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The former England international on Ferrero Rocher at ambassadors’ receptions, immigration and combing armpit hair

Hello? It’s Viv Anderson.

How are you doing Viv? Fine thank you.

So you’re an ambassador for the 2018 World Cup bid … Yeah, for Nottingham.

What does that involve? Telling everybody how lovely Nottingham is really.

And how lovely is Nottingham, Viv? [Chuckling] Well obviously as you know I was born and bred there. It’s very cosmopolitan, it has close links to London, it’s only about an hour and a half on the train from there. It’s got a lot of fabulous hotels now, the city centre has many business sites, loads of pubs, so it’s a lively, vivacious place.

What’s the best pub in Nottingham? I would say the Living Room. It’s close to where friends of ours usually stay, so we often pop in there.

When you get together with the other ambassadors for the ambassadors’ reception, do they serve Ferrero Rocher? [Chuckling] No, I don’t think I’ve every had one thank you very much.

You’ve never had a Ferrero Rocher? No, never. I’ve got no chance – if I start eating sweet things I’d be the size of a mountain so no, sorry.

Still, you ambassadors must get to go to some of those infamous Fifa lunches … I haven’t been to one yet. It’s in its infancy at the moment, we put the ambassadors together over the last month or so, and we’re just doing things like this at the moment to promote the cities we’re involved in.

There aren’t any other perks to being an ambassador then? Diplomatic immunity? No, not yet.

Can England win the World Cup this year? With the qualifying campaign we had, I think people have sat up and taken notice now. Once you get through to the knockout stages, which I expect England to do, nobody – whether it be Spain, Germany, Italy or Brazil – will want to play England in a one-off knockout game. We’re quite capable of beating anybody with the people we’ve got, but on the other side of it we’re quite capable of losing. You need a bit of luck along the way. But to answer your question I’d say I think we can at least get to the semi-finals this time. I’m optimistic.

You played under Sir Alex Ferguson and Brian Clough during your career. Who gave out the worse rollickings? I think they both gave out the worst rollickings for different reasons. You wouldn’t mess with either of them, they epitomise respect from all the players who played under them and I wouldn’t want to choose between the two. If I had to choose I think Sir Alex’s venom when he really loses it could be a little bit worse, but there isn’t much in it.

What was the worst you ever received? Were you ever on the end of a particularly brutal assassination? Many times. The list is too big to go through now, but I was on the receiving end many times.

Who was the best player you played with? I always go back to Bryan Robson, who was the England captain at the time. Robson could do everything – he could pass, he could score, he could tackle, he could head. He’d do everything a central midfield player could do. The most gifted player I ever played with would be Glenn Hoddle. And Peter Shilton, who was maybe the best goalkeeper in the world at one time.

What would you have done if you hadn’t been a footballer? I know exactly what I would have done. I would have been a silk screen printer.

Said with absolute certainty … Because I was a silk screen printer. I went to Manchester United as a schoolboy for a year, came back, they said I wasn’t going to be good enough. So I went back to Nottingham, did my exams and got three CSEs and then I needed to get a job. So I left school and became a silk screen printer for literally three weeks. And Nottingham Forest said ‘come and play for our youth team’ on a Wednesday, and I signed for them a week later, and I made my debut at 17. I say I was a silk screen printer but that means a glorified tea boy really. I’d get the tea, and get the sandwiches at lunch time. I was just a dogsbody.

Do you believe you would have been still doing that today? I presume I would have been. You never know where life takes you but I presume I would have still been doing that – probably still making tea!

You could have become an actual ambassador … [Laughing] Well, that’s another story …

Are you interested in politics at all? I like to watch prime minister’s question time … and the one David Dimbleby presents … that’s also called Question Time. I’m quite interested, yes, not interested in becoming a politician, but I’m interested.

Is David Cameron the man to fix broken Britain? Erm, I think politics goes through cycles, doesn’t it – they have four or eight years, then they vote for the next one, which is always a Labour government or a Conservative one. So I think it’s time for a change.

But is Britain actually broken? Erm, probably. Well I don’t know, I wouldn’t have thought so, actually, no. Every country has its own problems don’t they? I think we’re no different to any other country really.

If you were prime minister for the day, what law would you change? I’d probably be a little bit stricter with immigration. I tried to go to America, and I tried to go to Australia, and the stringent tests you have to go through to get to these countries is really difficult. I think we’ve let a lot of people in, I think we’ve helped our society but I think there should be a lot more stringent tests for people to get in.

OK, serious question time. What’s the best thing to put on toast? For me, it’s beans.

