I've no objection to Terry still being picked for England; he's still one of the best centre-halves in the country, as his performance yesterday showed. But this recent episode is the latest in a long line of unsavoury incidents raising serious doubts about his moral rectitude - doubts that Capello himself is bound to have. At the team level, what is this saga going to do to the attitude of his team-mates? Wayne Bridge has already said he won't get on the plane to South Africa if Terry is on it (always assuming Bridge is picked for the squad, which is by no means certain, of course). And how many other team-mates (England and Chelsea) will be looking over their shoulder wondering 'Has he sh**ged/would he sh*g my wife/girl-friend?' If he loses the respect and confidence of his team-mates, then he has lost his capacity to be a team-leader. And as for a replacement as England captain, three candidates spring immediately to mind (in no particular order): Rooney, Gerard & Lampard.
And not all people think the adulterer Charles Windsor is fit to be king either. And as for some of other cases of adultery mentioned - Woods, Calzaghe, Pitt etc - they are all solo players, not team captains, and it's fitness to be a team captain that's being talked about here. JT's record is just too long now. As Goldfinger said: "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action."
