How Terry should tackle PR blues

Leading PR figures have been reacting to the revelations surrounding John Terry's alleged affair with the long-term girlfriend of a former team-mate by debating how the England and Chelsea captain should go about tackling a growing media storm.

Terry failed in his attempt to get a High Court injunction to prevent the News of the World from publishing a story about an alleged extramarital affair with Wayne Bridge's former long-term partner, Vanessa Perroncel.

The judge ruling on the application for an injunction said that Terry appeared to be more concerned about protecting his reputation from a business point of view than maintaining his rights to privacy.

The predominant view held by leading reputation managers is that Terry should not have gone down the legal line without a realistic chance of success in prospect.

And the consequences of failure have been clear, with the News of the World sticking the knife in, ramping up the controversy and publishing the story as one that they tried to ban.

However, several PR experts have been quick to point out that sport is an area where people have short memories. Success on the football field will inevitably mitigate the damage to the Chelsea star's reputation and the heightened publicity may actually provide a welcome boost to the John Terry brand in the long-term.