Beans? Small Talk was expecting some kind of spread. [Genuinely delighted to catch Small Talk out] Jam! You were thinking jam weren’t you? No, I like beans on toast, having played professional sport for many years, that was my pre-match meal.

Where’s the nicest place you’ve ever eaten? [Ponders for some time] Langhams Brasserie in London. Every time I’ve been – and I’ve been going off and on for 20 years – I always enjoy the food and the atmosphere. I’ve always enjoyed it there and they’ve always made me welcome.

If you were hosting a dinner party and could invite three people, whom would it be? Nelson Mandela, for obvious reasons, because of the stories he’d be able to tell about his life. Muhammad Ali, the sportsman. And probably Winston Churchill.

No ladies at your dinner party? No. [Chuckles]

And what would you serve? Lasagne. I got into cooking after I finished playing. I think it’s quite therapeutic to cook, so I cook for the family.

Do aliens exist? I think something exists, yes. I think there has got to be another life form besides ourselves in the universe.

What about ghosts? I’m not sure about ghosts. I’ve not seen one.

Which would you be more scared to discover in your living room at 4am one morning? [Matter of factly] A ghost.

Last question then Viv, what was the best dressing-room prank you saw as a footballer? A colleague of mine, Terry Curran, borrowed somebody’s washbag to get some underarm spray, but it turned out to be hair remover. So he sprayed it under his arms and literally three days later he combed his hair and it all fell out in big chunks.

He was combing the hair in his armpit?! No, he was combing his normal hair. He put it under his arms, went home, didn’t think about it and then a couple of days later he was combing his hair and it came out in chunks. He couldn’t understand why until we told him two days later that he used the wrong thing under his arms.

Brilliant. Thanks very much Viv. Thanks a lot. Bye bye.

Viv Anderson is an England 2018 ambassador. You can join Viv in Backing the Bid by texting ‘ENGLAND’ to 62018 or by visiting www.england2018bid.com where you can also find the latest bid news, video and imagery. Fans can play a major role in England’s bid by demonstrating the country’s unrivalled passion for football to the world. Hundreds of thousands of fans from more than 140 countries have already backed the bid and high-profile supporters include David Beckham, Lewis Hamilton, Amir Khan, Sting and Noel Gallagher.

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• ‘It’s time for everyone to move on,’ says Gerrard
• Liverpool midfielder delighted to be England captain

Steven Gerrard believes that the England players have been unaffected by the recent spate of scadals involving certain members of the squad.

The Liverpool midfielder was in upbeat mood as he looked ahead to tomorrow night’s friendly with Egypt when he will captain the team in the absence of the injured Rio Ferdinand. “The spirit of the players has been really good,” said Gerrard. “Training went very well this morning and the lads are in good spirits.”

Anticipating a negative Wembley crowd reaction towards the former captain John Terry, Gerrard added: “England supporters have been fantastic and they come to game to support the team. Players private lives are their own affairs and I think it’s time for everyone to move on and get behind the team.

“Playing for England is a big stage but [this game] is a good opportunity for the boys to show the country we are all together. It can be frustrating [for the team] but as a player its important to park those issues off the pitch.”

Asked about the absence of Wayne Bridge, who withdrew indefinitely from the England squad after the furore over the allegations about Terry’s relationship with his former partner, Gerrard took a diplomatic route.

“Bridge is a fantastic player,” he said. “I’ve known him for a long time and we have to respect his decision. It’s a fantastic opportunity for other players to come in. I won’t speak to him [about his decision]. I don’t think its any of my business.

Whatever the disruptions to the team Gerrard was still delighted to wear the captain’s armband again.

“It’s a big responsibility and I’m really pleased to be leading the players out at the game. All the boys are very focused on the World Cup and challenging for positions and training today was very focused.”

For full story go to here

The left-back’s loathing of John Terry proves stronger than his love for his country, and leaves Fabio Capello with a difficult decision

Not to worry, the professionals said. What happens in the dressing room stays in the dressing room, or words to that effect. When the match starts, the football is all that matters. “You don’t take it on to the pitch,” Teddy Sheringham assured us. So how much do the pros know?

Quite clearly, what has happened between Wayne Bridge and John Terry is several degrees more serious than the spat that persuaded Sheringham and Andrew Cole, his Manchester United strike partner, to go about their business in a mutually observed silence, without any evident detriment to their joint performance.

Bridge feels differently. He believes that the pain, or anger, or whatever alchemy of emotions he endured as a result of John Terry’s clandestine liaison with his former girlfriend and the mother of his son is enough to make it impossible for him to wear the same shirt as his former clubmate. Some time between now and Saturday afternoon, when his Manchester City meet Terry’s Chelsea, we shall discover whether he can find it possible to share the same pitch, even as a member of the opposing side.

