Tag Archives: bandwagon

Patrick Collins: The anti-Wenger mob should be careful what they wish for

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The anti-Wenger mob should be careful what they wish for

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UPDATED:

00:46 GMT, 16 December 2012

So, farewell Arsene Wenger. Not yet perhaps but soon, very soon, if the pack has its way.

Defeat at Bradford City, in what some of us still call the League Cup, was apparently the last straw.

It seems that the Arsenal manager must fall on his sword. Failing that, he must be shown the door.

Troubled times: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is under fire

Troubled times: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is under fire

Either way, he has to go. Don't take my word for it; listen to the people.

One red-top tabloid, which knows a bandwagon when one comes clattering by, organised a highly scientific opinion poll.

This 'damning' exercise revealed that around 60 per cent of respondents believed that Wenger's time was up.

Considering it was taken in the hours
after Bradford, and plainly included a hefty cargo of drunks, comedians
and Tottenham supporters, some might think the manager came out rather
well.

More from Patrick Collins…

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08/12/12

Patrick Collins: Captain Cook must stand the test of time before he can join the greats
08/12/12

Patrick Collins: Football's silent majority must set the tone, not the bigots who just want to be noticed
01/12/12

Patrick Collins: Richie McCaw, Dan Carter… your boys took one hell of a beating!
01/12/12

Patrick Collins: Tears follow tragic mistake that turned into an ordeal for brave Hatton
25/11/12

Patrick Collins: Let's hope Pep has the right answers when Roman comes calling
24/11/12

Patrick Collins: How 65 seconds of confusion cost England their chance
24/11/12

VIEW FULL ARCHIVE

Yet the weight of informed opinion
was against him.

Somebody called Tim, who is apparently a spokesman for
the Arsenal Supporters' Trust, announced: 'His inability to delegate or
seek help from others has resulted in a stale environment where best
practice is no longer to the fore.'

We must wonder how 'Tim' can speak so confidently of such private matters.

But in the current climate, even impertinent middle-management clichs find an audience.

Which takes us, quite seamlessly, to Stewart Robson, who played for Arsenal more than a quarter of a century ago.

Robson declared himself 'embarrassed' by Wenger. 'In my view,' said Robson, 'it was time up for him three or four years ago … Tactically Arsenal are all over the place, they are under-prepared defensively and he doesn't understand the game well enough.'

Now, most will acknowledge that losing to Bradford was mildly disgraceful, that a good many of Arsenal's displays this season have been sub-standard, that the performances of players such as Gervinho, Chamakh and Santos are incomprehensible and that the manager's recent transfer dealings are heavily at odds with his glittering track record in this department.

And Wenger must know that he has made enemies.

He is not 'clubbable', he has never sought membership of that managerial cabal which likes to gather after matches to swap cosy anecdotes, curse grasping players, endorse amenable agents and slurp expensive red wine.

A frosty winner and a graceless loser, the Arsenal manager has offended most of his contemporaries down the years with his distaste for conspiratorial small talk.

He will expect no mercy in these mean and trying times.

Yet Robson's portrayal of Wenger is clearly an absurd caricature.

The man who 'doesn't understand the game' has won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups.

That same inadequate innocent has secured Arsenal a place in the Champions League for 15 consecutive seasons.

Think about it: not since Tony Blair's first administration was in its opening year have Arsenal failed to qualify for Europe's major competition and even then they played in the old UEFA Cup.

The consistency is staggering, the achievement extraordinary, especially when we reflect that he has also effectively built a glorious stadium and encouraged his sides to produce some of the most enthralling football the modern British game has seen.

Staggering consistency: Wenger with the FA Cup and Premier League trophies in 2002

Staggering consistency: Wenger with the FA Cup and Premier League trophies in 2002

In recent memory, the teams of Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas, back to Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira have set standards of excellence which speak of inspired coaching and sensitive development.

Yet this is the man whose head is currently being demanded by an avenging posse.

Loud of voice and short of memory, they seek a manager who will take them to 'another level'.

Well, in a spirit of helpfulness, I have compiled a random list of men who may be open to offers of employment.

Assuming that Pep Guardiola is unavailable, it includes the likes of Avram Grant, Roy Keane, Kenny Dalglish, Alan Shearer, Iain Dowie and Mark Hughes.

