We can't accept going out so early – Terry

When he replaced Steve McClaren two-and-a-half years ago, Capello's hardline approach was viewed by many as the perfect way of restoring some pride back into the under-performing Three Lions.

Nine victories from 10 qualifying games proved the value of Capello's approach.

But after five weeks away, the first two at an altitude training camp in Austria, the inflexibility has shown serious signs of cracking the entire dressing room.

In the aftermath of the "unacceptable" draw with Algeria, which leaves England needing to beat Slovenia on Wednesday to avoid crashing out of the competition, former captainJohn Terry has pleaded for some compassion.

The outcome could rescue England – and Capello – from total humiliation.

"I went to see (assistant manager) Franco Baldini after the game and said, 'Flipping hell, let everyone have a beer. Let's just switch off'," said Terry, amid a media engagement where he vowed to be frank and honest and where every word dripped with the responsibility of captaincy, which is now Steven Gerrard's but is still strongly felt by the Chelsea man.

"Usually everyone goes straight back to their room and stays there until the following morning. But for the first time since the manager took over he let us have a beer.

"We had one each, nothing more than that, and seven or eight of us sat there talking about the game. It was good to get things off our chest and express how we felt."

The discussions themselves will remain private. But as they involved, among others, Wayne Rooney, Gerrard, Frank Lampard and David James, it is fair to say they carried a bit of weight.

Enough it seems to take the issues raised into a pre-planned team meeting yesterday evening, knowing Capello's reaction would be likely to either make or break England's entire time in South Africa.

"The players were able to say how they feel," said Terry. "If it upset him (Capello) then I was on the verge of just saying, 'So what? I'm here to win it for England'.

"If we can't be honest with each other there is no point being here.

"It has worked in the past at Chelsea. We have a responsibility to ourselves, the manager and everyone else to voice an opinion and hope he takes it on board."

Time management is one issue concerning the players, alleviating boredom another. Team issues, including personnel, would also have been raised, if not a demand for individual players to be picked.

It might have come as a shock to Capello, who has never given the impression of being approachable, and left Terry wary even when he asked a pretty mundane question about how he spent his day off.

"Maybe he is a little bit cold," admitted the Chelsea captain.

"You never know what you will get. He doesn't constantly shout. He is actually quite calm. But when he is angry, he is really angry."

Capello needs to listen because it has become clear that unless the course England are charting is changed, their destination will be home and the Italian will almost certainly lose his 6m-a-year job.

The England coach may have spoken of fear. Tension is a better word, and by not at least accommodating the English psyche, which is simply not accustomed to young people spending large amounts of time doing nothing, day after day, Capello would be signing a World Cup death warrant.

"Maybe the togetherness has been missing at times," said Terry.

"When things don't go well it is important the group stays together. That is what we had the other night. Hopefully that tension will go now because it would be unacceptable to go home on Wednesday."

There was something particularly telling about Terry revealing all on Father's Day.

It may seem a minor point to some, but children are being missed – the players' wealth does not make them immune to such feelings.

And in times of strife, it is natural for anyone to seek comfort in the safe and familiar.

"I am away from my kids and it is hard," said Terry.

"But I don't want to go home. I am here to win it."

To even make the last 16, England need to perform far better than they did against Algeria, universally acknowledged as a pitiful display, even inside the dressing room.

"I certainly felt there was a lack of passion," he said.

"On paper we are a much better team than Algeria but there was no tackling, no one winning headers, no one winning second balls.

"It was not acceptable. You have to show a bit of aggression and a bit of fight.

"No player had that fire in their belly. I can assure everyone it is going to be there against Slovenia."

Terry says he finds the assertion England are playing in fear at the World Cup "a little bit" offensive.

"I am a little bit offended when people say we are afraid because we're not," he said.

"We can accept people saying we played bad but we don't accept things like that.

"I can see why people say it because at times we don't play as flowingly as we do at our clubs – but I don't feel that."

When he assesses the individual experiences most of the England squad have been through, the Chelsea star suggests fear should be an alien concept.

The Stamford Bridge outfit, along with Manchester United and Liverpool, have all contested Champions League finals while those who ply their trade at Tottenham and Aston Villa have been involved in major domestic showpieces over the past couple of seasons.

Even a club like West Ham, while they would have preferred not to have done so, have been through the trauma of a relegation dogfight.

"I have seen an interview with Steve McManaman which said players had played in Champions League finals, which I have, and really nervous times," said Terry.

"He then made the point that a group game should be no bigger than a Champions League game.

"Once you go out there, that fear is gone. You might have that little fear and a few butterflies before the game, but once you are out there it disappears.

"It is no excuse."