"People presume we fell out, but there was no shouting and screaming the day he told me. I accepted it. I said to Fabio I would continue to train and play exactly as I had before, then we shook hands and that was it. I'm not saying it was a good day. Only the penalty miss for Chelsea in the Champions League final hurt as much, but we have moved on.
I suppose the only time I felt disappointed was during the next game against Egypt, which was a friendly, and the armband got passed around between five or six players. I just felt, 'OK, I've been stripped of the captaincy, but don't take the p*** out of me'. Fabio had told me at the meeting that I was still a big voice in the dressing room and he wanted that to continue, but on the night it felt the opposite."
Had I got the armband third, even fourth, I would have been happy, but Steven Gerrard was captain and first he went off, then Frank Lampard got it, and then Lamps went off and they gave it to Gareth Barry, and then he went off and it was anybody's. I think they would have given it to one of the stewards ahead of me. Even if it was a friendly, we were still there to win and you should put your best people in charge.
People might not like to hear this, but I just thought it was a little disrespectful. I had no choice but to get on with it, though. That is how I feel now. I don't envisage I will be captain again, but for two England managers, Steve McClaren and Fabio Capello, I was their first choice and I'm proud of that."