Some may think the French handled this sort of thing rather more effectively back at the 1982 World Cup, when Jean-François Larios was ejected from the squad after the discovery of his affair with the wife of Michel Platini. The miscreant (or whatever you want to call him) was punished, and the injured party stayed put – and France were lucky, because Michel Hidalgo had Jean Tigana ready to take Larios’s place alongside Platini and Alain Giresse as they progressed to the semi-finals. With England, where brazenness tends to bring rewards, the reverse seems to have happened.

It may say a lot about the differences between Terry and Bridge, and the values they espouse, that whereas one jetted off to Dubai for a highly contrived and well publicised rapprochement with his wife, the injured party chose to suffer, until now, in a silent and dignified obscurity. Or it may not. Perhaps the superficial analysis gives a distorted reading of the true position. We can’t really know.

Certainly not many of us retain the sort of proprietorial feelings towards our ex-lovers that Bridge appears to harbour for Vanessa Perroncel. Those sort of rights tend to evaporate once the other toothbrush disappears from the bathroom and the front door is slammed for the last time. There may well be subsequent twinges of jealousy, but what happens next is really none of our business. Bridge’s reaction, however, is evidently more complicated, which only makes him a human being rather than a cartoon figure, and it is probably not indulging in unjustified speculation to suggest that those feelings are bound up with a concern for his small son.

When he moved to Manchester City 13 months ago, he went alone. Jayden Jean-Claude Bridge, two years old, stayed behind with his mother in their fine mansion, the sort of comfortable quarters that Chelsea footballers acquire in order to be close to their training ground at Stoke d’Abernon. Some time in the summer, it seems, the relationship broke down, and some time after that Terry began paying visits to Perroncel.

Anything else – including the reasons for Perroncel’s sudden vow of silence, which may or may not have involved a payment from Terry equivalent to several hundred thousand pounds – falls under the heading of what John Prescott calls “twittle-twattle”, at least at this stage. Bridge, however, has made the strength of his response abundantly clear. He has told the world that his antipathy towards Terry – with whom he shared holidays, as well as a dressing room, over a six-year period – is powerful enough to persuade him to abandon his England career only a matter of weeks before what should have been his third trip to the World Cup finals.

“He’s the only one who knows how he feels,” the former Arsenal and England player Paul Merson told Sky Sports, “but I think he should have sat on it for a while. In two months’ time he might feel a lot better inside. I don’t want to think of him sitting down in two years’ time and thinking: ‘I should have been part of history.’ Time’s a great healer.”

But Bridge has had long enough to reach his conclusion without acting in undue haste, and may not be a candidate for repentance at leisure. It is possible, although seemingly unlikely, that Fabio Capello will succeed in talking him back into the fold, which gives the England manager the problem of plugging the gap at left-back.

In the unavoidable absence of Ashley Cole, and with Arsenal’s Kieran Gibbs, another of the younger candidates, out for the season, Leighton Baines of Everton and Stephen Warnock of Aston Villa lead the short queue to take the No3 shirt against Egypt next week. Warnock’s excellent progress, in particular, is a standing rebuke to Rafael Benítez, who allowed the player, a product of the Melwood academy, to leave Liverpool three years ago. There are suggestions that Capello might follow the example of Carlo Ancelotti and move the versatile James Milner into the role occupied by Florent Malouda for Chelsea at San Siro on Wednesday – an option strongly endorsed by Stuart Pearce, Milner’s international Under-21 manager.

For Capello, however, there are problems throughout in a defence now looking unexpectedly threadbare in every position – except, ironically, the one occupied by John Terry.

For full story go to here

• Capello to set out expectation on private lives next week
• ‘You have to understand what I want to stay with me’

Fabio Capello will issue a stark warning about personal conduct when his squad meets for the first time since explosive revelations about their private lives.

The England manager said he had not yet spoken to John Terry and Wayne Bridge, the men at the centre of the ­biggest controversy, but did not expect any problems when they meet for next week’s friendly against Egypt at Wembley.

Capello, speaking yesterday at Sun City in South Africa after a World Cup coaches’ workshop, signalled that no one is indispensable if they fall short of his standards. The strict disciplinarian said he will tell his players: “You have to understand what I want if you want to stay with me. It will be a rainbow because we need to create a group. We need a squad. It’s really ­important, the England shirt.”

He added: “For me this will be one of the most important points that we speak about.” Capello stripped Terry of the captaincy after the publication – following the lifting of a media gagging order – of details of an alledged extramarital affair with Vanessa Perroncel, the mother of Bridge’s son.