These may not be the kind of candidates who would slide snugly into the shoes of Arsene Wenger.

Clearly, I have no stake in this particular argument.

But we are considering the future of an authentic visionary, one of our most brilliantly accomplished football managers.

And so I say to the avenging mob: be very careful what you wish for.

The Dazzling Dozen in a truly great year

When you want to know what kind of sporting year it has been, you look at the BBC Sports Personality contenders.

Great year: Bradley Wiggins

Great year: Bradley Wiggins

In lean times, when achievements are modest, the odd, frivolous option sneaks on to the list; a darts player here, a snooker champion there. Not this year.

Eleven golden Olympians and Rory McIlroy: never has there been such an extravagant outpouring of talent.

So many candidates, several with gold at their necks, were reluctantly passed over.

There was no place for the extraordinary Alastair Cook, nor for a single representative of the national game, despite the winning of the Champions League.

That's the kind of year we've just lived through.

And if, when the votes are counted, Bradley Wiggins climbs to the top of the rostrum, just ahead of Mo Farah and Andy Murray, then I suggest that the matchless glories of 2012 will have been accurately assessed.

Football must see beyond money if it wants to tackle its problems

English football has a few problems. Nothing important. Minor issues involving racism, thuggery and a failure to understand the grotesque figure it is currently cutting.

The coin that sliced open Rio Ferdinand's eyebrow was symbolic of the problems which beset the game.

Disgraceful: Ferdinand hit on the head by coin from the crowd

Disgraceful: Ferdinand hit on the head by coin from the crowd

Disgraceful: Ferdinand hit on the head by coin from the crowd

Football is perhaps the last area of recession Britain in which a coin is seen not as an asset but a weapon.

Those whose task it is to portray the 'product' in its most sympathetic light – Sky TV and the Premier League – are at pains to point out that we have travelled far from those grim days of the Seventies and Eighties.

Yet still the echoes linger. Just listen to the young gentlemen at West Ham taunt the Liverpool fans with: 'Sign on, sign on with hope in your hearts. And you'll never get a job.'

It carries the authentic stench of Thatcher's Britain. The simplest reform becomes a matter for debate.

Gordon Taylor, of the PFA, makes the unarguable suggestion that nets should be erected by the corner flags, so that his members might be protected from coin-hurling idiots.

He is instantly shouted down by Steve Kelly of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign.

Unarguable suggestion: Gordan Taylor

Unarguable suggestion: Gordan Taylor

'I don't think nets would bring safety,' says Kelly.

'The next thing would be wire mesh, then fencing, and we all know what that meant.'

It is drivel; trite, illogical drivel. Yet we sense that football will succumb to such foolishness rather than do the right thing.

And so a fine man like Lord Herman Ouseley walks away from a game which has been swamped by the self-interest of the major clubs.

And David Bernstein, at the FA, sees his reforming instincts cynically sabotaged by those whose sights rarely rise above the bottom line.

Yes, football has problems. Such a pity that it shows so few signs of recognising them.

P.S.

When they told Geoffrey Boycott that Yorkshire would stage the 'Grand Depart' of the 2014 Tour de France, he thought they were having him on.

Assured by his Test Match Special colleagues that this was indeed the case, he started to warm to the prospect: 'Riding up and down the Dales, it teks some doing, does that.'

He racked his brain for a famous cyclist.

Then he cackled, wickedly: 'Will that Lance Armstrong be coming'

Very Yorkshire; flattered by being chosen yet not overly impressed. I'm not sure the Great Race knows what it's in for.

Geoff Miller rules out Kevin Pietersen deal

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Miller rules out KP deal but Ravi regains Test spot

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UPDATED:

21:30 GMT, 15 July 2012

Still out: Pietersen won't be in England's T20 plans

Still out: Pietersen won't be in England's T20 plans

England refused to open the door to a one-day comeback for Kevin Pietersen while handing Ravi Bopara the chance to tame the world's fastest bowler.

While Bopara was given the No 6 position for England's Test showdown against South Africa, including the ICC's top-ranked bowler in Dale Steyn, Pietersen's attempt to be included for the World Twenty20 looked destined to fail.

The possibility of him overturning his one-day retirement after only six weeks was first raised in a Sportsmail
interview last week and has been gaining momentum in the build-up to
England selecting their provisional 30-man party for the World Twenty20
in Sri Lanka in September.

Yet for all the seeming willingness
for Pietersen to play 'all forms' of the game again, he would have to
make himself available for all 50-over as well as Twenty20 cricket.

Unless England allow Pietersen to miss large chunks of 50-over cricket, that is not going to happen.

National selector Geoff Miller said: 'We must not just look at the World Twenty20, we need to look further ahead. OK, we can plan and manage players' workloads but he must make himself available for how England want him to perform for us.'

Pietersen was also criticised by former England stalwart John Emburey, talking on Sky Sports, for not giving up the Indian Premier League to create more time in his schedule.

In reply he tweeted: 'Can anybody remind me which travelled to SA on the rebel tour Odd for any of those to criticise players “jumping on the IPL bandwagon” don't you think'

Recall: Ravi Bopara gets the nod

Recall: Ravi Bopara gets the nod

In truth, the latest whirlwind surrounding Pietersen, who hit a superlative double century for Surrey against Lancashire at Guildford, is an unwelcome distraction for England as they prepare for the eagerly awaited three-Test series against South Africa, starting at the Kia Oval on Thursday.

This, finally, is the business end of the summer and England have turned to Bopara, who excelled in the one-day triumphs over Australia, in place of Jonny Bairstow for the problem middle order place in an otherwise settled line-up.

FIRST TEST SQUADS

ENGLAND: Strauss (capt), Anderson, Bell, Bopara, Bresnan, Broad, Cook, Finn, Onions, Pietersen, Prior (wkt), Swann, Trott.

SOUTH AFRICA (from): Smith (capt), De Villiers (wkt), Amla, Duminy, Tahir, Kallis, A Morkel, M Morkel, A Peterson, R Peterson, Philander, Rudolph, Steyn, Tsolekile (wkt), Tsotsobe.

TOUR DATES:

1st TEST: The Kia Oval, starts Thursday.

2nd TEST: Headingley, August 2-6.

3rd TEST: Lord's, August 16-20.

ODIs – Aug 24: (Cardiff). Aug 28: Southampton. Aug 31: The Oval. Sept 2: Lord's. Sept 5: Trent Bridge.

Twenty20s – Sept 8: Durham. Sept 10: Old Trafford. Sept 12: Edgbaston.

'Ravi has shown us what a talented cricketer he is in the one-day series and also when I've watched him for Essex,' Miller, told the BBC's Sportsweek.

'We'd like to see something big from Ravi but we want something big from all our players. Now it's down to Ravi to cement his place.'

Bairstow struggled against the short ball, particularly when faced with Kemar Roach at Trent Bridge, and loses his place with Steyn ready to pounce.

But he is too good a prospect not to come again.

'Jonny had a bit of a tough time,' said Miller.

'We know he is young and talented so he needs to go back to Yorkshire, score some big runs and fight for his spot again.'

Tim Bresnan is expected to keep his place as third seamer, even though Steven Finn and Graham Onions are included in the first Test squad and are breathing heavily down his neck, while England are confident Graeme Swann's chronic elbow problem has eased sufficiently for him to be as effective and pivotal as ever.

South Africa have already suffered the major setback of losing their influential keeper-batsman Mark Boucher to a freak accident in their warm-up match against Somerset at Taunton that ended his international career.

Yet there were encouraging reports yesterday on the chances of Boucher recovering the sight in his left eye after it was lacerated by a flying bail.

A scan in Cape Town suggests that the damage is not as severe as first feared.

Jenson Button seeks patriotic Silverstone victory

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Button brushes aside London GP hoopla to seek patriotic victory at Silverstone

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UPDATED:

21:32 GMT, 1 July 2012

After the virtual insanity of the London Grand Prix, attention has switched to the serious business of winning on British soil for real.

Jenson Button, along with McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton, has spoken out on the benefit of having his commitments to his team's army of sponsors cut back in the run up to the most important race on the calendar for a British driver.

Vroom for improvement: Button wants to end his Silverstone hoodoo

Vroom for improvement: Button wants to end his Silverstone hoodoo

Phil Duncan F1 blog

But on Thursday night Button was doing his promotional bit for the Spanish bank that dreamed up the idea of a race around the capital's streets essentially as a way of drawing attention to the fact it is the title sponsor of the real race at Silverstone.

