

I've voted yes.

Solerina

It doesn't matter who the captain is. England will never win a major tournament for these reasons:

Club football is more important in this country. The premier league holds the power and this will be a priority until it is restructured. Is there a desire from fans for International football to take presidence over club football? Probably not.

"Ah but Spain won the world cup and european championships but they have a similar culture where by the club is king and international football is secondary".
I hear you cry...

The main differnce between Spain and England is that their kids all play on hard surfaces, not quagmires in parks (which means they do not spend most of their youth, perfecting the slide tackle and can pass the ball about), they play on small pitches (which means they don't spend their youth perfecting the 'long ball') and the pitches are more like courts with walls so they can't just 'get rid', at the first sign of pressure, they learn to play the ball, short passes and moving, keeping the ball, and as a result are techincally superior. This isn't just in academies, this is everywhere...

Oh and they have almost 15 times as many UEFA A and PRO licenced coaches as England does (source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8688093.stm), the people coaching the footballers of tomorrow are actually qualified to do so, presumably funded by the Spanish FA. Our youth are taught by a well meaning but uninformed army of mums and dads (not to denergrate the time they give up for the cause). I think the FA should be rewarding them with the proper opportunities to become qualified coaches and providing them with proper facilities.

It always comes back to the fact the FA require RADICAL reform and end to short termism. Getting in foreign manager on something around £6m a year (twice what any other manger was earning at the world cup and 3 times more than Del Bosque) for what is effectively a part time job is shocking waste of resources. How many parents could be given coaching in how to coach for that? Especially when he's doomed to fail as the players he has to choose from are NOT good enough.

So in closing... it doesn't matter one jot who wears the armband... If i were to give to anyone i'd give it to Joe Hart - at least he looks like being in the team for a few years - and it never did the Spanish any harm making a young keeper their captain.

It's an insult to Bobby Moore, to even mention John Terry in the same breathe as him

imperialghosty wrote:It's an insult to Bobby Moore, to even mention John Terry in the same breathe as him

Agreed.

But you just did Imperial

I do understand, and agree with, your sentiments though!

I have voted yes purely on footballing reasons. I dont think he is the best central defender we have, however, he is the most passionate, the player that the fans and players can look at and say you know what, he is busting a gut here trying to help this team, thats what I need to do.

On another point, he isnt this generations Bobby Moore, Bobby Moore was better in every facet of his game than John Terry

Marky wrote:The whole incident from last year has blown over, and after Ferdinand, Gerrard, Lampard and everyone else has had their chance, the fact is John Terry is the best England captain we've had for decades.

John Terry is England's Bobby Moore, and I honestly think that if none of the Terry/Bridge/Bridge's ex Mrs thing had never come out, and Terry remained captain, then England would have done far better at the World Cup.

JT is soooo far from being the equivalent of Bobby Moore it's a joke. JT may be a decent defender but to equate him with Moore is pretty insulting to Moore IMO.

In answer to the Poll, there's no way I think he should be re-instated but I guess that tells you everything you need to know about the world of the pro footballer. Shame as the game itself is still amazing at times; pity it's treated so shabbily from the top (Blatter) downwards.

Didn't you know Navyblueshorts that footballers are
GODS


It's just a pity that their brains are not in their heads

imperialghosty wrote:It's an insult to Bobby Moore, to even mention John Terry in the same breathe as him

Agreed

Bobby Moore was my childhood hero, and I still hold a candle for him now He had style and class...something seriously lacking in today's players....and JT is not fit to lick Bobby's Football boots

apart from jags he's the best defender and leader we have at the club, so yes get him back as captain cos as good as Rio is he's just gets injured far too often.

since when was the last Rio played a full season?

but if we can get those two to play together with each other regular then we should be ok.

club lol i meant country

main issue should be, do the players want to play under Rio or Terry, Imo it's worse to have someone who isn't the captain in the team who everyone else in the team views as the leader

John Terry the best CB England have? You are in dire straights if that is the case. He has been shocking this season - Cahill and Jagielka should be your CB pairing. As for captain I'd have Steven Gerrard.

Don't rate Terry as a defender much, and would prefer to have an experienced midfielder as captain. Shawcross, Cahill, Jagielka and to an extent Smalling have all been decen this season so wouldn't mind see them tried out as the CBs. I think Terrys a decent leader, but don't like him as our best CB.

Another thing - Capello is a joke after the way he treated Rio. England won't improve with him in charge!

How's he mistreated Ferdinand? It was Ferdinand that rejected the chance to talk face-to-face.

Changing captains like he doesn't even care - just an awful manager. I can see Rio retiring whilst Capello is still in charge

I didnt agree with how it was handled.
Capello's assistant tells Rio he is still captain, next day Capello says its Terry.
Bad handling by the management.

Who's John Terry?

For me Terry should never have been stripped of the Captaincy, only in the UK would an off field private issue be made such a deal of, im no Capello lover but he must wonder what the deal is, in Italy it wouldn't be an issue