FA allows Capello to carry on

My respect for Capello has simply grown, let me explain why. This weekend could see some very damaging stories concerning the England squad. These have been kept on hold so as not to damage the WC chances. I think Capello saw this coming but wanted to tie his very real commitment with a strong contract. He's not here to mess about. I hope that now he can be free to exercise complete control over the squad.

Of course, it's a very contentious decision to keep him. But if the bottom line for the FA chiefs is £££ then Capello clearly understands that language as well as them. Check mate.

You have the one of the best manager in the world, even if you are given those managers who have made their national team win the world cup eg carlos alberto perreira or lippi never in your life will england go past quarter final In WC. Their are teams desinged for worldcup and am sorry England is not one of them. Even the semi final of euro 2012 it will be a miracle if you reach the semis as it was a surprise and biggest miracle when England took the worlcup. You dont have a team nor will you ever produce one in another 50 years to compete with the big boys like Germany, Italy and Brazil

Good blog! I just hope Capello will learn from his mistakes in the future. But the semis of Euro 2012...you must be joking.

Good! Finally we will see if someone actually dares to wield the axe we now know needs to be lifted. Bye bye Gerrard, Lampard, Heskey, James has to go he's 40 now no point with his continuation and lets put some stress on Ferdinand, Terry and Rooney, no position or player can expect a place guarantee. I for one cannot wait to see what happens over the next 12 months because like everyone I am totally depressed with having my hopes raised and dashed as year in year out the same players do nothing but underperform at the top and nothing changes. Let's see some real change and move forward. Maybe the FA will even adress the problems at the grass roots level and force an adoption of goal line tech... got too excited there...yeah as if.

I never saw why Capello's position was in doubt, fair enough he made a few mistakes - possibly should have started with Hart and dropped Heskey - but he can't be blamed for players like Rooney. Rooney's first touch during the entire tournament was beyond abysmal, his second touch was always a tackle, how can Capello legislate for that? Some of the big names, had unwarrented big ego - so should be dropped or forced to show the same form in an England shirt as a club shirt. I am behind Capello, the blame is not at his door, but at the players who always try to find excuses.

capello demonstrated an inability to change his system ok the players were dire but who picked them? capello did heskey may have helped us qualify but a world cup player not on your life. capello had no idea in the germany game he picked players he liked or on reputation not form or desire. give the team a hard working midfield and a solid defence not a bunch of players who have never shone at international level. and ask yourself this why do no foreign club teams buy english players answer they just aint good enough

I have a concern that Capello possibly wanted to introduce a younger regime into the England squad but stuck with a tried and tested formula because of the outcry likely if these players were excluded. The recent Terry incident shows what happens when you give players enough rope. Capello, if he really is a gifted Manager, should be brutal in his approach and build the squad HE wants to win the next major tournament. But if we suddenly expect this to mean an England side has all the flair of a Brazil from the past - forget it. Think more along the lines of a Spurs side - have always been good going forward, on the whole play attractive football, can score 5 in a game but look like they could concede 6! Then consider the Harry factor and shore things up at the back. There's a thought, put Harry on standby......

Well done the FA. After removing the no compo clause from his contract BEFORE the finals, it's now too expensive to fire him. how many kids soccer pitches would 12 mill have built. They live in their own ivory tower, not letting the real world come anywhere near them.

My only issue is with the lead sentence on the front page that says "money was decisive factor".

As reported in your blog though, it clearly wasn't...

The fact that he "unanimous support", wasn't at huge fault for the players performance, and most importantly, "didn't actually do anything to deserve to get sacked", meant this was always going to come to an obvious conclusion.

Just diasppointed that the link on the front was delibaretly misleading.

The problems in WC 2010 were evident in the warm up games starting with Mexico. Green looked good as did Walcott and Crouch, and he picked Green and hardly used Crouch. The midfield never clicked; couldn't pass actually nor press the other teams. The full backs were painfully slow and easy to beat wide. We should have attacked the US. Rooney never looked any good. The way I saw the games, Capello had some excellent players, far better man for man than the US, Slovenia and Algeria but the TEAM was ineffective. I know the Germany game would have been different if England had not been prevented by the Uruguayan refs from leveling the scores after being 2-0 down. Capello failed in my opinion in every respect that a manager can fail nor did we start the rebuilding process for next time. I don't think Pearce had helped in this, as he watched the Germans play who had thrashed his best at the Under 21 level.

New team, new manager, new ideas - bugger the money. A true English manager should be able to understand the following:

At the eventual passing of the eldest nun in the convent, the remainder of the members decided that a special headstone was required for such a devout person.
After much deliberation the inscription "God, she is thine." was agreed upon and the local Yorkshire stonemason duly instructed.
The day before the ceremony the stone was delivered to the local church, but on closer inspection the Nuns were horrified to find a typo, as the inscription read "God, she is thin.".
The stonemason was telephoned immediately, informed that "you have missed out the 'E'", and asked to rectify the fault post haste as the memorial was required the next day.
The stone was collected by the stonemason forthwith and re-delivered later that day having been duly corrected.
The headstone now reading "e' God, she is thin.".

Why is everyone so keen to get rid of Gerrard? Is there a consensus that he has nothing left to offer the team?

BTW - I'm neither English nor a Liverpool supporter. Just interested in the reasons for England fans wanting rid of Gerrard. In my opinion he was one of your better players and this with being played out of position in an under-performing team.

Strange how an article on Mr Capello's future and the financial position of the FA turns into an insistence that he should blood young players. I don't remember too many people saying these things before the World Cup. Our so-called "world class players" (labelled as such by the media remember) have had at least three different managers under which to show us how good they are and have failed. So what is the answer again? Sack the manager of course. Yes, why didn't we all see it before, it's so obvious.

It's amazing how wonderful our media are at hinsight when they are the ones who told us that "this was our best chance in a long time".

It's been five days since we went out and I've not heard two people who profess to be "experts" on football actually say the same thing. If I was Capello I think I may have been tempted to walk just because he's on a hiding to absolutely nothing.

Who said money was a major factor? It may have been because it would require a hefty payout, but has anyone thought that it could be because Capello is one of the best managers in the world?

Also Gerrard is only 30, and Terry only 29, why should they be retied? Both are the best in their positions that we have available, and both will be ok to play in the Euro's most likely, if they should be retired then so should Ashley Cole, he's the same age and arguably has a more physically demanding job than both, Terry for sure. Lampard should be either benched or retired because he's not a player for the future, his experience and proven ability to help beat a 'lesser' team in the qualifiers could be useful, Ferdinand retired.

Interesting blog. Cheers.

Finished by a very depressing comment though: "But while many will agree with the FA's decision it knows it will be harshly judged if the England team doesn't make at least the semi-finals at Euro 2012."

Have we not learnt yet? I don't think anyone who actually knows about football is expecting anything from Euro 2012. A far more realistic aim would be the quarters or semis in 2014 and then we could aim to win the Euros in 2016, IF we are very lucky with the curent crop of players coming through. We are certainly a (footballing) generation away from success in any tournament.

Well,lets face it, irrespective of the motive behind the change, the manager has not been sacked. Only problem is the press who are half the problem will be wailing in their beer tonight and no doubt will have the knives out for Capello next season.

Lets get one thing straight here, tell me a more jingoistic rag than the Sun, you wont. What was the headline when the draw was made ? EASY

So, you would expect to find a poll of fans in that newspaper to reflect the views of the journos ?

WRONG - Who was to blame ? 75% voted for the players.

The press are out of tune as much as the FA on this one,not that I am defending Capello because some of his decision making was haphazard to be polite BUT at the end of the day, most people recognise that on this occasion, the players, some appearing in their 3rd even 4th tournament could not hack it and the people have finally sussed it.

If the players were not to blame, why have Gerrard and Rooney decided against coming to the O2 ? Reason given ? It would be inappropriate, why if they were not culpable, the fans worship them in the Premiership so why is it inappropriate guys ?

