Neville: England haven't had team spirit since Venables era

Gary Neville has attacked the FA over their handling of John Terry's removal as England captain - and said the national side has lacked team spirit since Terry Venables was manager.

The Sy Sports pundit also hinted in his newspaper column that Fabio Capello should be dumped as England manager before Euro 2012.

Neville told the Mail On Sunday: " Before a tournament involving England, I would always spout words about our great team spirit. At the time I believed them but in hindsight, other than under Terry Venables at Euro 96, we never had a team that stood together and a manager who stood by us.

"When you look at the England team, you see a board who have gone against their manager, a now-deposed captain who will have lost faith in the people he plays for and a manager who cannot rely on the board to support his decisions.

"It is about as far from Team England as I could imagine."

He added: "Why don't we go all the way and sort out the Capello issue. I'm not abreast of the thoughts of the FA board but I would be surprised if they did not believe he was over-priced. He has barely contributed to the grass roots and legacy of the English game and he wasn't the choice of the chairman, David Bernstein. 

"Wipe the slate clean and start again, like the England rugby team."

The FA on Friday stripped Terry of the England captaincy - while leaving him eligible for selection - as the Chelsea defender is facing a charge of racially aggravated abuse. Terry denies the charge.

Neville, writing in his column for the Mail on Sunday, branded the FA's actions as "inconsistent, bowing to media pressure and half-hearted", saying there was a failure to act quickly and clearly due to the many voices who have a say in how the England team is managed.

Neville claimed the FA's own rules call for due process to run its course before any action was taken, so removing the captaincy went against the association's own guidelines.

"After the threat of strike action in 2004, I attended an international board meeting with the PFA's Brendon Batson and soon after the FA's policy changed," Neville wrote. "They let due process takes its course when a player was charged with an offence.

"But because racism is now such a sensitive issue, they have now bypassed that and written a new rule.

"Everyone should deplore racism, but how are we to judge which offences justify removal of the captain's armband or expulsion from the squad?

"Drink-driving is serious, but would it be okay if you got caught but had not killed anyone? What about assault? Is it okay if you hit someone just because a percentage of men may have done so at some point in their lives? Would we let due process run in those cases but not in John Terry's?"

Neville said the FA must now write clear rules to prevent a repeat in the future.

He wrote: "I'm not in favour of it, but if the FA introduced a rule that anyone charged with a criminal offence could not play for England until their case had been resolved - even if it involved one of England's best players - at least everyone would know where they stand."