While the England captaincy debate rumbles on, question marks still remain over the leadership of the side, with the FA today announcing that Fabio Capello's successor will now not be announced until the end of the season.
Stuart Pearce has ruled himself of the race taking over the poisoned challis but has offered to lend his services to the position for the extent of this summer's European Championships. Pearce took charge of the England side who suffered a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Netherlands on Wednesday night. But no matter how long or short lived Pearce's tenure proves to be, one decision he made has and will continue to cause a stir.
On the morning of the game, Pearce announced that Scott Parker would lead the side out in what would be just his 11th cap. Despite having more experienced players in the squad such as Steven Gerrard and Ashley Cole, the England caretaker manager opted for a new choice in Parker, who was named England's player of the year just the previous day.
Despite Parker being one of the front-runners for the award along with Steven Gerrard and Joe Hart, many questions were raised by press and fans alike, meeting the appointment with surprise and questioning Parker's credibility for the role, suggesting that Gerrard's experience would make him the obvious choice.
This may be the case, and as Gerrard edges ever closer to the 100 cap mark (now on 90), this will inevitably have been playing on the mind of Stuart Pearce when making his decision. Let's not forget that Gerrard has captained the side before, and skippered the side at 2010's shambles of a world cup campaign for England in South Africa.
I am not suggesting for one second that Gerrard is to blame for England's dismal performance, as he was in fact one of the only shining lights in an otherwise dark time for English football.
The fact is though however, that not only has Gerrard been injured for a large portion of the season, but it could be argued that the Liverpool captain does not quite have the impact for club and country that he once had.
Much like his long term international colleague Frank Lampard, Gerrard cannot necessarily be still guaranteed a place in the side, and were Jack Wilshire to be fit, may be first choice alongside Parker while Gerrard would have to take a back seat.
Parker's appointment caps a meteoric rise for the Tottenham midfielder who first appeared on our screens in a McDonalds advert, as part of a USA '94 World Cup Campaign.
After rising to prominence at Charlton, making his debut at the age of 16, Parker continued to impress and was handed his England debut in 2003 in a friendly against Denmark. Parker capped a dream season by being named PFA Young Player of the Year which was enough to convince Claudio Ranieri to splash out £10million for his services.
Parker struggled to make an impact at Chelsea, with injury restricting his playing time, along with the arrival of manager Jose Mourinho who favoured the Portugese midfielder Tiago instead of Parker.
After leaving Chelsea, Parker joined Newcastle United and began to resurrect his career and was named Newcastle Captain. He spent 2 years with Newcastle before moving back down to the capital, this time with West Ham. It was here where Parker would play some of his best football since his Charlton days.
Parker was again made Captain, and despite West Ham's poor season last season, culminating in relegation to the Championship, Parker's efforts were recognised, as he regained his place in the England side, where he began to establish himself as first choice, as well as being named as Football Writers Player of the Year last season.
It became inevitable that Parker would need to leave West Ham in order to prolong his International career, but now the question was not whether he would be able to cut it at the top level, but instead which top level club he would be turning out for.
It was Tottenham who managed to secure the signature of Parker, and he has continued to show this season why he was so sought after adding some much needed steel to an already impressive Tottenham midfield, and has ensured that the likes of Sandro who began to establish himself in the Spurs side last season, is now firmly second choice.
Parker displays a passion when he plays, he is an old-fashioned ball winning centre midfielder, and while this enthusiasm and drive to compete for the ball can, at times be detrimental to his play. (See last weekend's two bookable offences vs Arsenal)
Although there are other players in the England side who may have more caps or more experience playing either at international level or top class club level, Parker still shows the same hunger and desire he showed at Charlton, and has continued to do so throughout his career.
He plays with a fire in his eyes and a hunger in his belly, and regardless of whether he is wearing the armband or not, looks like he wants to perform for his country, and do his nation proud every time he steps onto the field, more than be said for some of his international colleagues.
At 31 years of age, Parker's appointment may be seen as something of a gamble, particularly due to the fact that he is still relatively inexperienced on an international stage, but the fact is, Parker has played his into this position. His performances over the past 2 years, for West Ham, Tottenham and England have been of a consistent high standard.
How long he has left on the international stage remains to be seen, but while players like Wayne Rooney or Joe Hart who are still relatively young and could captain the side for many years to come, who is to say a more short term option isn't worth exploring.
His appointment of England captain by Stuart Pearce lets not forget may only be a temporary measure, and whoever does take the Manager's job may have other ideas in mind with regards to his skipper, but Parker has done enough to pose a headache for whoever does come into the role.
What England needs is a captain who exudes pride and passion which cannot be doubted that Parker does so. You could see the emotion is Parker's eyes as he led his side onto the field for Wednesday night, and he played with the same pride throughout the game.
Parker is no John Terry. While Terry was and still is a good leader on the park, how much respect he still commands is for anyone to say. Pearce appointed Parker as he is "well respected among the camp" and will do what an England captain needs to do. He will set an example on and off the field and will not find himself in the papers for the wrong reason.
If he get the role long term, I am by no means suggesting that Parker will single handedly ensure that England's many years of hurt will be wiped away and he lead his side to glory at either Euro 2012 or the World Cup 2014, but one thing can be assured, that he will give his all trying. He will never duck a tackle or shy away. He will never shirk responsibility.
Don't get me wrong, if a new manager comes in and appoints either Steven Gerrard or Joe Hart as England captain then they have every reason to do so, with both players displaying excellent leadership credentials and Hart particular would be an outstanding candidate to lead the team for many years to come.
But is Scott Parker the right man for the England captaincy now?? I think so. (Did you get that yet?)
