John Terry: A talisman and an enigma
As John Terry hangs up his international football boots, writer and commentator John Anderson says England are losing a player who could be relied upon when the heat was on.
Whenever Chelsea play at Stamford Bridge the home fans unfurl a banner which reads “JT: Captain Leader Legend”, and it is a soubriquet which well suits arguably the club’s greatest ever servant.
The slogan could quite easily be appended with the word enigma, an overused and often misunderstood term but one which certainly applies to John George Terry who has decided, after 78 international appearances over nine years, that he no longer feels able to wear the England shirt.
His qualities as a player, leader and talisman on the field are undisputed, and in my personal experience I have found him to be an affable, eloquent and even charming figure off it. But ask most non-Chelsea supporters for their opinion and the response is likely to be rather less flattering.
Misdemeanours
They would point to a long list of misdemeanours which would suggest the former England skipper is little more than a disloyal, disrespectful and arrogant thug.
A man who upset American visitors the day after 9/11 with his drunken airport antics, was accused of bedding the ex-girlfriend of a teammate, parked his top of the range Bentley in a disabled space and was investigated for allegedly taking money in return for a tour of Chelsea’s training ground.
Then, of course, came the charge of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand during a match last October. Although he was cleared by a court of law, the Football Association’s (FA) decision to lay charges of their own at his door prompted Terry to consider his position as an England player as untenable.
Why then did he not choose not to take such a stance back in July when the FA charges were first levelled against him? The inference is surely that he expected to be found guilty, with the inevitable consequence that his international career would have been ended for him in any case.
Remember that, unlike Westminster magistrates court who found reasonable doubt in his favour, the FA panel’s verdict was based only on the balance of probabilities.
Enormous influence
So what have England lost as a player and a personality? Certainly, at his best, Terry was one of the most complete defenders of his generation; strong, brave, a good tackler, well organised, dominant in the air and indisputably an enormous influence in the dressing room.
It is also worth noting that, with six goals, he is England’s most prolific defender along with Jack Charlton. He was one of Roy Hodgson’s best performers during the Euro 2012 campaign, although there were worrying signs that his lack of pace had reached a stage which suggested potential major embarrassment at international level was just around the corner.
In interviews, which he seldom shirked, he would be frank, forthright and engaging. The day after England performed so pitifully against Algeria at the 2010 World Cup, it was John Terry who stuck his head above the parapet at a media conference to give an honest and heartfelt assessment of what had gone wrong and what could be improved.
This was construed in many sections of the media as little short of treason, a position exacerbated by grumbling noises from Fabio Capello. I was one of the few reporters present who felt Terry deserved better than to be set up and then shot down by his coach.
Complex individual
And yet, when the FA stripped Terry of the England captaincy for a second time following the initial racial abuse charge, Capello felt so outraged on behalf of his skipper that he quit on the spot.
Such is the enigma of John Terry: a person who can inspire fanatical loyalty and intense loathing in equal measure but I generally find myself harbouring positive memories of this complex individual.
When the FA hosted a pre-Euro 2012 barbecue for the media and players at their Hertfordshire retreat, one player spent more time than any other enjoying a chat and a laugh with the assembled hacks.
A figure who has received both applause and opprobrium at the hands of those who chronicle the national team and who, for all his myriad indiscretions, would always stand up and be counted when the heat was on: John George Terry.
John Anderson is a football commentator and sports writer. Follow @GreatFaceRadio on Twitter.