Andre Villas-Boas believes fascination with social stories is hurting the English game

Goal :    Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas believes the disruption and commotion being caused by the allegations of racism against John Terry are leaving an unwelcome blemish on the English game.

Earlier in the week Terry was stripped of the England captaincy for the second time, on this occasion by the FA themselves. After the decision was announced, Villas-Boas told The Observer: “It is an unfortunate event, with consequences, and it doesn’t dignify British football, to be fair.”

The former Porto boss has had to endure press conferences filled with questions that have nothing to do with his side’s upcoming games and are instead focusing on social stories.

He said: “I think in the Premier League there is always a pattern of these kind of stories appearing, what each player does outside of the pitch.

“We had it in various different cases, we and other clubs. We have to let the people get called to court and the court to make the necessary decision.”

Since the story broke that Terry was going to have to face a trial for his alleged racial slur against Anton Ferdinand, it has dominated much of the debates regarding football.

The media hype surrounding the issue has had a knock-on effect on the Portuguese, who admits there is very little that managers can do to prepare themselves for the fall-out from such incidents.