The Italian welcomed his first opportunity to speak face to face to the players as a group since the 1-0 friendly defeat by Brazil more than three months ago. “We’ll meet the players next week. It will be a very important game for a lot of reasons.

“When we’re together as a group I will speak with the players. I prefer to speak where we stay in person. I don’t like to speak by phone.” Asked to elaborate on the message he would convey, he said only: “It’s personal.”

He insisted that Bridge would continue his international career. “He’ll be with us. No problems about other things that you know about.”

Another England player, Ashley Cole, has been in the spotlight this week over the latest revelations about his private life and the break-up of his marriage to the singer Cheryl Cole. But Capello denied that the barrage of headlines was undermining his World Cup preparations. “No. I think the World Cup is really important for me, for England and for the players. We have to stay together, we have to be compact in every moment. I think this will be my most important job: to recreate this spirit. I have read of a lot of things but the pitch is different. Out of the pitch, everyone can make different things.” Asked if he could confirm Rio Ferdinand as captain for the tournament, Capello said simply: “Wait.”

The manager confirmed England had settled on the Bafokeng Sports Complex near Rustenburg for their training base during the tournament. “I’m really happy. We checked everything and it improved a lot from the last time we stayed here. The pitches are good and will be better for June. The pitches and the centre we choose will be very important for us.

“The hotel is really, really nice and the medical centre will be ready in two months. I’m really, really happy because it’s the third time I’ve stayed here and the facilities are fantastic.”

He added: “We have to sign but we are ready for signing the contract. We visited four different places and this, for us, is the best.”

Capello appeared untroubled by reports suggesting that much of the complex still resembled a building site and that the facilities might not be ready on schedule. He said that, on a visit to the site on Monday, the quality of training pitches had much improved since his previous visit.

“The pitches are really good. I, yesterday, was surprised at the level of these pitches because when we stayed here the last time there was terrible pitches and we decided we have to work to improve them.”

Jérôme Valcke, the secretary general of Fifa, told a press conference at the same event: “I was invited by the King of Bafokeng to see this centre because they are looking for Fifa support in the future, after the World Cup, about potential use of international teams who want to train out of their continent.

“The rooms are there – there is a welcome desk where you can pay, a breakfast area where you can eat. There was a television and internet in the room. We have been told the medical centre will be built on time.”

He added: “We are 108 days away. It seems short, it is short. But even if we have to stay awake all night, all day, all will be ready by the time of the World Cup. I would not be in front of you saying this hotel will be ready if I was not sure it will be ready.”

It is understood Algeria, one of England’s Group C opponents, are yet to decide where to stay.

Danny Jordaan, the chief executive of the 2010 Organising Committee, insisted the feedback from officials during the meetings in Sun City has been positive. “We’ve met with the teams and coaches and overall they are very happy,” he said.

For full story go to here

• Capello to set out expectation on private lives next week
• ‘You have to understand what I want to stay with me’

Fabio Capello will issue a stark warning about personal conduct when his squad meets for the first time since explosive revelations about their private lives.

The England manager said he had not yet spoken to John Terry and Wayne Bridge, the men at the centre of the ­biggest controversy, but did not expect any problems when they meet for next week’s friendly against Egypt at Wembley.

Capello, speaking yesterday at Sun City in South Africa after a World Cup coaches’ workshop, signalled that no one is indispensable if they fall short of his standards. The strict disciplinarian said he will tell his players: “You have to understand what I want if you want to stay with me. It will be a rainbow because we need to create a group. We need a squad. It’s really ­important, the England shirt.”

He added: “For me this will be one of the most important points that we speak about.” Capello stripped Terry of the captaincy after the publication – following the lifting of a media gagging order – of details of an alledged extramarital affair with Vanessa Perroncel, the mother of Bridge’s son.

The Italian welcomed his first opportunity to speak face to face to the players as a group since the 1-0 friendly defeat by Brazil more than three months ago. “We’ll meet the players next week. It will be a very important game for a lot of reasons.

“When we’re together as a group I will speak with the players. I prefer to speak where we stay in person. I don’t like to speak by phone.” Asked to elaborate on the message he would convey, he said only: “It’s personal.”

He insisted that Bridge would continue his international career. “He’ll be with us. No problems about other things that you know about.”

Another England player, Ashley Cole, has been in the spotlight this week over the latest revelations about his private life and the break-up of his marriage to the singer Cheryl Cole. But Capello denied that the barrage of headlines was undermining his World Cup preparations. “No. I think the World Cup is really important for me, for England and for the players. We have to stay together, we have to be compact in every moment. I think this will be my most important job: to recreate this spirit. I have read of a lot of things but the pitch is different. Out of the pitch, everyone can make different things.” Asked if he could confirm Rio Ferdinand as captain for the tournament, Capello said simply: “Wait.”

