Source: Daily_Mail
Fabio Capello remains best man to lead England ahead of Wales match
It was another funny old day for Fabio Capello. He awoke to headlines claiming the players no longer feared him, and others that he should issue a grovelling apology over his handling of John Terry's reinstatement as England captain.[LNB]So what's it to be then, eh? Do we want a subjugated manager pleading for forgiveness through the newspapers to a player who may not pull on an England shirt again this season? Or do we want the return of the brusque authoritarian who ruled his squad with an iron fist and meted out doses of solitary confinement between coruscating team meetings? [LNB]Actually, we want it all ways. We want to gnaw on the captaincy like a dog with a bone, refusing to let the issue rest while portraying it as Capello's point of weakness, and his grudging admission that the personal touch was missing in his dealings with Rio Ferdinand fed the monster for another 24 hours.[LNB] Feeling the strain: Fabio Capello faces the media ahead of England's match against Wales[LNB]At which point a game will start. Rather an important game, really. Lose it and England's chances of qualifying for the European Championship finals without at least recourse to a play-off will be greatly diminished. Maybe Capello's tenure will end, too, although with no obvious candidate available until Harry Redknapp settles his legal entanglements in the summer, it is hard to see David Bernstein, the Football Association chairman, being so bold; or so foolish.[LNB]What was plain from conversations with Capello and captain John Terry yesterday was that the suggestion the manager is losing interest in managing England, hence his apparently careless attitude to Ferdinand, has been greatly overplayed. [LNB]'I like my job, I want to stay here, I hope to stay here for a long time,' said Capello. [LNB]Terry, meanwhile, gave further insight into Capello's mindset in training this week. It was not a portrait of a man whose intensity is fading.[LNB]'There's still a determination from him,' Terry said. 'It's been there on the training pitch every day. I've read people claiming that he doesn't really care, but it's the complete opposite: we've had meetings, we've had training sessions and he's lost his rag a couple of times, even in fairly light sessions. [LNB]'He's been cheesed off because we haven't done what he's asked. The hunger from him rubs off on the players. [LNB]Benched? Frank Lampard could find himself left out of the England side[LNB]'We had quite a light session on Thursday, but a tough one on Wednesday, corners and set plays, lads attacking the ball. It was simple stuff, really, but they weren't doing it right. He said, 'If you can't do it right, we're going in.' That's him all over. [LNB]'We can be working on the most straightforward stuff, attacking corners, but if he doesn't like it, he gets frustrated. Then we're all thinking, 'S***, he's angry.' That's him. It will always be him. He wants everything to be right on the training pitch and to cover every angle on as well as off the field, with videos before games.' [LNB]The most far-fetched suggestion was that, with the controversy around the reappointment of Terry, Capello was in some way trying to work his ticket, to upset the players and his FA employers to such an extent that they remove him with a handsome pay-off. Nothing could be further from the truth. A manager who did not care would never have risked being in the eye of this storm.[LNB]Capello knew the captaincy was a potentially divisive issue, which is perhaps where he made errors, continuing to tiptoe around the subject for public consumption when in his head the decision was made. [LNB]The easy action would have been to maintain the line of succession. Ferdinand was injured, yet at the time Capello first spoke of reinstating Terry, there was no prior knowledge of Steven Gerrard's hernia operation. [LNB]Sven Goran Eriksson, that master of illusion, would never have considered rocking the boat in this way. His most contentious moments as England boss invariably concerned personal career advancement, with Manchester United, Chelsea or a bloke with a J-cloth and two inches of Cherry Blossom on his mush.[LNB]Whether one agrees with Capello's methodology or not, at least for his equally vast salary he is still trying to think of ways to take England forward. The dichotomy for Capello would have been particularly pointed. [LNB] Midfield maestros: Jack Wilshere (second right) and Scott Parker (right) look set to fill England's midfield berths[LNB]For most of the day the manager would have been in the team bubble, an environment in which the captaincy issue was discussed, briefly, and dealt with before training on Tuesday morning, and all subsequent focus has been on the match. For an hour in the middle of the afternoon, however, Capello was transported to the media bubble where Ferdinand was not merely an absent friend, but trending hugely, and the 90 minutes that will unfold at the Millennium Stadium had been pushed down the agenda.[LNB]Capello's demeanour was not so much remorse, more mild irritation at the spirited interrogation.He had a point in that this, even minus the sideshows, is a compelling match provided Wales turn up, which they barely did last time, despite the narrow 1-0 defeat and an interesting England team. [LNB]It will certainly feature Jack Wilshere, making his first competitive start, and that would have gone for Andy Carroll, too, had he been match fit. Darren Bent is fancied to have the honour in his place.[LNB]The most intriguing selection concerns the partner for Wilshere in deep midfield. In training yesterday, the most in-form midfield grafter in the Barclays Premier League, Scott Parker of West Ham United, was played alongside the Arsenal man, presumably instructed to win it and give it in the old-fashioned way.[LNB] Opportunity knocks: Darren Bent (centre) could get the nod in attack ahead of Andy Carroll[LNB]This would be another radical move for Capello, though, considering that to pick Parker would almost certainly relegate Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry to the bench. There would be another big decision to make when Gerrard is fit again, too, but Capello has enough to think through for now.[LNB]In some ways it could be argued that the battle is not Parker versus Lampard versus Barry, but Wilshere versus Lampard versus Barry, and the verdict is already in; it is the creative midfield role that is being upgraded with Wilshere's selection.[LNB]As his partner, Lampard is limited by a more defensive position, and Barry proved he is no holding midfielder against Germany at the World Cup, so Parker is the most obvious choice. [LNB]The question remains whether Capello will be bold enough to play a novice midfield in such an important game; although, as the events of the last weeks have shown, if he believes it is the right move, he will not be intimidated by the option.[LNB] Fabio-Rio split rumbles on as England boss reveals details of axed skipper's snubYou're kidding: Wilshere and Carroll caught up in club-versus-country rowRamsey rallies Wales as young skipper roars: We can beat England without BaleFalse starts fresh in the memory as Jagielka sets sights on win in Wales [LNB]
