The most hotly debated armband...in the world

The English football team's captaincy is one of the most fiercely debated topics, not just in England but around the globe. So when manager Fabio Capello this week decided to hand Chelsea hard man John Terry the armband back after first stripping it off him, a massive split in opinions arose. How did Terry lose the armband in the first place I hear you ask? Well last year rumours were confirmed that John Terry had an affair with team mate Wayne Bridge's ex girlfriend, talk about a captain's knock. Capello then handed the captaincy to injury prone Manchester United centre back and Terry's partner in crime for the Three Lions Rio Ferdinand. That in itself was an enormous decision the Italian - Capello - took, but it showed his authority on the team and why the English FA (Football Association) hired him. So little over a year later John Terry gets "his" armband back, but is it the right decision? In short, yes it is. John Terry is a natural leader and in my honest opinion England suffered majorly in South Africa largely on the back of him being stripped of the captaincy. But you could clearly see Capello had to strip it off him and it left England in a state of limbo. I do not agree with John Terry's style of play and his ethics for that matter but you cannot dispute his leadership qualities, he is one of the best captains around.

Back to Capello now and I think he has handled the re-giving of the armband to John Terry/taking it off Rio all wrong. First we heard the rumours once Rio was not fit to play in England's Euro qualifiers. This is when - in mine and a lot of other people's opinions - he should have taken Rio aside and told him of his decision in private before any one else knew. Unfortunately Fabio Capello didn't do it this way and let the English press run riot with captaincy stories and eventually announcing a press conference to confirm John Terry has reclaimed the Three Lions armband all the while not making much if any contact with Rio Ferdinand. Rio can certainly feel hard done by, his manager not even talking to him about this first is quite a blow but I'm sure Rio will come out the other side, maybe just not wearing the white of England anymore.