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THOSE WHO CAN'T MANAGE - 8-1-08
Louis Spence
Hardly had the furore over England's failure to qualify for the European Championships died down before the FA appointed Fabio Capello as the new England manager.
Having watched the sickening failure of Steve McClaren, it was noticeable that this time around there was not the same insistence to appoint an English manager as there had been in the wake of Sven's demise with our national side.
It was strongly rumoured that Terry Venables had advised McClaren to shore up England's defence with the introduction of Hargreaves when England had somewhat fortuitously recovered to 2-2 in the Croatia shoot out.
McClaren's failure to do so, and his chosen formation of one up front (which even he would surely never have done had he needed to WIN the game), showed a total lack of tactical nous when the stakes were at their highest.
The blooding of a rookie keeper proved terminal but to be fair, that was a decision forced upon him by errant displays from previous incumbents. Nevertheless no one thought to give Scott Carson an early touch before disaster struck. Attention to detail. Pah!!
I could never imagine Bobby Robson going down that route. He and Venables had both successfully managed abroad and knew the way to win matches like this. They knew that the RESULT was everything. Whether or not McClaren was ignoring sound advice from his number two to be his own man is unknown, but he DID make terrible errors bordering on a dereliction of duty. Pure naivete.
In the Premiership there are now nine English managers, the two highest placed being Harry Redknapp at eighth and Alan Curbishley at tenth (as I write). This leaves seven in the bottom ten places.
Not one of these English managers has successfully managed abroad, although a case could be made for Roy Hodgson, the new Fulham boss.
If we then deduce that the acknowledged comparative success at national level of Robson and Venables also comprised experience of managing top continental teams, where does that leave us with this current English crop?
The last time an Englishman managed the English champions was way back in 1992, RSM Wilkinson. For the FA Cup you have to go back to 1995 for Joe Royle's Everton swansong. The minnow of the three, the League Cup with its many aliases, was claimed by the aforementioned McClaren for a desperately grateful Boro in 2004 (oh what a night!).
AS MUCH AS I DISLIKE SOME OF THE FA'S POLICIES AND PREVIOUS DECISIONS, I FEEL THEY HAVE MOVED SWIFTLY AND DEFTLY AND GOT THE RIGHT GUY.
Capello is first and foremost a pragmatist. He likes winning. He is good at it. Whatever it takes.
This is one guy you feel would never have become frozen in the headlights (a la Sven) when leading Brazil one-nil in a vital World Cup match. To augment his defence when necessary would have been paramount in his thinking had he ever got into the stormy waters Ginger Mac managed to contrive for us.
He cannot speak English you may say. No, but he lives, breathes and talks football. And garners success along the way. You cannot close his house doors for trophies. He also WANTED THE POST.
The charge of being too dictatorial has also been levelled at him. He has acknowledged this and says he will change his approach to suit the task in hand.
But let's just supposing he was a touch ministerial. The most successful manager in English football is one Alex Ferguson and he could hardly be described as a shrinking violet.
SO BRING IT ON! I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE WHAT CHANGES Capello WILL INTRODUCE!
I look forward to the World Cup qualifiers far more than I did the Europeans with Mr. Mac (judge me on results) in the hot seat. Capello, by anybody's yardstick, is world rated as a coach and motivator. This is something you could never say about his recent predecessors.
Have I convinced you, reader. Or do you still think we should have chosen an Englishman?
YOU SEE, WHEN THEY LOOKED THERE THE CUPBOARD WAS BARE
THE RIGHT MAN HAS BEEN SELECTED
FORZA ENGLAND
Louis Spence
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