Another Debacle for England ⋆ An Old International

Another Debacle for England

After the resignation of Fabio Capello as Manager of England it appears that the country has been plunged into a crisis. If one follows the live blog of the guardian, one is inclined to think to follow a live match or live debate but not the mere reactions to Capello’s decision to call it a day today. The cause of this was to strip John Terry of the captaincy of the England team and in doing so, the FA have decided against Capello.

History of Mischief

It is questionable why John Terry was still the captain of England in the first place after his long history of mischief. The latest episode was his trial for alleged racist abuse of Anton Ferdinand in a match last autumn. The list appears to be endless and enough to fill a chapter in a biography should John Terry ever decide to write one or if there will ever be a publisher to ghost write one for him. Capello’s decision to keep Terry as captain of his team might be questionable, yet it was his decision and the FA ignored it. Yes, the Italian became increasingly isolated over the matter but nonetheless, he was in charge of the team and the captaincy question. Therefore his decision to resign is understandable as his authority was undermined.

Shattered Picture

How much pressure there was from the press is another story but the whole affair paints a desperate picture of the state of English football less than six months before another big tournament where England’s chances were considerably better than in the last competitions. The image of English football resembles that of a shattered picture in a glass frame (i.e. Wembley Stadium) in which the manager of the national team is officially employed by the FA but sits in between FA and the Premier League as the main power brokers in English football.

The quest for his successor has already begun, in fact it began the moment when Capello declared that he would resign after EURO 2012. Harry Redknapp, who has been cleared of tax evasion yesterday appears to be the hot favourite of every one: the press, the fans, the FA. It is questionable if his reputation will not suffer if he takes the reigns at the head of English football after the office has seen further damage to its once splendid reputation. On top of that, Tottenham Hotspurs, Redknapp’s current club, are still in contention for the Premier League title and if not that title, qualification for next season’s Champions League seems certain. Therefore it is doubtful if the England job can provide him the excitement as the daily job currently does.

The question is, who wants to be England manager after this debacle?

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