THE beginning of the end for an England manager occurs when comparisons with their predecessors become irresistible. Steve McClaren's demise was inevitable once it became clear that he was the second coming of Graham Taylor, without Taylor's charm and tactical articulacy, but with better teeth.
It might be too early to throw such invidious comparisons at Fabio Capello, but what the hell, the England manager is already sounding like late period Alf Ramsey. What did for Ramsey in the end was his loyalty to past-their-best senior players, and
an instinctive mistrust of anything that vaguely resembled flair or flashiness. It didn't help that a goal from a feisty Italian midfielder called Fabio Capello made Ramsey's last match in charge at Wembley a 1-0 defeat.
It would be a revenge that appealed to Ramsey's mordant sense of humour for the spectre of Sir Alf to possess the present England manager, and whisper such Ramseyesque observations as 'Tch, look at that Joe Cole playing all those little flicks and feints as if he's some bloody foreigner, and that haircut makes him look like the fifth Beatle'.
It might be premature to call for an exorcist, but it was suspicious that Capello was hurling irate instructions at Cole from the sidelines in Barcelona on Saturday night, and damned him with significantly faint praise after the match. Cole's place in the starting line-up for Wednesday's key match against Croatia is far from guaranteed.
Even if Capello is true to his promise that England performances before his arrival are no longer relevant and he thus ignores the fact that Cole has been consistently England's best player since before the last World Cup, he might at least have the grace to be grateful for Cole's contribution in the last two matches. Without Cole's three goals Capello would be looking at a defeat against the Czechs and a 0-0 draw against Andorra, and possibly asking his translator what P45 meant.
Continuing with the Ramsey theme, it might be blasphemous to compare John Terry to the late, great Bobby Moore, but England's present centre-back and captain also looks capable of blotting his international copy-book with a crucial error in Eastern Europe come Wednesday. Moore's came in a World Cup qualifier in Chorzow in 1973 when he was culpable in the two Poland goals that eventually eliminated Ramsey's team. Terry's past performances for England don't justify any degree of loyalty, and his recent comments about England players fear of failure were misguided and alarming. If Terry genuinely suffers that kind of psychological vulnerability, he shouldn't be in the England team, let alone its captain.
At least Ramsey, in his first years in charge, was prepared to be a revolutionary. He built a team that was intolerant of reputations and egos. Admittedly, in the early 1960s, reputations and egos were hardly comparable to their modern manifestations, but Ramsey was ruthless enough to realise that it was possible to build an effective national team without the greatest goalscorer of his generation, Jimmy Greaves.
That might have been Capello's notion when he left out England's most consistent goalscorer of the last decade, Michael Owen. Ramsey though had a well-drilled system in place before omitting Greaves. Capello is a long way off a side that even displays basic competence.
It's questionable whether, at this stage of his career, Capello is hungry and focused enough to take on that kind of challenge. His qualifying group is mildly tricky, with the main threats coming from a powerful Croatia and an awkward Ukraine. Much more problematic is the mindset of an England squad still bloated with immensely wealthy players who have failed consistently in an England shirt.
Like Ramsey, Capello values experience or application above intelligence and imagination. A case in point was the selection of Stewart Downing, a tireless, heads-down workhorse. He's a good club player. The elegant and elusive Ashley Young of Aston Villa is a more convincing international.
If Wednesday night proves to be another example of England's old guard looking sloppy and nervous there is a compelling case for the manager discarding several of the illustrious names who are not delivering, and rebuilding the side, with Cole, maybe Steven Gerrard when he is fit, and Wayne Rooney as cornerstones. Twenty-five years ago, similar voices were urging Ramsey to realise that England's future belonged to Colin Todd, Kevin Keegan, Tony Currie, Alan Hudson. He wasn't prepared to listen. Capello looks a similarly stubborn customer.
The full article contains 764 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
