Why Capello has gone from laughing stock to liability with this England captaincy farce

By Martin Lipton in Mirror Football Blog

Published 23:00 15/03/11

Strong man? Decisive? The leader with an iron rod, who would always know his own mind.

Do us a favour, Fabio. Pull the other one.

Stop taking us, the fans and the players, for mugs. And, maybe, grow a pair.

Last night, as Fabio Capello arrived at Old Trafford for what was only ever going to be a brief encounter with Rio Ferdinand, the reality of a reign that is verging on the ridiculous was made abundantly clear.

It is one thing to admit you might have made a mistake, that, with the benefit of hindsight, stripping John Terry of the captaincy over an off-field incident, using morality as the measuring stick in an amoral world, was wrong.

Concede that, put your head above the parapet, take the flak and get on with it, and a manager shows strength, not weakness. The sort of purpose we were supposed to be getting for the FA’s £6.5million per year.

Instead, we now have inconsistency. Not over a matter of weeks. But a matter of hours.

Admittedly, even in that scenario, Capello did not exactly cover himself in glory.

To publicly, it seemed, ditch Ferdinand without having the decency to let the Manchester United defender know he had been dumped was not exactly clever.

But it takes real, almost unfeasible madness, to then let it be known that it was all a mistake, a misunderstanding, that Ferdinand is still - for now at least - the England skipper and that Terry is merely a temporary stand-in.

Whatever happened to the Capello we were promised, the man who would never be deflected from his determined path, who would make the big calls without even a scintilla of doubt?

Instead, we now have the unedifying sight of a manager who makes Sven Goran Eriksson look like a rock of solid certainty, who makes Steve McClaren appear sure-footed.

Do not try to pretend it was about unfortunate mixed messages, that a lack of nuance in English was at the root of this latest farce.

Where do you need nuance in comments like: “I was really upset about what happened in Denmark, when I saw the players saying: ‘Who is the captain?’

“After one year of punishment, it was not the best moment for John Terry to see this. For that reason, I need to make a decision - and it will be a permanent decision, not just one game.”

This was not a case of Capello stumbling over his words under a relentless inquisition. It was a statement of his new position.

As the England boss continued: “First of all, I want to know what happened with Rio’s back and when he will be fit because he is a really important player for us.

“After that, I will explain to him what really happened and what I am going to do in the next week - if I will decide on a new captain or about John Terry or something else. Why will it be a difficult conversation? It is not because he is not a good captain.

“I will explain what happened in Denmark and what I think. I would understand if he is not happy but I am the manager. I have to take decisions.”

There you are, then. Blunt, blatant, obvious.

Yet now, suddenly, not what Capello meant, or thought, after all.

Sorry, but that just doesn’t wash.

The suggestion last night was about a “misunderstanding”, indeed that Capello had unfortunately gone beyond the position and stance he had actually intended.

But more than three years after he took the job, promising he would be able to speak English within a matter of months, that hoary old chestnut cannot be used any more, especially when Capello’s chief lieutenant and emissary, Franco Baldini, has a near-faultless command of the language.

Out of nowhere, entirely of his own manufacture, Capello has a major problem, a potential faultline, where there was no need, no requirement.

Just like over the Capello Index, the World Cup goalkeeping furore, the naming and shaming of Terry in Rustenburg.

Self-inflicted. Stupid.

It is the manager’s responsibility to decide his own captain and while Capello began wanting to wean his squad off their dependency on a Three Lions skipper who roared defiance, choosing Terry in the first place was an admission that England is not like any other country.

The England captaincy is totemic, a potent symbol.

Yet, in Capello world, it has become an honour the manager seems incapable of comprehending, showing a total lack of understanding of the emotional swings he has put Ferdinand, Terry, even Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard through over the past 72 hours.

By the time the England squad gather at The Grove Hotel near Watford next Tuesday, Capello must show he has realised what he has done.

If not, any remaining authority is in danger of disappearing.

And the effects of that will live on long beyond the Millennium Stadium next weekend.

***

THE CAPELLO INDEX... OF COCK-UPS

2009: Selects Spurs’ Ledley King for international duty, only for the player to be ruled unfit by the England medical staff.

2010: May 11 - Criticised for the Capello Index, a PR stunt to plug a ratings website that would mark England stars at World Cup.

June 7 - Paul Scholes reveals he would have considered a return had he heard from Capello rather than Franco Baldini.

June 19 - Following a World Cup draw against the USA, England play out a dismal goalless draw with Algeria.

June 27 - The ultimate humiliation as Germany rout England 4-1 to send them crashing out of the World Cup.

Aug 11 - Capello is widely panned for ending David Beckham’s England career, by announcing he was “too old” on TV before a friendly against Hungary.

2011: Mar 15 - Caught up in latest row over England captaincy.