Cappello and the Beckham thing...

[Pavilionaire]

I read today that Beckham says he has no intention of retiring and will not play against France in an international "swan song".

Fair enough.

But this is another player Cappello has botched the handling of, and a rather influential one at that.

Given that we failed to qualify for the last Euro Finals why is Cappello ruling out a player that we might need to call upon in the qualification stages? Surely you leave all of your options open?

Cappello had nothing to gain by saying Beckham's England career was over. If his command of English had been better he could have turned the whole thing into a positive by saying at a time when younger players were retiring from international football it was reassuring that he could count on Beckham to be there if required.

Now it seems Beckham's England career is ending under a cloud. You almost wonder whether Beckham will refuse a "swansong" in the hope that if Cappello is replaced the new manager might think very differently.

 

[alan partridge]

It's all a bit boring if you ask me.

Football wasn't bad on wednesday, lets hope that continues.

We had a dodgy world cup, but Capello got us there in style. Didn't even make the last Euros.

 

[beorhthelm]

cappello was just being honest - Beckham is too old and unlikly to be called upon again. His mistake was being honest to the media. then this was compounded rather hamfistedly by offering a testinmonial.

lesson to learn - dont talk to the media, or when you do say f*** all.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Possibly it's been handled rather clumsily, but Capello is only stating the truth.

Beckham is 35 years old, is recovering from a busted achilles tendon, is playing in a fairly low standard league anyway, and has done chuff all for England in the last couple of years apart from running around hopefully as a substitute, chasing Peter Shilton's caps record.

Sorry, but if he wasn't such a media darling, nobody would be giving a toss about this.

The reaction from the press is totally out of proportion to the magnitude of the story IMHO.

 

[Pavilionaire]

The truth is we failed to qualify for Euro 2008.

The truth is that while Beckham HAS proved he is international quality SWP, Lennon, Walcott, Johnson, Downing, Young et al HAVEN'T. Similarly, an England side with Beckham in it would never have capitulated like we did against the Germans.

The truth is if Beckham thinks Cappello is a kvnt then that DOES have big implications for team harmony, relations with the media etc.

 

[Acker79]

Fabio Capello, England's very own Mr Muddle, has really cocked it up this week
By Martin Samuel
Chief sports writer
Last updated at 11:00 PM on 12th August 2010

If you want to measure the extent to which Fabio Capello’s thinking has deteriorated since the World Cup, look at his attitude towards David Beckham.

He did not used to get involved in sideshows. He would not be distracted by what Boris Johnson would term an inverted pyramid of piffle: the international future of a 35-year-old squad player with a dodgy achilles tendon. That was then, this is now.

Capello has been worn down by the England circus until he, too, is just another performer. So many of his pronouncements this last week seem to have been fed by an overheating spin machine, with the fiasco over Beckham’s retirement the most prominent.

Yet remember how it used to be. Capello did not select Beckham in his first England squad for a match against Switzerland on February 6, 2008, because it was the Major League Soccer close season and he had concerns regarding his match fitness.

Beckham was at this time on 99 caps and many advocated that he should be given one last game to say goodbye. Capello, faultlessly logical, resisted.

Playing regularly for Los Angeles Galaxy by the time of the next match, a friendly against France in Paris, Beckham was picked. He brought his century up in the Stade de France, was unceremoniously removed after 63 minutes following a ponderous
display and began the final chapter of his England career as a squad player and, in Capello’s eyes, a talismanic figure for the team.

Some disagreed with his continued selection but, like so much of what Capello did before the clock struck midnight to herald the arrival of 2010, there was logic. He thought Beckham a fine professional and a good influence on the rest of the squad; that was why he took him to South Africa as a member of the party, even injured.

And now this. If there have been five days of more consistent fiasco for an England manager, it is hard to remember them. Capello was the man we looked to for cold, hard decision making without sentiment or compromise. Instead, in his every move
these days there seems to be the dead hand of the PR department.

A squad that resembled a bonfire of the innocents, a thousand apologies, the bizarre exhortation to come to Wembley to boo the team, and finally time called on Beckham’s England career in a television interview.

All of it so unlike England’s manager that if the real Capello was found wearing only his underwear, tied up and locked in a broom cupboard at Wembley, it would suddenly make sense.

Beckham’s career with England was as good as over the day his achilles tendon ruptured playing for AC Milan. At 35, it is no surprise that he will not play a competitive game for England again; only his most deluded supporters would have maintained that fantasy anyway.

