Grazie, Signor Capello: After days of dithering by the FA, it takes an Italian family man just 10 minutes to sack captain who shamed England



John Terry ditched in favour of Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand



Terry tells friends he believes he can return as captain 'when the dust settles'

Speculation Terry has 'bought off' lover as Vanessa Perroncel vows not to sell story

Betrayed wife Toni shops in Dubai as husband hears his fate

It took Fabio Capello just ten minutes to strip John Terry of the England captaincy yesterday.

The Italian family man and strict disciplinarian made it clear he would not be part of the dither and hypocrisy over the disgraced star.

After a fortnight of employing lawyers and aides to cover up his affair with a team-mate's girlfriend, Terry had no intention of resigning.



Decisions: Fabio Capello, left, leaving his home yesterday before his talks with John Terry, right



But within hours of the Daily Mail revealing that Terry's personal box at Wembley was being 'touted out' for £4,000 a match, Capello wielded the axe during a curt meeting lasting less than a football half-time interval.



A senior Football Association insider said the coach had decided the 29-year-old Chelsea defender had to lose the prized armband before their mid-afternoon meeting. 'The situation was becoming worse by the day. Fabio needed to protect the team.'



Capello raised eyebrows, however, with his decision to replace Terry with Rio Ferdinand. The 31-year-old has a chequered past - and once participated in a homemade video of an orgy while on holiday in Cyprus.



Retail therapy: Terry's wife Toni Poole, 28, hitting the shops in Dubai

Yesterday French lingerie model Vanessa Perroncel - whose sordid affair with Terry led to his downfall - announced that she would not 'kiss and tell' about their five-month relationship.

The estranged girlfriend of Terry's former team-mate Wayne Bridge, reputedly offered £250,000 for her story, stood silently beside her publicist Max Clifford as he sombrely announced that she would not be cashing in.



Following suggestions that she has been offered £800,000 from Terry to buy her silence - and help save his marriage - Mr Clifford said: 'There has been no exchange of money between John Terry and Miss Perroncel to my knowledge. I have not been informed. I haven't been in contact with John Terry, or anyone on his behalf, in the last few days.'



Terry's spectacular fall from grace came exactly a week after the lifting of a superinjunction he had obtained gagging the media from revealing details of the affair with Miss Perroncel, which began last September and resulted in him paying for an abortion for her.

Being stripped of the captaincy could cost Terry dear. The £170,000-a-week star is already rumoured to have financial problems and could lose profitable sponsorship deals and endorsements.

But at least the serial adulterer is now free to try to patch up his marriage. Terry issued a brief statement saying: 'I fully respect Fabio Capello's decision. I will continue to give everything for England.'



He later told The Sun: 'I'm gutted. It hurts so much, but I will fight back. If there's a one per cent chance of being World Cup captain, I will fight for it tooth and nail.

'I have fought all my life and I'm not going to stop now.'

Terry told friends his conversation with Capello was 'straight man-to-man, with no animosity or tension'.

But he told one of them: 'I was devastated when he said I was losing the job as England captain. I didn't expect that when I walked in.



'But I think I could return as captain once the dust settles and the heat is taken out of the situation. There is every reason for me to fight to get the armband back.'

Showdown: John Terry arrives at Wembley for his meeting with Capello

Capello issued a statement, which said: 'After much thought, I have made the decision that it will be best for me to take the captaincy away from John Terry. As a captain with the team, John Terry has displayed extremely positive behaviour. However, I have to take into account other considerations and what is best for all of the England squad.'

Even Gordon Brown felt the need to comment on Terry's demise, saying: 'This decision must be for the manager and Mr Capello has made that decision. I think people will abide by that decision.'



Shortly before his abrupt departure as England skipper, Terry was still trying to wriggle out of the Wembley 'box-for-sale' scandal as stadium authorities launched an investigation.



Hours after the Daily Mail revealed that use of his personal box at the stadium was being hawked around for £4,000 a time, he insisted he no longer owned one of the VIP facilities. 'I used to - but don't have no more,' said Terry.



His spokesman also claimed Terry relinquished ownership of the £120,000 12-seater box last August but, as far as Wembley is concerned the box still belongs to the Chelsea player.

