The FA take huge gamble by bringing Chelsea defender John Terry back for coaching role with squeaky-clean Gareth Southgate in charge
Chelsea defender who has a controversial past on and off the field will be coaching youngsters
JOHN TERRY: The England Captaincy Years. It would have made a cracking plot for a Hollywood movie.
It was the age-old story of man made captain, man allegedly diddles reserve left-back’s ex-girlfriend, man stripped of captaincy, man reinstated as captain, man accused of racially abusing central defensive partner’s brother, man cleared by a court of law, man found guilty by his employers, man stripped of captaincy, man quits international football, man’s boss resigns in fury.
So it is not as if Terry and the FA have not got significant baggage – and it is not as if any attempt to hire Terry, on however loose a basis, is without danger.
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Having opted for the squeaky-clean Gareth Southgate to manage England after Sam Allardyce’s speedy downfall, the governing body have taken a gamble by inviting Terry to help coach young age-group talent.
You never know when Terry is going to get into another scrape – and when it comes to off-field incidents, the list is as long as your arm. One of Mr Tickle’s arms.
But Southgate, a distinguished England international himself, is determined to stem the tide of former England players heading straight into media punditry rather than opting for careers in coaching.
And whatever his character flaws, the Chelsea captain has a wealth of experience and success with club and country.
If anything the FA ought to have extended the olive branch to Terry a little earlier – because, when he and Rio Ferdinand finished their international careers in bitter acrimony four years ago, the golden age of English centre-halves was over.
On footballing ability alone, Terry would have walked into the England team at the 2014 World Cup and would probably still have been worth a place at Euro 2016.
But despite some tentative enquiries on both sides the wounds were always too gaping.
At 36, Terry’s thoughts are turning to coaching and he may well have a lot to offer.
Yet if he is expected to act as a mentor teenagers in the England age-group, Terry had better start off by announcing - ‘do as I say, not as I do’.