| What does it matter who wears the England captain's armband? | Barry Glendenning Making a huge fuss over who should lead the national football team seems to be a peculiarly English phenomenonWhile the news that Rio Ferdinand has regained the England armband from Steven Gerrard ought to be worthy of little more than a shoulder-shrug, it appears to have made headline news in a country where football fans seem peculiarly obsessed with the captaincy of their national team and which player it should be bestowed upon. Before you head straight for the comments section, it would be a gross dereliction of journalistic duty if I failed to concede that (a) the Guardian is as responsible as any other media outlet else for this sorry state of affairs and (b) by cranking out several hundred words on the subject I am rendering said state of affairs even sorrier.During his pre-match press conference earlier this afternoon, Fabio Capello was quizzed at length on the logic behind his decision to reinstate Ferdinand for tomorrow night's Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro by members of the Fourth Estate, who seemed unconvinced by his response that it was a no-brainer. The Manchester United centre-half was appointed captain in the wake of John Terry's high-profile demotion to the rank and file eight months ago, duly led out England in a brace of World Cup warm-ups and has since been unavailable through injury. Now that he's regained his fitness and is once again available for selection, Capello views him as the obvious candidate.That said, the predictable news that he'll lead the side appears to be the source of much excited murmuring, with many journalists apparently under the impression that his reinstatement is a managerial snook cocked in the face of Gerrard that could have an adverse effect on the famously sensitive Scouser's form. The fact that Gerrard's thoughts on the matter remain unknown doesn't appear to have prevented assorted folk from being outraged on his behalf, although whether this stems from general concern for the Liverpool midfielder's feelings, a media obsession with the England captaincy that became disturbingly apparent around the time of John Terry's off-field "difficulties", or desperation to find an interesting news line with which to fill column inches on an otherwise slow day remains open to debate.Hailing as he does from a country whose national football team is automatically captained by the player in the side boasting the highest number of caps, Capello must be completely bewildered by the commotion that has surrounded his appointment of an onfield spokesman. While it is obviously an honour for any player to lead his country, it could be argued that the role is nothing more than ceremonial: leading out the team, exchanging pennants, calling heads or tails and not bumping uglies with a team-mate's ex-girlfriend.Having said that, unconfirmed and possibly scurrilous rumours suggest that much of the blame for England's recent poor showing at the World Cup can be attributed to a armband-related rift between rival factions among the players: those who thought Terry should have regained it when Ferdinand was ruled out through injury and those who did not.This afternoon, Ferdinand expressed his pleasant surprise at getting his old job back, while being careful to point out what a "fantastic job" Gerrard had done in his absence. He then explained that Capello had spoken to them both about it. "We're both professional, mature and experienced players," he added. "If it had gone the other way then I'd say that I hope you do well and I'm behind you."Diplomatic words indeed, but one can't help but feel that England might have gone some small way towards sorting out the big tournament malaise with which they have long been dogged if, rather than making an increasingly restrictive bungee rope out of what is little more than a length of gaudy ceremonial elastic, Ferdinand had called upon England's players, supporters and media cheerleaders to stop being so ridiculously hung up on which particular player's biceps it ends up being wrapped around.EnglandRio FerdinandSteven GerrardBarry Glendenningguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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