Never in the wildest dreams could they have predicted the PR stunt would be given such exposure thanks to Bernie Ecclestone's cute manoeuvre of jumping on the bandwagon just as a German banker was being sentenced to eight-and-half years for accepting bribes from the Formula One supremo.

Ecclestone didn't bother to turn up at Thursday's 'launch' of a CGI race around the capital which Button himself described as 'hypothetical'.

Interesting concept: Hamilton (left) and Button attend the launch of the London Grand Prix

Interesting concept: Hamilton (left) and Button attend the launch of the London Grand Prix

Since then, Button has spent a day in the simulator at McLaren's Woking headquarters before heading back to his Monaco home for a weekend of rest and relaxation ahead of the main event.

Having witnessed the euphoria drummed up by British wins at Silverstone like that of Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Johnny Herbert, David Coulthard and even his teammate Hamilton, Button is only too aware you do not need to have driven past Buckingham Palace to whip up an outpouring of national pride.

It is the black stuff and not the backdrop which really counts and there is no better feeling for a Formula One driver than knowing they have mastered a track steeped in true motor racing history such as Silverstone.

But just as the London Grand Prix PR team were eager to tap into the sense of national pride brought on mainly by the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics this summer, so Button is desperate to be a part of the celebrations by ending his British Grand Prix hoodoo which has seen him fail even to make the podium in 12 previous attempts.

Home comfort: Lewis Hamilton after winning his first home Grand Prix at Silverstone

Home comfort: Lewis Hamilton after winning his first home Grand Prix at Silverstone

'It is a massive year for the UK with the Queen's Jubilee and the Olympics,' said Button.

'It will be a very special year to stand at the top of the podium as winner of the British Grand Prix.

'Although we race for a team, most drivers are very patriotic and they do want to succeed in their home grand prix for themselves but also for their fellow countrymen.

'I have imagined it many times, I am sure it feels very special because you see the fans excited and celebrating with you.'

Button was treated to a timely reminder of just how special that feeling is as Spaniard Fernando Alonso crossed the line first last time out at the European Grand Prix held in Valencia to claim a spectacular win.

After wiping away tears from his eyes, Alonso claimed his win was, 'Probably the best victory I have ever felt in terms of emotions. Nothing maybe compares to this one.'

Asked to recall the last time he cried after a race, Button, in reference to his poor recent run which has brought just six points from five grand prix, quipped: 'After the last few races I have had.'

Friends and rivals: Button (left) and Hamilton hoping for patriotic success in Diamond Jubilee year

Friends and rivals: Button (left) and Hamilton hoping for patriotic success in Diamond Jubilee year

But the 2009 world champion admitted should he, at long last, make the top step in the British Grand Prix he may just succumb like Alonso.

'If I win at Silverstone, I will get really emotional,' said Button.

'It will mean so much more. That was what it felt like after winning the world championship after so many years trying to get the right car and the right team. It meant so much. I'm not sure I will be blubbing like a girl, but I will be emotional.'

After so many seasons of disappointment on home turf Button, who will stay in his plush motorhome on a Silverstone campsite next weekend, has understandably not made any plans for a victory celebration.

'You don't book celebratory parties, like you don't take a black tie outfit to Monaco,' said Button in reference to the gala dinner with the principality's Prince for the winner in Monte Carlo.

'It would be all back to mine, we will just have to go wild in the paddock!'

It promises to be quite some shindig if he pulls it off.

After imagining what it would be like driving a Formula One car around London's streets, what Button wants more than anything else is to know what it feels like to win around Silverstone for real.

Harry Redknapp backs Paul Scholes for England at Euro 2012

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Redknapp backs Scholes for shock England return ahead of Euro 2012 finals

For a man keen to avoid talk of becoming next England manager, Harry Redknapp could not stop himself from jumping on the Paul Scholes for Euro 2012 bandwagon.

The prospect of a Redknapp/Scholes partnership this summer is still a pipe dream.

Tottenham’s manager was adamant on Saturday that he was still to receive an official approach from the Football Association – though that wait will come to an end this week.

England return: Paul Scholes has impressed since coming out of retirement

England return: Paul Scholes has impressed since coming out of retirement

And whether Scholes would consider a return to international football eight years since his last game for England remains to be seen.

But the idea of two national treasures heading up England’s attempts to end 46 years without a trophy certainly whets the appetite.

