Media hypocrites round on John Terry

The level of hypocrisy that surrounds the moral storm swirling over John Terry’s head has reached an all time high. When the minister for sport Gerry Sutcliffe called for Terry’s removal as England captain one had to blink twice at the sheer audacity of an MP lecturing a footballer about morality.

It has got nothing to do with his ability to lead England at the World Cup in South Africa but according to Sutcliffe he needs to lead by example. MPs show everyone how to behave by acting with such impropriety, it makes your eyes water. The expenses scandal of last year which exposed a huge swathe of ridiculous and unjustifiable claims is not exactly a model of how to run a clean and fair democratic system.

Then of course we have those fine upholders of truth and decency the newspapers who have hounded Terry over his obligation to resign after this dastardly and despicable act. It is a truth universally acknowledged that not one brave reporter or fine, upstanding newspaper executive has ever cheated on his wife. And then there was Gary Lineker making snide comments on Match of The Day about Terry “playing away” when his own fidelity record is not exactly pure as the driven snow.

These boys know how to conduct themselves alright and that Terry is a cad. Indeed they are so convinced of the moral high ground that they have been waving hundreds of thousands of pounds to get his mistress to tell the unvarnished truth. Thank God for the fearless journalists who are so nobly bringing the truth to a front page near you.

Nobody can defend the central defender’s actions and it must be heart-rending for the victims in this imbroglio, Wayne Bridge and Mrs T. It must be especially hard to accept as this is being splashed across the pages of newspapers up and down the country but the truth must out.

It would seem hard to outdo the cant that so many have been involved with but someone got pretty close on the 5 Live 606 phone-in on Saturday night. A Liverpool fan phoned to register her moral outrage at the actions of the English captain. The very minimum that was required, she argued, was that Terry should not be able to wear the captain’s armband for his country ever again.

So this harpie must have thought that when her beloved club captain Stephen Gerrard was seen on cctv punching a man repeatedly in the face, that this was conduct acceptable in a man of authority. True, Gerrard was acquitted but the evidence of the assault was still there for all to see and the legal niceties of provocation and circumstance do not disguise a cowardly and vicious assault.

Clearly, in this woman’s eyes, it is just fine and dandy compared to a spot of infidelity. The concern is that so many people side with her and the country’s moral compass is spinning wildly out of control. What is worst is the attitude of the media and the establishment.

Can Hiddink rescue Chelsea's season

During the negotiations between Guus Hiddink and Chelsea prior to his temporary appointment at Stamford Bridge there is bound to have been discussion of what would be considered a success during his tenure. Progress in the Champions League would have been a prerequisite and a semi final appearance demanded. The FA Cup may have been targeted as the most realistic chance of silverware this season.

The Holy Grail of the Premiership may have been glinting in the near distance but can Man United really be halted as they surge towards consecutive titles. Ferguson’s team appear to have built up such an irresistible momentum and opened up a large enough gap in the process to have made any chase seem a forlorn and fruitless task.

With 13 games remaining for Man Utd, they can expect a minimum points tally of another 26 points, so 85 in total. For Chelsea to reach 85 they can afford to drop only 2 points over 13 games. So 2 draws or one loss and the game is up, and with away games at Arsenal and Villa coming up, chances are that the title will be heading back to Old Trafford.

The other major factor in Hiddink’s rescue mission is whether he can truly balance the joint roles of managing both Chelsea and Russia. Some will point to his success at combining club with country previously but his current task is much more onerous than keeping Australia on course for 2006 World Cup and maintaining PSV’s stranglehold on Erevidise. Also if he is in charge for only a few months, that will mean there have been 5 managerial changes in less than 2 years which hardly smacks of the stability and consistency that is required to win the league.

Chelsea have shown signs of inconsistency recently with too many home draws against weaker opposition, such as the goalless draw with Hull, which signalled the end of Scolari’s reign. No amount of Hiddink magic can possibly turn things around quickly enough to re-ignite a season that has lost its sparkle and one wonders whether this short term, expedient move will help the club in the long term.

So the best they can hope for is a runners-up slot and maybe the chance of some FA Cup glory. But one wonders whether that’s enough for the rapacious owners who may have sacrificed the future of the club for a quick fix.