Fabio Capello: Manager Foolish to Step Down from English Squad

Seismologists have triangulated the epicenter of a shock felt around the football world on Wednesday to the FA offices at Wembley Stadium in London, where Fabio Capello tendered his resignation as manager of the England national team.

Okay, perhaps not real seismologists, but rather those with a pulse on the rift that had emerged between Capello and the football powers that be in the UK. It's a surprising turn of events, to be sure, though not wholly unexpected given Capello's reaction to the FA stripping John Terry of his captaincy. By all accounts, the FA, a political organization through and through, wasn't too fond of having a skipper who'd recently been involved in an alleged row of racism with Anton Ferdinand, the brother of long-time Manchester United star and former England captain Rio Ferdinand.

Capello didn't take too kindly to the FA undermining his authority to manage his squad as he so pleases—not all that unexpected in light of England's disappointing performance on Capello's watch—and so, presumably, he decided, after publicly criticizing his bosses in an interview with the Italian press, that the situation was no longer tenable for himself.

Or perhaps, behind closed doors, that's what FA chairman David Bernstein and general secretary Alex Horne concluded before forcing Capello to hand in his own resignation letter.

Whatever the case may be, Capello is out and looks like a stubborn fool for it. Did he really feel so strongly about John Terry, a man of recently suspicious exploits, that he felt the need to leave his post over the defender's demotion?

True, there's the whole "sovereignty" thing that good managers must maintain over their clubs, though even that can't quite justify Capello giving up the chance to redeem himself as the leader of England's national team, arguably the most prestigious post anyone in the sport can possibly hold.

After a disappointing performance at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Three Lions finally appeared poised to make some serious noise on the international scene at Euro 2012 in June. The draw granted England a clear path out of the group stage, ahead of Sweden and host Ukraine and alongside arch-rival France.

And with such an abundance of talent on board—Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge up front; James Milner, Ashley Young and Scott Parker in the middle; Terry, Micah Richards and Joleon Lescott on defence; and Joe Hart in goal (among many, many others)—this England squad has a legitimate shot to win Euro 2012 and parlay that success into a serious challenge to Spain and Germany in Brazil in 2014. 

Now, with the continental championship less than four months out, the FA will be left scrambling for a new boss to man the touchline, while Capello, still a failure on the international level despite having the best winning percentage of any England boss, will likely return to the club ranks, where he enjoyed tremendous success with AC Milan, Roma, Juventus and Real Madrid.

Or, perhaps, he'll simply retire at the age of 65, content with his legacy as one of the greatest club managers of all time who gave up on the opportunity to be something more on account of a silly controversy.

Because as much as Capello's England squads won, they never brought home hardware from Europe or the World Cup, and it is for that which, rightly or wrongly, he'll be remembered most.

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