Why England player deals show big clubs really do run football and it's been a Fab week for Capello

By Brian Reade

Published 23:00 01/04/11

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Something very telling about priorities was exposed last weekend.

After the Wales game, England sent John Terry, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Wayne Rooney and Michael Dawson back to their clubs because they’d all started that match and needed to be kept fresh.

Not for their next game, but their next game but one. In the Champions League.

I’m guessing the logic was that had any of those players stayed with England and been crocked then Chelsea, Manchester United and Spurs would have slaughtered them for ruining their season. Fair enough.

But why weren’t Ashley Young, Darren Bent and Scott Parker, who also started against Wales, sent home? They play for teams involved in a relegation battle, and they faced crucial games not 10 days later, but seven.

What is more important to a club’s future - getting into the semis of the Champions League or getting the points that keep you in the Premier League?

Aren’t clubs in relegation battles likely to have squads less capable of coping with the loss of their stars than the top clubs?

How come deals about players are always done with the big clubs and never the so-called smaller ones?

The answer is that English football is run by the Premier League, which in turn is run by its biggest clubs.

How ironic if any of those five were injured this weekend – in the games before the ones they were kept fresh for!

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Capello had another skip-load of abuse heaped on him for saying he only needs 100 words to converse with his players.

Considering the great Bobby Robson only used six: “Sorry son, who are you again?” and Graham Taylor five: “Do I not like that,” I’d say 100 is quite a lot.

But it’s been open season on Capello since the summer, due to him having the gall to stay in a part-time job that pays £6million-a-year. Oh, the cad!

The Italian’s critics would have you believe he’s just had an abysmal fortnight.

As well as ‘100-word-gate’, there was ‘Armband-gate’, when he forgot to tell perma-crocked Rio ­Ferdinand he was taking the captaincy off him, and ­‘Rip-off-gate’, when he stole money from fans by daring to play his reserves in a friendly against Ghana.

Meanwhile, in the real world, England went top of their Euro ­qualifying group with an assured performance in Wales and, after the Ghana game, half-a-dozen fringe players have the old guard sweating over their places.

All in all a fortnight’s work that leaves Capello needing only two words to answer his critics.

One begins in f, the other ends in it.

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Roma's new owner Thomas ­­DiBenedetto is promising the club a new stadium.

But unless he can recreate all the subways and dark brush areas around the Stadio Olimpico that afford Roma’s Ultras the cover to ambush visiting fans, he too may end up getting his buttocks slashed.

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