John Terry stripped of England captaincy...again

The John Terry/Anton Ferdinand saga was drawn out even further earlier in the week when it was announced that his trial would not begin until after the European championships in July. Largely due to that delay, the FA has today released a statement that John Terry will not be captaining the England squad at this summer's tournament. Terry was reportedly notified by phone of the decision this morning and has yet to comment publically on the matter. Fabio Capello was also reportedly informed of the board's decision this morning by phone.

Frankly this decision may be a good thing for both Terry and Chelsea. You have to assume that he's going to have some additional motivation to show his quality now, he certainly seems to play very well every time his life off the pitch sees a little more turmoil. You'd also have to wonder if this is simply a precursor to his being left off the squad, but that decision rests on both the player and Capello. His having the summer off wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to Chelsea though, so maybe that would be for the best.