It is simple. If you employ Fabio Capello, you give him what he wants. You are buying into his winning formula and you are doing it wholesale, not picking and choosing the bits that you like. You do not hand a man the keys to his new Ferrari then tie one hand behind his back.

If Capello wants Franco Baldini to come in as a director of football, then that is what should happen. Even if certain elements in the FA may not be in love with the idea, it is hardly so unusual that it should be a deal-breaker.

You cannot blame Capello for intending to surround himself with trusted lieutenants. He is in a new job in a new country so he will want to build solid foundations, find some early consistency and familiarity.

The importance of backroom staff entirely depends on the manager’s outlook and personality. On the one hand, managers demand assistants they know well and feel they can rely on, but their influence is always limited. The make-up of Capello’s staff will not be the difference between England reaching the quarter-finals and the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup finals. Assistants are in the middle of the set-up, yet do not have an impact on results.

Scenarios such as at Nottingham Forest during the Brian Clough era, when his assistant, Peter Taylor, was a crucial part of the team’s success, are rare. The most powerful and successful managers, who run clubs almost like dictatorships, don’t need or want sounding boards. They don’t have doubts, they don’t question if they are making the right call. They surround themselves with yes-men who do little more than implement their wishes and look after the trivial stuff.

When was the last time you saw a manager have a public row with his assistant? At Arsenal, Arsène Wenger has Pat Rice; at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson has Carlos Queiroz. Quiet and obedient, they do what they are told as their bosses take all the credit or all the blame.

Steve McClaren went wrong when he appointed Terry Venables as his assistant. Venables was too good: overqualified, the No 2 who should have been No 1.

It seemed as if, especially in the latter stages of his reign, McClaren felt undermined by such a powerful presence, and Venables’s input appeared to decrease.

Capello is from the same mould as Wenger and Ferguson and will want nothing more or less from his underlings. He has a reputation for maintaining a distance from his players, which is a strength. It will keep the squad on their toes because they will never be sure of where they stand.

That tension means the staff’s key role will be to bridge the gap, to act the friend. Players always want someone to talk to - somebody to tell them what the manager might be thinking, someone who will listen to their complaints and who will join in with the banter. Yet the coaches must remain totally loyal to the manager and never undermine him, even if they disagree with his decisions.

If the FA wants Capello to appoint an Englishman to the staff and he agrees, fine. No problem – as long as the guy is not too ambitious. There is a risk that it would simply be a PR stunt. Someone as assertive as Capello will not let an outsider into the inner circle to please the FA. Whoever the English coach is, he may find himself doing nothing more than setting out the cones in training and handling the press conferences.

That will not be necessary for long, anyway. A good linguist such as Capello should quickly become fluent in English and there is not a competitive game until next autumn. Managers use their eyes more than their voices – they are overseers, they watch and judge. The FA should trust Capello’s judgment now, nod their heads when he talks, just like his coaches will. It is not an issue worth arguing about.

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• Graham Spiers