Fabio Capello has confirmed John Terry has served his punishment and is ready to be restored as England’s ‘permanent’ captain.

Manager Capello will travel to Manchester to break the news to United defender Rio Ferdinand, following Sportsmail’s revelation on Saturday.

Officially, Capello is still considering the position and will wait to make a formal announcement until the eve of the match against Wales on March 26.

You're the one for me! Capello has chosen Terry over Ferdinand as England captain

He will not tell Ferdinand he has lost the job, but does not want to continue swapping the armband.

Convinced that Terry remains the outstanding leader in the squad, the Italian wishes to make him captain for the Wales game and beyond.

Capello wants to talk to the players involved first, but spoke to the media for the first time about the subject. ‘I think after one year of punishment that is enough for a mistake,’ he said.

‘For this reason, I need to make a decision about this problem. It does not need to be captain for one game, it needs to be permanent. Before I announce a decision I want to speak with Terry, with the players, but in the end it will be my decision.

'Rio was captain, but my first captain was John Terry. Rio was a good captain, so was Steven Gerrard, but I selected Terry first until his mistake.’

That mistake, of course, was Terry’s relationship with Wayne Bridge’s ex-partner Vanessa  Perroncel. That proved the final straw, though Capello felt his regular appearances on the front pages had become a distraction for the team.
Now he has had time to reconsider.

Capello said the friendly against Denmark was the tipping point, seeing the armband passed to Frank Lampard in the first half, then Ashley Cole in the  second half and finally Gareth Barry. Terry has not been captain, even temporarily, since being stripped of the role in February 2010.

« Previous123Next »