A Terry-ble state of affairs

FEB 7 — It is not hard to imagine what must be going through the minds of Chelsea players these days.

My guess is that they must be contributing a small portion of their huge salary to a “follow the captain” fund that pays for private investigators to tail the captain wherever he goes.

Honestly, it’s really quite difficult not to laugh at the predicament that John Terry has put himself in. No matter what he does in life henceforth, he will be known as the man who slept with a teammate’s wife.

And therein lies the reason for Fabio Capello and the English FA having to strip Terry of his captaincy in the England team. They feel the confidence that the team has shown over the World Cup qualifiers could all be shattered in South Africa, if all that the media is concerned about is whether the other players trust Terry as captain.

Can you imagine all the jokes and mocking that the England team will face if it was John Terry as captain going up to collect the World Cup trophy, in the event that England wins the tournament. The world press will have a field day.

Last Tuesday, Hull City supporters had their day when Chelsea visited. They jeered every John Terry touch, cheered every John Terry mistake and greeted his booking, not mention sang songs that will become an anthem for every team that plays Chelsea henceforth.

The Blues certainly looked uncertain against Hull for long spells and skipper Terry could be forgiven for having other things on his mind.

No doubt his on-field commitment cannot be questioned but this whole episode is more than just about Terry having an affair. It’s a betrayal of trust of a teammate, an England teammate, one who will most likely be on the plane to South Africa in June.

Rio Ferdinand, as vice-captain, will step up to take the armband from Terry for the next match against Egypt on March 3 and will most likely be on trial for the position in South Africa, with Steven Gerrard taking over the vice-captain role.

In my opinion Gerrard deserves to wear the armband without any need to test the credential of Ferdinand. The Liverpool skipper has shown many times for his club how he can lift the team during hard times – the Champions League final of 2005 comes to mind – and his presence itself could boost the team. That makes him a great leader for England in my books.

While that remains to be unseen, Terry will be back to club captain duties when he leads the Blues out for their Premiership showdown against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge tonight.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger maintains the John Terry saga will have no bearing on tonight’s match and believes the role of a captain is overplayed within the English game.

Chelsea go into the clash six points clear of Wenger’s side and victory will almost certainly end Arsenal’s title chances. Or maybe not, considering the same thing was said after The Gunners lost to Chelsea in November and were 11 points off the top of the table.

But Chelsea’s and Manchester United’s poor run of form in December, coupled with Arsenal’s resurgence, put Wenger’s side back in the hunt.

This is a must win game for The Gunners after their horrific display at the Emirates against MU last weekend. Arsenal were as careless as they were when they played Chelsea earlier this season, and received a similar lesson.

Calling to mind the match against MU at Old Trafford back in August, the Gunners are certainly up to playing with the likes of Chelsea and MU, but sadly there are some players who are just not cut out for the team and showed their lack of commitment last weekend. But that’s a whole different story which I will not get into for now.

Back to this week’s blockbuster, Wenger is chasing his 300th win as a Premier League manager. Victory against Chelsea would see him become only the second manager to reach this milestone after Alex Ferguson who is currently on 439. But let’s not forget that Ferguson started his managerial reign at Old Trafford in 1986, a good 10 years before Wenger came into the picture.

Arsenal were unbeaten in 10 league fixtures before their defeat last Sunday and will look to put their title bid back on track. Meanwhile, Chelsea have dropped just two points at home all season, winning 11 of their 12 fixtures in front of their own fans.

My hope is that Wenger will be playing the likes of Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott from the start to boost the attacking strengths and bring on the likes of Nasri and Abou Diaby later to control the game.

This is a must-win match for Chelsea too, to get back on top of the table. The pressure would be on them as much as it would be on Arsenal.

So, with the right level of play and commitment, I really believe that The Gunners can at least score a point at the Bridge . . . not unlike how Terry scored with a Mrs Bridge.