Steven Gerrard and John Terry acting like they are a law unto themselves is setting a terrible example

By Brian McNally

Published 13:06 19/03/10

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The captains of Chelsea and Liverpool increasingly give the impression of being a law unto themselves.

The behaviour of John Terry and Steven Gerrard this week did the image of English football absolutely no favours whatsoever.

In high-profile,televised games these two senior England internationals both sank to unacceptable levels of indiscipline.

They set bad examples to watching youngsters as they transparently flouted the laws of the game.

Terry's constant haranguing and hectoring of German referee Wolfgang Stark during the 1-0 defeat by Inter Milan was both intimidatory and unacceptable.

After the storm his off-the-field antics have caused, Terry proved what a throughly unpleasant character he is with a final whistle rant that showed he has no control over his temper.

Gerrard's deliberate off-the-ball swipe at Portsmouth's Michael Brown was the action of a player who seems confident that he can get away with offences that bring severe punishments for lesser mortals.

And it came just days after he had made a V-sign gesture to referee Andre Marriner in the defeat by Wigan. The fact that the FA chose to do nothing about either incident shows a glaring inconsistency in their treatment of offenders.

What hope is there for the next generation of young footballers when they watch star players given the responsibility of captaincy cynically challenging the rules and getting away with it?

What's wrong with Steven Gerrard? And could he be about to leave Liverpool?  

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