The problem now is that having made the right decision in my opinion, the FA should have come out and told the press where to go, stop talking Bulls!!!!!!and demanding we win or even reach the semis of 2012 we are going to bring in youth, 2012 is a stepping stone, NO MORE, remember we did not even qualify last time !!!). If youth is brought in (and personally I would only keep Hart and Rooney) then the team has to be built not over 2 years but 4 or 6 years.

absolute joke

capello should be sacked and most of the squad but FA couldnt care less about the fans, only the money, disgrace

the same will happen at euro 2012 if england even qualify

and the "fans" who support capello staying on should watch the 4 games again

It's kind of pathetic that England have to employ a 64-year-old Italian coach anyway, who may have coached successfully in Italy, but didn't make it internationally when the chips were down, as recent events have born out. The removal of the no compo clause from the contract needs to be investigated and the perpetrator(s) removed from the F.A. management.

#16

the reason Rooney and Gerrard pulled out of the O2 challenge is because events required precision skills like "hitting a barn door" and "scoring a goal".If there were events like "Run around like headless chickens" and "pass the ball back to your goalie as many times as possible in 60 seconds" then they would have snapped the promoters hands off....

Anyway, back on topic - i dont see why Capello is getting the majority of the blame in some sections - if club football teaches us anything it is swapping manager everytime there is a crisis rarely helps the team in the long term.

Therefore, I am happy to give Capello another chance and see how well he learns from this valuable lesson in South Africa - i sincerely hope he decides to dispense with players like Lampard, who have never really delivered on the international stage and try and bring in some youth.

Honestly, I would have preferred to have seen 11 Championship standard players playing against Germany - ok we might still have lost, but at least i would not be doubting their commitment, which is what i felt at the end of the game last week.

Greece and Denmark have won the European Championship, so even the little boys can win. It is about the team and its tactics that will dictate who wins, as we saw today if you don not respect your opposite like Brasil did even the BOYS fail in the quarter finals.

As Brian Clough once said "If a chairman sacks the manager he initially appointed, he should go as well."

This would explain something of the FA's decision.

If they had sacked Capello, they were worried that they themselves would be the next target, afterall many of their recent decisions don't hold up well to scrutiny.

For example Phil Garside the number one Capello tub thumper, is the man who thinks that a 39 Premier league game, despatching clubs half way around the world is a top idea !, and that Rangers and Celtic would be welcome to join the premiership elite.

So much is made of Capello's pedigree as a manager, but we must remember that his record is sole based in Club management which is a different beast to that of International Management. He led us into the world cup finals with no previous managerial experience of international tournament football, and it showed.

The August friendly against Hungary is now massive. If England play well, questions will be asked , and if we don't the pressure on Capello will build again.

The only way forward for him is to look to a future without the spine of his team.

Much has been made of the split and unrest in the camp between the players, and if this is true them Capello must cut away this cancer that is destroying the team - if it means the premature end of some england careers then so be it.

If he is as ruthless as his reputation suggests he must be shown to be the boss and that NO player is bigger than the team despite the revenue any player brings to the FA as the face of their sponsers, or how much a player is loved by the media.

I don't expect this to happen England will fudge and carry on, and I dare say Capello will leave as soon as an opportunity at one the big clubs allow.

Dave Whelan is right that the FA are not fit to run the national team, however I don't believe the the Premier league who never seem to have the England's best interests at heart are in any better position to do so.

We always hear the cries for change where England are concerned, but it really is like the turkeys voting for christmas.

So its the Semi's at Euro 2012..I'm sure the media expects!

I think to aim for the semi-finals of Euro 2012 as a minimum is amazingly stupid. The aim should be to qualify, playing decent football, and blooding new players into the team, such that for 2014 the team is strong.

And players like Ferdinand and Lampard need to retire or too be dropped. Age and injuries have caught up with them, and they need to make way.

I would keep Gerrard and Terry (if he doesnt rebel), as these guys can help the next generation bed in.

Sacking Capello would be rash, and starting with a completely new team would be twice as rash!

Turkeys do vote for Christmas then. Somebody will go and it looks like Richards.

Now we need to solve the real problem of developing the young English talent. Most people know who these players are but most are sitting on the bench of PL clubs with little chance of first team football.
The FA must identify and mentor these players so that they play every week, even if it is in the Championship or overseas on loan. This is the only way these players can improve. It does them no good to be just training with the likes of Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal etc. and maybe getting a couple of cameo appearances per season.
The FA need to intervene with the clubs who harbour these youngsters and demand they play or release them to a club who will play them.
Sometimes the Big Clubs pick up young talent just to prevent them from going elsewhere and have no intent of ever giving them a real chance to progress. These players are generally better off going to smaller clubs where they can play every week.
Come on FA, get involved!

I watched some Ghanains cry, distressed, tonight, after their defeat. A young side who gave their all. What a difference to the apparent "couldn't care less" England team. Let's take risks. Get some new younger boys in and go for it. And hope they don't become the spoiled millionaires that the so-called "golden generation" are. Some lads who care. Some lads who haven't ended up believing that they are wonderful. Some lads who genuinely want to do their country proud. Not too much to ask is it???

England..Semis in Euro 12? Give me a break. Getting out of the Group stage in the Euros is harder than in the WC - there are generally no bad teams in the European champs, its a much tougher proposition as the margin for error is tiny (see Euros '88 '92 and 2000).
A few new players will come in but when it come to the crunch Capello preferes experience and longevity (Heskey) over youth and inexpeience (Walcott).
I also got the feeling Capello didn't see how important the Germany game was with its competetive history over the years. He just seemed in a daze as he read out his statement. Maybe its what he needed.
England should qualify for the Euros (he will definately go if it looks like we wont get there - paying him off will offset the loss the FA would make if we don't qualify) but once we are there we will probably have to endure the same sort of dross from England we were served up in SA as the team gets found out.
For Capello, retention by the FA is vindication of his tactics and selections. He talks about change but I'm not confident - leopards don't change their spots and he has been around a long time and very successfuly too. But the game has changed - Capello's and subsequently England's chances of success depend on him being able to show he can change with it.
As for the FA and its ability to negotiate - its yet another fine mess they have got themselves into since not having the guts to pick Clough to replace Revie back in the late 70's.

After reading allthe above, I get the feeling that we are missing the point. Yes the players did under achieve for one reason or the other, but really all because Gerrard, Lampard & Barry look great on paper as midfield players how on earth are you going to get them to play together in a 4 man midfield.

I know Capello has a great track record, but it's always been in Spain or Italy where the game is more like a game of chess than anything else, now don't get me wrong I'm not saying it's all his fault but a collection of errors from the FA chiefs downwards including the players. But yet again they have looked after their own sorry little arses and kept everything as it was.

For crying out loud why did they have to go for some big time Charlie after they got rid of Sven BEFORE the last world cup, they messed around with Solari that much that he did a runner. No big surprises that Sven gave Walcot a place on the bus for no reason seeing that he was gone before a ball was kicked in 2006. And then came Capello, and after the first 2 games during this World Cup the writing was on the wall.

The FA really needed to have a good look at itself after what happened but instead agreed to look after themselves and keep the status quo. It's all about if I rock the boat too much then I'll be out of here, so I'll just toe the line and not make too much of a fuss.

The bottom line is that the whole set up needs a good shake up. Let the top flight clubs drop out of the League Cup on a major tournament season or make them play with youngers like Arsenal do but all the way to the final, at least that way it give the young guns a great chance of coming through and senior players a break from playing 60 games in a season. Anybody noticed that the only crap player in the Spainish team is Torres????.

As I said it's not just Capello's fault it runsway to deep for that.

@Rob04 - Remember where you read it first as statements by the media have a habit of becoming "what the public wanted" by the time the brown stuff hits the fan.

I hate to say it but there is still a World Cup going on even though England aren't in it anymore. Insightful or enlightening reporting on the teams that remain wouldn't be a bad idea rather than what amounts to a piece based on a number of assumptions.

Can anyone actually say they have been surprised by anything that's happened from England's early exit (which was always inevitable) to this point now? None of it surprises me which is, when you think about it, a very sad state of affairs.

