Ignore the Pundits. Time to Back England and Capello

RTG posted too early last week to comment on Fabio Capello’s first England squad selection other than the absence of David Beckham, which was known by that time. This blog is not about discussing the relative merits of each member of the squad as Capello himself, and for that matter, Steve McClaren et al, are far better qualified for that than us.

RTG’s concern is to get a winning England team within our lifetimes. Simple! Well maybe not. The England manager’s job is a difficult one, made even tougher by the enormous pressures from the media and now, in modern times, huge financial expectations. There’s not a lot RTG and supporters can do about the financial considerations – after all, Wembley has been built – but there are things we can do in our expectations and support of the England set up.

First and foremost, let’s ignore the mindless media bullshit that overwhelms our senses each time an England international comes around. Excitement is one thing. Filling up space and time in newspaper columns and TV slots just seems to heighten expectations that are never going to be fulfilled – not to mention heaping yet more pressure on the team and backroom staff. The sort of pressure that has seen England consistently fail to win penalty shoot outs, incidentally.

As far as England friendly internationals go, results should, for the most part, be ignored in favour of drawing conclusions from the team performance and individual performances of the players. Under Steve McClaren, the first match, against Greece, ended in a 4-0 victory that flattered a performance that saw England stutter in the second half (sound familiar?). Instead of learning from this, it was seen by the media as a justification for, not only McClaren’s appointment, but also that the England team was headed in the right direction. Neither of these proved to be true. Indeed the signs of the malaise were there for all to see had they wished to see them.

Capello must be allowed to do the job. His CV shows that he was the best available candidate in terms of both experience and winning things. He now has shown himself to be possibly the best candidate in terms of character. We know all about the pressure coming from the media and some of the ‘godfathers’ of English football to select David Beckham. There must also have been enormous pressure from the FA – indeed it’s been rumoured that the FA had to spend £100k on reprinting the programme for the Wednesday’s match because a certain person had been left out.

As supporters we should all get behind Capello. Accept that he will make mistakes. If he’s not making mistakes, he’s doing something wrong. But, allow him, and us, to learn from them and build a foundation for success in the future, and resist the negative and self-destructive reporting from various branches of the media. After all, they have had a huge part to play in virtually every England manager’s appointment and sacking since Sir Alf Ramsey. And where has that got us?

Reclaim the Game – The Weekend’s Events

• All talk was dominated by some controversial off side decisions this weekend. Some were result altering. However, it doesn’t help when some of the TV analysis tries to retro fit the decision making to the actual outcome. Referees and their assistants make mistakes and, in the case of Andrew Johnson’s disallowed effort, the ref’s assistant admitted it was his error. Get over it pundits and stop confusing us.
• Manchester United made the right decision that both teams wear sponsorless kit for what is the 50th anniversary memorial match of the Munich disaster against Manchester City this Sunday. Why then the appearance of the shirt sponsors, AIG, on the memorial picture displayed on the outside of Old Trafford? RTG believes that those supporters who complained were right to do so.

Hat's Off, Take a Bow (Or Not!)

Player of the Week – Jimmy Bullard. A cheeky face you’d gladly slap (as his team-mate Chris Baird did this week) but brought an enthusiasm and a rare win to Fulham with his late free kick strike.

Hero of the Week – Fabio Capello. Clearly not going to be swayed by sentiment and PR but chose to pick his team based on ability and fitness for the job.

Villain of the Week – all those that banged on and on about how much Beckham deserved his 100th cap.

Shock of the Week - Hayes & Yeading 3 Havant & Waterlooville 0. Oh how the mighty have crashed to earth.

Cliché of the Week – “when is a player deemed to be interfering in play?” Sort it out FIFA/UEFA – at least so that Andy Gray understands it and can explain it to thicko Richard Keys.