RI-OH IS WRONG MAN FOR THE JOB

WHEN Fabio Capello, after a short beauty contest, backed Steve McClaren's judgment and gave the England captaincy to John Terry, he knew he wasn't handing the armband to Mother Theresa.

Capello was aware Terry had form.

But he believed the responsibility would benefit him, that Terry would realise he was representing a principled coach as well as his country.

He believed his faith would be repaid by Terry. It wasn't.

Similarly, Capello knows all about Rio Ferdinand's chequered past. He is fully au fait with the irony of making a man at the centre of one of English football's few drugs scandals the leader of the national team.

But he believes the responsibility will benefit him. And whatever his past misdemeanours, there is little recent evidence to suggest that Ferdinand - unlike Terry - will betray him.

Terry had a clean start under Capello and blew it. Ferdinand has rightly had the slate wiped clean and there is no reason to believe he will blow it.

Anyone who knows him will tell you how, off the field, he has matured in recent years. This could take that process to a new level.

And for a minute, let's treat history for what it is. History. Capello clearly does.

Also, we know that any sort of fit and proper persons' test is meaningless when it comes to selecting an England captain.

It's not whether any contender has a skeleton in his cupboard - it's how many.

We don't know how Ferdinand will behave as England captain.

At the moment, all we can ask is whether or not he is the right man - football-wise - for the job.

I believe the answer is no.

Ferdinand in his pomp is a peerless defender. Truly world-class. A footballing centre-half to complement the indestructible will of Terry. But right now, he has issues he needs to deal with on the pitch - that require total focus.

Prior to his three-month lay-off with a back injury, Ferdinand was in a crisis.

A poor display in the friendly against Holland and a catastrophic rick in the Ukraine were signs that his international place should not have been as automatic as it has been.

These were augmented by a howler against Manchester City and a scorching from Fernando Torres at Anfield.

Maybe it was the back injury. Or maybe those old lapses in concentration were becoming more frequent.

And when he finally returned, pent-up frustration manifested itself in the swipe at Craig Fagan, which earned him his current ban.

There is a chance that when he leads out England against Egypt at Wembley on March 3, he will have played only two games in four months.

Capello's mantra - repeated to an almost tedious extent - is that his squad must be playing and performing consistently at club level.

Ferdinand might be doing that by the time May comes along. But we can't be sure. How can Capello? It is a major gesture of belief in Ferdinand.

But if one player didn't need to have anything distract from the job of getting the best out of himself for 90 minutes of every match, then surely it is Ferdinand.

Yes, he was made vice-captain. But that was when things were coming easy to him. Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard were attractive alternatives but Capello's wisest move would have been to delay the naming of a permanent captain until announcing his World Cup squad.

Instead, like it or not, he has guaranteed that Ferdinand's every move for the next four months will be scrutinised, analaysed.

Hopefully, he will emerge as a fine leader. This should be the greatest honour ever handed to Ferdinand. But it could well turn out to be a hospital pass.

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