Northern Trust Open leaderboard
Golfers seek big rally at Riviera
Live Super Bowl XLIV
Grab some food and find your favorite chair. The Colts and Saints have kicked off Super Bowl XLIV.
Goodell: NFL could ban 3-point stance
A ban on the three-point stance? NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says it’s possible.
John Terry fears further lurid stories in World Cup ‘open season’
• Fabio Capello’s decision hints that more may yet be revealed
• Terry spokesman denies buying silence of Vanessa Perroncel
The FA hierarchy and those close to John Terry hope that Fabio Capello’s decision to strip him of the captaincy will slow the continuing avalanche of bad publicity, but remain fearful that he has left himself open to further damaging speculation in the run-up to the World Cup.
He is understood to fear that it is now “open season” among the tabloid press. Having put himself at a disadvantage via his own actions and his attempts to keep the story of his alleged affair out of the public eye, it will be difficult for him to defend himself or prevent a continuing torrent of negative stories, true or not.
Capello’s right-hand man Franco Baldini took extensive soundings in the days preceding the Italian’s return from Switzerland, where he had been recovering following a knee operation, in order to get a sense of how much worse it could get for Terry, and his briefing played a part in the coach’s decision.
Some believe Terry needs to overhaul his team of advisers in the wake of the furore. Since splitting with his long-term agent Aaron Lincoln last year, he has been represented by Keith Cousins, the Dagenham & Redbridge chairman, and Paul Nicholls, a former Chelsea youth-team colleague.
Even before last week’s events, in December he was privately reminded of the standards expected from an England captain by Capello in the wake of News of the World allegations that he had been paid £10,000 for a private training-ground tour.
A spokesman for Terry today denied widespread speculation that the former England captain had bought the silence of the ex-girlfriend of his international team-mate Wayne Bridge in order to try and quell the negative publicity.
It was Terry’s heavy-handed legal attempts to stop newspapers reporting details of his alleged affair with Vanessa Perroncel that kick-started the chain of events that led to him being stripped of the armband by Capello on Friday.
When the injunction was lifted, the judge revealed that two of Terry’s associates, who were not named, had met Perroncel at a hotel where she signed two documents agreeing not to reveal details of the affair in return for a nominal fee of £1.
But Mr Justice Tugendhat criticised the arrangement, and said he “did not feel confident” the papers she signed expressed her wishes.
Since Perroncel announced on Friday through her publicist Max Clifford that she would not be selling her story, despite offers of more than £250,000, there has been repeated speculation that Terry paid a six-figure sum to buy her silence.
Clifford told the Guardian on Friday that the suggestion that Terry had paid Perroncel was “totally untrue”. “That [speculation] is natural, to be expected and totally untrue. She is keeping her options open and meeting with lawyers regarding some of the untrue and hurtful things that have been said about her.”
Speculation that Terry dramatically offered to call Perroncel during the 12-minute meeting with Capello on Friday has also been dismissed by insiders as wide of the mark, although it is believed that the player was devastated on hearing the news, after going into the meeting hoping to retain the captaincy.
John Terry finds redemption on the pitch after week from hell
• ‘John is the perfect captain for Chelsea’ says Carlo Ancelotti
• Didier Drogba offers Terry full backing after ‘difficult week’
John Terry put the most difficult week of his career behind him with an impressive Chelsea performance in a 2-0 victory that virtually ended Arsenal’s title ambitions.
The Chelsea captain took eight minutes to make his mark, heading the game’s opening corner across the box for Didier Drogba to score the first of his two goals. Terry allowed himself a muted celebration, clenching his fists in evident relief before embracing the corner taker, Florent Malouda.
When victory was assured, however, he made up for that low-key response in more flamboyant fashion, stripping off his shirt at the end of the game and throwing it into the crowd before running towards Carlo Ancelotti. He subjected the Chelsea manager to a ferocious bear hug before disappearing down the tunnel.
Drogba became the first senior player to break silence over the outcry that followed disclosure of Terry’s alleged affair with Vanessa Perroncel, the one-time girlfriend of his former team-mate Wayne Bridge, when he offered his captain his unqualified backing. “We offered him [Terry] as much support as we can,” said the Ivory Coast striker. “The best thing for him is to play. All his team-mates have to do everything for him.”
He continued: “It has been a difficult week for us, for Chelsea, for all the club. We tried to stay together and focus on the game. It is a matter of time but we will stick together and keep looking forward. The most important thing is we are top of the league,” he added having scored his 12th goal in 12 matches against Arsenal.
Ancelotti echoed his forward’s support for Terry. “John is the perfect captain for Chelsea,” said the manager. “My captain has a fantastic attitude, he’s doing very well every game. For the team it is very important to have his leadership, he is always in control of the game, he has a very strong mentality.”
Ancelotti refused to be drawn on whether he was disappointed with his compatriot Fabio Capello for taking the England armband from Terry. He said: “He’s working for his club and we’re happy. I’m not disappointed because its not my decision, I don’t want to judge this decision. I knew that John met Capello [on Friday at Wembley] but I didn’t speak [with him] after that.”
Ancelotti denied that Terry’s woes had been an extra spur for his team. “No, I don’t think so, I don’t think it was good motivation because we wanted to win the Premiership, we want to win the other trophies. For this we have a good motivation, nothing else.”
Asked if the championship was now only between Chelsea and Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United who are two points behind, Ancelotti did not completely rule out Arsène Wenger’s team. “I don’t know, I’m not sure. I think for Arsenal it’s very difficult to return to the top of the table but they have an opportunity because they are a good team. It depends on the performances of Manchester United and Chelsea. I am not sure it will be a race with two horses.”
He was, though, clear that, despite Wenger’s assertion that the “better team” lost, Chelsea deserved the three points.
Of his side’s second goal he said: “It was fantastic movement, fantastic passing and a fantastic shot from Didier. This is football. Didier did very well and he is in a good moment. Maybe they had more possession than us but this is not football. Football is attack, defence and results also. We deserved to win.”
For Terry the blessing of victory was mixed. The captain finished the game with his left thigh strapped after suffering a dead leg. He will have it examined by the club’s medical staff at Chelsea’s training ground but it is not thought to be too serious as Ancelotti spoke of the central defender playing against Everton in two days’ time.
The club said that no decision has yet been made regarding whether Terry will be given compassionate leave to miss the weekend’s FA Cup fifth-round tie with Cardiff City, so that he can be with his wife, Toni, to repair their relationship. It is thought that may well be made after the visit to Goodison Park, possibly on Thursday.
Kevin McCarra’s match report, page 2 Richard Williams, page 4
codebase="https://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0"
id="bet365_affiliate_creative_banner_image"
width="300"
height="150">
quality="high"
allowScriptAccess="always"
allowNetworking"external"
swLiveConnect="false"
width="300"
height="150"
name="bet365_affiliate_creative_banner_image"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
pluginspage="https://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"
wmode="transparent">