Why do we always expect our sports men and women to be world beating super heroes? Why can't we just enjoy the game?

Before everyone goes overboard on Capello, here's my post on a Phil McNulty blog after the Algeria game, i.e BEFORE we even knew we would play Germany and when all the "experts" were slagging Germany off after they lost to Serbia. Has anything changed???

-----Different manager, same team. For how many more tournaments are we going to rely on this Golden Generation (Who on earth coined that phrase?)

James in goal (even though it was accepted as past his mediocre best at the last world cup 4 years ago and replaced by a young keeper who kept 4 clean sheets in 5 games but is now not even in the squad??)

Guess what, Lampard and Gerrard in midfield together proving one plus one doesn't always equal two if they bring exactly the same to the table.

Heskey up front who can't even get into a mediocre Villa team.

Painfully slow Barry (both in speed of foot and speed of passing).

No wide left footed payer.

Panic calls to get Carragher and Scholes out of retirement?

Germany accepted that their team who finished third (THIRD!!) at last cup weren't good enough, so regularly start with five players who won the U21 tournament last year. England, who they beat in the final, fielded NONE of their u21 squad against Algeria. Does anyone honestly think a team including Gibbs, Wilshire, Rodwell, Johnson,
Huddlestone, Hart, Milner, Shawcross, Cahill, Agbonlahor, Young etc etc could be any worse than these serial failures??-----

Like I said then, Capello picked the same old players playing in the same old way. Is that really worth 6m a year??


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The FA have looked like a poorly run organisation many times and getting rid of Capello would have made them look even worse. Given that that's the case I'm a little surprised they have stuck with him! It's clearly the right decision. He is one of the top managers in the world and although he made some mistakes in South Africa he can't be held accountable when the players that go over the line suddenly forget how to pass the ball or how to keep the ball and control possession. I don't think anyone involved in the campaign has come out looking good but to lay the blame solely at Capello's door would have been ridiculous. I'm not saying England deserved to go further than they did but had it not been for Green's fumble or Lampard's disallowed goal then we may still be in the tournament. Although the performances were terrible and if we still were in it we wouldn't have lasted too much longer.

I just hope that Capello does what he's said he will and starts to blood a few more of the youngsters. Gerrard and Lampard have never played that well together for England. During qualifying they managed to build up a decent enough understanding but they still never looked like forming a partnership that could run the midfield against top opposition. It's definitely time to jettison one if not both of them and Johnson simply has to be given a chance to make the left wing slot his own. I wouldn't say get rid of them all and start afresh as you need experience in the side as well as youth.

One thing's for certain though this really does have to be the end of the Heskey experience. He is no longer helping the players around him and as we all know he is the least prolific striker in the world. I will be extremely disappointed to see him anywhere near the England team in the future. We will never win a major tournament with him in the side, we probably won't without him either but we stand a better chance if we have 2 forward players who both score goals. Joe Hart's had experience of the World Cup and it's time for him to make the number 1 shirt his own. I am concerned about the central defense though. Terry's getting slower and isn't reading the game as well as he used to, and Ferdinand and King have far too many injury concerns. Dawson hasn't played at the top level yet and neither has Upson really.

In a way although it's disappointing to see the players fail again hopefully this will wake everyone up and make them realise that we can't rely on them again. If the young players aren't good enough yet so be it, they will at least improve. The ones around the 30 and over mark have shown they're not good enough and they're not going to get any better now. Time to see how good the youngsters can get. It's going to be interesting and if Capello sticks to his word then I'm looking forward to the ride.

reasons capello MUST GO

1. Hart was his no3 choice when he should have been no1 from the start of tournament, he wasnt even no2 choice!?!? Hart was nominated for young player of the year award and was in the young team of the year after very good season. Green was West Ham GK and let in over 60 goals and they nearly get relegated.

2. Dawson was behind Ferdinand, Terry, King, Carragher and Upson 6th choice CB, whats that about. He had very good season for Spurs and should of without doubt been in the starting 11 after Ferdinand injured or at very least 1st choice back up.

3. He played Gerrard on the left in a 4 4 2 formation. 4 4 2 with 1 left 1 right 2 centre this is ludicrous decision. Gerrard's best position is IN THE CENTRE its not rocket science. He can play off the lone striker, behind 2 strikers or as a centre midfielder, not a wide midfielder.

4. Heskey. Not only did he bring Heskey to the world cup, he persisted in playing him in every single game, even when 4-1 down, not only does he take off Defoe who is a goalscorer, but he brings on Heskey who IS NOT. Why????

5. Strikers. He only brought 4 strikers and only 2 are goalscorer type strikers, the other 2 being target men. Absolute joke. Straight away options are seriously limited in making attacking substitutions. He should of brought at least 5 strikers. Bent should have been one of them as he was "scoring goals" all season.

6. Barry. This guy is so overrated by so many people its unreal. Why was Carrick never given a chance especially in the group games. He is such a better passer of the ball than Barry. People say Barry better holding and defensively, dont think so somehow. Hargreaves is a good defensive midfielder Barry is not. Barry is decent player, that is all.

7. No balance in squad. Wright-Phillips and Lennon are the only 2 wingesr in the squad. They are both RIGHT wingers. IF capello is gonna play 4 4 2 and he knows he is he needs at least 4 wingers, preferably 2 left 2 right. Wright-Phillips shouldnt have been in squad. If he gonna play 4 4 2 and he knows he is all tournament then surely Lennon, Walcott, Young and Johnson would be must better choice, no??? If capello thought there wasnt enough quality wingers in England then dont play 4 4 2 !!!!! 4-3-1-2 or 4-3-3 are both excellent formations to play if natural wingers are in short supply. Argentina are an example of a team playing 4-3-1-2 they had Riquelme behind 2 strikers and 3 midfielders, 1 holding and 1 either side that would break forward when attacking. fullbackc provide width. 4-3-3 has same midfield but instead of playmaker behind 2 strikers, there are 3 strikers 2 wide and 1 central. Chelsea in their prime couple years back played this formation with great success.

8. He allowed GK and CBs to play too many long balls forward, just like Beckenbauer said "kick n rush" FAIL. He even did this when the 2 up front were Rooney and Defoe 5'9 and 5'6 are they? Braindead.

9. He didnt say to Lampard, Gerrard and Rooney. DONT COME DEEP FOR THE BALL STAY UP THE DAMN FIELD. IF they come deep thats one less player up front and out of position, if 2 come deep thats 2. At times I saw Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard ALL come deep for the ball at the same time!?!

10. He didnt make attacking substitutions, just like Eriksson never did. If you are losing you DONT take off 1 striker for another striker. You take off a CM or a CB or a FB, not a striker.

reasons to keep Capello on

1. Cost a lot in compensation.

2. He has very good success as club manager (so did Eriksson)

I'm not surprised the F.A has stuck with Capello. The combination of that change in his contract just before the tournament (very convenient) and the lack of an obvious English alternative (once Liverpool decided to pre-empt the F.A) made it a foregone conclusion.
I can't say I'm delighted, however. I would love Capello to prove me wrong (for the sake of English football), but in this World Cup his decision-making has just come up short.
He was brought in on the 'strong disciplinarian' ticket. For six months he appeared to make little difference. The win in Croatia banked him a fair bit of credit in most people's eyes - and we had a very comfortable passage through qualifying.
But strong discipline can only take you so far. His conservative nature shone through in the squad selection (most people thought choosing Shaun Wright-Phillips ahead of Adam Johnson to be barmy), and he appeared unwilling to be flexible in the slightest when it came to the competition itself. A successful manager builds a team around key players: he doesn't 'shoe-horn' the best players into a pre-conceived 'system'!
Let's see if Capello has learned his lesson over the next few months...

england are currently / simply not good enough right now, overrated by too many

David, on what basis do you make your assertion that the FA "knows it will be harshly judged if the England team doesn't make at least the semi-finals at Euro 2012"?

Is this pure speculation on your part or is there some kind of fact to back it up? It seems a somewhat arbitrary goal.

