[FM11] The Quest For The Second Star

[JoeyBaldwin]

ENGLAND HIRE FISHER TO REPLACE CAPELLO

Following England’s farcical World Cup campaign in South Africa, the FA have decided to dispense with the services of Fabio Capello, and have replaced him with home-grown coach Max Fisher.

Capello, who has enjoyed a glittering managerial career, boasting Real Madrid, AC Milan and Juventus among his previous employers, became the England manager in December 2007. He successfully led England to the World Cup without too many problems, but performances in South Africa were very poor, with Capello coming under scrutiny for both his tactics and selection. Many fans were left bemused by his preference for Emile Heskey over Peter Crouch when England were chasing the game against Germany, while his attempts to shoehorn Steven Gerrard into the side by playing him on the left to accommodate Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard into a 4-4-2 also left fans and pundits unimpressed.

Managers can get away with contentious selection choices if results are good. Uninspiring draws with USA and Algeria, followed of course by the hammering at the hands of the Germans, have not supported him, and eventually the FA have decided – rightly, in the opinion of this writer – to go in a different direction as they look ahead to the 2012 European Championship qualifying campaign.

The FA hadn’t given any indication that Capello was about to be replaced, but the quick announcement of Max Fisher suggests that the decision had been made a while ago and potential candidates assessed. Fisher has a growing reputation in football, helped by a fourteen-year career in which he learned his trade working as a youth coach at Birmingham City and Newcastle United, before moving to West Bromwich Albion as assistant manager.

The big risk with his appointment is that he has never held a direct managerial role before – he has been thrown in at the deep end in this respect, and some fans will need to be convinced.

However, he ticks a lot of boxes. Fisher is a charismatic and passionate character, the kind of man who commands the respect of all that he works with, and the West Brom fans certainly had a feeling of warmth towards him. Obviously the issue of a language barrier is removed – one of Capello’s big drawbacks was his inability to speak English and his reluctance to learn it.

There will of course be those who are critical of the appointment. However, there’s no doubting that Fisher has the ingredients in his character, intelligence and knowledge of the game to take England forward and progress.

His first match in charge is a friendly against Hungary in August, which will be useful as he looks to work out his system and best eleven going into the European Championship qualification campaign.

England have been drawn into a fairly tough Group G. Neighbours Wales have the growing talents of Gareth Bale, along with vociferous support at the Millennium Stadium, while Switzerland are one of Europe’s strong ‘second tier’, including players such as Liverpool’s new £6.5m signing Tranquillo Barnetta. Montenegro, who have the attacking talents of Roma’s Mirko Vucinic and Fiorentina’s Stevan Jovetic up front, and Bulgaria, who boast Bolton winger Martin Petrov and former Manchester City striker Valeri Bojinov, are the other two nations in Group G.

England expects qualification. Now is the time for Max Fisher to deliver.

[CFuller]

Good to have you back, and I hope to read more of this. I always find England careers quite interesting to read, especially when it comes to older versions of CM/FM.

One minor thing: I don't remember Paul Scholes playing for England under Fabio Capello. He retired after Euro 2004, didn't he? 

[JoeyBaldwin]

5 minutes ago, CFuller said:

Good to have you back, and I hope to read more of this. I always find England careers quite interesting to read, especially when it comes to older versions of CM/FM.

One minor thing: I don't remember Paul Scholes playing for England under Fabio Capello. He retired after Euro 2004, didn't he? 

By Paul Scholes, I meant Steven Gerrard