‘Age doesn’t matter. Look at Paul Scholes; lets be honest, you would love to have Scholes in the Euros this year,’ said Redknapp.

‘He’d be in your team, he’s that good. Whoever’s there would love to take him I’m sure.

‘You’d love him to play. He plays like the Spaniards, like Xavi, or Iniesta – he doesn’t give the ball away.’ Scholes has been at his imperious best since his shock return to the Manchester United fold at the turn of the year.

Pure delight: Harry Redknapp celebrates as Tottenham thrash Newcastle

Pure delight: Harry Redknapp celebrates as Tottenham thrash Newcastle

And it may not be far-fetched to think that he could be talked into making an England swansong this summer.

Should FA chairman David Bernstein have his way, Redknapp’s powers of persuasion will be key in trying to entice Scholes.

But another experienced midfielder who will not need his arm twisted to play in Poland and Ukraine is Frank Lampard.

Lampard became an peripheral figure on the international scene during the closing stages of Fabio Capello’s reign.

‘Frank is still a top player, you write Frank off at your peril,’ said Redknapp – whose side demolished Newcastle 5-0 on Saturday.

‘There’s good players here, good players in England for sure, good young players. I really could see us winning it, I thought it was a fantastic squad of players.

‘Everybody has though we had good players since ‘66. And we have never achieved anything. That’s the problem. ‘And there have been some good managers in that time.’

Tottenham v Newcastle

England have no manager, no captain and best player is banned… but FA"s flights are booked for Euro 2012: Martin Samuel

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No manager, no captain and best player is banned… but at least FA's flights are booked

There is no manager, no captain, the best player is suspended for the first two matches, but not to worry, according to Football Association chairman David Bernstein everything is in place for the European Championship this summer.

We can presume from this that Bernstein’s secretary has been on to ba.com and has boxed off seat 1A, business class, to Krakow. That his hotel suite is reserved and well appointed. His usual driver has been notified and will pick him up in plenty of time for a fast track check-in at least an hour before the flight.

You will also be pleased to know that Bernstein, Adrian Bevington, managing director of Club England, Alex Horne, FA general secretary and Sir Trevor Brooking, director of football development, have cleared their diaries today in order to turn their attention to the appointment of the next England manager. A place for everything, and everything in its place. Particularly the last manager, Fabio Capello.

Stepping out: Fabio Capello and wife Laura leave their Belgravia home the morning after the Italian resgned

Stepping out: Fabio Capello and wife Laura leave their Belgravia home the morning after the Italian resgned

The next one Well, we’re still not sure. Bernstein would not rule out an interim to succeed the caretaker, Stuart Pearce, meaning if a long-term boss follows after the European Championship, England’s players could work with four managers in the space of eight matches, over nine months.
Indeed, Bernstein was not ruling anything out yesterday: English, British, foreign, temporary, permanent, it was all on the table for discussion.

The undead are probably excluded, plus woodland creatures and Hope Powell, because Bernstein did not stray from the masculine gender when discussing Capello’s successor. Still, you never know. If enough people tweet it, a bandwagon could roll, then it’s all aboard for the FA board and who knows where it ends

Actually, we know where it ends. It ends with the FA offering the job to Harry Redknapp, No 1 in a field of one. All this talk of high-powered conferences makes it sound as if there is a whole host of candidates to discuss, indeed Bernstein rather optimistically talked of it being ‘interesting to hear who comes to us’.

If that was a hint to the present Tottenham Hotspur manager, however, the FA chairman may wait some time for the telephone to ring. Redknapp holds every good card in this deck, and knows it. He is the people’s choice and the players’ choice, and we have already seen how much the FA love a populist call. He is the best English candidate by a mile, and the clamour is for a homegrown candidate, too.

Relaxed: People's favourite Harry Redknapp leaves his home in Poole free from the pressure of his court trial

Relaxed: People's favourite Harry Redknapp leaves his home in Poole free from the pressure of his court trial

He carries the feelgood factor after the disillusionment that followed England’s 2010 World Cup campaign and, with just 15 months remaining on his club contract, he is as good as available while still being in useful employment.

All Redknapp has to do now is wait. Say nothing, do nothing. He has a job and is rightly happy with it. He does not need to go creeping to the FA, he does not need to so much as flutter his eyelashes. They need him so much more than he does them.

