Perhaps it is time for Fabio Capello to hand over the reins to someone better versed in English ways - but who?
It is a challenge which faces all modern-thinking chief executives today: how to mould a group of strong individuals into an even stronger collective, establishing trust, solving problems by working together, improving communication. On Saturday morning, Fabio Capello, noted fan of opera, and collector of art, will be pondering the question of team spirit. He'll think of Steven Gerrard, who punched a disc jockey in the face as the man walked towards him in a bar. Self-defence, not guilty, said a Liverpool jury. Then Ashley Cole, who took a .22 calibre air rifle, equipped with muzzle and nightscope, along to training and surprised a chap on work experience by accidentally shooting him. No charges, said the police. Capello's mind will inevitably move to Wayne Rooney, banned after lashing out during a game in Montenegro. Sources close to the star later confided he was upset because his father had been arrested for suspected links to a football betting scam. And then John Terry, facing racism charges over obscenities allegedly mouthed at the brother of the man he plays alongside in the team. A sense of deja vu will settle on Capello: Terry has been stripped of the captaincy, as he was two years ago before the World Cup. Perhaps it is all too difficult. Perhaps it is time for Capello to hand over to someone better versed in English ways. The favourite to replace him is Harry Redknapp. And it will be a shoo-in – so long as affable Harry can convince that Southwark jury that he hasn't been defrauding the Revenue.