Rio's A Great Captain

Rio Ferdinand has been snubbed for the England captaincy by Fabio Capello who, after almost months of rotating and mysteriousness, appointed John Terry.

Why did he have to play this comedy with the senior members of the squad we'll never know. If he thought Terry was the best option he could have made the choice straightaway: it wouldn't have upset anyone if he announced he wished to continue with the former coach's captain. This way, he certainly upset some players.

Not least our own Rio Ferdinand, who, apart from being a comfortably better player than 'JT', is also a better leader and seems to have grasped the significance of the current 'Respect' campaign which might be ridiculous but the referees certainly put an emphasis to it. Of course it has been launched partly because of Terry and his total failure to control his Chelsea teammates who bite the ref's head off at every decision they do not like.

So, the man who is captain at a club that has been charged several times over the last season for failing to control its players is deemed suitable for the England armband. Well, that's life, Rio and you've got to live with it. Wes Brown, who will possibly never become captain anywhere - not that he seems to crave the responsibility - believes his teammate will bounce back from the disappointment.

'Rio will be fine. He knew he had a good chance of being captain and then the gaffer picked John Terry so we all just get on with it now.

'Rio has got a great attitude, is a great footballer and I am sure he will take it in his stride and continue to do well for his country and United.

'I play alongside him every week so he would have been my choice but then the Chelsea players would have said exactly the same about John Terry.'

By the way, Wes Brown deserves to be applauded for scoring a goal - it is indeed a rarity in his case. Let's forget how he fared against the Czech counter-attacks though...

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