For the record I agree with earlier posters that the players inability to perform could not have been legislated for by Capello. They played well in the qualifiers so there wasn't any reason to think they couldn't carry this through to the tournament.

However, for the England team to improve Capello needs to find a set of players as comfortable on the ball as Spain that move around for each other and create space. England were static, lethargic and lacking in pace. I believe that many nations have got ahead in their footballing skill - just look at the way nations like Ghana move the ball around and don't allow themselves to get marked out of the game.

So Shearer got it completely wrong twice - firstly that England would win both remaining games in their group, & now that Capello would go before England's next game.

He's proving a poor choice of pundit.

Your blog again does not give any insight. First you say that there's a feeling that after this apparent report into England's showing at the World Cup the FA sensed Capello wasn't entirely at fault - so who was? I would have thought you'd have found that out - but then you go on to say money is major factor because of the pay off they'd have to give him - yet this contradict the FIRSRT point you made that he wasn't entirely to blame.

So is it the fact that he wasn't to blame - or the money? If it's a bit of both, then it seems a bit dodgy to give some one a vote of confidence when in truth you can't afford to pay them off.

And I have to say the fact that Capello didn't like to be kept waiting by the FA for their decision because he was getting angry - is that just based on his character - or anything specific having occurred after the FA announced they'd let him know in a fortnight?

????

Money talks ! Can't see any other reason for keeping Fabio. After a great qualifying campaign he decides to ask Scholes to come back, King to fight off his injuries & Carragher to come out of retirement. What signals does that send to the guys who got England to south africa. The two hour deadline to tell his keeper he was playing. Taking Heskey never mind starting him........Gerrard wide left.....I could go on. Worse coaches on less money with worse players went further. He was a disaster & should have went. When will the first discarded squad member spill the beans about what went on with the "alleged" split in the camp. Can England under Capello build with that.

The nucleus of the England side for the Euro-qualifiers will still be the same one from the World Cup. The idea that "wholesale" changes should be made is utter nonsense. There aren't sufficient younger players coming through who are good enough...

While Joe Hart as the new goalkeeper is an obvious start, who do we replace Gerrard and Lampard with? Adam Johnson and Jack Wilshere are possibilities as replacements for Heskey and others, but why the hell didn't Crouch get a look in at the World Cup?

My suggestion is change the name England to something else. What about Redland? The players might then respond positively to the lessening of pressure and expectation placed on them by a deluded media.

I cannot believe or understand how any one in their right mind thinks it's a good idea to keep Capello. Can we put this into perspective please: He is manager of the worst WC humiliation I have ever seen (and boy, have I seen a few). Never, in all my 40 years of following Engerlund, have I seen a worse or more naive defensive display by ANY team at a world cup. The game against Germany was the heaviest defeat in WC history for England but that was only the tip of the iceberg. We drew two DIRE games against the might of the USA and Algeria. Our goalkeeper decided to throw the ball in his own net. We scraped a win against the smallest nation in the WC. We played boring, kick and rush football. We were TORN APART by a young and inexperienced German team and Capello did NOTHING to stop us being humiliated. He took Heskey, an unfit King, an unfit Ferdinand, etc. He would not budge from his 4-4-2. He simply ignored the German game-plan to outflank us. He obviously didn't work on speed and fitness. Yes, I know the PL season is long but you can do a lot of regeneration in a month. The Germans simply ran past us. It was embarrassing and Capello is the man who presided over the humiliation. Yes, I know the players were also to blame but, my God, the players can only play if they are set up to play properly. The player selection, the schoolboy tactics and the ridiculous substitions are quite clearly Capello's fault. Bringing on Heskey when you need 3 goals. Yes, well worth 6 Million a year.

I could forgive all that - just - but what really gets me is that he didn't once admit to making mistakes. He said 'we played well'. He said the players are not 'the same players' (what would he say if the players said 'this is not the same manager'). If only he had once said, 'ok, we were awful, I'm sorry, I'll work on it.' I would have faith. If a 4-1 drubbing doesn't bring you round, nothing will. IMHO BIG things have to change if England are going to come anywhere NEAR being good enough to win a major trophy in the future and Capello is so obviously NOT the man for that change. God help us.

Have no personal gripe about Capello, and there must be great concern over apparent arrogance of players who seem to reject discipline (Capello is used to the monk like kind in Italian football).
But the lack of method, organisation on the pitch, team selection, and 'training ground preparation' was appalling and Capello has to be responsible for that. Maybe less disruption could be beneficial, but the money was obviously paramount, maybe the World Cup 2018. Hodgson should have been appointed with the task of rebuilding the squad and morale, AND bringing on younger English coaches, come what may, so this ridiculous situation does not arise again. Maybe The FA will feel satisfied if they get 18 months out of Capello, are falling out of Euro 2012, and sack him with only 6 months or so of his 'contract' left. What dummies The FA are.
Many supporters have already said 'never again' to England trips, and if there's any more Beckham mollycoddling, I'll truly believe the end has come. Roll on Le Tour de France.

and what really annoys me is that I earn 250k per year as one of the top people in my profession, and would be sacked immediately for underperformance, yet Capello gets 6m per year for getting a top 8 ranked country eliminated in the round of 16!!!

Take a look at the stats. Ok FIFA rankings may not be the wisdom of Solomon but at least they're an objective start.

England are 8th, in Premier League terms that makes us Everton on last seasons table. Now, nothing against the Toffees but who in their right minds regards them as favourites or likely contenders for the major honours?

We need to be realistic and that is why we need to see the WC as an underperformance, not the end of the world. We were out thought by Germany, the 6th FIFA ranked team. The form book said we should have lost, although the humiliating nature of the defeat was hard to take.

The tough job for Capello is that despite the, not completely unreasonable calls for the likes of Gerrard, Lampard and Terry, to be pensioned off, we do start the Euro qualifiers in 9 weeks time and many of the up and coming replacements with undoubted potential are barely regular first teamers with their respective teams.

The question is, would you rather Capello brought in these potential stars of tomorrow for the Euro qualifiers, with all the inherent risks, or take time to blend them in over the next 2/3 years even if it meant retaining many of the overpaid, underachieving primadonnas we currently have?

What would the country's, and press' reaction, should he fail to qualify for the Euros with a team of under 25s? A brave experiment that will bear fruit at the next World Cup, a la Germany, or the final nail in his underachieving international coffin?

We can't have it both ways.

Was Money the key factor in the fa dedicing against sacking capello? it could be but i think that harsh to say it was ''money'' i think we cannot all put the blame on the manager. The players are aswell as reponsible as anyone else i mean come on his only been the in the job for two years hes inherited team that flopped 2 years ago in the euros and half of the those are the same faces in the world cup lampard,ashley cole, terry were all notable faces who failed england.

But the problem isnt capello hes an top class thats a fact englands problem have been within its have too many egos and they have lack of talant, gerrard,lampard, rooney the same faces that have failed england time and time again you cannot just blame capello thats a very jerk reaction.

This is a good decision every1 makes mistakes but i dont it will help englands cause by sacking the manager its will just make things even worse. WHos going to replace capello? where talking about a man thats won everything at club level you want to replace him with someone like o neil or harry kednapp dont be silly they would just be as bad.

Yeah, it was Fabio Capello's problem the guy has won multiple prices who are his players what did they win?
Fabio Capello is bigger then the English squad because he has won more prizes then they have.
And that could be the mistake because Fabio thinks he's better then the players, eventhough he should play the systen where most players are comfortable.

Capello picked the wrong players who were not in form...he should have picked younger players who were in form. He also played the wrong system, England cannot play 4-4-2 against top sides as thier midfield is not balanced enough. Barry is no holding midfielder, look at Essien, Viera, Keane they are great holding midfielders Barry is no where near, he cannot tackle and gives the ball away so over rated!

