England boss Fabio Capello appeared to be lost in translation at the World Cup after his instructions of how to play winning football failed to reach the players but he certainly has got the message this weekend that he has lost the respect of the England dressing room.
Before being omitted from the squad, Jermain Defoe claimed the England players were hungry to make amends but it has been the players not considered good enough to make his 23-man squad for the tournament this summer to publicly embarrass the Italian by retiring from international duty AFTER being selected for the friendly on Wednesday.
Both Blackburn’s Paul Robinson and defender Wes Brown had been named in Capello’s new look squad on Saturday night but have since declared they no longer want to be considered for selection. Brown met with the England boss in a face-to-face meeting but Blackburn’s goalkeeper undermined the Italian by announcing publicly he has retired from international duty.
The reality is the England manager can blame nobody but himself as this clearly demonstrates a clear lack of communication between him and his players. Robinson was frozen out of the England set-up having only been named on the bench of Capello’s teams eight times and was overlooked for the World Cup completely.
Signs of player power emerged during the World Cup after John Terry revealed in a press conference the England players and staff were due to have a crisis meeting before their final group match against Slovenia.
Further evidence to support the Italian has lost the dressing room occurred after Ashley Cole failed to acknowledge the outstretched hand of his national manager after losing to Manchester United in the Community Shield on Sunday.
The once strict headmaster figure we all praised during the qualifying campaign for the World Cup for his discipline and getting the best out of his players has now become the substitute teacher the pupils (the players) don’t respect.
Capello hasn’t only lost control of his players but the staff he is working alongside. Club England managing director Adrian Bevington announced after the World Cup: “We aim to have the new coach appointed for the autumn fixtures.” The new coach will be employed alongside Stuart Pearce and Ray Clemence.
However, when asked by the Sunday newspapers in their press conference with him at the weekend, he had no knowledge on who would be joining him ahead of the European qualifiers.
Not only have the players undermined the Italian but the Football Association have all but put an end to Capello’s reign as England boss after director of football Trevor Brooking declared they want the next manager to be English.
“I think longer term, after Fabio, we’d like to go English,” newspapers quoted former England midfielder Brooking as saying.
“We want to create a spell where we appoint English coaches, and Fabio can help us enormously to bridge that gap and help that transition.
“We’ve got a short-term priority of the qualifying games (for Euro 2012) but over the next couple of years the National Football Center will hopefully be built, and that’s going to be the hub site for the future development of English coaches.”
Capello has agreed to work with Brooking in an attempt to find a dynamic young successor, which doesn’t bode well for England’s chances at the European Championships as the FA are already looking beyond the tournament.
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