According to the famous investigative reporter Alan Shearer, Fabio Capello has lost the England dressing room. We would like to say that this is based on extensive use of contacts, but that does not appear to be the case.
Rather, we are left relying on Shearer’s sixth sense when he says that “it looked to me as if the England players did not want to play for him”.
“There was something fundamentally wrong inside that camp,” he says, before adding helpfully that “only those who were there know the real problems and can tell the truth about what went on.”
Which is the point, surely. Speaking to those on the inside would be helpful before making sweeping, and damning, judgments. If he had, Shearer might have found out all sorts of things, such as, rather than being locked “in a boot camp and let out only on match days”, the players were allowed more than half a dozen family afternoons or games of golf beyond the walls of the notorious Stalag Capello.
As Capello’s future is debated by the Football Association, with board members grasping for reasons to back or sack him, there is enough conflicting evidence around England’s World Cup campaign without this sort of misinformation.
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Yes, there were problems within the dressing room during the World Cup and Graham Taylor, the former England manager working for the BBC, picked up on it earlier than most. But the idea that these problems can be categorised as “lost the dressing room” is plain misleading.
So much so that, while the FA is aware that a few players might come out with critical appraisals of the manager over the next few weeks, sources at the governing body yesterday insisted that the decision to keep Capello would not be based on player feedback, which, in any case, would veer between those who are supportive and a few known malcontents.
The latter group includes John Terry, whose relationship with Capello has been clouded by personal antipathy since the manager not only stripped him of the captaincy, but did so perfunctorily, in his office at Wembley in February.
Niggles between the pair continued during the tournament, then blew up after Terry’s outspoken press conference in which he challenged Capello to change his ways. The Italian — and most of Terry’s team-mates — would call that dissent “a big mistake”.
For his part, Capello has instructed the FA that he has no problems working with any of the players should they decide to retain him for the Euro 2012 qualification campaign. While the manager is no fan of Terry’s reckless act-first-think-afterwards nature — who is? — he is happy to harness that dominant personality to good use on the pitch.
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Terry played very poorly against Germany but this hardly seemed a case of downing tools, given that he had excelled against Slovenia.
Some players believe that they saw a “different Capello” at the World Cup. While training was intense, there were complaints that the manager was too secretive about his match plans in contrast to his usual, meticulous preparation. Some harbour concerns about his tactics and the lack of defensive solidity in midfield.
Fair reservations, too, but Capello is insistent that he was open to private conversations with any player — he just thought it wrong to have those discussions in front of the whole team.
For every Terry or David James, who had well-documented aggravations with the training regime and the initial preference for Robert Green (but will not, at 39, be playing for England again), there is no shortage of senior players who want Capello to continue.
Among them are believed to be the captain, Rio Ferdinand, and Steven Gerrard, who deputised during the tournament. Should the FA decide to seek opinion from the dressing room, their views should carry every bit as much weight as a player such as Terry, embittered by loss of the captaincy.
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The idea of consulting the players is one that the FA is expected to resist, believing that Capello has ample respect from the vast majority, even if some, such as Joe Cole and Peter Crouch, will be angered at the lack of match time in South Africa.
Capello’s handling of his squad was not ideal. The training facilities were excellent but a base in the middle of nowhere did isolate England from the rest of the tournament.
He was required to tone down his early intensity and rigid rules, allowing the players to enjoy more time outside the camp to stave off boredom and to enjoy their beer.
When it comes to man-management, though, Capello believes that he has gained from this tournament, with better knowledge of his players and what makes them tick, particularly in tournament conditions. He thinks it would be a waste to throw away the knowledge gleaned over the past 2½ years.
Put to a secret ballot, no doubt a few of the players might argue otherwise, but the FA believes them to be in a minority.
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Their deliberations, and their concerns that Capello should get more from this squad, revolve around tactics and selection as much as man-management or the idea peddled by Shearer that the players “did not want to play for him” any more.
Still, we should find out soon enough if that is true. Presumably a rash of international retirements will quickly follow any announcement that Capello is staying.