So, Capello offered no state secrets when he said Beckham was probably too old to make a significant appearance for England again. Yet to enter the forum at all was totally unnecessary.

When asked, the old Capello would have said that Beckham was injured and left it at that. Instead, he blundered into retiring a man who had no intention of standing down.
Then, once it transpired this was a big deal and Beckham may feel slighted, Capello hastily proposed a farewell appearance that would deliver exactly the rubber-necker’s
carnival he had sensibly avoided almost three years ago.

Some will see Capello’s take on Beckham as confirmation of his cold nature. It isn’t. It is a cock-up. There was no need for the England manager to get involved in Beckham’s future. And if he did not have one, the way to reveal that was in a telephone call once the man had recovered at the time of a squad announcement.

That is the proper way for a footballer to finish. Not a showbiz send-off, but a fitting one. No grand farewell, just a list of names, from which yours is absent, and a response that either calls it a day, or vows to battle on. Beckham has always taken the fighter’s option and will this time, too. After all, Capello as England manager is not forever: certainly on this evidence.

No wonder Beckham does not want one last game. It would set him apart, make him a ceremonial figure, a star turn, not a sportsman. He’s right to reject that. Bobby Moore’s unscripted farewell was a friendly against Italy after England had failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup finals; Zinedine Zidane went out with a red card and a head-butt; Franco Baresi said goodbye on a missed penalty. Few have the privilege of departing waving to the crowd, even the greatest, and Beckham’s record of tournament disappointment with England scarcely places him in that category.

So, by offering a final meaningless send-off, Capello has capped a poor week, not just by his high standards but by the standards of his most enfeebled predecessors. Imagine if Steve McClaren had picked two players who immediately announced their retirement from international football, or was left mugging and miming his displeasure to a player who was supposed to be injured, only to be found sprinting around Wembley for his club.
Worse, Capello has become a slave to populism. Not since the Metropolitan Police were accused of institutionalised racism in the MacPherson report has there been such an extended mea culpa from a public body.

The Football Association, the England manager, and the England players cannot say sorry enough for their performances in South Africa. Capello has no doubt been advised to buy into this public flagellation and is choosing some very strange paths as a consequence.

Forget the leap of logic in which Robert Green went from being his first-choice goalkeeper in June to not even in the best three in August on the back of one mistake, or the fact that players such as Adam Johnson, Phil Jagielka and Theo Walcott appear to have proved themselves capable of starting for England while on holiday, and just think how coolly sensible Capello used to be.

He was a problem solver. Rooney and Michael Owen struggled as a partnership, so Capello broke them up. He then devised a way to get the best out of Rooney, by using Emile Heskey as his battering ram. Gerrard and Frank Lampard, who could not play together in a midfield four, were sent to different areas of the field and the team thrived.

Yet key to England’s problems in South Africa was the inadequacy of Gareth Barry as a defensive midfield player against the best opposition and, as Capello made no move to address that issue against Hungary, we must presume he will muddle along with a
player who will be vulnerable, again, to the first good team England play.

So much else is window dressing. Capello would have been better telling the truth: that the 23 that went to South Africa are, mostly, the best players in the country and a way has to be found to make them stronger intellectually, so they can withstand tournament pressure and improve tactically. Instead, he indulged the populist fantasy that there is another group out there, inexplicably ignored, but more than capable of delivering at a World Cup.

Yet, when the chips were down, who got England out of trouble against Hungary? Gerrard, because he is the finest this country has. The elite players have not changed in two months, and Capello, pre-2010, would not have pretended otherwise.

The irony is that his clumsy handling of Beckham will draw greater public criticism than other, more worrying, inconsistencies. Sadly, Capello has done more than engage with our peculiar talent for distraction here; he has trivialised an England international by offering to make it Beckham’s farewell bow.

He used to be above this; but that was when he was thinking straight.



Read more: Fabio Capello, England's very own Mr Muddle, has really cocked it up this week | Mail Online

 

[Tooting Gull]

All a bit unnecessary, I don't think Capello actually needed to say anything. Actions speak louder than words, he should just have said 'wait for the next squad/team and see if he's in it'.

That said, everything he does or says is now getting slaughtered by a certain group of hacks with very high opinions of themselves. At least they're consistent, they've dished it out to his predecessors as well.

