John Terry portrays himself as THE man.

The man who leads from the front; the man who fears nobody.

So why is he so scared to front up to Wayne Bridge?

They were supposed to be the best of buddies. Now this self-acclaimed leader of men has not got the bottle to even pick up the phone.

They may well come face to face at Stamford Bridge on Saturday lunchtime when Manchester City play Chelsea. That’s if Bridge is in the visiting side.

I hope he is, if only to give him the satisfaction to completely blank Terry during that farcical pre-match handshake.

Bridge might be above all that. If it was me, I’d be more tempted to shake “Mr Chelsea” around the neck.

But this isn’t about Bridge, who is the totally innocent party.

It’s Terry who thinks he is above the normal parameters the rest of us abide by.

Now it appears he is more important than England, holding sway of selection policy for next week’s friendly against Egypt.

Bridge, understandably, wants no part of it. But why didn’t Terry show a grain of humility by offering to step down for a game to defuse the situation?

Fabio Capello knows exactly what Terry can do, even if he has resembled Jason Gavin in recent weeks.

But with Ashley Cole’s injury, the coach’s big headache is at left back. Suddenly Bridge has become a key figure in the World Cup build-up – and here we have a ridiculous scenario where the guy doesn’t feel he can play.

He’s the one we need to see in action; not that other fella.

But don’t expect Terry to be bothered. Other people and their feelings don’t seem to feature too heavily in his thought process.

He was happy for the world’s paparazzi to capture his “private” showdown with the missus in Dubai. Perhaps there hasn’t been a suitable photo opportunity with Bridge.

But it seems too difficult for him to pick up a phone. And even harder to look at himself in the mirror.