'Arry, Capello and England

The footballing world is a buzz with stories after an amazing turn of events after the conclusion of Harry Redknapp and Milan Mandaric's trial and the resignation of Fabio Capello.


Earlier today Redknapp and Mandaric were cleared of charges of tax evasion at Southwark Crown Court.  The result was no real shock to anyone as the prosecutions case was flimsy at best, but the result of the trial could be huge in relation to who is hired as the next England manager.  Redknapp will now be odds on favourite to replace Fabio Capello who sensationally quit his post as England Coach after a meeting today with the FA.


Capello had spoken out about John Terry being stripped of his captaincy after the Chelsea man was accused of racial abusing Anton Ferdinand in a Premiership game a couple of months ago.  That criminal trial has been postponed till the after the summer European competition leaving Terry free to play.  The race row in the game started with Liverpool's Luis Suarez being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra means that Terry now has a 'racist' tag looming over him and his career.  Therefore the FA saw it in their best interests to strip him of the captains armband to Capello's displeasure.

All this sums up the state of the game in England.  We don't win major tournaments and it's no real surprise as we can't even keep our own house in order.  All this commotion started with the result of a 5 year court case accusing Redknapp of tax dodging.  The deal in the prosecutions arguments dated back to 2002 when 'Arry flogged Peter Crouch from his then club Portsmouth to Aston Villa.  There was some ropey looking offshore Monaco bank account named after Harry's dog, Rosie, and about 190,000 quid of 'gifted money' from then Pompy Chairman Mandaric to his Manager Redknapp. 


Capello went into his meeting with the FA with a bee in his bonnet.  Apparently the FA wanted to smooth over the public criticisms that Capello had made and come to some sort of agreement to move on and allow him to continue to coach the team to the Euro's this summer, and then after watch him bugger off.  Capello had, of course, previously stripped Terry of his captaincy for shagging his teammate's, Wayne Bridge, misses!  I think racism is generally considered worse in most circles than a sexual affair, but not for Mr. Capello.


The FA said they would employ an Englishman to take over from Capello after his final hurrah at the Euro's this summer.  The door is now open for Redknapp who, after doing his best Terry Venables impression off the pitch, has been cleared of any legal wrong doing and has built an excellent side in Tottenham Hotspurs on the pitch.  JT will get his chance to play at the Euro's if he's fit and in form regardless of who the new coach is, but if 'Arry does get the job - with the FA compensating Spurs for the remainder of his 2 year contract - maybe he'd be more interested in the partnership of Michael Dawson and Ledley King, a couple of non 'racist' center halves who played excellently together at Anfield on Monday night and seem to be as strong as any English center half pairing available.


So, after all this excitement these are the facts-
England don't have a coach and England don't have a captain.  The first game against France in Euro 2012 on Monday June 11 in Donestk can't come soon enough from them.  We are a national team in disarray and we hope or think that a freshly acquitted Harry Redknapp, with Sven Goran Eriksson's backing, can save the day.  Don't hold your breath.