I'm sure Capello's language is a frustration for them, because they can't conduct the sort of intelligent interviews they want to. For the 'No1s' on papers, who get invited to private sit-downs with Capello and are supposed to be able to sum up the man to a tee, they are being rendered impotent because he can't go into the sort of detail an English speaker would. They don't like that, and have started snapping.

We'd almost be better off getting an Italian journalist who speaks fluent English to do a few interviews, then at least we'd hear Capello able to express what he really thinks. Long-term, I'm afraid that for England, the national coach has to speak better English than Capello does. He's a very good manager, but it's not working, and some players should be ashamed they haven't helped him more.

 

[NS Herald]

Possibly it's been handled rather clumsily, but Capello is only stating the truth.

Beckham is 35 years old, is recovering from a busted achilles tendon, is playing in a fairly low standard league anyway, and has done chuff all for England in the last couple of years apart from running around hopefully as a substitute, chasing Peter Shilton's caps record.

Sorry, but if he wasn't such a media darling, nobody would be giving a toss about this.

The reaction from the press is totally out of proportion to the magnitude of the story IMHO.

Spot on - succinct - astute and nothing else needs to be said on the matter

 

[pasty]

I'm getting a bit pissed off with all this Capello bashing going in the press.

1. How the f***ing hell is it embarassing for Capello that Paul "I'm going home if I'm not allowed to play" Robinson and Wes "very unlikely to have played" Brown want to throw their toys of the pram and retire.

2. How the f***ing hell is it embarassing for Capello that Ashley Cole decided to show the world what a small minded little prick he is by refusing to shake Capellos hand at the Community Shield

3. How the f***ing hell is it embarassing for Capello that what he said about Beckham, which lets face it every single football minded person in the country agrees with, has been taken way way waaaaay out of context and blown up serioulsly out of proportion by the press.

Personally, I don't think any of the 3 episodes he's being pillioried for in the press have any bearing whatsoever on his ability to manage the England team. It's quite possibly the press having a field day because Capello had the "audacity" to have a pop at some of the paps during the World Cup.

 

[Marshy]

Possibly it's been handled rather clumsily, but Capello is only stating the truth.

Beckham is 35 years old, is recovering from a busted achilles tendon, is playing in a fairly low standard league anyway, and has done chuff all for England in the last couple of years apart from running around hopefully as a substitute, chasing Peter Shilton's caps record.

Sorry, but if he wasn't such a media darling, nobody would be giving a toss about this.

The reaction from the press is totally out of proportion to the magnitude of the story IMHO.

Not in my opinon, Beckham wether you like ity or not has played football for his country for 15 yeears pretty much, and is the highest capped outfield player for our country ever !

Beckham could end his time as England Manager if he went to town with this, but he wont he has too much class about him, something Capello has NONE of.

Its another shambles by Capello. The man is a joke.

 

[Acker79]

That said, everything he does or says is now getting slaughtered by a certain group of hacks with very high opinions of themselves. At least they're consistent, they've dished it out to his predecessors as well.

I've been thinking about this, and I think part of it is the media protecting their money cow: the premier league. They can't spend the summer months analysing the weaknesses of rooney, gerrard, lampard, terry, and so on then come august turn around and tell you they are the best in the world and you must subscribe to sky sports to see them live, tune in for the highlights on bbc, read all about it in the news of the world etc. They can't brag about the premier league being the best in the world, must see, while also telling you that the supposedly best players in it aren't actually very good.

So, what is left? The management. Criticise the manager and we have someone to blame without bad mouthing the league that brings in so much money.

 

[Easy 10]

Totally agree with Edna.

If Capello had come out completely of his own accord and said, out of the blue "eeeerrrr, David Beckham, eeeeeerrr, he iss, how you say, eeeeerr, a leetle beet olt now for, eeeerrr, the Inglant tim, so errrrrr, I don tink I peek him no more", then there'd be more of a case for jumping all over his leathery old carcass.

But he was asked a direct question - "Is David Beckham still a part of your plans ?", and he gave a direct answer (or as direct as his english would allow). And its basically the answer most people not blinded by the Beckham Brand would have expected.

Move along. Nothing more to see here.

 

[Marshy]

Totally agree with Edna.

If Capello had come out off his own accord and said "eeeerrrr, David Beckham, eeeeeerrr, he iss, how you say, eeeeerr, a leetle beet olt now for, eeeerrr, the Inglant tim, so errrrrr, I don tink I peek him no more", then there'd be more of a case for jumping all over his leathery old carcass.

