England boss Fabio Capello looks quizzicalThe FA should take another brave decision and fire Fabio Capello after he undermined their authority in the latest episode of this John Terry saga.
Capello's comments to Italian TV — when he said he completely disagreed with the decision to strip Terry of the England captaincy because of his upcoming court case — are evidence enough in themselves that the right call was taken: Terry is a one-man media circus, a distraction and a sideshow and an embarrassing one at that.
Capello's comments also undermine the authority of his paymasters, the other senior players in the England squad — who know they are second-best in the Italian's eyes — and the entire concept of a team ethic, with Terry clearly viewed as being above reproach.
The FA made this decision — and they have every right to as it is a national team, not a club side. They are representing the country, not a club.
And anyway I don't think it's a decision Capello should be taking — he should be out of the job immediately, just like the government minister went of his own accord that same day.
He doesn't want the job any more, and I think he wants the FA to get rid and pay him off. He's not committed beyond July, he's an old man and he knows his team have little chance of success whatever happens. If he had the long-term in mind, he would have ditched the entire squad bar Joe Hart and Wayne Rooney and gone with a young team after the World Cup.
If an Englishman did what Capello did last night he'd be gone. I'm not sure the FA have the balls to sack Capello — it would be expensive, and they're not renowned for the progressive thinking required to take a risk at this late stage — but I think this should be the end of the road for Capello now, and for foreign managers in the future.
I can't believe we're letting him get away with this — if he was English, and didn't have the reputation and gravitas afforded to him by success on the continent, there'd be people camping outside his house demanding his head.
So fire Capello, but who next?
The person who takes that job has to be backed long-term by the FA: they need to say that it is a decision to build for the future, for the 2016 Euros, to build a combined unit that may flop at these Euros and may not even qualify for the 2014 World Cup (although I believe that would be unlikely).
They need to build a team based around the collective, not the individuals who are dead set on causing problems — and, Terry aside, there are plenty of those.
That man must be backed even if we flop at the next Euros and World Cup, and the FA has to say so from the start.
Whoever is in next has to be about young players, building a collective effort and blooding them in big international games.
If the captain isn't Terry, good — he's a poisonous character and not fit to lead England off the pitch, which is as much his role as that on it.
If it isn't Ferdinand — good, he's looking unsteady for Man United, his legs have gone at Premier League level and he's not up to it.
If it isn't Steven Gerrard — good, he has fitness problems, never performs to his maximum for England, and is the past, not the future.
Take a young team, a young captain and a different manager, it will give everyone a lift and it can't be any more shambolic than it is now.
This is all pointing to Stuart Pearce. What he's learned by managing the U21s — not under Capello — has made him a far better manager than he was at Manchester City, and he wasn't bad there.
He has had a good and consistent level of success, in spite of the withdrawals of his best players and their quick promotion to the senior teams.
His selections, motivation and organisation all show his intelligence and aptitude at building team ethics — and his passion is without question.
We took Capello on with no international experience — as a club manager he is one of the best, but the international game is different.
We need someone that is 100% interested in the job, not the money, who views the long-term as the goal — the short-term is filled with troublemakers and egomaniacs — someone who is able to take England forward.
Germany did it with Joachim Loew — he was Psycho's opposite number in the Euro Under 21 final a few years back — and they are reaping the rewards.
That Germany side was better than the England U21 side — it had Mesut Ozil, for starters — but since then some brilliant young talents have emerged here, like Jack Wilshere.
Every time a tournament comes around you have people dressed up as Bulldogs and Crusaders, putting so much pressure on ourselves and convinced we'll win it when — individuals aside — we don't have the team to do it.
At the moment there are maybe three teams in Europe who can win in Poland and Ukraine, and we are not one of them.
I don't know what the FA will do — they stuck their neck out by demoting Terry against Capello's wishes, and he appears to have tried to call their bluff. Capello's given Terry the captain's job back before and they've taken it away a second time. If a player said these things about his employer he'd be suspended and sold.
At the moment England complain about the abuse our black players get in Europe and elsewhere yet they have a captain who is accused of racism. It looks terrible to have someone like this leading them and frankly he shouldn't even be there.
The only people backing Terry are Chelsea fans — and racists, even though they may protest otherwise.
Remember Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer? They were made unavailable for selection until their assault case was over. No one complained about that apart from Leeds fans.
At the end of the 1991 season I was suspended by my club for being sent off for violent conduct against Manchester City, which followed into the start of the next season, so I couldn't play for England that summer. Fair enough. Yet somehow we have lost track of discipline in England.
When discipline is such an issue — and it clearly is — and despite our moves towards a more PC society, it makes no sense that Terry can hang on for so long; it's almost like him keeping the England captaincy is more important than anything else for Capello and co. We've gone backwards on this, and apparently just to appease our big-name footballers who have done nothing in England shirts - nothing.
Terry shouldn't even be there, let alone captain, and Capello should not be making the decision — he should be sacked, and someone else brought in.
I'd rather say this in full, giving my full reasons, than tweet about it in half a sentence like England's self-proclaimed midfield genius Joey Barton. Things like this are important and warrant more than the soundbites his lot give as they try to make themselves look clever on social media.
But that's another argument for another day — I'm sure many of you will disagree with me about the England manager, but think of it this way: would you back a player if he undermined his boss and team-mates like this? Of course not.
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