Only an Englishman Can Lead England?

One difference between England and the USA when it comes to their respective soccer sides is that whenever England crash out of a tournament instead of winning it (the latter is the expectation), it leads to national soul-searching and finger pointing (whereas the Americans yawn and turn to NASCAR).  Head coach Fabio Capello has been the target of choice.  Just a couple weeks before the tournament began, the English FA removed an escape clause from Capello’s contract that allowed them to sack him without penalty following the World Cup.  Yet now, they’ve given Capello two weeks to learn whether or not he will stay on.

That’s consistent, enlightened management by the FA.  Capello did made a mistake or two in this tournament, e.g. he should have started James in goal all along, and putting Shaun Wright-Phillips on the left wing in the England USA match was daft, so too did Bob Bradley: why tinker with the lineup that (barely) beat Algeria for the Ghana match, and why in hell play Clark in midfield?  While imperfect, Capello did the best he could with the squad England have given him, and according to one Roy Keane, the English simply are not nearly as good as they think they are.  The problem wasn’t with Capello, it was with the level of talent in England.

Capello’s chief crime, besides having the temerity to not win the damn thing?  Not being English.  Because, well, an English manager would have done better.  To quote Harry Redknapp, current Spurs manager (and one who is touting himself for the not-exactly-vacant England job):

“I’m not talking about a Scottish manager or an Irish manager, I’m talking about an English manager because this is where we’re from, this is our country. We should be able to produce someone who can manage the England football team and let’s be honest, they can’t do any worse than what they [Sven-Goran Eriksson and Capello] have done.”

Umm . . . Sven reached the quarter finals in both the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, as well as the 2004 European Championships.  Capello qualified in style for 2010, and while England weren’t great, and couldn’t even top their group, they qualified.  What was it again that the last English England manager accomplished?  I think they beat Andorra twice . . .

This is ridiculous.  In addition to Redknapp campaigning for the job, the media are also putting forward Roy Hodgson as a solution to the “crisis”, and, wait for it . . . David Beckham.

Desperate times indeed.