With Roy Hodgson's reign now inaugurated, some have taken to accusing him of symbolically taking Harry Redknapp's right honourable throne. Already he is up against it.
And then there is John Terry. On Wednesday, Hodgson will announce the 23 players who will travel to Ukraine and Poland, with the Chelsea captain's name the most keenly observed, whether it is listed or not.
But Hodgson needn't feel as though he lives or dies by taking the 31-year-old, because Terry should have played his last international match.
This isn't a mere knee-jerk on the basis of his risible display against Liverpool last Tuesday night, but for past, present and future repercussions he has, can and will prompt. If Hodgson wishes to see out a lengthy four-year contract, he cannot afford to select England's two-time captain.
His 9 July trial for allegedly racially insulting Rio Ferdinand's brother Anton dominates the pros and cons over his inclusion. His club's selfish wish to delay it until after the Euros heralded the turn of events which led to Fabio Capello's resignation on 8 February.
This is the same Terry who mutinously undermined the Italian at the 2010 World Cup, voicing a bitterly vengeful press conference after the goalless debacle against Algeria.
He had already been stripped of the captaincy prior to the tournament for supposedly having an extra-marital affair with the partner of former team-mate Wayne Bridge. Bridge retired from international duty, while Terry swanned off to South Africa.
If insubordination isn't enough on Hodgson's plate, there's more. It is unforeseeable Terry and Ferdinand can retain their central defensive success after October's Loftus Road incident, and the Manchester United defender has not even glanced at the olive branch his international colleague has offered him.
Further disharmony amongst 23 prima donna underachievers who cannot make their mind up between isolation or WAG-infestation augments the strain.
And then there are footballing matters. Terry has been terrible this season for Chelsea, who have not conceded as many goals in a league term since 2000/01.
He is not solely culpable, but even Theo Walcott, an athlete mistaken for a footballer, flummoxed him not once, but twice when Arsenal visited Stamford Bridge in the spring. Furthermore, the flawed Ferdinand has been in finer fettle at Old Trafford.
While returning to the topic of undermining managers, Terry did just so when the Blues beat Napoli in the Champions League. He barked out orders as a withdrawn substitute (penalties were looming) behind, naturally, Roberto di Matteo's back (a knife may have glistened in the moonlight too).
You could gauge via Twitter after he snidely kneed Alexis Sanchez in the back in Barcelona how loathed he is outside of west London. The schadenfreude which greeted his red card was nationwide, because opposition supporters; Cockneys, Mancs, Scousers, Brummies and Geordies; love to hate him.
At two World Cups Terry has underperformed. In 2006 he was bailed out by Ferdinand or Ashley Cole and in 2010 he resembled a forlorn child desperate for the adult helping hand of the former. The ease in which Germany bypassed him should have seen him jettisoned from the national scene.
He won't be missed if he is absent from the party travelling to Eastern Europe, but will Hodgson be strong enough to make such a simple choice, when it is erroneously being spun as a difficult one by some?