The reason why Capello was confirmed as manager so soon instead of two weeks will become clear this weekend and you'll also see why there was a divide in the squad and what Cappello had to deal with and why most of the players minds were elsewhere and what JT meant by his outbursts of people will say what they feel...it's big and will be in this weekend's papers! Capello will pick younger players who will want it now and some of the older players caught up in the 'weekend news' will be retired.

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Glad Fabio will be kept on, purely because I don't see who could replace him at this point.

His new mission: Qualify for Euro 2012 with fresh blood mixed in with the old.

At least the semi finals? On current form they won't even qualify!

I don't think you can guaruntee that. I just ask that he builds a team worthy of our support.

What I don't understand is how you can have a manger being paid lillions and millions per year who watches England perform for60 minutes in a world cup game and does nothing more than make substitutions. It was obvious that our formation wasn't working properly in any game. The players were just not performing so surely there is something wrong with the structure and/or tactics of the team. To just throw on subs - Crouch for Heskey, Wright-Phillips for Tennent etc., - is basically saying that the team is playing badly because the substituted players aren't performing. Surely a top international manager should be able to make tactical changes/substitutions in accordance with his teams performance on the day..

The manager of a national side has 2 roles:
1. To pick the right team, formation and tactics
2. To prepare the side mentally and physically

In most peoples opinion, he failed on most accounts. Its only the amateurism of the FA that has saved him. Just like the Scolari fiasco they have shown themselves to be nieve verging on stupid when it comes to contract negotiations.

Capello's "iron fist" and "strong mind" have evidently failed on this occassion, insisting on players and formations that evidently weren't working and an apparent ill ease/disallusion/disatisfaction/confusion/frustration in the side. The FA have quite simply have proved themselves to be incompetent, AGAIN!

Whilst Capello's wages are exhorbitent, they pail into insignificance compared to the most highly paid amateurs in the country, the FA. At least Capello has succeeded in football, but got it horribly wrong this time. The FA always get it horribly wrong when picking the England manager.

Munchins has hit the nail on the head. It is no surprise that a couple of people from the FA gave pro-Capello indications earlier this week to lay the ground for an earlier than expected endorsement. And who can blame them in view of the press that a certain member of the England squad is likely to get this weekend. All in all it's going to provide a sorry tale for the integrity of our national team but, irrespective of the nature of the relevations, it is pathetic that the cream of English football could not put their country ahead of their own personal issues/vendetta's - it's only once every four years, for Pete's sake!

I doubt Capello will achieve much success in 2012 either as he's not got a lot of talent at his disposal (although the names mentioned are promising) excluding those purportedly not required from hereonin. The FA, as a matter of urgency ought to re-evalute its policies with regards grass roots as any decent, techinically proficient generation of footballers will emerge a Claire Fontain type academy from France and the equivalent of Spain which as produced Xavi, Fabregras and a whole whost of other. In the event the FA do actually act, England may have a chance in the next 10-15 years to produce brilliant footballers. Problem with next generation coming through immdiatley is they're at the same technical standard as those within the team now because they've not been taught, skill;flair;creativity - there's just typical English players. That's why I'm suggesting in 15 years there may be a 'golden generation'.

One decision Cappello failed to answer like his predeccors, is Gerrard & Lampard - Gerrard on the left as with all the other coaches. Why not just dicth one of them if it's a 4-4-2 or create a different system which accomodates them both. It's not rocket science. I think Capello will do away with it soon, I hope he's thinking more long term than 2012 but actually 2014 and if he does, that'll mean the younger lads will get opporunties although in light of my comments before, I hardly believe they'll set the world alight and will probably get mullered like the existing flops.

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England will always disappoint. England, since 1966, have always disappointed. There's something about playing for England that renders good players ineffective or unlucky. Just as the Germans take strength from their previous triumphs, England are dragged down by the weight of past failure.

How can they keep the man who took Heskey and then played him!!!!!!!
How can you keep the man who played Green and then James in goal and left the best on the bench!!!!!!
How can we keep the man who took SWP and left Johnson and Walcott!!!!
How can we keep the man who brings on Heskey when we need goals!!!

More of the same me thinks - welcome to more years of clueless leadership at a huge price.

I am hoping that the 4-1 defeat to Germany is to our era a similar pivitol moment in English football as the hammering we took off the Hungarians in 1953-54 (3-6 in 1953 at home and 7-1 away in 1954). Back then, tactics were our downfall. Today, it is the general attitude of the players that needs to be changed. In this statement, I am not saying that the England players don't care or that they didn't try - they quite obviously did. I am just questioning their general psychological approach as sportsmen.

As far as Capello is concerned, he cannot rectify the malase of this attitude prevalent in English football at the moment - he went into the World Cup preparing the team in rigourous manner (but probably, a lot less rigourous than say our Olympic or rugby teams, for example) and the players didn't like it. I think we need to assess at the outlook of any young player making a name for himself at the moment. Could you imagine the attitude of Kevin Keegan allied with the sheer talent of Wayne Rooney in one player? I just can't see it at the moment. Until this is rectified, underachievement will always prevail - even Capello cannot change this.

Very glad that Capello is staying. There has been no mention here of the awful McClaren period which was really embarrassing. And now everyone is wise after the event. Capello qualified us for the WC, when we had not qualified for Euro 2008. No one criticised him then. What was he supposed to do - dump the qualifying team? Now that would really have given him a media and fan pasting.

His hands are now really free. He can finally do whatever he wants - he has a popular mandate to do it.

If the future England team really are sitting on the benches of the top PL clubs, great! That will enable them to practice massively as an England team. Their clubs won't miss them. Remember Greece in, was it, Euro 2004? No one had ever heard of their players. But as a team, they were far greater than the sum of the parts. It is a team that wins team sports, not, as someone pointed out, a collection of alpha males that don't gel.

I have infinitely more time for Roy Keane's view of Capello than most of the posters here, or the media pundits.

The key is surely to get a team of people for whom playing for England is the most important thing they can do and then get them to practice together far more than England players currently do.

Or, thinking even more out of the box, what about an England team in the PL? After all, as all the other teams are a collection of the best foreign players, you couldn't say that they would be overly advantaged. Wenger has already said that the best Champions League teams are better than most of the WC national teams. it certainly looks that way. Maybe the FA or some sponsor needs to enter a wholly England team - the basis for the future national squad. Then you'd really see how they stack up and not have to wait for some huge tournament.

Let's face, something radical has to be done.

It was a bit obvious that there was some kind of silly immature power struggle going on within the England camp following John Terrys removal as captain. The appointment of Gerrard as captain obviously peeved off some the London lot. Essentially because the London based media are made of Chelsea supporters or fear recriminations from their London based supporters, various tabloids were very keen to throw their weight behind Capellos dismissal as a deflection from the torrid performance of the team. Even during play you could see some of the obvious cliques surfacing, and dare I say some deliberate sabotage by underperforming, playing in obvious wrong positions, half hearted passing, glory goal seekers. The body language was screaming unrest. I felt very sorry for Cappello as well as Gerrard who were obviously trying to assert some kind of order over the situation. Dont assume for one minute that a change to an English manager would make a jot of differnce to these spoilt players, we have sacked a whole array of English managers for similar dismal performances. Whats needed is a manager who is going to be here for the long haul and the players need to realise that before deciding to stomp about because they have had their rattles taken off them. We have good English players that are capable of being the best in the World, we have witnessed that at club level. They just need to remember they are playing for their country and not their egos.

I honesty cannot wait to see what king of team Capello names for the next international fixture.

That should answer a lot of questions. Most importantly, his flexibility, and determination to remove players that cause more harm than good. i.e. the Gerrard / Terry debacle.

There are so many things wrong with the game in England, as it affects the national side, that it is difficult to know where to start. I see three main issues, though. Firstly, how many of the owners and managers of the EPL actually see the England team as something they should support? How many players left for SA with a final message from their clubs that they should play well, enjoy themselves, but for goodness sake don't get injured - the real business of English football starts again in August. The same is probably true of many fans - I wonder how Man Utd fans would reacted if the FA had insisted that Rooney did not play in the final weeks of the EPL, to ensure his fitness and sharpness for the start of the WC.

