England National Football Team: Why Fabio Capello Should Be Sacked as Manager

After a disappointing 2-2 draw at home to Switzerland, the pressure on England manager Fabio Capello has increased further. Even if Capello’s team does qualify for the European Championships in 2012, which I am fairly confident will happen, I still believe that Capello’s reign as England boss deserves to end just as much as I did in the aftermath of England’s appalling World Cup in South Africa last summer.

“It is difficult for us to play in June” was the excuse made by the Italian after the poor display against Switzerland. Ignoring the fact that England’s opponents would have also just finished a long and tiring club season, Capello’s excuse for England’s woeful performance was fatigue. If the team is to make it to Poland and Ukraine for the tournament, perhaps Capello should realise that it would also be played in June, after another tiring club season just like last summer’s World Cup.

Despite being paid around £6 million per year, Capello does seem to have a lot of free time on his hands. With the national squad only coming together for a few weeks in total per year, the language barrier Capello faced when he first arrived in the country would have surely been overcome by now with so much time available to him in the three and a half years that he has been there.

It is surprising, therefore, to see him struggling in press conferences even now. His failure to understand the word "permanent" may have caused him a few problems, especially considering his ridiculous handling of the England captaincy.

Although Steve McClaren’s spell as England manager was unsuccessful, I still feel the need for an English manager to take charge. The fact that no foreign manager has ever won the World Cup perhaps suggests that it isn’t the best way forward and I feel that if FIFA rules state that the players play for their own country, so should the manager, as the one that picks the team arguably has a role just as important.

I believe that Harry Redknapp—who has taken Tottenham Hotspur from the bottom of the Premier League to playing Champions League football, just one of a number of achievements in his time as a coach—should be given the chance to manage the national side.

The FA has already stated that they will appoint an English manager after the European Championships. I think that it would make a lot more sense to bring in a manager now that can work with the players for the next few years before making a serious effort to at least restore some pride in the national side during the 2014 World Cup.