But he was asked a direct question - "Is David Beckham still a part of your plans ?", and he gave a direct answer (or as direct as his english would allow). And its basically the answer most people not blinded by the Beckham Brand would have expected.

Move along. Nothing more to see here.

sorry dont agree

I think Beckham should have been retired 2 years ago, however he wasnt.

A man who has 115 caps or whatever it is deserves a phone call at the very least !

Capello has lost it big time.

 

[Tooting Gull]

I've been thinking about this, and I think part of it is the media protecting their money cow: the premier league. They can't spend the summer months analysing the weaknesses of rooney, gerrard, lampard, terry, and so on then come august turn around and tell you they are the best in the world and you must subscribe to sky sports to see them live, tune in for the highlights on bbc, read all about it in the news of the world etc. They can't brag about the premier league being the best in the world, must see, while also telling you that the supposedly best players in it aren't actually very good.

So, what is left? The management. Criticise the manager and we have someone to blame without bad mouthing the league that brings in so much money.

You are spot on. And on a 'micro' level, they won't get exclusive interviews from increasingly over-sensitive and controlling PL club press offices if they slag them off. Even if they deserved it. Which they did. Again, to protect that regular week-in, week-out access, far easier to slag off the manager.

And pasty is also spot on. Give those stories to a different journalist sitting at a desk with no existing agenda and get them to write it, and all three could have been written very pro-Capello.

 

[BLOCK F]

Possibly it's been handled rather clumsily, but Capello is only stating the truth.

Beckham is 35 years old, is recovering from a busted achilles tendon, is playing in a fairly low standard league anyway, and has done chuff all for England in the last couple of years apart from running around hopefully as a substitute, chasing Peter Shilton's caps record.

Sorry, but if he wasn't such a media darling, nobody would be giving a toss about this.

The reaction from the press is totally out of proportion to the magnitude of the story IMHO.

Agree with the above,but on a slightly different tack,I would not be surprised to see a parting of the ways between England and Capello in the not too distant future.
IMHO,and as I said after the World Cup fiasco,a clean break should have been made then.Regardless of his positive qualities,unfortunately since the 'ignominious exit',he has been exposed as a mere mortal and not the 'Messiah'.I see it all falling apart and truly believe a fresh start(yes again) is required.I personally don't think he has the energy and vision to be the man to bring through the younger players and a number of the older players seem to have lost their respect for him.....
My forecast..... Capello to be gone in the next 6 months.Let's face it he would have been sacked save for the compo!
What does anybody else think?

 

[Easy 10]

sorry dont agree

I think Beckham should have been retired 2 years ago, however he wasnt.

A man who has 115 caps or whatever it is deserves a phone call at the very least !

Capello has lost it big time.

Capello was basically ambushed. In hindsight he should have just avoided the question and said something completely non-descript, dull and boring, like every other player or manager does when being interviewed. Instead, he played it with a straight bat and gave his honest answer, which as we know, you can NEVER do when speaking with the media because they're always just ACHING for the next shitstorm, or the next stick they can beat someone with. And whaddya know, yippee, Fabs served one up on a plate for them and we're still talking about it, even though its pretty much a non-story.

Beckham probably should have retired a couple of years ago, its true. However, there is a school of thought that he DOES offer something when coming off the bench (as a player obviously, not in his bloody suit), so on that basis I wouldn't have had any violent objections to his inclusion, as long as he knew he would only ever be a bit-part player to throw on late on in a game to try something different.

The offering of a "fairwell game" was ridiculous though.

 

[tricky]

I hate the way that the media are causing this rift. Those hacks love the power of being able to destroy each and every england manager.

England don't need a better manager - they need a better press.

 

[Marshy]

I hate the way that the media are causing this rift. Those hacks love the power of being able to destroy each and every england manager.

England don't need a better manager - they need a better press.

He's is giving them all the ammo though, the press are not even having to try

 

[pasty]

I hate the way that the media are causing this rift. Those hacks love the power of being able to destroy each and every england manager.

England don't need a better manager - they need a better press.

I most heartily agree Sir.

 

[Rookie]

Press want Capello out that is clear (and also claim that a large number of the country do to which pisses me off that they can put words in the mouth of a silent majority), mainly so they can get their boy 'Arry in. But thankful for once the FA are not crumbling to them and its really pissed them off. Therefore whatever minor story they can get they will blow up into a national crisis.
Maybe it could have been handled a bit better but Beckham knows Capello and the way he operates so I doubt he expected a phone call.