The Mail has learned that this week moves were made to change the name of the box-holder from JGT (John George Terry) Promotions to Sports and Marketing Promotions Ltd, a company run by one of Terry's agents Paul Nicholls.



However last night a Wembley insider confirmed: 'The box is still in the name of John Terry. When and if the necessary transfer paperwork has been done, the name change can take place.



'But the new company running the box will be subject to the same criteria and rules over not being allowed to sub-let the box.'



The errant husband: John Terry with wife Toni

The Mail was offered exclusive use of Terry's 12-seater box for England's friendly against Egypt next month.

Our reporter - posing as a businessman - was told by Anthony White, an associate of the player's management agents: 'It's John Terry's box and you can have it. It will be £4,000 and we'd want the money in cash.'



Terry's contract for the box expressly forbids 'sub-letting' the facility for cash and the Wembley authorities will now be forensically examining precisely who has been a guest in his box.



The investigation is highly embarrassing for both Wembley and the Football Association - which have publicly campaigned against ticket-touting.

AS CLIFFORD DOES THE TALKING, HAS TERRY BOUGHT HIS LOVER'S SILENCE?



By Michael Seamark

The offers enticing her to kiss and tell had reputedly reached £250,000 but the only audible words from Vanessa Perroncel yesterday came via the mouth of Max Clifford.

In a bizarre press conference, the French lingerie model whose torrid affair with John Terry sparked his downfall stood mute at her publicist's side as HE explained why SHE wasn't selling her story.



The only sign of animation from Miss Perroncel came as she heard TV news reports that her former lover had been sacked as England captain. She shook her head and mouthed: 'Oh my God'.



It was the one visible reaction from the estranged partner of Terry's former teammate Wayne Bridge during her brief performance before the TV cameras.



No kiss and tell: Eyes closed, Vanessa Perroncel listens as Max Clifford reads out her statement

In a blue-and-black top and black cardigan, a pendant hanging from her neck, petite Miss Perroncel looked the picture of innocence. Her eyes occasionally closing, she listened intently as Mr Clifford read a statement on her behalf.



In his Mayfair office, the PR supremo and arch media manipulator explained why his client had decided not to cash in on her notoriety. She was keeping quiet, said Mr Clifford, for the sake of her three-year-old son by Bridge. There was no mention of the abortion for which Terry allegedly paid during their five-month affair, nor talk of a reputed £450,000 offered to Miss Perroncel by the Chelsea star to buy her silence.



DIARY OF HIS DOWNFALL Jan 22: Terry's lawyers take out super-injunction to halt details of his affair with Vanessa Perroncel Jan 29: Mr Justice Tugendhat lifts the gagging order Jan 31: Terry is claimed to have paid for his lover to have an abortion Feb 3: She is alleged to have had affairs with at least five members of the Chelsea squad Feb 4: Terry linked to another Premiership player's wife amid rumours that he had bedded up to eight women in recent years Feb 5: Daily Mail reveals that Terry's VIP box is being 'touted' for £4,000 a match Hours later, Terry meets England coach Fabio Capello at Wembley and is stripped of the captaincy during a ten-minute meeting



Nor was there any direct reference to suggestions that she had affairs with a string of Chelsea footballers.



Instead, in his best statesmanlike voice - and showing not a hint of resentment that there would be no lucrative percentage for selling her story - the publicist read her words for the cameras.



Mr Clifford read out the statement in a room plastered with newspaper front pages involving previous clients - a testament to his expertise as master of the kiss-and-tell industry. Through him, Miss Perroncel said: 'In recent days I have been the centre of a great deal of press speculation and comment.



'I would like to put on record my thanks to Max Clifford for his advice and help at this difficult time. The details of my friendship with John and his family have been the subject of intense and wholly unfair and untrue media speculation.



'As Max has already said, much of the material in the press is inaccurate. I now find myself subject to other unsubstantiated and false claims which have appeared in the papers over the past few days.



'This has only added to the pressure which my family and I have been under.



'The media has sought to pore over my private life and that of my family, which is very upsetting.



'I have decided I do not want to speak publicly about the speculation since it only seems to add more fuel to the fire. I have a three-year-old son and he is my main concern.



'I do not believe speaking to newspapers or the media is in his interest or my own. I do not wish to add anything more to what I have said.'

