By Dave Bowler

What a week it has been for English football, and especially for the England team who lost both their Captain and Manager.

It began with England’s captain – once a job that was seen as one of the highest badges of honour in the land, preserve of a certain kind of individual – reaching a position where the armband need bother him no more as John Terry was stripped of the job when the date for his trial on the grounds of the racial abuse of Anton Ferdinand was fixed for July.

The date itself is something of a disaster for it were as well that this particular matter be resolved as quickly as possible. And yet the judiciary apparently have bowed to requests for its postponement from Chelsea who argue that Terry will be busy for the next few months, not a deal that was offered to Harry Redknapp incidentally.

It was the FA itself that decided Terry should not be England captain and, for once, we should applaud them for coming to the right conclusion, albeit a little late in the day. Once Terry went to trial, the armband should have been forcibly removed, particularly since we’ve all seen why it is that he must do stand before the courts.

For once, this isn’t just about John Terry and the way he lives his life – and let us make clear that, as the law states, he is currently innocent of any charge. But this is about removing any remaining vestiges of a deep seated stain in the English game, about proving that we will have no truck with  racism, and that when there is at the very least a prima facie case to answer, not even the England captain stands above the game’s desire to keep its house in order.

Should Terry be found not guilty, then he will presumably be free to resume the captaincy. But while the doubt hangs over him, how can England risk having a man who could be convicted for racial abuse leading out the team? Had it mattered that much to him, surely he would have been happy to stand trial as soon as possible to clear his name? As it is, with all in limbo, the chance is too great to take. After all, if England were to break with protocol and win it, and a few weeks later Terry was found guilty, only the BNP would be in the market for souvenir tea towels.

So at least the FA have done their duty as the guardians of the game’s morals, and all power to them for that. For the rest of the week has been pretty depressing as other quarters in football have made it very clear that as far as they’re concerned, morality has no place. Winning is the only thing.

On Wednesday, Fabio Capello was forced to resign as England manager after he weighed into the Terry debate saying that he did not agree with the decision and that Terry should have remained captain. But Capello was simply looking after number one. Himself. He wanted to end his England tenure on a high, to wipe away the memories of that abysmal World Cup and he believed that to do so, Terry should be his captain. Winning is more important to him than sounding out a message against racism.

Now it is possible to construct a case in Terry’s defence regarding the captaincy, and it’s an easier task than his team of lawyers face, that’s for sure. You could argue that he is innocent until proven guilty and thus should be allowed to carry on as normal. It’s a questionable one but it is a possible defence nevertheless.

However, what’s Kenny Dalglish’s excuse? Fresh from his stint at the local sweet factory where he licks the outside of all the sweets in packets of Haribo Tangfastics to give them that particularly sour taste, Dalglish was ready to pronounce upon the return of Luis Suarez to the Liverpool side after his ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra.

“He should never have been out in the first place”.

No, of course not. His conduct towards Evra was perfectly acceptable. Providing you still think this is 1978 and we still live in the kind of loathsome climate where it was fine for crowds to chant, “Pull the trigger kill the nigger” at black players. Some might say that we’ve progressed since then and that Suarez’s ban is a sign of that, but not Kenny. Instead, he thinks it’s an outrage. Of course, he really would like us to go back to 1978, because that’s the only chance of Liverpool winning anything important ever again. But hang on, he hasn’t finished yet.

“Luis Suarez doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone at Liverpool FC”.

That’s nice. It’s also the sort of moronic statement that sits nicely along that of Ian Ayre, Liverpool’s MD who appears to have one foot stuck permanently in his mouth, the other kicking what remains of his brain to mush. He feels that, “The best way [Suarez] can come back is to get on the pitch and score some goals”.

They just don’t get it do they? There is only one “best way” for Suarez to come back. To stop spouting racist language. But then goals are far more important than upsetting a few thin skinned dark skinned people aren’t they?

No wonder decent people despair about this game sometimes…