There was no crisis meeting, with Fabio, insists Lampard
FRANK LAMPARD yesterday dismissed John Terry’s claims there was a crisis meeting with boss Fabio Capello – and threw his weight behind the under-fire Italian coach.
The midfielder was paraded to the world’s media to diffuse the impact of his Chelsea
team-mate’s outburst on Sunday in which he said the squad were ready to air their views
to Capello after their woeful start to the World Cup.
But Lampard said the so-called crisis meeting consisted solely of the players watching a DVD of the dismal 0-0 draw with Algeria on Saturday night and explained that Terry’s comments were borne out of passion in preventing an embarrassing group stage exit. “John is very passionate as are all 23 members of this squad. He has been here a long time and is an experienced player,” Lampard said.
“I don’t like talking about meetings because the reason we have meetings together is so they can stay in-house. But it certainly wasn’t a crisis meeting. The manager spoke, we watched some of the Algerian game which wasn’t the best. We had a look at things that we need to put right – and that was it.
“I think people have jumped on things, saying it was a huge crisis meeting with people
having it out. But at the meeting yesterday, we just dealt with the Algerian game.”
Lampard also insists the squad are fully behind Capello and hopes the experienced coach will remain in charge of the team even if England fail to progress to the second round by failing to beat Slovenia in Port Elizabeth tomorrow.
“I’ve really enjoyed working with him, I’ve respected everything about him and yes, I would like him to stay.
“It’s a question for him and the FA but I’ve been lucky enough to work with some fantastic managers, and Fabio Capello is right up there.”