In the next couple of days – maybe even hours – there is a reasonable chance John Terry will be reinstated as England national team captain.

Fabio Capello is understandably unhappy with the fact that his current captain, Rio Ferdinand, seems to spend most England matches watching from the sidelines while nursing an injury.

But while that is certainly a situation that needs attention, handing the captaincy back to a player that you unceremoniously and emphatically sacked just over a year ago is not a clever move.

For starters, it shows weakness from Capello, a man who used to be a legendary for his firm hand and uncompromising approach to management. It’s almost as if he is beyond caring and is now just looking for the easiest possible route to seeing out his contract.

When he demoted Terry he did so in a meeting that lasted just 12 minutes. At the time there was not even the slightest hint that it was a decision that may one day be reversed. In fact, he insisted there would be no going back.

To be even contemplating breaking his own vow is a clear indicator that he doesn’t really have a long-term plan and is just going through the motions. A man whose confidence was shredded by the World Cup disaster and who is merely biding his time till his contract expires after next year’s European Cup. Maybe hoping for a little miracle along the way.

But the bigger problem for England is the sort of effect giving Terry back the armband will have on the rest of the team.

Ferdinand, for one, is said to be heartbroken about possibly losing the captaincy. And despite his injury problems, when he is fit he is a vital part of England’s defence and a popular member of the squad. Upsetting and demoralising him is not a good idea.

And there will be other players who will be less than enamoured with the decision. Players who were decidedly uncomfortable with the whole John Terry, Wayne Bridge and Vanessa Peroncell saga.

Don’t misunderstand me. This isn’t about Terry’s ability to do the job. He is a more than capable leader on the pitch. But it is about what sort of effect giving him back the armband will have on those around him.

The current situation came to a head when, during the recent friendly with Denmark, and in the absence of Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard, the armband was passed around like Katie Price at a stag party. But it never went near Terry.

“I think they would have given it to one of the stewards ahead of me,” a hurt Terry said afterwards. And that seems to have been enough to make Capello get all emotional.

Having said all that, I do agree that Ferdinand is probably not the right man for the job purely on the basis of fitness. You need your captain to be there on a regular basis in order to do his job.

He had other options for the role, none more obvious than Gerrard.

The current vice-captain is nothing like as injury prone as Ferdinand and even Terry. Yes, he happens to be sidelined at the moment, but as a rule he doesn’t miss very many England games.

He is a natural leader, captains his club, and has handled the international job with pride and dignity when he has been asked to carry it out in the past. Failing that, why not give the role to Wayne Rooney?

I know it may sound like a bit of a weird decision, given his occasional temper issues, but a bit of forced leadership might just be what the striker needs to bring the best out of him at international level.

Essentially, Capello does have braver, more adventurous yet substantially less controversial options at his disposal. If he doesn’t take them then it is just one more indicator that his time as an effective England manager has come to an end.

Captain Marvel

As manager of Sheffield United, Bryan Robson was a bit of a disaster.

His brief tenure in charge at Bramall Lane even prompted a fan protest in the car park where supporters were urged to take off their shoes if they wanted him gone. There were Nikes and Hush Puppies everywhere. And then he left.

But while he may never have really cut it as a manager (arguably apart from his time at Middlesbrough), he was and always will be a proper legend as a player, both for England and Manchester United.

News broke last week that Robson, currently the manager of the Thailand national team, is fighting cancer at the relatively young age of 54. It is, apparently, curable, and won’t stop him carrying out his main job or his secondary employment as an ambassador for the Red Devils.

During his playing career he was frequently injured, and every other match for him seemed like a ‘comeback’. But that didn’t stop him from being one of the most brilliant midfielders of his generation.

I have met him a couple of times and found him a mild-mannered , down-to-earth sort of chap. I really hope he makes a speedy recovery.

And, given his track record of bouncing back, I’m sure he will.

Where’s the sense in that then?

Last week a non-league game was unceremoniously interrupted by a man who ran on to the pitch dressed in nothing but a mankini. The match, between Dorchester Town and Havant and Waterlooville was locked at 1-1 when the pitch invasion took place.

After the man with the questionable fashion sense evaded several stewards, Dorchester’s player-manager Ashley Vickers decided to take matters into his own hands and wrestled the man to the ground.

Fair enough, you would think. At least somebody had the sense to do something about the situation and help out the struggling stewards.

Well, the referee saw it differently and, in an unbelievable bit of by-the-book officiating, showed Vickers a red card for ‘violent conduct’.

Luckily the Football Association have seen the light and decided that Vickers doesn’t have to serve his automatic three-match ban, though the red card itself will still stand.

But none of that changes the fact that the referee made an absolutely awful decision. He followed the rules without even thinking about applying a little common sense.

And that is a very sad reflection on the pressure modern referees must be under to apply the letter of the law in the most literal of senses.

Your say

“Er, no offence, but if Robin Van Persie’s sending off in the Arsenal vs Barcelona match was one of the worst refereeing decisions of all time, you must be certifiably mad.

“As you said yourself – it probably had no bearing on the result, the difference in class being clear as day.

“Not only that, but what, pray, is wrong with booking someone who deliberately wants to try to gain an unfair advantage? I hope you aren’t going to say Arsenal have some ‘divine right’ to cheat?

“Anyway, I digress. Per se, the Van Persie decision isn’t even in the frame compared with, say, Jamie Carragher’s recent stonewall (non-) sending-off for deliberately and viciously taking out Nani in the Liverpool vs Man United match.

“For me, Diego Maradon’s ‘Hand of God’ goal tops the lot by a country mile, but also consider Tottenham Hotspur’s perfectly legitimate goal-that-wasn’t against Man United a few years back.

“And you – of all people – will definitely agree that Chesterfield should have made it into the FA Cup final (and the history books), were it not for a goal of theirs which was nearly two feet over the line but was somehow not noticed, during their match against Middlesboro, who went on to win the replay.

“Much as I dislike the idea, I think only video technology, similar to that used in rugby, will give football the fairness it deserves. Till then, justice will definitely not prevail, and the Carraghers of the world will give fair play the finger.”

Chris Ripard, e-mail.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com

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