English football circles are spinning tonight with the news that Fabio Capello has quit as manager of the English national team.
This occurred following a meeting at Wembley stadium between Capello and the FA chairman David Bernstein.
The catalyst for the decision was the choice of the FA to strip John Terry of the captain’s armband due to the allegations of racism made against him by Anton Ferdinand, the brother of Terry’s Three Lions teammate Rio Ferdinand.
In a recent interview on Italian television, Capello spoke out against the decision to remove his captain saying that it was unfair to do so while the charge was still being decided by the courts.
Despite being in Italian, the British press were all over this interview like Paul Gasgcoine to a pint of lager and this brought to light a apparent rift between the manager and the powers that be at the English FA.
Considering these recent events, it appears as though this rift was beyond repair and Capello’s shock decision has created a major problem for England just 120 days out from a major tournament.
With Capello set to resign following next summer’s European Championships, there was already a large amount of speculation as to who would replace him. The general consensus among the media and footballing pundits, has been that this person should be English.
Whether or not the FA agrees on this matter is another thing, but the influence of the British press suggests that the next manager may very well be home grown.
This leaves people such as Alan Pardew and Roy Hodgeson as possibilities, but the definite favourite for the top job among the bookmakers (at the extremely short price of 1/4) is Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp. The Spurs boss seems to control the British press like some kind of Cockney puppeteer.
His cheeky sense of humour and willingness to always give a quote, as well as his excellent record with Spurs has caused the press to hail him as the anointed saviour to England’s footballing woes.
Harry himself has been all over the British newspapers today, having been found not guilty in a case regarding tax evasion.
The British tax authorities have spent the last five years and a reported £8 million pounds putting a case together against Harry and former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric over the faliure to pay tax on a payment of only £189 000.
One thing is for certain, the abacus at HMRC is certainly busted as it is difficult to justify spending that amount on such a meagre sum of unpaid tax.
But either way, they missed their man and Redknapp walked free from the court room today a very happy and relieved man after a case that he described as a ‘nightmare’.
And there is every chance his ‘nightmare’ may just morph into a lifelong dream.
For those conspiracy theorists out there among you, it is at least worth harbouring the idea that if a man walks free from a courtroom and straight into the England management position, a powerful player like the English FA could be pulling the strings of the British justice system.
A stretch? Perhaps. You can at least say the timing of the trial and Fabio Capello’s decision to walk from the job exemplifies the kind of perfect timing a stand up comic would trade his first born for.
Despite there being no shortage of complications regarding his current tenure at Tottenham Hotspur, the majority of football related people are still convinced Harry is headed for the top management position in the England setup.
Whether this is brought about through a job sharing arrangements or heavy compensation for Tottenham remains to be seen.
If the FA choose to go against the wishes of the press and pundits and go for another foreign born manager, then two very interesting candidates whose names are being thrown about are Jose Mourinho and ‘Aussie’ Guus Hiddink.
Both would be very interesting choices, but given the expensive failures under Capello and Sven Göran Eriksson, it is looking highly likely the FA will play it safe by choosing an English manager.
In the interim the team will be under the watchful eye of Stuart Pearce who is the English Under 21’s coach. Given that he has major tournament experience with the younger squad and was an assistant to Capello at this year’s World Cup, he is also a rank outsider for the position.
But for now at least, it looks as though the eighth of February 2012 is a day Harry Redknapp will cherish for the rest of his life, and not only because he beat the tax wrap.
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