The manager confirmed England had settled on the Bafokeng Sports Complex near Rustenburg for their training base during the tournament. “I’m really happy. We checked everything and it improved a lot from the last time we stayed here. The pitches are good and will be better for June. The pitches and the centre we choose will be very important for us.

“The hotel is really, really nice and the medical centre will be ready in two months. I’m really, really happy because it’s the third time I’ve stayed here and the facilities are fantastic.”

He added: “We have to sign but we are ready for signing the contract. We visited four different places and this, for us, is the best.”

Capello appeared untroubled by reports suggesting that much of the complex still resembled a building site and that the facilities might not be ready on schedule. He said that, on a visit to the site on Monday, the quality of training pitches had much improved since his previous visit.

“The pitches are really good. I, yesterday, was surprised at the level of these pitches because when we stayed here the last time there was terrible pitches and we decided we have to work to improve them.”

Jérôme Valcke, the secretary general of Fifa, told a press conference at the same event: “I was invited by the King of Bafokeng to see this centre because they are looking for Fifa support in the future, after the World Cup, about potential use of international teams who want to train out of their continent.

“The rooms are there – there is a welcome desk where you can pay, a breakfast area where you can eat. There was a television and internet in the room. We have been told the medical centre will be built on time.”

He added: “We are 108 days away. It seems short, it is short. But even if we have to stay awake all night, all day, all will be ready by the time of the World Cup. I would not be in front of you saying this hotel will be ready if I was not sure it will be ready.”

It is understood Algeria, one of England’s Group C opponents, are yet to decide where to stay.

Danny Jordaan, the chief executive of the 2010 Organising Committee, insisted the feedback from officials during the meetings in Sun City has been positive. “We’ve met with the teams and coaches and overall they are very happy,” he said.

For full story go to here

• Capello to set out expectation on private lives next week
• ‘You have to understand what I want to stay with me’

Fabio Capello will issue a stark warning about personal conduct when his squad meets for the first time since explosive revelations about their private lives.

The England manager said he had not yet spoken to John Terry and Wayne Bridge, the men at the centre of the ­biggest controversy, but did not expect any problems when they meet for next week’s friendly against Egypt at Wembley.

Capello, speaking yesterday at Sun City in South Africa after a World Cup coaches’ workshop, signalled that no one is indispensable if they fall short of his standards. The strict disciplinarian said he will tell his players: “You have to understand what I want if you want to stay with me. It will be a rainbow because we need to create a group. We need a squad. It’s really ­important, the England shirt.”

He added: “For me this will be one of the most important points that we speak about.” Capello stripped Terry of the captaincy after the publication – following the lifting of a media gagging order – of details of an alledged extramarital affair with Vanessa Perroncel, the mother of Bridge’s son.

The Italian welcomed his first opportunity to speak face to face to the players as a group since the 1-0 friendly defeat by Brazil more than three months ago. “We’ll meet the players next week. It will be a very important game for a lot of reasons.

“When we’re together as a group I will speak with the players. I prefer to speak where we stay in person. I don’t like to speak by phone.” Asked to elaborate on the message he would convey, he said only: “It’s personal.”

He insisted that Bridge would continue his international career. “He’ll be with us. No problems about other things that you know about.”

Another England player, Ashley Cole, has been in the spotlight this week over the latest revelations about his private life and the break-up of his marriage to the singer Cheryl Cole. But Capello denied that the barrage of headlines was undermining his World Cup preparations. “No. I think the World Cup is really important for me, for England and for the players. We have to stay together, we have to be compact in every moment. I think this will be my most important job: to recreate this spirit. I have read of a lot of things but the pitch is different. Out of the pitch, everyone can make different things.” Asked if he could confirm Rio Ferdinand as captain for the tournament, Capello said simply: “Wait.”

The manager confirmed England had settled on the Bafokeng Sports Complex near Rustenburg for their training base during the tournament. “I’m really happy. We checked everything and it improved a lot from the last time we stayed here. The pitches are good and will be better for June. The pitches and the centre we choose will be very important for us.

“The hotel is really, really nice and the medical centre will be ready in two months. I’m really, really happy because it’s the third time I’ve stayed here and the facilities are fantastic.”

He added: “We have to sign but we are ready for signing the contract. We visited four different places and this, for us, is the best.”

Capello appeared untroubled by reports suggesting that much of the complex still resembled a building site and that the facilities might not be ready on schedule. He said that, on a visit to the site on Monday, the quality of training pitches had much improved since his previous visit.

