Written by Ali Gokal, Abeer Sharma, Dean Taylor, Matthew Toms | 11 February 2012
Posted in Comment - Sport

Photography: Paulblank
Ali Gokal

The whole fiasco has been bungled from the start. England are three months from a major tournament without a manager and without a captain. What slim chance of winning the Euros that existed previously has been all but inveigled from our desperate, glory-hungry grasps.

Terry’s captaincy was correctly taken away; a cloud hangs over him and by necessity the whole team. But he should never have been reappointed. The FA was wrong to wait three months and to not consult Capello was simply callous. Nonetheless, the case does not abuse the principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty’. They took the armband away from a man who once again has brought the spotlight on the England camp for the wrong reasons and should never again lead England out as captain.

However there can be no excuse for Fabio Capello. His public comments were rash and ill-advised: regardless of how infuriated he was with the decision, it was a done deal. He is renowned as a manager who wants things his way, but in this case his obstinacy was his downfall. To publicly lambast the Football Association was to criticise his employers and from there the FA left him with little choice. In hindsight it is clear that relations between him and the FA were strained. Fabio Capello has gone from mastermind of the Italian Job to lame duck manager and now he is like Fredo in the Godfather II, discontented, grumbling and ultimately disposed of.

Give the captaincy to Steven Gerrard. Fitness issues notwithstanding, he’s the best candidate. Skipper of Liverpool for years, Gerrard knows how to deal with the media and has broad enough shoulders to handle this poisoned chalice.

As for the managerial position, it’s less straightforward. Harry Redknapp is, of course, the forerunner: his tenure at Tottenham has been nothing less than stupendous and seems to have the players’ backing. ‘Arry will galvanise the dressing room. The problem is, will he leave Spurs mid-season? I’m not too keen to see England having a part-time manager. Guus Hiddink would be a quick-fit solution in the short-term. Or Emile Heskey.

Abeer Sharma

Fabio Capello arrived in England as one of the great football managers of the last 25 years. His exploits at club level led to the consensus upon his appointment in 2007 that if Capello couldn’t achieve anything with England, no-one could. That train of thought has been completely derailed since.

It is easy to forget that what has now been labelled a ‘loveless marriage’ once appeared to be a perfect union. When England crushed Croatia 5-1 at Wembley in September 2009, Capello’s stock couldn’t have been higher and both hopes and expectations were raised to 2006 levels. We England fans never learn…

From that night, Capello’s tenure gradually degenerated into despair, with the World Cup 2010 as its insignia. Amongst the many risible aspects of that edition, the moment Capello put on Emile Heskey as England chased a 4-1 deficit was a particularly memorable low point for this writer. Since that pummelling in Bloemfontein, the relationship between Capello and England has been miserable and uneasy. The timing of his resignation may have been surprising but post 2010, Capello didn’t want England and England weren’t too keen on him.

How should Capello’s reign be judged? He can point to the best record of any post-war manager (67% win percentage) and a pair of strong qualifying campaigns - the latter especially welcome after the McClaren debacle. Nonetheless, World Cup 2010 is likely to define his tenure. It remains scarcely believable that such an all-encompassing catastrophe could take place on the watch of a manager of his repute.

Capello had the chance to make amends at Euro 2012. Expectations are low and good performances allied with tournament experience for future players would potentially have made for a positive parting of ways. He shunned this and thus his tenure must go down as an underwhelming and expensive disappointment. Here’s hoping that Harry Redknapp - assuming he is next for the job - will bring a much needed injection of joy to the England team (for as long as the mendacious media will allow him to anyway).

Dean Taylor

So Fabio has gone. The damage from his unauthorised comments to Italian media seemingly made his relationship with the FA irreparable. For so long in his distinguished career, he has built himself up as an authoritative figure. That authority according to Capello had been “insulted” – was it too much for the FA to at least consult their manager before embarking on such a decision?

Questions continue to swirl as to whether the FA was right to strip John Terry of the captaincy without discussing the matter with the manager of the national team. I believe that the FA was right to remove the captaincy from John Terry – but the decision should have been made much sooner.

The timing of it has been lauded by some as “swift and decisive” from the FA – so long seen as an impotent bystander as events develop before it unfold; though the charge can be laid at the their feet that it should not have waited until the trial date was scheduled until after the European Championship.

The FA should have made it clear to John Terry that once news had broken that the police were investigating allegations of racial abuse (who hand the file over to the Crown Prosecution Service to then decide whether or not to prosecute), the principled thing for him to do would be to stand down so that this cloud – four months before the tournament, no less – would not be hanging over the team.

Parallels can be drawn between Terry and the Chris Huhne case: it was made clear to Huhne by David Cameron and Nick Clegg that were he to be charged for perjury, it would not be right for him to continue as a member of the Cabinet. Why was it that nobody from the FA indicated to Terry back in October that if the CPS did decide to prosecute, it would be the just and honourable thing to hand over the armband?

The captaincy is an ambassadorial role and we expect those who hold the position to conduct themselves in such a way so as not to bring the role into disrepute. Terry should never have been reappointed (perhaps it’s a touch of irony that Capello was not consulted, just like how he failed to inform Ferdinand that he had lost the armband). Needless to say, it is one more unnecessary calamity for the FA who seem incapable from averting a disaster and who must begin the search for yet another manager. Let us hope this appointment is a success - he has his work cut out.

Matthew Toms

Within a few days the England project has suffered its greatest farce since the summer of 2010. Fabio Capello has quit as manager and John Terry has been removed as captain by the FA. To put things simply – all parties are to blame.

Capello wrongly reinstated Terry as captain last year after his extra marital affairs cost him the captaincy in 2010. The reason why he lost the captaincy was his weakened leadership, being a poor role model for young people and commanding no real respect from the fans. To reinstate him was to blatantly disregard his former decision and undermine the then captain Rio Ferdinand. Capello is also guilty of non-action after the racism scandal broke in late 2011 and has now paid the price. The final nail in the proverbial coffin for Capello was his recent Italian interview where he openly criticised the FA for removing Terry.

That being said, the FA showed great disrespect to Capello after making the unilateral decision to remove Terry. I am firmly of the opinion that the appointment and removal of the team captain must involve the manager. This is an integral aspect of managerial duty and I would be disgusted if the boards of Premier League teams failed to consult the manager over such matters.

For those who claim the FA’s action was based on Capello’s non-action, I would argue that a managers role is to make decisions as they see best, and only through those decisions can a manager be judged – and fired. If Sir Alex Ferguson refuses to play key players is it for the board to force him to do so? Or force him to buy a player? I would certainly hope not or a manager would be nothing but a proxy.

I have no sympathy for Capello – his actions required him to step down. I have no sympathy for John Terry and hope he takes voluntarily to hangs up his England jersey.  I have no sympathy for the FA or support their conduct.

However, I wholeheartedly sympathise for every England fan who wishes the team well for Euro 2012. Let us get a new captain and manager so we can move forward.

I sincerely hope the FA can redeem themselves and pry Harry Redknapp from Tottenham Hotspur. As for potential captains I would like it to be a player integral to the team but also removed from the previous decade of failure - say Joe Hart?

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