In this country Maradona has almost been viewed as a comical character since he retired. Is that the case in Argentina?

No it's certainly not. In Argentina he is and always has been viewed as an icon. They consider him the greatest footballer of all time.

I think everyone accepts he's had some very serious issues off the field and I think he has also had a certain degree of mental instability. But he's been through the treatment and over the past couple of years he's been pretty much on his best behaviour.

There are some footballers who deal with this kind of thing and come through it, like Tony Adams, and others don't. But Maradona has certainly put his troubles behind him.

What is his role going to be?

As I understand it I think they are doing something which I think is rather intelligent. They are kind of going back to basics in terms of doing things by committee. Certainly in terms of selecting and monitoring players, which makes sense when you consider Argentina's players play all over the world.

I remember speaking to José Pekerman, who was the manager of Argentina in the 2006 World Cup, and I asked him how he kept track of all his players. And he said, 'well I watch a lot of television and I go to Europe once every three months', but that wasn't a good way of doing things.

So by having a team I think it will help keep track of the players. The other thing about Maradona is that he will bow to other people, certainly on the tactical side.

He has said he wants to win the World Cup. He has the players, but is that realistic?

He's certainly got the raw materials. The biggest factor in winning the World Cup is having good players, but the second biggest factor is being lucky or certainly not being unlucky.

If you look back, with the exception of Brazil in 2002, at most recent World Cup-winners, they have all had a degree of luck.

Certainly Italy in 2006, obviously France in 1998, Brazil in '94 and Germany in 1990 as well, dodgy penalties and all that. Argentina in 1986, we all remember the 'hand of God'. Italy in 1982 and in 1978 they think the tournament was rigged.

So there is a feeling that you have to have some level of fortune on your side, and some would say that Maradona has always had an element of that.

Do you think he will succeed?

I don't know. It depends how you define success. If success is winning the World Cup it will probably go beyond him. If Argentina win the World Cup it's not going to be down to him. And if they don't, it won't be his fault. One thing that Maradona will bring, and this is one of the reasons they have asked him to be involved, is he will offer some protection from the press.

In Argentina the last two managers have had a very, very rough press. If they haven't won every match 5-0 people want to know why and the media have rounded on the manager and it's gotten really bad.

But I think people are going to think twice before they criticise Maradona. That protection he will offer, means the squad is going to have a bit more breathing room than they would have done under other managers.