The last time the FA appointed a foreign head coach, the strangest thing
happened: it turned him into one of us. That was on November 1, 2000, when
Sven-Göran Eriksson, a Swede who had flown in from Rome, sat before a press
conference at an hotel in Hertfordshire, wearing a poppy in his lapel.
A simple gesture of respect, one might think. Except the purchase and display
of a poppy signifies something. There are citizens who have no truck with
it; others who would be ashamed to be seen in public without one at the
traditional time of remembrance. A dark rumour that Martin O’Neill refused
to be florally endowed for a distant television appearance may have counted
against him when he was considered for the post of England manager in 2006.
So the origin of Eriksson’s poppy was a puzzle. He certainly did not collect
it in Rome, home of Benito Mussolini, while Sweden, his birthplace, was one
of a handful of European nations that maintained neutrality throughout the
Second World War (Portugal, another of Eriksson’s adopted countries, did
also). How finely attuned to English sensitivities he must have been, then,
to have been in the country a matter of hours and already have communed with
the locals in a poignant gesture of patriotism.
That day, when I asked David Davies, the FA’s head of communications at the
time, how Eriksson had come by his poppy, he gave me the look of a man who
had just seen the ghost of public relations disasters past, said he would
get back to me, and never did. Yet seven years on, it would appear little
has been learnt, because there is every chance that Fabio Capello will at
some stage be landed with an equally meaningless decorative appendage,
insincere and there only for show: an Englishman on his backroom staff.
While Capello won his battle to be surrounded by a quartet of trusted
lieutenants from Italy, the FA continues to hand out sops to those who
believe the England manager should always have the managerial equivalent of
a YTS trainee hanging about the place, learning the ropes with a view to
taking over at some unspecified point in the future.
“Fabio is very open to include an English coach – or English coaches – within
his staff,” Adrian Bevington, the FA director of communications, said. “The
key point is we don’t have to rush. People should not get too hung up on the
fact there is no Englishman on the staff at the moment.”
He did not go far enough. The FA has made an excellent appointment, given the
shortcomings of candidates from home. The new man is Italian. Now let him be
Italian, not some useless half-breed. Capello has never worked with English
coaches, or English players, by choice. He does not know Stuart Pearce, Alan
Shearer or David Platt in any professional capacity. Why would he want one
of them talking to his players before a big match, in a language he does not
yet fully understand? How would he know that what was being said was right?
How would he know his instructions were not subject to miscommunication or
contradiction? Capello’s methods are about control and an English stranger
on his staff is a random factor he should not tolerate.
Now see it another way. At some stage, Capello’s staff will sit down and talk
about team selection, patterns of play, have the sort of conversation that
takes place each week in every boot-room around the world. Either those
discussions must take place in halting English, to include one member of a
five-man team, or sooner or later Capello and his assistants will become
animated in their native tongue, at which point the token Englishman becomes
an observer. The alternative is to pay lip-service to his presence and then
have the real, no holds barred meeting in private, when they are free to
express themselves. No scenario here is satisfactory.
This may prove moot, as it is unlikely the FA could now afford an Englishman
anyway. It has blown the lot on Capello’s acolytes and does not have the
resources to buy Shearer, for instance, out of what is no doubt a nice
little earner at the BBC. What would be the point anyway? If the idea
underpinning Capello’s appointment is that of giving England a world-class
manager, why risk undermining this with a gamble on an untried Englishman
there only to satisfy those who think an absence of national pride is the
problem. So we love our country? Big deal. Everybody does. What else have
you got?
It may be that once Capello and Pearce, the England Under21 head coach, have
forged a relationship, he will be involved at a leading tournament such as
the 2010 World Cup, but that is 2½ years hence, by which time the manager
should be very comfortable with the language and familiar with the
personnel. This is how it must be. If Capello feels relaxed around Pearce,
if there has been an exchange of ideas, if he appreciates his methods and
believes his national pride would give an extra dimension to the staff,
there is no reason why Pearce should not become a temporary member of staff.
Any Englishman appointed short term, however, would be no more than
window-dressing; a poppy in the lapel of an Armani suit.
England have a foreign manager. He should be left alone to get on with it;
both managing England and being foreign.
No guardian angel
The speed with which Fabio Capello was appointed has upset Sir Dave Richards,
the professional committee man. This is what is known as a good start.
In his moan about not being properly consulted, Richards described himself as
a custodian of the game. This would be the same custodian who allowed
Manchester United to circumvent the rule book last season when, as chairman
of the Premier League, he permitted the “gentleman’s agreement” that removed
Tim Howard, the Everton goalkeeper, from a crucial match against his former
club. Guardians like that we can do without.
Clubs get clause out
There has been much soul-searching over the lack of English candidates to
replace Steve McClaren and the blame is placed at the feet of the elite
clubs for appointing foreign coaches. Yet who can now blame them? Any
Englishman winning the Premier League or a European final would find the FA
camped out on his doorstep with a suitcase full of cash in an instant.
The top clubs – the only ones with a realistic chance of winning the trophies
that would allow a coach to be termed world class, anyway – surely know it.
Were one to employ an Englishman, his contract would no doubt include a
clause forbidding him to quit to manage his country.
The captain’s table
There is much speculation that John Terry could lose the England captaincy
under Fabio Capello. Yet who would replace him? It would have to be a player
guaranteed a place and how many can lay claim to that? Steven Gerrard should
be a fixture, but Capello likes his midfield players to be tightly
disciplined and may tire of his cavalier nature. Wayne Rooney is guaranteed
to play but can hardly be regarded as captaincy material. Rio Ferdinand? Too
forgetful. Gary Neville? Too old. Michael Owen? Too injured.
Capello should give the job to David Beckham if he makes his 100th appearance
against Switzerland, but that would only postpone a problem. What price Owen
Hargreaves? Raised in Canada, with a football education in the Bundesliga,
he is intelligent, reliable, good at penalties and, in this regime, almost
certain to play. England have a foreign manager; they may as well have a
foreign captain, too.
Joke that will be understood by about 200 people familiar with the London
drum and bass scene in the Nineties
My mate is still not sure about Fabio. He thinks the FA should have considered
Grooverider, Kenny Ken or Nicky Blackmarket.
martin.samuel@thetimes.co.uk
