What next for England?

Ding dong the witch is dead
Which old witch?
The (allegedly) racist witch

Finally, the moment has arrived. John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy, and if he is found guilty of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand on July 9th, then it will be for good.

I am being harsh here, Terry is a great captain. particularly for his club, a natural leader and one of the best centre-backs of the Premier League era, however he has absolutely no right leading his country into Euro 2012. In the extremely unlikely event of England lifting the trophy, a man who cheated on his wife with a team-mate's girlfriend and (allegedly) racially abused Anton Ferdinand should not be the face of English football for future generations, alongside Bobby Moore on the shoulders of his team-mates. Within two weeks of the final, the alleged comment to Ferdinand may be proved to be true and forever England will be remembered as a team who won the Euros with a racist as captain. A lovely example to the rest of the world.

Of course, England will not win, but the point stands and I for one do not want to see that man, who I would call "scum" whether he called Ferdinand a "black c***" or not, leading my country into Poland. There are not many men amongst the England team who I would like to see doing that (including Rio Ferdinand who has been so bad this season I do not see why he should play for England anymore, let alone captain them), but there are three stand-out candidates.

Steven Gerrard is of course one of them. Despite being a Man Utd fan I have a lot of respect for Gerrard and think he is one of the finest midfielders to ever wear an England shirt. Like Terry, he is a natural leader and is his club's captain. He has captained England before as vice to both Terry and Rio Ferdinand and is the type of player who deserves to lift a trophy for his national side. There cannot be any more inspiring sights than seeing Gerrard's headed goal in the Champions League final of 2005 when he made it 3-1 and ran straight back to the centre circle, lifting his arms up and down as if to say "come on, we can do this" and they did. At that moment, the country was behind Liverpool, I don't think even the most hardcore United fan could say they were upset at seeing Liverpool lift the trophy in the manner they did that night. Gerrard brought national solidarity, and this is something he would bring to England. On the other hand, he is ageing and has just returned from a serious injury. While this may not matter too much, it cannot be guaranteed how long Gerrard will play international football for, and if injuries continue to hit him then he may think about hanging up his boots, and the captaincy, sooner rather than later. The captain position has been rather unstable since David Beckham gave it up, and a long-term prospect may be what is required.

This is a problem with my second candidate, Scott Parker. At 31 he is no youngster, but unlike Gerrard who may be reaching the twilight years of his career, Parker is only just peaking. He is one of the key reasons for Tottenham's rise this season, being a natural leader, despite not actually being captain. How many of you thought he was West Ham's captain last season? I would assume a fair proportion, but you would all be wrong, it was Matthew Upson. Parker won player of the year last year and although that may have been unfair on many players who actually succeeded with their teams, if it weren't for Parker, the Hammers would have been gone before Christmas. He even managed to bring a lump to the throat of Carlton Cole with his half-time team talk in a comeback against West Brom last year. As for Spurs, he has proven his worth and that he was not just a big fish in a small pond, and has been a stand-out performer for them, probably only second to Gareth Bale. While Ledley King usually holds the captaincy, in the centre of the park he dictates the play and has been rewarded by becoming an England regular. Although he does not have a great number of caps, he is a leader at the peak of his powers and could easily inspire England to success. Not a long-term solution, but having just broken into the England team, he is unlikely to hang up his boots for a few years at least, especially if his current manager Harry Redknapp succeeds Capello. Parker would be my choice for now, and I would want him succeeded by my next candidate, who I wouldn't mind seeing as captain now either.

Wayne Rooney. The man is driven by success, it is as simple as that. Rooney always wants to do better and is the type of player who could single-handedly take England to glory.  He is the country's best player, he is United's best player and despite his knack of attracting trouble and attention, will drive his country to succeed whether he is captain or not. He wants to be a captain, he loves being the centre of things and captaining his country would be the pinnacle of that. Both England and United are centred around Rooney, when he is not fit or available, the fans panic. He may have still have a temperament and that of course needs to be harnessed, but when he turns it on he can beat anyone. It may be the case that the pressure is too much and he may crack, he may lash out at an opponent and may need to be stripped of the captaincy if the demands of the job take their toll, it may be that Wayne Rooney should be allowed to do what he does best, play football. If he feels like he is the type of player who needs to just be allowed to play and not be distracted by being the captain, then it is not the right job for him, but you do just get the feeling he is made for the role. No longer will he need to respond to the demands of players who are not as good as him, he will be the country's best player and their leader and he could thrive with that. He would also be a long-term solution, at 26 he could be playing as captain for up to ten years, only if he is successful of course. Wayne Rooney is born to lead and one day should be England captain, whether that is now is a different matter, but he should certainly be a candidate. Although considering he will miss England's first two games of Euro 2012, leading them into Poland could be a problem.

For me, Scott Parker has all the makings of an England captain. Passion, desire and natural leadership skills, he is also a decent bloke it seems, unlike many other players. He deserves to have a go in my opinion, he is a commanding presence and would be perfect for the job. He also has another 3 or 4 years in him and you would not expect controversy, so he could bring some stability to the role for a few years, before handing it over to Rooney.