Secondly (and this is the one that relates most to Capello) there is the question of squad and team selection. For all his public statements about how he would select the England team, his choices for the WC squad were conservative. He picked the same core of players who had failed England in previous tournaments, and in some cases picking them in spite of carrying injuries or being woefully out of form. Did he come under pressure from the FA? A more aggressive coach could easily have omitted Gerard after a disappointing season with Liverpool, Rooney because of a lack of match fitness, etc. - would, though, the powers that be (and the press) have allowed this to happen. Equally an coach could have said that there are several players who had been regulars in the England squad under previous managers whose performances in the EPL were the result of the quality of the players around them; without their club team colleagues their value is severely diminished. A coach of Capello's experience should have been able to see this and do something about it. Instead we ended up with three mediocre goalkeepers, defenders that struggled in all four matches and were torn apart by an inexperienced - and possibly not very good - Germany team, midfielders without the skills or vision that almost every other WC team has, and strikers who can't score goals.

The third factor is that of short termism. We see it already in Capello's goals being described as qualification for and a decent performance in Euro 2012. What the FA should be doing is looking much further into the future. The next WC will be in Brazil and its hard to see beyond the host nation for the winner. European teams will probably struggle. 2014 should therefore be seen as part of a program to build a team that really could challenge for the 2018 WC. Interestingly, I've seen no mention of another important international tournament happening in 2 years time - the Olympics. As a result of the behavior of the other "home nations" GB will be represented there by what will effectively be a Young England team. Why not appoint a coaching team for that event whose brief will be to start the process of building a team to win WC 2018? "Coaching team" is important here, because it may be time to end the notion of the "superstar manager" being paid a huge salary to act as manager, selector, coach, tactician, etc. Diego Maradonna seems to be doing pretty well as the "public face" of the the Argentine team, taking pressure off the players and enjoying the support of specialist coaches and advisors. Could a certain Mr Beckham be charged with that responsibility for the Olympics and maybe beyond?

In the end, though, even this kind of approach may not be sufficient while English football retains its deluded self-belief in the nature of its game. There are simply too many professional clubs, too many competitions, too many in authority extolling the "traditional English virtues" of hard work and aggression over nurturing skill and vision - starting with the touchline Dads urging their 11 year olds to "get stuck in". Almost every WC game I have watched has included moments of sublime skill that seem to be simply beyond the capabilities of English players. Until that changes then keeping or replacing the national coach is much of a deckchairs-on-the-Titanic exercise.

At last england will have a chance. Forget the EC, concentrate on the next WC or even the next 6 years. History has shown that even bad managers who get a chance to buld a team in their mould achive success. Oh, and stop going on about a golden generation. By england standards they were good players but not by world standards. The PL is not the only league in the world. Having watched Uraguay and Ghana tonight, technically both teams were vastly superior to england or any of the home nations. It was quite a boring game but the ball control was exceptional. 1 touch for total control then 1 touch to move the ball. England play like they have the backs of cricket bats for boots.

Expect some embarassing defeats along the way, but ultimately in 3 or 4 years you will have a decent team, but only if he's alowed to develop it. Wales started 2 or 3 years ago, scotland 2 years before that, but both countries have exciting young talent already exposed to international football. Wales have been humbled by cyprus along the way and scraped wins against luxembourg but to be honest i've never seen us play so well as a team and we actually play some decent passing football and are able to control games a bit. So long as the welsh FA keep with toshak we will only get better as the very young squad gets more experience. Its scary to think how good england could be if they are allowed the same chance to build from the ground with all the talent and resources at your disposal and a strong secure manager. Good luck

I can appreciate the views of those that say we need to retain some experience in the team lining up for the next campaign. To try a wholesale group of untried players takes us into unchatered waters and of course there is a fear that it might backfire. But I also worry that just making a few tweaks and retaining the core of the team doesn't take us any further forward.

If I was a young player coming into the team, I'm really not sure that I would be inspired by joining a dressing room full of players I have seen fail time and time again when it really mattered. I'm worried the negativity associated with the whole of the so called 'golden generation' would eventually suck the spirit out of any newcomer on the scene.

We can talk getting the best out of Gerrard by him playing just in behind Rooney, but this is a man who has had 84 caps for England and for 90% of the time has looked as 'world class' as Eddie the Eagle. Ditto Lampard for anyone that accuses me of bias. The simple fact is that these two plus the other known culprits have played under different managers, different systems, different personnel, and each end every time they haven't risen to the challenge.

I'd rather see a whole bunch of fresh faces given the challenge of outperforming their predecessors. Yes they will take a few beatings, yes they will make mistakes, but given the dross we witnessed in this World Cup, they might at least give us some honest effort to cheer on.

Headline: FA allows Capello to carry on

Tagline: David Bond on why the FA has given the England boss its full backing

The BBC is smart tabloid. I am glad I am paying for it.

Post 32

Barry is seriously over-rated. He has no pace (think it was germanys forth which proved so), he is not a defensive midfielder. Tbh i don't even know what he is, and i will be hugely surprised if he gets in the Man City team next season with the quality of players Mancini now has at his disposal.
We need to forget about the negativity of this world cup, and move on. I think it is time to freshen things up and bring in new players with certain player kept around to help them settle in. It would be nice to see Hargreaves come back, but will it happen? who knows. But at least he is a defensive midfield player.
Rooney was off form but i seriously think he was still injured, and whoever said Torres is the worst player in that spain team, its not surpising considering he hasnt had much match practise over the past few months and only just come back from having an operation. But yeah back to Rooney, the team should be built around him, everyone saw what he can do for United last season. Its time to realise that Rooney is a lone striker.

Dunga Retired as manager straight after Brazil lost. Enough said!
Surprise surprise Capello didn't leave because he is being paid so much and would get a sweet sweet pay out if the F.A. got rid.
What are we paying him for?
To play Gerrard on the left. Real want to buy Gerrard. Is this so they can play him on the left wing? No No NO. It is because he is one of the best centre midfielders in the world. Capello played him on the left. This for me is like playing Ashley Cole as a striker because he is a top class player and ' should be able to play in any position!'
Frank Lampard was playing in the 'Play maker role' in the formation. He never made any plays. Passed it short and always to the side or back. Why wasn't he dropped after the first or at worst the second game? He offered NOTHING!
I thought Capello was brought in to drop the 'Names' if they where not performing? Lampard played every game, offering little to game.
We needed a Gerrard in the middle to dominate the game and 'Make the plays'
The system was wrong and everyone knew it. (except Capello)
Lets have a look at Rooney.
Alex Ferguson played him as a lone striker last season. Was this because he had a load of players he needed to fit in and therefore Rooney had to make do as a lone striker?
No. This is because, as a top manager he identified Rooney as his best player and knew he would be best utilised on his own upfront so he played him there.
Rooney's goal tally last season backs this up.
Capello refused to play him this way and Rooney flew home having not scored a goal!
Lets look at another mistake. Emile Heskey.
Martin O'Neal, another great manager, didn't play him much during the season. Why is this? Is this because Villa have a massive amount of world class strikers? Or is it because he needed goals to win games and Heskey doesnt score goals?
Heskeys goal record says it all.
When 3-1 down to the Germans and therefore need 2 goals. Why did Capello take off Defoe and bring on Heskey? Heskey never has and never will score goals. His one on one against the USA confirmed this and for me was a bigger cock up than Greens goal error.
Yes the players let themselves down and played terribly. But surely any manager worth the amount the F.A. pay Capello would be able to see all the errors and at least try something different?
Not Capello.
The England Team are ruined.
I hate the F.A. for what they have done.
Capello should be sacked, just like any other poor manager we have had over the years. I have been watching England since 1990 and this was easily the worst we EVER played and after Graham Taylor and Steve McLaren this is saying something.
Wake up F.A.!!!

Number 63 - Urmmm...I think everybody is talking about the England football team, not the sociological impacts of the BBC licence fee. Tabloid headlines are for mass markets not a couple of hundred "after dark" internet bloggers anyway.

