Fab Timing

A clash of two calamitous titans has ended in a break-up. Capello and England. Gaffer and Governer. A love that didn't last.

In truth, this is one of those occasions on which you can see the case from both points of view, as well as accepting the parting of company as inevitable. On the one hand, John Terry's position had become untenable thanks to the ongoing race row between him and Anton Ferdinand. The FA could not allow their national team's primary representative to be somebody who is (allegedly) embroiled in a racism spat.

However, Fabio Capello is the manager, and the man with the reputation. He was the man entrusted to lead the England team to glory, and as a result he should have full control of team duties. When the FA intervened it was an undermining of his position, and Capello clearly felt that he couldn't work under such circumstances. Capello could not allow his position to be belittled in a way that affected a team policy he truly believed him.

It's a sticky one, with no easy answer.

However, as I mentioned in the ominous previous article 'A Growing F.A.rce', this whole mess could have been handled far better by the FA. A major team decision was seemingly executed without Capello being consulted at all. Regardless of how both parties felt about John Terry's captaincy, surely it would have been more desirable and productive for the FA to have held a meeting with Capello prior to any formal announcement regarding Terry. This way, both parties would have maybe been able to find a compromise, and neither would have felt undermined by the other.

I'm not saying Capello would have necessarily stayed if he'd at least been notified of the impending decision, but I can't imagine that a decision being taken without his knowledge particularly aided the situation. It just goes to typify how the FA are hopelessly clumsy when it comes to team and managerial affairs.

But let's look at the flipside of this great implosion. As opposed to what would have been a dreary tournament under an unwanted Capello regime, England now have the chance to do something different and interesting with Euro 2012. If the next permanent national manager is appointed in time for the Championships, they will get an immediate and very useful illustration of the state of the England team in major tournaments. The side needs fixing and, without wanting to sound agonisingly pessimistic, what better way to get started than by a demonstration of where the team is broken, with every crack and fracture under the microscopically stringent examination of a major tournament?

It's an opportunity alright, but the constant stone in my stomach regards the people who will be making the managerial choice, given their track record. The pressure is on for them to pick Harry Redknapp, and I think this pick would have both strengths and weaknesses. Harry is undoubtedly the most suitable man for the job when considering the team's immediate future, but beyond that it becomes a fuzzier picture. After all, Redknapp is 64, and that's an age most managers will struggle to reach whilst still in the prime of their careers. That said, if Redknapp can have a positive influence on building the team, and maybe hang around for three or four tournaments, then he could make a massive difference in England's future.

There's no guarantee that it will be Redknapp though, despite the enormous support he is receiving. The FA like to keep a clean image, and tend to steer clear of any troubled figures when it comes to the managerial position (though clearly not when it comes to the actual team). They famously turned their heads away from Brian Clough, despite him undeniably being highly competent and the most capable hands with which the job could fall into. Redknapp was only today cleared of tax evasion, but the lingering air of dodginess hangs around him like a crazy love-fuelled dog. The FA might want to go for a 'safer' option.

The only issue with that is, there are no candidates who tick both the 'clean track record' and 'capable' boxes. If the FA really does go for a 'safer' option, then they will have once again shown their own ability in running the national team (that was meant in a bad way... just so you sort of got the tone of that sentence). However, I'm not going to castrate them for something they haven't done yet.

What I will say is if that stupid excuse goes through their gawking skulls, perhaps it may be worth giving Stuart Pearce a run-out for Euro 2012 (and by that I mean as a manager, not a player). After all, Pearce is almost guaranteed the England hot-seat at some point in the future. Why not allow him a little lick of the big tournaments now, whilst we've got this chance to do so? The worst that can happen is that he does badly, which in the greater scheme of things isn't that tragic. If he does well on the other hand, we then have a young and talented manager that can see England into the distant future.

Well, these are all ideas anyway. What really does happen will depend on the very minds that brought you Steve McClaren, so let's not get carried away just yet. Although this whole debacle has come out of race rows, mismanagement and just general shoddiness, the little rays of light are beginning to shine through again. Here's to a hopeful future for England.