Terry captaincy ‘could split England dressing-room’

John Terry's return to the England captaincy would completely split the dressing-room, some of the country's top pundits are claiming today. They were reacting to the news that Fabio Capello is considering returning the armband to Terry, having publicly demoted the Chelsea defender from captain just over 12 months ago after an alleged affair with a former partner of England team-mate Wayne Bridge.

Steven Howard of the Sun expressed sympathy for Rio Ferdinand, the Manchester United defender who has held the England captaincy since Terry’s dismissal.

"Ferdinand's humiliation will have further split a dressing-room in which he is hugely popular," Howard wrote this morning. "Terry is viewed with not only a little suspicion for his huge personal ambition but a certain wariness over the way he let down Bridge."
 
Henry Winter called the decision "naive, bemusing and potentially very damaging" in his Daily Telegraph column.

"Laughably, Capello argues that he does not believe Ferdinand and company will be upset," Winter wrote. "Yes they will. England’s manager may just find out today when meeting Ferdinand before Manchester United's game with Marseille."
 
Not all pundits are against the move. "Who are these rebels anyway?" asked Martin Samuel of the Daily Mail  "Young players such as Jack Wilshere, Andy Carroll and Joe Hart will surely be more focused on winning a place in the side, or staying there; of the seniors, the Chelsea contingent are unlikely to reject their club captain, and Wayne Rooney is known to be among Terry's allies." ·