“The pitches are really good. I, yesterday, was surprised at the level of these pitches because when we stayed here the last time there was terrible pitches and we decided we have to work to improve them.”

Jérôme Valcke, the secretary general of Fifa, told a press conference at the same event: “I was invited by the King of Bafokeng to see this centre because they are looking for Fifa support in the future, after the World Cup, about potential use of international teams who want to train out of their continent.

“The rooms are there – there is a welcome desk where you can pay, a breakfast area where you can eat. There was a television and internet in the room. We have been told the medical centre will be built on time.”

He added: “We are 108 days away. It seems short, it is short. But even if we have to stay awake all night, all day, all will be ready by the time of the World Cup. I would not be in front of you saying this hotel will be ready if I was not sure it will be ready.”

It is understood Algeria, one of England’s Group C opponents, are yet to decide where to stay.

Danny Jordaan, the chief executive of the 2010 Organising Committee, insisted the feedback from officials during the meetings in Sun City has been positive. “We’ve met with the teams and coaches and overall they are very happy,” he said.

For full story go to here

• Chelsea manager says left-back will be fit for South Africa
• Wayne Bridge set to be in England squad alongside John Terry

Carlo Ancelotti has offered his compatriot Fabio Capello timely encouragement by suggesting Ashley Cole should have recovered from a fractured ankle in time to prove his fitness ahead of the World Cup.

The Chelsea and England left-back underwent surgery today on the bone broken in a challenge with Everton’s Landon Donovan at Goodison Park on Wednesday night and his left ankle is expected to be in plaster for up to a month.

Should his rehabilitation progress as expected, however, he could yet feature for Chelsea before the end of the current campaign and, all being well, would be available for England’s pre-tournament friendlies against Mexico on 24 May and against Japan in Austria ahead of the squad’s departure for South Africa.

“I hope he recovers quickly and comes back before the end of the season,” Ancelotti said. “That’s a realistic possibility. He will have surgery today and we hope to recuperate him quickly. In three months he will be ready to play, so for England he can play in the World Cup.”

The Chelsea manager added: “When a player has an injury, it’s normal that he’s depressed. I had a lot of injuries in my career and was down. But, after the depression, you have to look forward. You have to rest, to recover and to work. Ashley has a fantastic spirit to do this. I’m sure he will be back before the time the doctor said. I know him. He will put in the spirit to recover well.”

While Chelsea have sufficient cover at left-back in Russia’s Yuri Zhirkov and the Portugal defender Paulo Ferreira, England’s options are arguably less clear-cut. The chances of Wayne Bridge being included in the squad for next month’s home friendly against Egypt, to play alongside John Terry, have risen. Relations between the pair remain strained, with the Chelsea captain alleged to have had an affair with Bridge’s former partner Vanessa Perroncel, though Manchester City expect their full-back to be available for the Wembley game on 3 March.

“Wayne never told me that he doesn’t want to play with Terry,” Roberto Mancini, the City manager, said. “Is he committed to playing for England? Absolutely. Playing in the World Cup is important for all players. Wayne is a good man and all that is important is that he recovers to play for City and the national team. Wayne was injured for a month with a knee injury and that is a big problem for a player. He is getting fitter, but he needs to play and after five or six games. Then he will be 100%.”

Capello, who replaced Terry as captain this month, has conceded that coaching the England side has already proved something of an eye-opener. “It is a psychological job to be the manager of a national team, especially the England team,” he said.

He, like Chelsea, will hope that Terry returns from Dubai – where he is spending time with his estranged wife, Toni Poole, and the couple’s three-year-old twins – in a better state of mind after a below-par display at Everton. Terry is not due back at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground until next week to prepare for the trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers next Saturday.

While Ancelotti suggested he would have granted his captain time off regardless of the furore whipped up around him in recent weeks – he has also rested Nicolas Anelka for the FA Cup fifth round tie against Cardiff City – he did warn his players that he would have no qualms in excluding them from his team if matters in their private life affected their form.

Ancelotti was not afraid to omit Ronaldinho at Milan last season when he felt the player was not focused sufficiently on his football. “When I see that a player’s personal life is affecting their performances, I will act. For sure,” the Italian said.

“I want to judge my players on their professional behaviour, their ­professional lives. I’m not interested in their private lives. My players, when they finish here [at Cobham], are normal people. I’m not interested. If a player comes back to the training ground and he’s not focused or doesn’t work hard, then I can go a ­different way. But if they come here and are ­professional – and I have fantastically ­professional players – then I’m not involved in other things.

