Mon, Dec 24, 2007 page18

• England fans told not to expect miracles from Capello

  • AFP
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  England fans have been warned not to expect miracles from Fabio Capello by the men who appointed the multiple trophy winning Italian to the so-called "hardest job in soccer."

  FA chief executive Brian Barwick described the 61-year-old Capello as a "winner with a capital W" at the formal unveiling of Steve McClaren's successor last Monday.

  But both he and the FA's director of football development Sir Trevor Brooking are realistic about how far England's stock has fallen and they have ushered in the Capello era with a heavy dose of realism.

  

  Italian Fabio Capello, the new coach of the England national soccer team, holds up the ''Three Lions'' shirt on the TV sports program La Domenica Sportiva in Milan, Italy, on Dec. 16.

  PHOTO: EPA

  "There is no triumphalism," Barwick said. "Fabio Capello knows he has a serious job to do. This is a team that has not qualified for the European Championships."

  "We are not getting carried away by the thought that suddenly, because we have Fabio, we will become world beaters, because we will not," Brooking said. "We have not won anything for 40 years. Let us not expect him to suddenly win us two big championships. We cannot sit back and think everything is rosy. What we have to do is try to get the best out of that group of players."

  Barwick stressed that Capello had a job to do working on the England team's mental attitude "and what happens when the players cross the white line."

  "He needs to do a lot of work on the players' confidence, as well as the ability and tactics. We have a set of disaffected supporters. They are fed up with us because we have not qualified for Euro 2008 and because we didn't play especially well during the World Cup," Barwick said. "People put great store by supporting their country. It is a special thing and it pulls them together. We are not just going for a quick-fix. We have a guy who is committed to turning the situation round."

  "We also have to turn round the public perception of what we are. They pay a lot of money and come in vast numbers. They are hugely supportive and over the last couple of years we have let them down," he said.

  Capello, for all his nine titles and £6.5 million (US$12.9 million) annual salary, knows he must impress a different audience now.

  He will get his first chance to show what he is capable of on Feb. 6 when England tackle Euro 2008 co-hosts Switzerland at Wembley.

  Up to four more friendlies will be played before the Three Lions begin their bid to reach the 2010 World Cup.

  Much has been made of the fact that England were forced to go overseas again for their manager with Barwick saying: "When I wrote out the template for what makes an England manager and put that template against our current crop of English managers, not all those boxes are ticked. The top teams do not employ English managers and haven't done for some time. It has to be our ambition to appoint an English manager but we have to be realistic."

  In a lengthy meeting at Wembley Stadium 11 days ago, Capello convinced Barwick and Brooking he was committed to the English cause and willing to do everything in his power to aid not just the senior team but the entire coaching network, currently floundering in a sea of mediocrity.

  And, while McClaren and his predecessor Sven-Goran Eriksson were perceived to have "untouchables" within their squad, Capello has been around long enough not to be too bothered by the massive egos he is likely to encounter at the first England gathering next month.

  "When I was doing my research, Fabio's name came up every single time," Barwick said. "If you look at his previous experience, he has dealt with some of the toughest and most egotistical players in world football. He has won nine titles. From what you read about him and what he has said to us privately, it suggests he is his own man."
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