A salary in excess of the 3million he earns at Tottenham, his own backroom staff and a contract that lasts until the day after the 2014 World Cup final should do it. Nothing too grand. To be England manager is a two-year job these days. It is time to stop the pretence.

The sneering obituaries written for Capello reveal the reality of managing England. Win a World Cup or sling your hook. Simple as that. The FA will claim the position is about development and strategy.

Stony faced: Trevor Brooking, Adrian Bevington, David Bernstein and Alex Horne brief the media following Capello's resignation

Stony faced: Trevor Brooking, Adrian Bevington, David Bernstein and Alex Horne brief the media following Capello's resignation

They will sell it as a complex, layered role, with responsibility across a wide range of topics. But, bottom line, lose in Moldova and you’re stuffed. Disappoint in the finals and you’ll never recover.
Capello didn’t. Exiting Wembley on Wednesday night he left ridiculed and unloved, his time falsely dismissed as a failure, his mood unfairly characterised as uninterested. The moment a tournament goes wrong, the England manager is doomed.

If he takes this post, Redknapp should not wish for more than a crack at the Brazil World Cup in 2014. He has the European Championship as a bonus this summer, then the big one, then goodbye.

If he came close to victory, as Sir Bobby Robson did in 1990 or Terry Venables in 1996, then he could always renegotiate at the end of his term. If he flopped, he wouldn’t want the aggravation anyway. Some say he may not want it now; particularly once he has a chance to review Pearce’s first day in the job.

The caretaker manager has not picked a squad, taken a training session or played a game, and already he is lost in the FA’s moral maze. The board’s ad hoc approach to the John Terry captaincy issue has put it at the forefront of ethical standards on race.

Wise words: Stuart Pearce, who will take charge of England's friendly with Holland, shares a moment with Capello

Wise words: Stuart Pearce, who will take charge of England's friendly with Holland, shares a moment with Capello

No bad place to be. Unless your new manager turns out to have issued an apology for making a racist insult to an England team-mate, Paul Ince, some years ago as a player, and has a brother in the British National Party.

It is brutal, the England inspection; and not particularly consistent or fair. Pearce’s sibling or his comment to Ince during a match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United in 1994 has never held him back as England Under 21 coach or manager of Team GB at the London Olympics. Yet this is the problem with constructing board policy on the hoof. It gives the cynical motivation to shine light into every dark corner.

Mark Palios was the last FA chief executive who thought he could establish firm principles without legal back-up, and the resulting chaos over the demotion of Alan Smith from the squad greatly hurt his credibility. That was in 2004.

Yet, almost eight years have since passed without the FA feeling the need to draw up a code of conduct — there have been three attempts and another is under way — or offer plain guidelines and a coherent policy relating to players with court dates pending.

Shambles: Capello can't bear to watch as England exit the World Cup with a 4-1 humbling at the hands of Germany

Shambles: Capello can't bear to watch as England exit the World Cup with a 4-1 humbling at the hands of Germany

Had these existed, Terry may have been removed from the England squad, and Capello would still be manager. Even if he had unreasonably quit in protest, there would be no sustainable motive for Pearce to be subjected to such invasive scrutiny.

It is the idea of inconsistency, of standards set and then disregarded, that now has the organisation bouncing from drama to crisis. Still, never fear, Bernstein is here.

Everything is in place for the European Championship, and, for those who follow England, a very familiar place it is, too. Meanwhile, somewhere, the next England manager looks on. Heaven knows what he is making of it all.

Martin Samuel: Social lynch mob have hit their target

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Social lynch mob have hit their target

Innocent until proven guilty. It's
just a catchphrase now. It's one of those things we say. We don't much
mean it. Allegedly is the same. Ever noticed how they use allegedly on
shows like Have I Got News For You It's a punchline.

They throw it in with a raised eyebrow and a cheeky grin.

Maybe that is what we should do here.

John Terry is innocent until proven guilty. Little pause for comic effect. Wink to the camera, wait for the laugh. Allegedly.

Flashpoint: Ferdinand and Terry clash at Loftus Road

Flashpoint: Ferdinand and Terry clash at Loftus Road

In the end, it came down to a shouting contest and the lords of Twitter, the frantic self-publicists in Westminster such as Damian Collins MP and the sages of the newsprint and airwaves shouted loudest.

