Bye Bye Capello...a year too late?

Shocking news - Capello resigned from the Three Lions. Not shocking that Capello is leaving his role as head of England. Let's face it, he has had a rocky relationship with England and its fans since the FA hired the Italian. Capello has not really shown much since he took over the nation. Between constantly calling up Beckham so he could chase the England record for caps or the debacle at the 2010 World Cup where once again England had no clue how to leverage Lampard and Gerrard, or how to create width with some wingers, or what to do for Rooney...

So Capello exits after leading England to Euro qualification, so what now for the Three Lions? As the statement from the FA points out - most of the managers are currently tied up with their clubs. I am sure Redknapp would jump at the chance, especially were Tottenham mid-table. Shocking, however, the Spurs have a half chance of winning the Premiership, but are clearly in a good position to qualify for the Champions League. How about Wenger? Not sure the Arsenal manager wants to manage at the national level...and would he chose England over a chance at France (rumors are that Blanc might be out next summer, regardless of how Les Bleus do). Regardless, the Professor still is fighting to get the Gunners back in Champions League.

The best answer might already be walking the halls of the FA offices - Stuart Pearce who is managing the U-21s. As former player and one understands the meaning of wearing the white shirt of England (watch the video below of , he might be just want the senior squad needs to motivate them heading into the Euros.




Or how about this - The Special One resigns, takes the helm of England for the Euros, wins the title and then anoints himself the greatest of all time, tells the FA to fire SAF from Manchester United and then gives himself a life time contract....

Capello - someone needs a hug

Wonder what he was like after Green's blunder! Wow...funny stuff. Too bad Domenech could not demonstrate 1/5th of this energy.

More World Cup injury fears - Rooney out?

Anyone watching the weekend's match between Tottenham and Manchester United noticed that Rooney was watching the match from a luxury box and not on the pitch due to a lingering groin injury. Couple this with his lingering ankle injury and questions are beginning to creep that his place on the English plane to South Africa might be in jeopardy. With the tournament starting on June 12th for England which is 6 weeks away I think that there is plenty of time for the English striker to recover his health. Rooney has had a fantastic season and clearly is the key to England's ability to go far in South Africa this summer. This is not like a few years ago when he broke a bone in his foot, something that takes much longer to recover from.

I doubt Rooney will be left off Capello's list regardless of whether or not he is 100% healthy. However it should be a concern if Rooney is not 100% healthy for the tournament. Fortunately for England they have a group that should be easily won and could see Rooney being rested by the last group match. I think that England know they are playing their place in the first match versus the United States. If they get 3 points from that they should be clear leaders for first place in the group. This means Capello could look to have Rooney give it his all in the first match and then use him strategically for the following two matches assuming the proper result comes from the US game.

The injuries continue to mount for players...success might shine on the nation with the fewest injured stars!