Capello resigns as England manager

Capello resigns as England manager

 

Fabio Capello's shock resignation threw England's Euro 2012 preparations into turmoil after one of the most dramatic days in English football history.

 

Capello quit as England manager after a showdown with the Football Association chairman David Bernstein over their decision to go over his head and strip John Terry of the England captaincy.

At almost exactly the same time as the Wembley meeting, Harry Redknapp was being cleared of charges of tax evasion at Southwark Crown Court - and opening the way for the him to take over as England manager.

Capello was due to leave his £6million-a-year job after the European Championships but now his successor - and the FA will have to deal with Tottenham first if they do want Redknapp - will have only four months or less to prepare for the finals of a major tournament.

The dispute had been brewing since Friday when the FA board decided Terry, who is standing trial in July where he will deny a charge of racially abusing QPR's Anton Ferdinand, could not be England captain until after the case.

Capello, who was not consulted, blew a fuse and told Italian TV station Rai on Sunday that he "absolutely" disagreed with the decision.

That led to Wednesday's meeting and though the FA were not anticipating Capello quitting, both sides were determined to stick to their guns and after an hour of talks that led to the Italian resigning - and the FA accepting.

An FA statement read: "The Football Association can confirm that Fabio Capello has today [Wednesday] resigned as England manager. This follows a meeting involving FA chairman David Bernstein, FA general secretary Alex Horne and Fabio Capello at Wembley Stadium.

"The discussions focused on the FA board's decision to remove the England team captaincy from John Terry, and Fabio Capello's response through an Italian broadcast interview.

"In a meeting for over an hour, Fabio's resignation was accepted and he will leave the post of England manager with immediate effect."

Bernstein said the resignation was the right course of action.

The FA chairman said: "I would like to stress that during today's [Wednesday's] meeting and throughout his time as England manager, Fabio has conducted himself in an extremely professional manner.

"We have accepted Fabio's resignation, agreeing this is the right decision. We would like to thank Fabio for his work with the England team and wish him every success in the future."

Bernstein had consulted with the 14-strong FA board ahead of the Terry decision but had not done so before the meeting on Wednesday - an indication that he was not intending to sack Capello for his remarks.

The resignation however gave the FA a way out of a situation that was likely to become increasingly controversial in the build-up to the Euros.

The new manager will now have to address the issue of whether Terry should be part of the England squad given the racism allegations and the fact that his presence could be divisive - especially if Anton Ferdinand's brother Rio is part of the squad.

The resignation brought an end to Capello's four years in charge of England - expensive years for the FA and ones which will be remembered as disappointing for the national team when it really mattered, especially at the 2010 World Cup finals.

The FA will need to move quickly to appoint a replacement but Stuart Pearce, the England under-21 head coach and coach of the Great Britain Olympic team, is expected to be put in charge for the Holland friendly at Wembley on Wednesday February 29.

After that, the new manager will have just two friendlies to work with ahead of the European Championships, against Norway on May 26 and Belgium on June 2. The first competitive match will be against France, in Donetsk, on June 11.

Pearce will be on the list of possible successors but he himself has said this summer would be too soon, and FA head of elite development Gareth Southgate on Wednesday night confirmed that Redknapp is one of the "leading candidates".

Southgate told ITV: "Stuart Pearce is in the building and with the under-21s.

"But you have to think for the summer - can you get the person you want for the longer term? Because the leading candidates are with clubs at the minute.

"Harry Redknapp is one of leading candidates but Tottenham will have something to say about that and [Tottenham chairman] Daniel Levy is not going to want Harry to leave without a fight, so there's an awful lot to work out in the next few weeks."