They did not always shout with great understanding, or even logic, but they shouted to the rolling rhythm of a bandwagon that was hurtling towards its inevitable destination.

A social lynching, a friend of mine called the events of the last few days.

He's just one of those old-school hacks, and football's not even his thing any more; but his instincts were right, and he nailed this one.

If Terry was to be removed before his trial, it had to be a football decision.

If Fabio Capello, the England manager, thought that he divided the dressing room, or his presence would prove a distraction, then he had to act, as he did before the World Cup, the first time Terry was sacked.

Backing: Capello (right) and Terry

Backing: Capello (right) and Terry

Capello, however, remained staunchly behind his captain this time.

He was in Italy when the decision was taken, a manager paid 6million annually but not trusted to make selection calls.

His successor should be taking notes.

The next crisis for the England team – and there will be one, because there always is – should be dropped directly on the toes of the FA board, those wizards of governance.

The impossible job just got a little easier: for 6m, the FA now employ a man in a tracksuit, no more. Aggravation is on their watch. Good luck all.

The board will get their tummies tickled this morning, no doubt, and be widely praised for taking a firm line. The opposite is true.

The tough call would have been to resist, to say a man cannot lose his job without being given the chance to defend himself in due process and that however unfortunate the timing of Terry's trial, it remained a matter for the courts.

Emmanuel Frimpong, on loan to Wolves and one of the Twitter stormers, did not seem to understand this.

The FA were out of order, he said.

'If Anton Ferdinand was in the England team and was being charged for racism, would the FA wait'

As if the FA set court dates.

His words were reported as further evidence of the mood against Terry, rather than an argument with a bus-sized hole in its centre.

Trial by social media: Terry accused

Trial by social media: Terry accused

Like that of Jason Roberts, who compared Terry's situation to Rio Ferdinand's in 2003, left out of the England squad before his hearing for missing a drugs test.

The difference being there was no question of whether Ferdinand was guilty. He should have taken the test, he was absent. Case closed.

The FA knew the verdict in advance.

A comparison would be if Terry had racially abused Anton Ferdinand as he walked past, midway through a television interview, on camera, with utter certainty for all to see.

There would be no question of waiting for formal process then.

A decision could be made that night, without complaint.

Nobody here condones racism.

It is the fact Terry has pleaded not guilty and could be found so that is the awkward complication, because we shouldn't condone pre-judgment either.

Still, the FA say their action in no way suggests wrongdoing on Terry's part. Allegedly.

Terry will not play for Chelsea against Manchester United on Sunday.

He would not have played in last weekend's FA Cup match against Queens Park Rangers either, but was concerned it would be interpreted as a tactical injury to avoid a poisonous atmosphere and the handshake issue.

His knee injury, however, could be a serious one.

Terry spent Friday afternoon undergoing further tests, having consulted a specialist on Thursday, and his participation in England's next match with Holland on February 29 has to be doubtful.

This would leave him with the rest of the season to make a decision on whether to be available for England at Euro 2012.

He will not be rushed into making the call, but is very conflicted on the issue: upset at what he sees as a lack of support by the FA, but loyal towards Capello, who was known to be against the decision of the FA board, taken above his head.

Capello told Terry as recently as Thursday night that he would still be his captain next summer and remains convinced he is the best man for the job.

Failed in his role: Capello felt Steven Gerrard did not lead effectively

Failed in his role: Capello felt Steven Gerrard did not lead effectively

The idea he restored Terry to the role out of pity is laughable.

Capello believes English football is unique in seeking leadership from its captain and feels Steven Gerrard did not fulfil that role in 2010.

Even Terry's supposed mutiny in South Africa is now viewed benignly by Capello, who says he was the only player with the confidence to speak up about dissatisfaction in the camp.

It is not unthinkable, if Terry goes to Euro 2012, that the manager will continue to lean on him as Sir Clive Woodward did Lawrence Dallaglio, after he was replaced by Martin Johnson following a tabloid scandal.

Johnson came into his own on match days, but Dallaglio remained Woodward's man behind the scenes, his real World Cup captain.

It is now for Terry to decide whether he wishes to risk another social lynching purely by being part of Capello's squad.

Yet no doubt whenever anyone refers to the disgraced ex-captain, the shamed ex-captain, the dishonoured, twice-sacked pariah and former England captain they will be careful to remind all that he is, of course, innocent until proven guilty. Allegedly.