Fabio Capelo is set to be confirmed as England manager.
And I'm not happy.
I find it amazing that after years of Sven Goran-Erikksson and his fat paycheque that the FA have learned sweet FA.
Now, I'm on record saying that I wanted a coach who was a winner, regardless of his nationality.
When you look at Capello's record, you cannot deny that this man has the midus touch. Every club he has managed has won the league.
He has managed AC Milan, AS Roma, Juventus, and Real Madrid. Some people might say that the titles were tainted at Juve, but in my opinion, it was still an achievement just to be in that position to do it. The only time he didn't win anything was when he went back to AC Milan in 1997 and they failed to qualify for the Champions League and he got the boot.
So all this praise that I'm giving him must make you wonder: "Why don't you want him?"
Firstly, it's rumoured that he is going to be on a £4Million a year salary. That's a lot of money for someone who has never coached at this level before.
Didn't they pay Erikksson this type of money? Where did it get England?
No where fast.
Secondly, club management is very different from international management. When you manage at a club, if you don't get on with a player or coach, it's quite easy to say "you're fired" and bring a replacement in to tailor your needs.
At the international level, you are limited as to who you can and can't have. It's not so easy to say "I don't like him, I'll replace him with someone else," because you are restricted by the nationality of the players. The style of management required is a different style where you can handle the players in a way thats authoritive, but keeps them on your side as well so you don't lose the dressing room.
This reason is my biggest concern about Capello. I know they are crazy in Spain, but you don't sack your manager after he brought you the league title for the first time in four years unless he caused too much damage in the dressing room.
The way he handled David Beckham was a good example. Instead of letting Beckham play out his Real Madrid career in style and grace, he publicly humiliated him by insisting that he never play for the club again, only to recall him to the side due to injuries, after which Beckham displayed the kind of form that made the bosses at Madrid think: "What the hell have we done in letting him go?".
There are other examples and stories of his dressing room manner from the various clubs he has managed.
There's already talk of replacing John Terry (pictured) as captain because he wants to make his own mark on the team. Don't get me wrong: I'm not for player power. But in international mangement there has to be a line drawn.
All I can say to the FA is: "Be careful what you wish for!"
7 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Sheikh Zakaria about 1 year ago
Capello is really a prudish minded manager, doesn't like parties, very disciplined, knows how to 'lambast' players when they r not performing, and lots more..
THe only problem that might arise will be his condescending approach to the media, of which the English Press will make a heck of an issue, and when Capello looses just once, they will censure..
But apart from all these, i don't see the ginormous cash and the different levels of management too much a problem for him and the FA.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Capello and england players are polar opposites and rightfully so. he wont tolerate late night parties during away visits and he will make sure they make the back pages instead of the front ones.
As for your silly comment that he was fired because he damaged the dressing room... who u kidding man?? beckham was the poorest player in the team before capello benched him permanently. if anything, this motivated him to perform better in the last matches.
in your article you misunderstand everything capello stands for. he will do things his way and he will make changes because.. lets face it, the england team really needs changes. he will kick his best players off if it doesn't help his tactics. and finally, if you actually follow italian football, if anyone who can see things from outside the box, its capello. so the FA did the right thing. he will get results, even if 1-0 is the way to go, the english public will hate it, the players will get sick of him, some will never play untill 2011, but in the end, he will do the job.
and i forget, how can you say the england team is restricted by the number of players available?? they have one of the best youth setups in europe, and an abundance of players itching to replace under performers like lampard, owen.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Capello and england players are polar opposites and rightfully so. he wont tolerate late night parties during away visits and he will make sure they make the back pages instead of the front ones.
As for your silly comment that he was fired because he damaged the dressing room... who u kidding man?? beckham was the poorest player in the team before capello benched him permanently. if anything, this motivated him to perform better in the last matches.
in your article you misunderstand everything capello stands for. he will do things his way and he will make changes because.. lets face it, the england team really needs changes. he will kick his best players off if it doesn't help his tactics. and finally, if you actually follow italian football, if anyone who can see things from outside the box, its capello. so the FA did the right thing. he will get results, even if 1-0 is the way to go, the english public will hate it, the players will get sick of him, some will never play untill 2011, but in the end, he will do the job.
and i forget, how can you say the england team is restricted by the number of players available?? they have one of the best youth setups in europe, and an abundance of players itching to replace under performers like lampard, owen.
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Simon Williams about 1 year ago
Sorry but Madrid sacked Capello because they wanted a more attacking style of football, not because he upset a few players. He was only there to make them win again, which he did, after they had got what they wanted, they dispensed with him as they had done 10 years earlier.
As for the £4m a year, what top manager is going to take the England job without such a salary? Even average managers get massive wages these days, so one with Capello's track record is well worth the money if we can afford him, which we can because the FA have been posting record turnover figures in recent years.
It is far to early to speculate on what he might do as England manager, he hasn't even been confirmed in the job yet.
Also in my opinion, the end of Eriksson's reign may have been poor, but on the whole he did a good job. We qualified for tournaments with relative ease, always got to the knock-out stages, and with a bit more luck with injuries could have easily got further at World Cup 2002 and Euro 2004. By 2006 the players had fallen out of love with him and his methods and we were awful, but compare his record to many other England managers and he is in a different league.
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Simon Martin about 1 year ago
Could not agree more, a great article which makes all the right noises - The FA may have got, in my opinion, a better manager than McDonut, but it's still not good enough at grassroots level in the English game - hence the lack of managers or coaches deemed good enough for England.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
I honestly think a character like him will do just nicely in deflating a few very bloated 'superstar' egos in the England team. One of the reasons why England has underperformed in recent years is the "I'm-too-good" attitude and Capello could be the one to sort that out.
That said, let's try not to judge till there is some empirical evidence of his inability or unsuitability, since his track record does suggest success.
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Mark Syrett about 1 year ago
A Foreign manager is not a problem, we are currently hearing that there will only be one backroom member who is English, this may be. Spain have the same problem. Brilliant players in a brilliant league. However their last native boss' to win everything have moved to Liverpool, and Spurs. Please remember McClaren is still the last Englishman to win a trophy, and get to any kind of European final. There were not these foreign managers in England 30/20 or even 10 years ago, England did not win anything then. We need something, and as an Englishman I hope Capello has it.
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