KEEPING MUM ... Rio Ferdinand

IF the current FA inquiry does reveal evidence that Anton Ferdinand was racially abused then it's not just a question of stripping John Terry of the England captaincy.

You somehow doubt whether he could play for England again.

The FA certainly will not want to be accused of double standards.

They are staunch supporters of the 'Kick It Out' campaign and have backed England players to the hilt when they themselves have been on the end of racist abuse abroad.

For this they have been rightly applauded. Personally, I suspect that even if the words WERE used, it was a heat of the moment thing that we may be taking a little too literally.

The FA and Terry are in a bit of a cleft stick.

Some will suspect that football's governing body would prefer to unearth nothing. That it was a storm in a tea-cup, boys will be boys, let's move on, blah, blah, blah.

There are so many grey areas in this case that to actually get witnesses to corroborate exactly what was said is going to be extremely difficult.

This was certainly the way it was moving yesterday with QPR denying that three of their players had been called to give evidence on behalf of their team-mate. But then what happens if Terry is exonerated or cleared?

Could Terry and Rio Ferdinand actually play together in the England team?

Irrespective of the older Ferdinand's wavering form, you doubt it. And not just because of fraternal loyalty.

There is also the fact Rio, curiously silent on the subject despite being King of the Tweets, felt badly let down when Chelsea star Terry was reinstated as captain.

And yet you get the feeling that should Harry Redknapp assume control of the England team after next year's European Championships, he WOULD want to pair the Three Lions veterans together one last time.

Right now, though, the more pressing date is November 5 rather than the first Brazil 2014 World Cup qualifier. That is the day on which Fabio Capello names his squad for the double-header with Spain and Sweden.

Everyone — not just the FA — would want to see it sorted out by then.

Imagine the bunfight should Terry be selected to lead England with everything still up in the air.

When Terry was first stripped of the captaincy, I was firmly of the belief Steven Gerrard should have got the job. Despite his injury problems, that remains the case.

Certainly, doubts over fitness never prevented Capello appointing Ferdinand Snr for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

Now we wait and see. My gut feeling is Terry will continue as captain.

The bottom line, though, is that Capello, having made his original decision to ditch the Chelsea player, should never have reappointed him.

BLACKBURN manager Steve Kean says: "We have a points tally in mind to finish in the top 10. We are only slightly off it."
They have five points from nine games which might give them 22 from 38. Sunderland were 10th last season with 47. Slight miscalculation, surely.

SOME things never change. After a month Down Under, I return to a cast list of the usual suspects — Rooney, Terry and Tevez. And a headline that reads: Hargreaves in new injury shock. Shock?
One lovely thought: What is Mario Balotelli going to come up with on Guy Fawkes Night?