Capello's job at this world cup was nothing short of disgusting: a scandal in its own right. He should have quit with dignity. The FA should at least be able to sack someone for incompetency. From the vile and putrid way in which he picked his squad, to the foul and enraging way in which he managed his squad, to the frankly infuriating and horrendous way in which he trained his team and gave them the wrong formation, to the absolutely revolting way he picked the wrong players, his time at this world cup was beyond shocking. We needed leadership from a reassuring presence. Instead we got a crazy buffoon who couldn't sit still. We needed someone to give the boys encouragement and belief, instead we got a mad dictator-type scaring the boys half to death. We needed someone to have the guts to do something different, we got a coward. We needed someone to have the ability to change things in a logical way, we got a fool throwing the same dice and expecting 13. We needed a manager, we got clap trap.

Absolutely sickening. I'm beyond words with this 'man'. He has ruined this country's national team at another world cup, and for that he should bow out, not kop another £6m a year in salary.

The nauseating events in South Africa could and should have been dealt with so much better, from a man who has a good CV. Instead what unfolded was an unforgiveable set of events which laid at the door of one man. The man is an utter disgrace.

Capello out now. The man isn't fit to run this team anymore.

I think I speak for everybody when I call the FA's decision an absolute travesty.

I would like to add that those who think the players where at fault are wrong.
Money was never in question and for me neither was lack of effort. I believe they gave there all and they play for free. The wages they get they give to Charity.
I think that Capello wound them up so tight, and together with the press and support pressure they simply cracked.
They where not aloud to have fun at any time. They where bored between games and therefore worried about the expectation too much. They where not aloud to break rank in the games or i bet in training. The clip of Capello having a go at Stuart Pearce is an amazing insight into the way Capello does his football.(sit down! Why did you stand up) I would have told Capello where to go. Unfortunately Pearce is to nice a guy. Capello Demanding his way or get grilled. I am sure the players knew better but didn't want to break out of what Capello was telling them.
Capello out and Redknapp in. NOT because he has better Honours. (he doesn't anyway) but because he will allow the player to enjoy themselves and get the best out of them. Some what like Terry Venables did in 96.
People who enjoy what they are doing will always do better.
Just look at yourselves at work. im sure there are time when you didnt enjoy yourself at work and you performed badly but when you liked your work you out performed yourself!

In the end, football is one of the most unpredictable of of things (as is sport in general). I sure that the Dutch weren't expecting much in this World Cup and yet they're on the verge of winning the whole thing. I have a feeling that this may be the same for us - I just hope it's in my lifetime! Aged 37

The difference with the Dutch is that they've got some of the best players in the world right now, and they've been performing. Sneijder and Robben are just a dream going forward, and although you wouldn't know it from his performance at the world cup, Robin van Persie is an amazing player. Even Kuyt had an outstanding game against Brazil, and every team needs a Kuyt. Infact the Dutch have looked so much better since Robben's come in, because van der Vaart who was upsetting the balance, has been dropped. Capello take heed.

I agree with all those who support the FA decision to keep Capello, any other outcome would be plain stupid. I get very fustrated with media comments that his staying is only about money, of course money is important but I dont't believe it was the deciding factor in this decision.

If the FA believe Capello is a good manager then let him manage with the freedom to drop under performing players.

I am a Man U supporter and a Wayne Rooney fan but I would not have been upset to see him dropped or "rested" for some matches because he was playing well below par but can you imagine the media outcry if Capello had done that? No the media want Rooney and the other big names to keep playing so they can winge about how poor they are because apart from winning that is the next biggest news story.

So I say well done FA for ending the Capello speculation now and I urge all England fans to support the manager and allow him the time to build a winning team using players that are picked on performance and merit.

I know many out there hate Man U but look at the example, they have some success year after year with a changing team but a manager that the the club has stuck with for many years, that would not be the case if the club had got rid of Fergie in his first couple of seasons when he didn't produce the goods.

The same can be said for Arsnal and Arsen wenger so I say give the manager time and come on team England.

@68

what is actually more depressing than the FAs decision to keep Capello, is a lot of people actually support the decision.

The FA have kept him for one reason only, they dont wanna pay him off.

Capello is Italian not English, so he doesnt care about England and at no time has he ever considered resigning. Its a disgrace.

I listed 10 good reasons why he should go earlier, but the main reason he should go is simply:

they didnt just fail to win the world cup like maybe playing well and then losing in quarters or semis, they played awful in all 4 games and FAILED DISGRACEFULLY. he must go along with most of the squad.

Capello PLEASE resign, just do honourable thing, if they owe you 6million ask for 2-3 as compromise and just GO, show the fans some respect or you will be hated.

Why dont he just go back to club management in Italy or Spain, thats what he has been good at.

Capello had to make hard choices but I do believe that omitting Adam Johnson and not capping Michael Dawson before the tournament were mistakes. (Gavelaa - believe me, Johnson is even better than Robben, and that's saying something!) Unfortunately, we can't manage in hindsight. I still think Capello can do a job for us (even though his £6m salary is a disgrace - Loew for Germany is only on £1.5m)

We'll just have to see what team turns up in the Euro 2012 qualifiers.

This England team obviously had no will to win, the players are so used to receiving serious money for effort, playing for England means very little to any one of them.
Capello I'm sure would have preferred to take the money and run, after all, he now knows there is little he can do with these players mindset.
Better to start all over with new players with desire and a home grown coach, after all, a team selected from the league would have performed better.

Iam sat here in the USA reading this shite. I left England to coach in the USA I got tired of the old boys network. Here is the problem with English football:
1. Capello-you can't change chicken shit into chicken salad- Glenn Johnson cannot control the ball the germans backed off on him so he would gain possession and give it right back to them
2. Sean Wright Pilips is like watching a dog with a ballon
3. John Terryundermined the team and Capello big time charlie
4. The FA coaching structure isnot basedon producing technicians kids who can conrtol a ball nomatter what pace or height it come intothe body.
5. The media are a disgrace but when you have Defoe writing for the daily mirror what do you expect
6. Players writing books whohave done nothing-rooney and lampard
7. No culture-sun newspaper ( reading age of 12) tactics how can you
talk tactics with 12 yr olds
8. No passion-players are celebrities not footballers
9. Fire Trevoe Brooking-Technical dorectormy arse we have two good technicians Roony/Gerrard not enough to win anything never mind the World Cup
10. Premier leaugue and Sky has ruined football and will bankrupt watch and see. English football will always have fan base. I remeber watching Manu at old trafford when 72,000 were in the stadium. Money has killed the passion and the game has sold its soul. Fc United of Manchester is our only hope owned by the fans for the fans. Leave our game alon!!!! Good luck to Fabio I love England!!!

@73

You are right that Capello does seem to have got off lightly as it certainly was a shocking display in South Africa. But how many more managers do we go through before we start pointing the finger at the players? Most of the team here played under Sven, Mclaren and now Capello. For many of them we have seen them fail whilst in their prime, their later years and now they have failed in the twilight of their careers.

Same old faces, same old excuses, same old blind faith from their respective clubs supporters. When are we going to accept that whoever wears the managers blazer, this golden generation was a media myth and that even Alf Ramsey, Brian Clough or Sir Bobby might have found this a challenge too far?

As far as I'm concerned this crop of players have had their chances, more than they deserved in most cases. On the biggest stages Gerrard, Lampard, Barry, Heskey etc have been found wanting and rather than keep changing manager every couple of years, its time to consign them to the history books and start afresh with players who might actually look forward to playing for their country rather than those who dread the experience.

Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, John Terry......Joe Hart,Jack Rodwell, Jack Wilshere and Adam Johnson
I suppose you must be colour blind?

2. At 9:30pm on 02 Jul 2010, centi50 wrote:

Brazil who sorry? Italy who sorry?

Tell that reply to the Dutch. You are clueless.

I forgot to add Capello is an old man without vision, some old coaches have vision they adapt to the inevitable changes the way this beautiful game is played. Some coaches young or otherwise experiment and learn , good coaches look on and learn, others like Capello keep what they know and stagnate. Probably the FA has no choice; however the inevitable will happen sooner or later for folly doesn’t last forever. Results will show this.

