Fabio Capello is in the spotlight like never before after former skipper John Terry yesterday laid bare the divisions that have ripped England apart.
Terry gave a candid press conference which is believed to have upset some senior squad members.
He also revealed there would be clear-the-air talks between Capello and the squad last night and openly called for Joe Cole to be included against Slovenia on Wednesday.
However, although there has been no official statement on the discussion Terry was expecting to have in a pre-planned team gathering, reports have emerged suggesting Capello squashed the idea flat.
Rather than listening to what Terry had to say, it is claimed the revolt was headed off before it even got underway, on the advice of senior figures surrounding the England camp who feared Terry was not speaking for the whole team.
If so, it represents a forcible confirmation of Capello's authority and a weakening of Terry's position.
"Maybe the togetherness has been missing at times," said Terry yesterday.
"When things don't go well it is important the group stays together.
"Usually everyone goes straight back to their room and stays there until the following morning. But on Friday, for the first time since the manager took over, he let us have a beer.
"We had one each, nothing more than that, and seven or eight of us sat there talking about the game. It was good to get things off our chest and express how we felt."
Terry stressed he would never ask for Capello to pick Cole but knows the qualities of the former West Ham player should he be given a chance.
The central defender said: "I would never ask for Joe to be picked by England and I haven't done that at Chelsea.
"It is something that I would never do in my career, go and say 'this player should be in.' It is the manager's decision. That is what he gets paid to do.
"He has never come to me and asked me about that (Cole) and even if he did, I would feel a little bit uncomfortable giving my thoughts. Obviously I would probably be biased to Joe.
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Terry was clearly under the impression he had been given a mandate to act, claiming during his media briefings that he was "speaking on behalf of the lads".
"We are in a meeting with the manager, whether he starts it or finishes it, the players can say how they feel and if it upsets him then I'm on the verge of just saying: 'You know what? So what? I'm here to win it for England'," he said.
"If we can't be honest with each other there is no point being here.
"It has worked in the past at Chelsea. We have a responsibility to ourselves, the manager and everyone else to voice an opinion and hope he takes it on board."