“I could have given John Terry two or three days of recovery time anyway. He’s played every game this season. Nicolas has a few days off as well – they have time off and they can do what they want with it. Some of my players are tired. They need to have some days to recover to prepare for the next [Premier League] game.”

For full story go to here

• Left-back Bridge’s international future considered uncertain
• ‘If he is picked, he will play’ says Manchester City manager

The Manchester City manager, Roberto Mancini, has said that he expects Wayne Bridge to put recent controversies behind him if he is called into future England squads.

Bridge has been the long-term understudy to Ashley Cole for England’s left-back position, and with the Chelsea defender ruled out for three months after breaking his ankle at Everton on Wednesday would seem to be first in line to take his place in the team. Fabio Capello must soon choose a squad for the 3 March friendly with Egypt, while Cole is fighting to be fit in time for this summer’s World Cup.

Cole’s injury has heightened speculation about Bridge’s ability to play alongside the deposed captain John Terry, given the recent furore over the pair’s private lives. However, Mancini does not see a problem.

“He never told me that he wouldn’t play for England,” the Italian said. “The national team is important. I have not spoken to him but I think, if he is picked, he will play.”

While Mancini has obviously spent time with the former Chelsea player and is able to assess his mood, the City boss is equally nonplussed as to why Bridge might consider turning his country down.

“He is committed to playing for England,” stressed Mancini. “It is important for any player to play at the World Cup. It is important for their career, especially if they can play in the first XI.”

Of more immediate importance to Mancini is the fact Bridge is only two matches into his recovery from a knee injury sustained against his old club in December. “Wayne is a good man,” said Mancini. “But he has only just recovered and it still maybe at around 60%.”

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• Millennium Stadium may be shunned in favour of smaller venue
• Toshack predicts nations will struggle to agree fixture dates

The Wales manager, John Toshack, will consult his players before deciding whether to play their home Euro 2012 qualifier with England in the Millennium Stadium or a smaller and more intimidating ground.

Wales are in the same group as Fabio Capello’s side in addition to Switzerland, Montenegro and Bulgaria. Holding the match at the Millennium Stadium, with its capacity of nearly 75,000, would mean more revenue and less headaches in terms of security.

Toshack, however, admits other options to consider are the new Cardiff City Stadium (capacity 27,000) and Swansea’s Liberty complex (22,000) where they host Sweden in a friendly on 3 March.

Toshack said: “Things have changed a bit recently for us. We have got two other stadiums now. We were well pleased with the treatment we got from the Cardiff people when we played Scotland there recently.

“Swansea have a new stadium as well and we have been treated well there and play Sweden there shortly. You have to consider the atmosphere factor as well. It is early days yet. We have a fixture meeting on 15 March when it will be decided what dates we play but you don’t have to announce the venue until 90 days before a fixture.

“I will be interested to get the players’ views on that subject as well so we have got a little bit of time to decide.”

Toshack concedes England will be favourites to qualify but believes the battle for second spot is wide open. “Looking at our group, I think it is the most wide open of all of them. England will be clear favourites but I think the other four nations are all in contention.

“Between the four of us there is not a great deal to choose at all. It is difficult for anyone to predict the positions the teams will finish in. There are no ‘gimme’ fixtures for anyone. England are favourites but none of the teams are superpowers.”

Toshack locked horns with Capello just once when rival managers in Spain during the 1990s, but believes he can lead England to a successful World Cup.

“I sat next to Capello on the plane on the way over for the draw yesterday and we had a good two and a half hour conversation. On the way back he sat at the back, I sat at the front and we never said a word.

“Seriously, I am sure there will be an awful lot of interest in the game and I can see them having a good World Cup as well. Hopefully they will come back with 10 injuries and we can pick them off in September. You never know. For our players, the prospect of playing England at Wembley is a terrific incentive. If our young players get more game time in, and progress as we think they are capable of, it will be great.”

Toshack’s main concern is that Wales have more luck with injuries than in their World Cup qualifying campaign. “When you look at us and England, we have 11 players who play in the Premier League and two of them are goalkeepers. You can see the difficulties we have with four or five injuries. We need a bit of good fortune on the injury front which we never had the last time around.

“If we make mistakes or pick the wrong team, or concede late on, that’s down to us, but we would just hope to have our best players available.”

Toshack believes it will be more difficult for teams to come to an agreement over when to stage fixtures given the new guidelines which allow weekend games to be played on Friday or Saturday and all midweek fixtures on Tuesdays.

“I can see that being difficult this time around for all the groups. I can see a lot of these meetings to decide the fixtures being thrown out and it all going to Uefa to decide. A lot of countries are not accustomed to playing on Friday evening and won’t want Saturday-Tuesday either.

