| John Terry out of England's Montenegro qualifier with back injury • Centre-back returns to Chelsea after medical assessment• Joleon Lescott likely to partner Rio Ferdinand in defenceJohn Terry has withdrawn from the squad for England's Euro 2012 qualifier with Montenegro at Wembley on Tuesday because of a back injury. The former captain left the team hotel tonight after it had been confirmed that he would not recover in time to play but the concern for England goes beyond the loss of another centre-half, following the withdrawal of Phil Jagielka.The evidence grows that Fabio Capello is no longer able to assume that this is a matter of simple misfortune. Rio Ferdinand was not in condition to go to the World Cup finals in the summer. Indeed he and Terry last turned out together in a friendly against Japan in May. The Chelsea defender's back trouble is not a new development but it is perturbing if he cannot manage the condition as well as he has until now.It is all the more ominous that a free week since the defeat of Arsenal has not been of sufficient benefit. The misgivings have not receded about Ferdinand either, although he had looked in more robust condition over the past week or two.Capello may have been interested in turning to Jagielka as a first-choice but that alternative is not open even though the Everton player, generally speaking, should offer more durability. Michael Dawson of Tottenham has turned out for Capello, only to be injured against Bulgaria last month. While Gary Cahill is now in the squad, the prospect seems to be of Joleon Lescott being in tandem with Ferdinand on Tuesday. Each may wonder how big a risk it is to take the field for England in this ill-starred period.The degree to which this area of the line-up occupies the manager's mind borders on absurdity, particularly since popular mythology suggests these traditionally blood-stained figures are supposed to be indomitable. They are transient individuals in Capello's case. Considering Montenegro, like England, have won all their Euro 2012 qualifiers, the issue is grave.The manager's researches have been thorough, with Matthew Upson and Jonathan Woodgate among those who have started under him. It has been hard for Capello to achieve reliability and Jamie Carragher's international retirement, now reinforced, has left England with even fewer potential solutions.The stringency that is needed has sometimes been lacking to a truly unsettling extent. England's valid complaint about the Frank Lampard "goal" that was not given at the World Cup, despite the fact that the ball had crossed the line, failed to be regarded as a major injustice because Germany had, after all, won 4-1.Capello may have been ill at ease for a long time. His style of play was notably conservative in South Africa. The 4-4-2 had little nuance and he may have felt obliged to aim for more security, even if it was to stay out of reach.There was an emphasis on weariness in the ranks following a packed season, but it is exhausting, too, for footballers to feel vulnerable. There can be little flair when the side goes on the attack either, if the side is uneasy about the damage that might be done if a pass goes astray in a key area of the pitch.On another front Capello lost Aaron Lennon on Saturday to injury, replacing him with Aston Villa's Stewart Downing but the Football Association said last night that no replacement for Terry "will be made at this time".Chelsea, too, may be concerned at their captain's condition. Alex is out for three weeks and they face five games in 19 days including a visit to Aston Villa on Saturday and home and away Champions League matches against Spartak Moscow.• This article was amended on 11 October 2010. The original referred to home and away matches against Sparta Prague. This has been corrected.EnglandJohn TerryEuro 2012Kevin McCarraguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Whitecaps reach USSF semifinals The Vancouver Whitecaps advanced to the semifinals of the USSF Division-2 playoffs with a 2-1 aggregate win over the Portland Timbers on Sunday. cbc.ca |
Wayne Rooney in Dubai: Do's and Don'ts How should United striker avoid another PR own goal in Dubai? telegraph.co.uk |
Sports minister orders probe amid FIFA bribery claims A Swiss newspaper is reporting that the country's sports minister has commissioned a probe into alleged corruption among international sports federations. cbc.ca |
Paul Doyle: Interesting times for Blackburn Should Rovers supporters chirp at the prospect of being taken under the wing of chicken giant Venky's?Maybe we'd all like to be clutched to the bosom of a super-rich idiot. But few folks go so far as to claim such an experience as an inalienable right. Unless, of course, they belong to the new breed of football fan increasingly incubated by the Premier League, specimens who demand that their club be bought by a spendthrift gazillionaire who thinks that balancing books is some sort of primitive kids' diversion like skipping ropes or hucklebones. The bigger the losses, the bigger the ambition. Yay!Consider, for example, the Everton fans who denounce Bill Kenwright for not splurging money that he does not have. Sensible people do not protest at financial prudence even if it's not exciting. However, while such people will not grumble about living within their means, many of them are uncomfortable with the notion of owners actually making profits out of their clubs. They would prefer that all surplus income is ploughed back into players and facilities rather than shareholders' pockets. Yes to managing football clubs in a way that makes them a sustainable social entity, no to transforming them into a narrow commercial triumph. According to this view, owners should run the club as fans, putting time, money and thought into a team not for gain, but for the unifying spirit and peculiar fun of it.The importance of being perceived as fans is well understood by canny investors, such as the new owners of Liverpool, who may have failed to persuade Mohamed Al Fayed to part with Fulham before bidding for Liverpool but were at least able to learn the words to You'll Never Walk Alone before their first appearance at Anfield. The prospective new owners of Blackburn do not seem so diligent.Anuradha J Desai, chairperson of the Indian chicken magnates, Venky's, who are poised to buy Blackburn in a deal worth around £46m, has been candid about the reason for seeking to buy the club: it is not to recreate the glory days of Jack Walker and the SAS partnership, nor even to achieve the 1960s heights of Marshall's Misfits. "We don't expect to be in the top five of the Premier League," Desai told the Economic Times. "We will be happy to be in the top 10-12," continued Desai, who suggested that becoming the first Indian company to own a Premier League club could be a useful prop for expanding their chicken empire throughout Asia and beyond. "This is an investment, it will grow on its own strength," he added.It might be argued that even if they are not nefarious, Venky's certainly seem naive. Desai has said that the group will reach their target by allocating an extra £5m to players. "We don't need expensive players, we can always lease them," explained Desai, who may or may not be aware that even loanees have to be paid. Then again, if the amount seems trifling by the extravagant standards of the Premier League, we should perhaps bear in mind that, with the financial muscle of the Walker trust atrophying, Blackburn's net outlay in transfer fees over the last five complete seasons has been -£7m, yet their finishing positions have been sixth, 10th, seventh, 15th and 10th.Adding an extra £5m a year on to their budget may leave only a little for recruits after the current annual losses are staved off, but, if the team continues to be managed as capably as Mark Hughes and Sam Allardyce have demonstrated in recent years, who is to say Blackburn cannot achieve Venky's target? They may not be proclaiming their love for the club nor declaring their intention to challenge for the Champions League, but the prospective new owners are pledging to keep Rovers as a steady member of the elite and do not come across as asset-strippers or money-launderers (then again, asset-strippers and money-launders tend not to introduce themselves as such). Rather than grouse, as some already have, perhaps Blackburn fans should chirp at the prospect of being taken under the wing of the chicken giant?If Venky's succeed in keeping the club at the heights for which they aim, then so what if they also piggyback it to flog more chickens? Then again, maybe the team's against-the-economic-odds success in recent seasons is impossible to sustain and, as their current position of 17th and, indeed, the history of the fabled Marshall's Misfits, indicates, a downfall is inevitable without much bigger investment? And perhaps the suggestion that Venky's intend not simply to be frugal, but to limit deliberately their expenditure to an amount below what they could afford so as to maximise profit, makes them unwelcome impostors?Blackburn RoversPaul Doyleguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |