Who’ll replace Fabio?

Members of the media across the globe have been transfixed with the resignation of Fabio Capello and speculating on who England will pick as his replacement. 

First things first, should Capello have resigned? Clearly he felt that he had been undermined when the FA chairman, David Bernstein, announced that the FA had sacked Terry as captain after the police decided to charge him with a racially-aggravated public order offence.

The FA should have involved Capello in the decision-making process, although Capello should also consider the implications of his resignation. Given the stance required by football to take a stand against racism, what message does this send? It is not uncommon, in all walks of life, to find an employee suspended when charged for a serious offence by the police. Add to the mix the fact that the captain of the national team should be leading by example and you have an additional reason for the suspension.

Take a lead from England’s rugby union side where new coach, Stuart Lancaster, has shown the ethos required from a representative of his country, by making an example of players that find themselves on the wrong side of the law, most notably with the suspension from national duties of Danny Care who has twice been charged with alcohol-related incidents.

I appreciate that there is an argument that someone is innocent until proven guilty. However, this is the difference between a suspension and a dismissal. The FA has not stated that Terry will never play for his country again; they have merely stripped him of the captaincy until his guilt or innocence is proven.

Hypothetically, if he is proven guilty and allowed to continue as captain until the trial, there will be complaints. Frankly, it sends the wrong message. The FA is right to suspend him although it could have handled the matter better with Capello.

So, who should replace him. The interim manager is another Stuart, ‘Psycho’ Pearce. For me, the question is whether England appoint one manager for the Euro 2012 Championship and then another for the World Cup qualifiers, or make a single appointment from hereon in.

Personally, I favour the former approach as I believe that there are different demands and requirements from each. Capello is a good example. Prior to his appointment, England had stuttered through various qualification campaigns. Yet Capello proved the master tactician and ensured England qualified at a canter on both occasions, despite some tricky ties.

It was in the World Cup in South Africa that he came unstuck with some poor performances resulting in many calling for his instant dismissal. That he was not sacked was probably more a result of the massive contract that he had signed and the cost to the FA for removing him early from that. However, the decision was largely vindicated, by England’s performance in the Euro qualifiers.

Generally, I do not subscribe to the philosophy that the manager of the national team has to be of the same nationality, preferring to believe that you get the best person available for the job. However, in the case of Capello, there do appear to have been communication difficulties and cultural differences that have, apparently, led to a breakdown. How true this is only the players themselves can tell. There will always be a couple of disaffected souls – it’s the majority view that I would be interested in.

The clamour has been for Redknapp to take charge. Long-term I have my doubts. He is a manager who thrives on his relationship with his players which is difficult to achieve throughout qualification where you only take charge of your players for one week every couple of months. There will then be conflicts with other Premiership managers who want to keep their own players fresh for the League campaign.

While the ‘wheeling and dealing’ for which he is famed will have no part to play as England manager, in this regard he may be better positioned than many, although this is a minor facet of the job. It’s a results game. Ironically, I do believe that he is well placed to provide England with the greatest opportunity for success in a tournament. He will have regular contact with the players and motivate them to perform at their peak. He will have a thorough understanding of the capabilities of the entire squad and is not afraid to try something new.

At team level, witness the miraculous performances of his Portsmouth and Tottenham sides. Individually, he has proven his ability to work with experienced players, problematic even, such as Emanual Adebayor, and to bring through youngsters, such as Gareth Bale. Louis Saha could not have made a better start to his Spurs career. There can be little doubt that Redknapp would motivate his players to do well.

The great irony would be that, if he were to be successful, he would then probably be offered the job full-time, a role for which I believe he is less suited.

Yet ‘Our Harry’ has some of the ‘Old Bighead’ about him. Brian Clough was the most successful English manager of his generation and was a firm favourite of the fans to take charge of the national team. Unfortunately, he was overlooked by the hierarchy. Being a favroutie of the fans is no guarantee that the FA will take heed.

What, or who, are the alternatives? If you look towards English managers, Stuart Pearce is technically the next in line. However, I personally doubt his tactical acumen and suspect that his motivational capacity is limited.

There are others in a similar mould to Redknapp (in terms of being English and relatively successful with ‘weaker’ teams), such as Sam Allardyce and even Alan Curbishley. Unfortunately they have not been involved with teams for some time.

There are also numerous young English managers coming through the lower ranks, yet would be high-risk appointments given their lack of ability at European or international level.

Martin O’Neill is mentioned in passing although, having just joined Sunderland, is considered to be unlikely to leave. Yet the turnaround he has achieved is nothing short of miraculous and should ensure he receives strong consideration.

If it were down to me, I would appoint Redknapp for the Euro campaign and then try to persuade O’Neill to leave Sunderland and lead England to Brazil.