FA want English coach after Capello

15 August 2010 12:52
Adrian Bevington, one of the key figures at the Football Association when it comes to deciding future England coaches, has suggested Fabio Capello's eventual successor will be English. Capello, 64, is contracted to lead the Three Lions until the conclusion of the 2012 European Championship campaign and is unlikely to leave before then. The Italian was brought in to replace Steve McLaren due to the belief that English candidates at the time were not good enough. There had been a move back to an English coach after Sven-Goran Eriksson, but McLaren's reign ended with failure to reach the 2008 European Championship finals. "We enjoyed working with Sven-Goran Eriksson, and we have Fabio Capello in now," Bevington, managing director of the Club England panel, told the BBC. "I think the English team should be managed by an English manager [in the future]." Capello lead England to this summer's World Cup with ease, but performances at the finals in South Africa were disappointing - a goalless draw with Algeria in the group stage was a particularly poor performance. He was also involved in the controversial Capello Index, a scheme which was billed as his rating on England players during the World Cup but one in which he backed out of after pressure from the FA. His attempts to move on from the World Cup were also far from smooth, with Paul Robinson and Wes Brown announcing the retirements from international football after being named in the squad for last week's friendly against Hungary at Wembley. During the build-up to that game, Capello suggested midfielder David Beckham would not be involved in any more competitive games for his country, but would be given the chance to say farewell in a Wembley friendly against France in November. Beckham's advisors suggested he would turn down the offer as he still thinks he can offer something to his country in competitive games, while the British tabloid press have laid into Capello - claiming Beckham was told in a shabby manner. High-quality English coaches are thin on the ground. Stuart Pearce coaches the England U21 side and acts as Capello's assistant at senior level,  and the Italian has agreed to add another Englishman to his backroom staff. There are eight English coaches in the Premier League - Blackburn, Blackpool, Liverpool, Newcastle, Stoke, Sunderland, Tottenham and Wolves - while McLaren is the only high-profile Englishman coaching abroad, at the Bundesliga side Wolfsburg.

Source: FOOTYMAD