They rearranged the deckchairs yesterday, and cast a few unwanted passengers overboard, but have they steered clear of the iceberg?
We will have to wait a few weeks and months before we can begin to say whether England’s relaunched 2018 World Cup bid changed direction from its previous, disastrous course but confidence will not be re-established easily or swiftly.
For some even at the heart of the bid, yesterday’s emergency meeting was a reshuffle of a troubled cabinet rather than the drastic night of the long knives that was needed.
Mishandled from the start by Lord Triesman, the bid lurches this way and that. How, for example, does Karren Brady feel having been hailed as a crucial addition to the board a few weeks ago only to find herself demoted even before she has attended a meeting?
True, the bid leadership listened to demands for a smaller executive and less meddling by inert politicians.
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Geoff Thompson, the Fifa vice- president, is no one’s idea of a knight riding to the rescue but there has been belated acknowledgement of the need to embrace the one Englishman who can vote in December next year.
But so much damage had already been done, particularly by the initial establishment of a board so political that it would have made a good panel for Question Time but certainly not a bid team, that options were limited yesterday short of starting all over again (which might not have been such a bad idea).
The theory that all the internal bickering will just dissolve with yesterday’s statements about unity and focus needs proving beyond bland words.
Was everything truly resolved in one four-hour session at Premier League headquarters, called in response to mounting alarm at how self-doubt and internal politics had bogged down a bid that began with such high expectations? We need convincing.
Above all, questions need answering about the ability of Triesman, the bid chairman, to lead a dynamic, cohesive and ultimately successful team.
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As independent chairman of the FA, Triesman was always going to have to be involved in some capacity but that alone should not have saved his neck.
It must be hoped that the chastening of the past few days and weeks, when his board members have demanded effective leadership, has shown him that he does not have all the answers — which, since moving from politics into football, is the impression he has given.
No threat to his leadership emerged in the past few weeks not because it was not considered but purely because there was the lack of an alternative to rally around. So now Triesman must take the bid forward and it can only improve on what has been before.
There must be assertive strides, although it will not be easy given the lack of funding caused by the Government reneging on its promises.
The claim by Richard Caborn, the Prime Minister’s bid ambassador now removed from all involvement, that the public purse had contributed £350 million in guarantees was a desperate evasion. Hard cash is what is required but Labour has talked a good game about backing the bid and yet failed to deliver.
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As a result, Andy Anson, the chief executive, will also have to raise his game by bringing in fresh funds from the commercial world.
He and his team need to be able to sell good news and, after the recent traumas, there should be some small signs of recovery. Today, the 20 Premier League clubs will announce how they will be offering support to the bid and that backing is very useful given the global reach of many of our clubs, players, managers and owners.
Next month comes the World Cup draw, when David Beckham will be whisked around Fifa’s powerbrokers. You would be amazed at how crucial a photo with Beckham can be in wooing members of the executive committee.
The end of the bidding process for the 16 English cities seeking to stage the tournament should also provide some focus and, it must be hoped, a vision and overall strategy.
But the real test of success is whether Thompson, Coe, Triesman and Sir Dave Richards can persuade enough of those 23 Fifa voters.
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Thompson is a grey administrator but he is said to be hopeful of securing the support of Marios Lefkaritis, the member from Cyprus, and Senes Erzik, his counterpart from Turkey.
Triesman needs to atone for the blunders of the past 12 months by bringing Michel Platini and Franz Beckenbauer on board. Richards must go out to Africa, whose four votes will probably dictate whether England have any chance of victory.
It is not impossible for England to win but the damage sustained should not be underestimated, nor the doubts about the hierarchy’s lack of unity.
Yesterday may have represented a degree of change but as the apocryphal Irishman might have said had he been present at the emergency session to decide the way forward: “Well, I wouldn’t start from here.”
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Who’s in and who’s out
New board
Lord Triesman, 2018 bid chairman
Geoff Thompson, Fifa vice-president
Sir Dave Richards, Premier League chairman
Lord Mawhinney, Football League chairman
Lord Coe, London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) chairman
Paul Elliott, former Chelsea defender
Andy Anson, 2018 bid chief executive
Moved from main board to advisory group
Gerry Sutcliffe, Sports Minister
Simon Johnson, chief operating officer of 2018 bid
David Gill, Manchester United chief executive
Sir Keith Mills, Locog deputy chairman
Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP, the advertising company
Karren Brady, former Birmingham City managing director
Out Richard Caborn, observer
In David Dein, roving diplomat