England must learn lessons of Capello era, despite Terry row

IS THIS the end for Fabio Capello? The England manager will meet FA chairman David Bernstein this week to discuss the fire-storm that has blown up around the decision to strip John Terry of the England captaincy.

Terry was sacked by the FA after being ordered to stand trial on a charge of racially abusing another player, QPR's Anton Ferdinand. The governing body felt it was innapropriate for him to wear the armband with such a cloud over him.

But Capello disagreed and clearly felt it was an interference in team affairs. He said as much on Italian TV, attacking his employers, insisting he wanted Terry as captain and prompting a huge row over his future.

He has to go
Capello has stepped so far out of line he cannot continue says Matt Lawton of The Daily Mail. "His position looks untenable. Now the manager who felt it necessary to strip Terry of the captaincy in February 2010 for an alleged affair with a team-mate’s ex-girlfriend - but can't see that this situation is far more serious - needs to vacate his position."

He believes there is still time for a new manager to come in and prepare England for the up-coming European Championships this summer.

Let him finish his contract
Capello will not be missed when his contract runs out this summer says Ian Wright in The Sun, but he should not be forced to leave early. "By publicly backing Terry in this sorry old mess, Fabio has shown a lack of respect in a delicate situation," he believes. "Some people would like to see Capello leave immediately but I still believe the turmoil created would make things even worse at this stage."

Relations have broken down
Capello only stayed on as manager after a dismal 2010 World Cup because the FA could not afford to sack him, and this episode cuts to the heart of the "unsatisfactory relationship" that now exists between the manager and his employers, says Paul Hayward in The Daily Telegraph.

"He should have been consulted. Not deferred to, but consulted," he says. But he adds that Capello has overlooked the "social ramifications" of the issue. "Capello has misunderstood the difference between a footballing and an ethical problem. He thought Bernstein’s tanks were on his lawn and complained in his native tongue. Plainly, there are some inside the FA itching for a fight with him."

Capello has been undermined
The Italian usually rules with a rod of iron, but "the Terry issue leaves him looking an irrelevance," says Kevin McCarra in The Guardian. "In practice it will be hard now for him to cut a magisterial figure before a squad that has seen him treated so dismissively by the FA."

So has Terry's successor
Whoever takes over now will know that the manager does not really want them as skipper. "Capello's public loyalty and faith in his deposed captain may also be seen as undermining the credibility of his eventual successor," says Phil McNulty of the BBC.

"He has made it so very plain that he will be picking his next skipper under duress while Terry looks on from a corner of the dressing room believing he is still the alpha male," laments Matt Dickinson in The Times. "Way to go, Fabio, when it comes to uniting a squad and defusing a delicate situation."

It does not bode well for Euro 2012
"Things could be worse but, worryingly, it does take a bit of imagination to consider how England's preparations for Euro 2012 could be much more chaotic," adds Dickinson in The Times.

James Lawton in The Independent agrees: "It is evidence, if any more was needed, that the direction of the national team has become, and yet again at the approach of a major tournament, nothing less than dysfunctional."

Lessons must be learned
Capello and the FA are now unlikely to part on good terms, but that does not mean we should ignore the lessons of the Italian's reign. Whatever happens between now and the summer he should debrief his employers when he leaves, says Henry Winter in the Telegraph.

"All those who care for England must still listen to Capello's parting shots when he finally goes," he says. "Before the decree absolute is signed, the Football Association must stipulate that Capello leaves behind on his Wembley desk a detailed chronicle on the carnage that is Team England." ·