Why Fabio could be running scared after Barry admitted the England manager does not frighten his players like he used to

By Martin Lipton in Mirror Football Blog

Published 23:00 24/03/11

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It was supposed to be all about discipline and authority, about the Italian ironman who would not pander to the superstars.

We all welcomed it too, desperate for something new, different, better after the Eriksson and McClaren eras became far too chummy, too easy-going, leading to the same old frustrated under-achievement and embarrassment.

For the first 18 months, too, everything that Fabio Capello touched with England turned to gold.

The players did not like the new rules, but they obeyed them, fearful of missing out.

Of course there were grumbles, moans. Yet they were kept below the radar, off the record. Nobody who was even on the fringes of the squad wanted to be shunted into the hinterlands.

On the pitch, too, there was a sense of unity and purpose - a team that seemed to be developing and improving, qualifying for the World Cup with a swagger and purpose that made us all believe it would be not be the same this time round.

But when a manager who bases his reign on in-house dictatorship and control starts to let go of both, it can only go one way.

And unless Capello can demonstrate he is not losing his grip, on and off the pitch, he is destined to go the way of all his predecessors since Terry Venables - sent packing with no fanfare, no bouquets, only brickbats and accusations of squandering the riches at his disposal.

When he met the media yesterday, Gareth Barry probably did not intend to open up a window into the changes that have taken place in Camp England since Capello and his squad flew back from Johannesburg on June 28 last year.

The Manchester City midfielder is not a trouble-maker or rabble-rouser. That is not in his make-up.

Yet Barry's revelation that the England players are no longer "looking over their shoulders" in concern at what Capello and his staff think about them, no longer fighting each other to show they are first in the queue for dinner or team meetings, says everything.

The Capello effect was all about transforming the mentality and mind-set of the players.

The Italian believes that an army only conquers when it learns to obey orders without stopping to think of the consequences.

His demotion of John Terry back to the ranks 13 months ago was part of that.

Capello valued Terry as a soldier but felt he had to lose his stripes because his conduct was detrimental to the morale of the platoon.

It was never even a thought that the Chelsea defender might be drummed out of national service altogether.

But while the Italian's squad will continue to do what he asks of them, even if they are not convinced he is right, they no longer hang on his every word, desperate not to fall out of favour.

That is the big transformation, a sign, it seems, of a fragmenting regime.

Barry explained: "On the training pitch, nothing has changed. He's still pretty hands-on. If there's anything not right, he's stamping down on it.

"Maybe, around the hotel, he's maybe a bit more relaxed.

"Nothing has been said, but the rules he set from day one are still there and the players are respecting them. But I think the feeling around the place is a lot more relaxed and more enjoyable - and that's since the World Cup."

Since the World Cup.

Since Rustenburg, Cape Town and Bloemfontein.

Since the sheen disappeared and the manager's Midas touch went missing.

Ever since, Capello has been running merely to stand still.

Even when, at the start of the season, he apologised to the fans, admitted he did not know how he would make his players mentally stronger and began to blood the likes of Kieran Gibbs and Jack Wilshere, the initial sense of permanence had gone.

Everybody knows why Capello remains.

First, because the FA had locked themselves in financially, having bottled the pre-tournament game of bluff and handed the Italian a new deal. Secondly, because the only real alternative, Harry Redknapp, has a potentially embarrassing legal issue to overcome first.

Whatever happens, it is a matter of time.

The clock reads less than 16 months and counting. The latest finishing date being July 2 next year - the day after the Euro 2012 final in Kiev.

That, in itself, is not a problem. As Barry pointed out: "The fact that he will be going next summer doesn't make it harder, not really. That is international football, that is contracts. I don't think that is a big factor."

But if Capello cannot prove he still has the players truly behind him, starting in Cardiff, he will not stay anywhere near that long.

And this past week or so has hardly made him look stronger.

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