England boss Capello resigns

Following a meeting with the FA regarding their decision to relieve John Terry of the England captaincy national manager Fabio Capello has resigned, just four months ahead of Euro 2012.

In what could be a hugely significant day for English football the England manager, Fabio Capello, resigned from his post following a meeting with the FA after he had publicly criticised their decision to remove John Terry from the captaincy.

It may have come as no surprise that this development followed hot on the heels of Harry Redknapp's acquittal on tax evasion charges and a seeming national call for the Spurs manager to be the next England manager.

Capello was apparently furious at the lack of consultation with him by the FA before they decided to take the captain's armband from Terry following the date of his court case being deferred until after the Euro 2012 championship.

Terry is still on bail with regard to his alleged racial abuse of QPR's Anton Ferdinand in a Premier League match last year and it is an obvious concern that this hanging over the head of Terry would be a distraction from the national team's performance.

Capello was called to a meeting with the FA after he appeared on Italian television criticising the decision to relieve Terry of the England captaincy and the FA's failure to consult him. Even so, it was still a major shock when, late yesterday evening, the announcement came through that the Italian, on a reported £6m salary, had decided to call time on his English adventure.

Earlier in the day the news of Redknapp's acquittal had spurred a massive media drive that put forward the idea of his being the prime candidate to replace Capello after Euro 2012. The consensus that this was a good idea became a crescendo of demand for Redknapp's appointment as soon as Capello stood down.

It seems everyone agrees that the Spurs manager is the obvious and ideal candidate to become the next England manager. There are other candidates but none with such an overwhelming mandate from the public and footballing circles. Spurs fans will no doubt be crushed should Harry leave them for the national job but Redknapp is a staunch Englishman who has previously stated his desire to manage his country. It's really a matter of when not if.

Main photograph is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license by author Paulblank.

Share this news item

Your Comments