Above all else, Fabio Capello will know one thing for certain as he weighs up his options in "Terrygate".
This is a controversy that needs to be resolved swiftly and decisively. Anything else will be too damaging to his efforts to take a focused, settled and motivated squad to the World Cup in South Africa this summer.
Capello knows he simply cannot afford to give this story the oxygen of prolonged publicity. At least, he must try his best to limit the saga's shelf-life as effectively as he can.
The strict Italian boss has in the past expressed his desire that the build-up to this World Cup is not disrupted by matters like injured players battling to be fit.
Both in 2002 and 2006, under Sven-Goran Eriksson, England's preparations were seriously hampered by the metatarsals of David Beckham and Wayne Rooney respectively.
Capello knows the danger and his solution to that particular problem is simple: injured or half-fit players will not be considered for selection. Very sensible, too.
His problem now is that this messy and somewhat sad story could rumble on for many months.
As Wayne Bridge's former partner Vanessa Perroncel plots a big-money kiss-and-tell for the highest bidder, Bridge himself considers quitting international football, and Terry's wife threatens what would be a very expensive divorce, this one is going to run and run.
And imagine this scenario: Terry stays in the captaincy, England struggle in their group in South Africa, and the football media insist England are demoralised under Terry's captaincy having lost respect for him in this saga.
While we're not suggesting that any England boss should be dictated to by the media - he should of course choose the best man for the job - the importance of the media side of Terry's role may now make his position untenable.
As for Terry himself there are conflicting rumours of his intentions.
Some stories this morning insist he has no intention of quitting the captaincy and has already pleaded his case to a member of England's coaching staff. Others say that he is preparing to do the decent thing and step down.
But perhaps the decision will be taken out of his hands by Capello who has a well-deserved reputation for being a strict authoritarian with a strong moral code.
The ITV Spy believes that Capello will see this situation in simple terms. Never mind what the public or the press think, if Terry has lost the respect and trust of certain members of the squad - even fringe members of the squad - then he can no longer be captain.
And it's worth pointing out that barring injury, Bridge has been in every Capello squad selection since the former Real Madrid man took the England reins.
So our prediction is that by the weekend, England will have a new captain and Capello will have put the issue to bed as best he can.
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