Watching The Media: Capello Bashing Is A Pathetic Waste Of Column Inches

Since England’s miserable failure at the World Cup there has been a repetitive drum bashed by the nation’s media.

The resounding boom of ‘Capello Out’ from all and sundry has been deafening at times, despite being the most ridiculous of notions.

Now the collective toys have all been thrown out of the pram, and having asked for the geeky kid’s lunch money, they’ve now resorted to childish games in order to get their own way. All that remains now is for them to give Capello a ‘wedgie’.

Given the amount of other excuses the media have trotted out for England’s reported failure, it hardly seems fair to then lay the blame at the feet of the Italian.

Boredom, tiredness, altitude – These have all been attributed to England only reaching the second round of the World Cup, none of which can be attributed to Fabio Capello.

You’ll remember Glenn Hoddle achieved the same ‘achievement’ in 1998, falling to Argentina in the second round on penalties. However, Hoddle was spared the ire of the tabloids, at least until he made some rather crude remarks about the disabled.

He was at least allowed to start the next qualification poorly before being ousted from the hot-seat.

So it smacks slightly of xenophobia from the influential writers, who never seemed too keen on a foreigner managing the English side, despite having hounded out Steve McClaren and demanded a manager of proven quality.

Look around England, and you will struggle to find a manager capable of all this.

Stuart Pearce? A member of Capello’s back-room team and cannot be absolved of any of the blame reportedly being put on the Italian’s shoulders. Harry Redknapp? That sole FA Cup fades woefully into comparison with Capello’s league titles in two countries, in addition to a UEFA Champions League trophy. Redknapp is only competing in the Champions League for the first time in his career.

Other candidates represent a mish-mash of managers who have made their living trying to break into the top half of the Premier League. Not exactly awe-inspiring.

So now we look at the players. They are the true reason that England are failing, yet they remain respected by the media, who need them for their sound-bites and quotes. Chasing Capello away will result in him disappearing back to Italy, where he would become of little interest to them anyway.

The media have of course blamed Capello for his choices, but in general it is accepted that he picked the best he could from the lack of talent being produced.

The only arguments would be in regards to the omission of Theo Walcott in favour of Shaun Wright-Phillips, whilst others would suggest room should have been made for Adam Johnson, the man keeping Wright-Phillips out of the Manchester City side at the time.

They want new players to be brought into the squad, but only on the basis of going against a reason they applauded Capello for in the early stages of his tenure.

Capello wanted players who were fit and in form for their clubs. This made perfect sense, as opposed to picking players based on reputation, despite that plan falling apart once the World Cup appeared.

Jack Rodwell is one repeatedly mentioned (particularly by Henry Winter), but he has failed to nail down a starting role in the Everton squad as yet. Promising player, yes, but can in no way be expected to hold down an international place before that club role is more regular.

Again, a lot of fuss was made about the absence of Jack Wilshere in the latest squad, despite his two starts for Arsenal including a lack-lustre performance against Liverpool and being the only outfield player in the 6-0 hammering of Blackpool to be fairly unnoticeable.

This follows on from Capello seemingly ending the international career of the severely injured, 34-year-old David Beckham. This was met with outrage, retiring the most elderly member of the England side in order to bring the aforementioned youth through.

The media reaction was so contradictory to their initial demands after the Word Cup. It suggests there is nothing Capello can do right, even if it’s exactly what they want.

If we then move on to the Sun’s childish name-calling in a recent edition, calling Capello ‘gormless’ and a ‘jackass’ in addition to mocking up Capello in a pair of donkey’s ears.

This is ‘journalism’ of the lowest common denominator and in no way does it help to inform the public. It is just a pathetic tantrum from people who have failed to get their own way.

Honourable mentions must go to Football365.com and Martin Samuel of the Daily Mail for their criticism of their peers, despite the latter’s ‘Mr Muddle’ headline of a fortnight previously smacking of hypocrisy.

But on the whole, the media has resorted to a repetitive and childish manner in their bid to remove Capello from his duties.

Gentlemen, accept that he is the England manager. Until that situation changes, look in the mirror and realise you are as much as part of the problem as that ‘gormless’ Italian incumbent.