Capello said " I explained it is very important we use the disappointment as a motivation in the future"
Somebody should explain to him that England have been doing that since 1970!!.... and it hasn`t worked!
6 million a year and that`s what he comes up with!....brilliant!

Capello is rubbish...he was playing heskey for rooney!!it didn't take a fortune teller to see this was stupid..Just about everyone knows Heskey does nothing!! Rooney did little also...Capello is a club manager not a national team manager. Capello messed the whole thing up and can now do it for another 2 years...The FA should not make these decisions, who the hell do they think they are?...The players have got no guts...they should have all stood up and said this is wrong tactics...after all they know how to play the game and don't need some Italian to tell them how to do it. I see now he has blamed them to save is own sorry but!!

I had faith in FC but lost a lot of it with first, retrospectively, the basis for his selection of the squad for SA, then the fiasco of his contract needing to be clarified and renegotiated when everyone was trying to focus on the World Cup, and ultimately how we performed in South Africa. In light of his record, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but as someone said above we need someone for the long haul. Not so sure it's someone, I think it's more like we need a football philosophy for the long haul that dedicated individuals can fit into. Fabio's going to go at some stage in the near future and I'm not sure there's going to be a legacy so we'll be probably have to start all over again in a few years time, therefore we should get cracking straight away, but it does look like the FA have got themselves in a right financial mess with Wembley and the removal of Fabio's escape clause so can't afford to get rid of him, even if they wanted to. On top of that it also looks like the Premier League's attitude to England mirrors their attitude to the PL, i.e. you can buy success. You can if nothing is out of stock, even if you have no factories, but while top of the range England Management can be outsourced, top of the range England control, dribbling and passing can't. Already it seems to me it's business as usual.

Aaaahhhhhhhhhhrrrrrrrrrrr. Please.....Somebody pay him off. I just can't bear to watch another 2 years of Lampard, Barry, and Gerrard. This trio are absolute toffee. We will never beat teams like the USA and Algeria, with the three stooges. The quality of their passing is dire, dire, and more dire. They certainly have individual qualities.....Lampard strikes a great ball......Gerrard has the stamina of a racehorse......Barry is a great tackler. But, their passing ability is poor. Please, please, please, Fabio. I want to see some beautiful football. Like the football we played under Venables. Pick some intelligent, creative, flair players. It would be better to get beat playing great football...Than get beat playing like a bunch wilting daffodils. (Sincere apologies to all flower lovers for the poor analogy).

One more thing, is it my imagination, or do I remember something about a minimum requirement, expectation, target, or bar of semi-finals?

In regards to goal line technology. Does the Premiership have the power to introduce it without the approval of Fifa? (sorry for my ignorance on such legal matters). If they can, then why not introduce it in the Prem and show the world that it works. Let's face it, we invented the game that the whole world benefits from. Why don't we introduce an improvement that the whole world benefits from too. (at least that's something other nations can't gloat on us failing over).

funny,thought the managers job was to get the best out of his players example ferguson,moyes rednapp, of course they speak english,more or less,how did capello do ?classic ego case ,wanted to prove he knew better than the uk football public,,,,wrong.Richards and garside by the same standard should also go,and lets voluntarily have 5or6 enlish players in the team, how many english players played regular premier last year and not loaned out to championship ?

The FA make the obvious and sensible choice to keep Capello. There needs to be heavy revamping of the England squad and introduce youth, discipline and professionalism.

It's a bit like the US Olympic team, they need to learn how to play like a team. I'm new to this as it is my 2nd world cup of serious watching. I'm from Texas and American football rules but I can tell team players. Several teams including the US had players trying to be the hero. If we would play like team it would have worked ut better. All I saw from England was Rooney running in box waiting for a pass.

It all makes me wonder. I like Capello and think he has fine qualities. I was in Rome when he took Roma from nowhere to win the title, but the facts are these. When Argentina went out at the last world cup, the manager was gone before the plane hit the ground back home. Brazil lost this time, Dunga falls on his sword. It's a given in every footballing nation that knows something. Why didn't Capello take Theo Walcott - if there is one thing a player needs at a World Cup it is pace. Now Capello goes back to the drawing board - and will he have any pencils? Can the FA afford to buy him pencils after paying him his salary? And even if he does get his pencils will the players break them over his head?
The average age of the English team looks a little high - that's not bad - but every time I watched Barry he looked like he was carrying a few pounds. Rooney looked like he needed to go to a fitness camp. What was going on with the team selection - Gerpard and Lamrard - Now I understand Robert Green, he wanted out early. And Capello's last choice - putting Heskey on when England desperately needed two goals - that's like bringing Blair back to head up an Iraq inquiry. The FA's handling of this has to be seriously questioned. Or is there something we haven't heard about? Some other reason? Capello knows too much about where they really spend their Saturday afternoons. Whatever it is, as much as I like Capello the man, this decision makes scant 'footballing' sense. Maybe it makes accounting sense, but it doesn't even square with good old fashioned english common sense.

It was a shame also when Kev was the manager..he did good but his biggest problem was hyping the players up so much, that they ran round like headless chickens, trying not to let Kev down...ended up ball watching and getting beaten because of it!! bring back jerry Francis

I still beleive we should abandon all English national games and concentrate on the premier league it's more entertaining and exciting. Whereas the internationals are boring and stop the premier league games when they play...so just have the premier league games IMHO

Once we stop thinking that we are the greatest footballing nation in the universe, we may begin to accept that sometimes we are just not good enough. Capello is the best man for the job, regardless of his wages. The Golden generation was more like the olden generation and had their chance 4 years ago.Be brave Fabio, stop listening to the blazers and start using the young, ready to go players that are coming into the premiership, regardless of who they play for. Rooney, still plenty of time for him me thinks, and for gods sake give Joe HART the keepers gloves!!!!!

I am glad the FA have announced that there will not be a change of manager as we can't keep blaming managers for the failings of our players.They seem to play without heart and it may be time to look in the lower divisions where players would welcome the chance to play for their country and play their hearts out.They may not be the most technical giffted but in the past we have seen teams from Ireland play with lower division players who look like World beaters when playing for their country.

Can you not see failure when it stares you in the face?
Capello was a complete failure in this world cup as were the players.

Did someone open a window at FA Headquarters and let daylight in for the first time?? We have already had more managers since 1990 than strikers who know where the goal is, at least this time the penny may have dropped. Player committment to the shirt is appaling,just watch how many cannot even be bothered to join in the national anthem!!!

What a mess, this decision is perverse. We are expensivily paying a man who can't win the 2012 Euro's and won't be about for the 2014 World Cup (which we can't win) to fiddle about the edges of 4-4-2 when we should be planning for 2018. The irony of this decision being on the same day Holland, under a Dutch coach from a system that promotes Dutch coaches, beat Brazil is too much.

The other depressing aspect of this idiocy is Capello is now a dead man walking, one defeat in Switzerland, one dropped point against Wales and the clamour to remove him rises. For me the FA have again proved once and for all they are dysfunctional to the point of danger,

OK guys.

I'm forbidden to use the language I want to use on this forum.

But everyone who has an opinion that is pro Capello is mssing half a brain.

Simply put, I'm done with this farce. This is the worst manager we have ever had and I won't be watching England again full stop. You (Capello
apologists) and the FA can get on with it.

Capello has proved himself in this World Cup. He has proved that he is unable to make big decisions based on the facts as they present themselves. For example, Rooney should never have been in the team to play Germany.

Capello may assert his authority over matters such as how many beers or how much sex he will allow the players to enjoy with their wives or girlfriends (or both) during a competition, but his authority over other aspects of this shambolic team is questionable.

But he's no fool. It's the cushiest job in the world working for the FA. Such a failure as his and the team's in this World Cup was certain to end with a vote of confidence. You couldn't make it up.

good move FA spend some more good money after a bad money(lot of it)