John Terry Stripped of England Captaincy - Who Should Replace Him?

England and Chelsea defender John Terry has been stripped of his national team’s captaincy by the Football Association. The FA decided to make the decision at the backdrop of the ongoing racism case where the 31-year-old is being investigated for allegedly making racist remarks against Queens Park Rangers’ defender Anton Ferdinand in a past encounter between the two teams.

This is the second time the Barking-born center back has been stripped of the England national team’s armband. The first time was back in 2010 when he was relieved of his captain duties following allegations he had an affair with England team-mate Wayne Bridge’s ex-girlfriend.

Steven Gerard – The firm favourite to replace Terry, the Liverpool captain is a natural born leader and will be remembered for putting in a captain’s performance in England’s horror campaign in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Ironically, Captain Fantastic was the one who was handed the armband after Terry was stripped of his role following the Wayne Bridge debacle. If he stays fit and heads for the EURO 2012, put your money on a right-thinking coach to hand him the captaincy

Frank Lampard – John Terry’s vice captain at Chelsea, the 33-year-old is one of the senior players who could board the plane to Ukraine and Poland. He has captained the national team in previous occasions including in the 1-0 win over Spain in an international friendly in November 2011. The problem however for the 90 times capped Englishman is he is not certain of being handed a starting role during the Championships.

Scot Parker – The 10-time capped midfielder was one of the star performers in England’s EURO 2012 campaign. His Man of the match performance in the 1-0 win against World and European Champions Spain on November 12 last year earned him plaudits and being also a senior member of the team, the 31-year-old will be highly tipped to lead the Three Lions to Poland and Ukraine come June. 

Wayne Rooney – the fiery striker will once again lead the frontline as the men from the land of Queens try to win their first international trophy since triumphing in the 1966 FIFA World Cup. He will however miss the first two matches in the group stages so manager Fabio Capello may overlook him and instead prefer a player who will start inspiring his teammates from the word go. His intermittent bust ups and indiscipline could cost him the captaincy though.

Ashley Cole – The marauding left-back has 93 international caps under his belt. His consistency keeps him in the English set up and this could be his ace of cards. However, his off-field antics, some of them similar to John Terry's could dearly cost him. 

Joe Hart - The best goalkeeper England has produced in years. The Manchester City custodian will certainly start all England's matches and looks composed enough to lead the team. His youthfulness could work against him. 

Rio Gavin Ferdinand – The brother to Anton Ferdinand who Terry allegedly racially abused, the former captain could also be considered for the role. The veteran, known for his composure on the ball in defensive positions and general leadership has not played much football this season and this could prove to be his Achilles heel. He has however ruled himself out.

And That's thesteifmastertake!!