“In this country, our players are accustomed to playing Saturday-Tuesdays so I can see fixture meetings this time around having a lot of problems and not being easy to come to an agreement.”

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Fabio Capello, with the John Terry captaincy issue in the past, is pinpointing younger players for the future

Fabio Capello has dealt with John Terry. Now his mind is on the draw for the tournament after the World Cup. The Football Association may have had to go all the way to Italy to find him, but at least England now have a manager who does not dither. The impressive thing was not that it took Capello just 12 minutes to draw a line under his captain’s extra-curricular activities, but that the nation can be certain that at no time during the short Wembley meeting did the manager refer to the player as JT.

This is progress, although ditching an erring captain was easier for Capello than the sensationalised media reports would have you believe. In this country we like to build up the role of England captain, possibly because we subconsciously equate it with the cricketing equivalent, when in reality the two jobs are not remotely comparable, and partly because we still revere Bobby Moore and feel a sense of collective guilt that our only World Cup winning captain died young without being sufficiently feted in his lifetime.

Capello comes from a football culture where the captaincy is an honour, but no more than that. One captain is pretty much as good as another, and as long as the player has a fair amount of international experience under his belt and the respect of his fellow players the role can be interchangeable if necessary. That is why Capello cannot really be accused of pursuing a newspaper agenda rather than his own, because he does not subscribe to the captaincy cult in the first place.

What is much more important to Capello, who only briefly stopped off in London before flying out again to Warsaw for today’s draw for Euro 2012 qualification, is that the Terry business was settled quickly and finally without losing the services of the player. Capello knows that Terry will continue to be assertive and influential on the field, just as he knows that Rio Ferdinand is injured half the time and that even though the armband may be elsewhere, there will be occasions in the not too distant future when the Chelsea man will be the de facto captain in any case, what with Steven Gerrard being so quiet and undemonstrative.

Capello did not sort out the problem in 12 minutes because he is super-decisive, he was able to deal with it so quickly because he is Italian.

Leaving England to debate the captaincy issue, Capello is now looking ahead to next season. One problem solved, time to move on. Maybe we should all do the same, though it has to be admitted Poland and Ukraine is no match for salacious tales from Stamford Bridge. England are ranked half way down the first pot of nine seeds for the European Championships, below Spain, Germany, Holland and Italy, and above Croatia, Portugal, France and Russia. Nine groups will be drawn in Warsaw, six of which will comprise six teams, with another three containing just five.

“We could be playing eight or 10 games,” Capello said. “I would prefer to play eight. By 2012 there may be a few different players in the squad. I watch a lot of under-21 games, and in the Premier League and the Championship I have seen a lot of good young players who interest me. I think there are players who can step up in the next two years and come into the senior team for the Euros. Players like Kieran Gibbs, Jack Wilshere, Jack Rodwell and Adam Johnson. I like Johnson – but all these players have to play and we will have to see what happens at Manchester City. Middlesbrough being in the Championship was good for his development because he played all the time. Johnson was the best player in the Championship. Sometimes it is good for young players to play in the Championship all the time rather than in the Champions League only one game now and then. At the moment Gibbs and Theo Walcott are not playing – for me always they have to play. It is very important that those players make a big step forward this year and then the same next year.

“You have seen what has happened to Joe Hart now he is playing at Birmingham. Before he made mistakes, but now after playing regularly he makes less mistakes because he has more confidence. It is always better for young players to being playing every week so they learn. Training alone is not enough. That’s why it is good also for Wilshere to go to Bolton on loan. For a young player like him it will help him mature and develop. Good players will always come through as long as they can play. It is an excuse to blame foreign players, they are not the problem. In Italy too people say young players are not coming through because foreign players are there, but for me it is not true. The good players will always come through. Totti, Maldini, Baresi they all came through as youngsters because they had talent and quality.”

Capello is particularly excited by James Milner’s development at Aston Villa this season, having identified him early on as a real prospect. “Milner is a fantastic player,” he said. I spoke with Martin O’Neill in Marbella pre-season when I met him. Milner is improving a lot. He has improved more than any other player in the squad. He is intelligent on the pitch, can make good passes, assists for goals and score himself. He has good qualities. He is very like Frank Lampard, younger but with great energy and he can get forward and score goals.”

Most people feel England lack a convincing goalkeeper, but if Capello shares the concern he is not letting on. “I am not concerned yet with the goal-keeping situation,” he said. “David James has some shoulder problems. But I have Robert Green, Hart and Paul Robinson. For Ben Foster it is very difficult because he is not playing. Hart is having a fantastic season but it is too early to choose. I am happy with them all.”

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