John Terry fears further lurid stories in World Cup 'open season'

The FA hierarchy and those close to John Terry hope that Fabio Capello's decision to strip him of the captaincy will slow the continuing avalanche of bad publicity, but remain fearful that he has left himself open to further damaging speculation in the run-up to the World Cup. He is understood to fear that it is now "open season" among the tabloid press. Having put himself at a disadvantage via his own actions and his attempts to keep the story of his alleged affair out of the public eye, it will be difficult for him to defend himself or prevent a continuing torrent of negative stories, true or not. Capello's right-hand man Franco Baldini took extensive soundings in the days preceding the Italian's return from Switzerland, where he had been recovering following a knee operation, in order to get a sense of how much worse it could get for Terry, and his briefing played a part in the coach's decision. Some believe Terry needs to overhaul his team of advisers in the wake of the furore. Since splitting with his long-term agent Aaron Lincoln last year, he has been represented by Keith Cousins, the Dagenham & Redbridge chairman, and Paul Nicholls, a former Chelsea youth-team colleague. Even before last week's events, in December he was privately reminded of the standards expected from an England captain by Capello in the wake of News of the World allegations that he had been paid £10,000 for a private training-ground tour. A spokesman for Terry today denied widespread speculation that the former England captain had bought the silence of the ex-girlfriend of his international team-mate Wayne Bridge in order to try and quell the negative publicity. It was Terry's heavy-handed legal attempts to stop newspapers reporting details of his alleged affair with Vanessa Perroncel that kick-started the chain of events that led to him being stripped of the armband by Capello on Friday. When the injunction was lifted, the judge revealed that two of Terry's associates, who were not named, had met Perroncel at a hotel where she signed two documents agreeing not to reveal details of the affair in return for a nominal fee of £1. But Mr Justice Tugendhat criticised the arrangement, and said he "did not feel confident" the papers she signed expressed her wishes. Since Perroncel announced on Friday through her publicist Max Clifford that she would not be selling her story, despite offers of more than £250,000, there has been repeated speculation that Terry paid a six-figure sum to buy her silence. Clifford told the Guardian on Friday that the suggestion that Terry had paid Perroncel was "totally untrue". "That [speculation] is natural, to be expected and totally untrue. She is keeping her options open and meeting with lawyers regarding some of the untrue and hurtful things that have been said about her." Speculation that Terry dramatically offered to call Perroncel during the 12-minute meeting with Capello on Friday has also been dismissed by insiders as wide of the mark, although it is believed that the player was devastated on hearing the news, after going into the meeting hoping to retain the captaincy.