Mr and Mrs T: that's Terry and Thatcher to you

Chris Hatherall

JOHN TERRY and Margaret Thatcher; not two names that normally appear in the same sentence, despite the fact they are both divisive yet iconic leaders in blue.
But there are a growing number of football journalists today experiencing a grudging admiration for the Chelsea and England captain that politicians may feel an empathy with.
Terry arrived at a press conference in Hertfordshire this afternoon to face the media after being restored as England captain; a decision which has apparently infuriated Rio Ferdinand and added fuel to the fire of Fabio Capello’s growing number of highly vocal critics. But the way the 29-year-old handled the experience could well shape his public persona for the remainder of his career.
There’s something hypnotic and affecting about watching a natural leader in action that actively counter-balances the negative reaction to their oh-so-visible faults.
And that, in case you were wondering, is where Mrs T comes in.
There can be few politicians who have divided opinion more in the last 30 years than the Conservative Prime Minister of the 1980s, but her farewell performance in the Houses of Parliament after being stabbed in the back by her own party in 1990 was a performance of such passion and backbone that it became iconic in its own right.
“I’m enjoying this,” she famously cried, as politicians from all sides of the House did their best to suppress an alarming surge of internal empathy for the sheer character of the woman.
Well, John Terry certainly wasn’t enjoying his experience in the spotlight this afternoon but his performance revealed enough of the inner leader and enough of his character to persuade a majority of the English national sports press – normally the toughest audience of all – that he had survived the grilling in admirable fashion.
He started by admitting to nerves and sleepless nights at the prospect facing his critics at such close quarters, admitted he was ‘not everyone’s cup of tea’ and spoke passionately about what the captain’s armband meant to him.
His delivery was controlled and yet passionate, heartfelt and yet measured. At one point his face reddened and he looked humanly and genuinely emotional; and, largely, his responses to even the most direct questions won him a temporary reprieve from the football journalists who set the agenda in England’s media.
The biggest question is whether the same kind of performance, the same natural leadership qualities, will be enough to win over his international teammates.
After all, Terry’s dramatic fall from grace came last year when he was accused of sleeping with the former fiancée of ex-Chelsea and England teammate Wayne Bridge.
The media feeding frenzy that followed, including Bridge’s refusal to shake Terry’s hand in a club fixture and his subsequent withdrawal from England’s World Cup squad, saw the Chelsea man axed as national team captain and replaced with Ferdinand.
The issue is whether the England squad can forgive and forget; and we will get the answer to that in Cardiff on Saturday when they face Wales in a Euro 2012 qualifier.
You suspect Terry will charm his colleagues in the same way he won over journalists; after all, as the defender reminded us in radio and television interviews,  he never agreed with the decision to strip him of the captaincy in the first place.
“I accepted the decision at the time. It doesn't mean to say I agreed with it,” he said. “So I am very happy to have the armband back, it means everything. Fabio has briefed me in front of all the players this morning. It has been done now and we can concentrate on the games ahead.
“None of the players have had a problem with it yet. I can't see any reason why they would. It is important the team is together. The most important thing is winning games.”
Whatever you think of Terry as a man, as a husband or even as a footballer you have to admire the character and natural leadership that seems to seep from every pore on occasions like this; and when he launches into a pre-match speech in the Millennium Stadium dressing room on Saturday you suspect his teammates will think the same way.
They know, whatever happens, this captain is not for turning.

Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/xRT7o_Y79aY/post.aspx

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