<div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.4/74826?ns=guardian&pageName=The+Fiver+%7C+England%3A+Strong+Leadership+is+Required++%7C+Scott+Murray%3AArticle%3A1701851&ch=Football&c3=GU.co.uk&c4=Football%2CSport&c5=&c6=Scott+Murray&c7=12-Feb-09&c8=1701851&c9=Article&c10=Feature&c11=Football&c13=The+Fiver+%28series%29&c25=&c30=content&c51=MVT+group+&h2=GU%2FFootball%2F" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst"><a href="http://bit.ly/9gwaJ4" title="">Click here to have the Fiver sent to your inbox every weekday at 5pm, or if your usual copy has stopped arriving</a></p><h2>FA HAVE 'HUGE KNOWLEDGE OF GAME', IF WHAT'S BEEN SAID HERE IS RIGHT</h2><p></p><p>Fabio Capello has won seven Serie A titles at three separate clubs, two Spanish titles in two seasons a decade apart, four Italian cups, a Uefa Super Cup, and Big Cup, when his 1994 Milan team delivered the greatest and most dominant single performance of modern times. Meanwhile in his penultimate game as England coach, his well-drilled young side ground out a result against world and European champions Spain, a sign that while nobody was expecting Brasil'70-style shenanigans any time soon, there were at least realistic and coherent plans being put in place, with a view to an acceptable showing at Euro 2012 and maybe even a smidgen of hope for the future.</p><p></p><p>But consider this. Capello recently went on holiday over the Christmas period! He speaks Italian! He doesn't do chest-thumping passion! He hasn't wasted one nano-joule of energy in buttering up the English press pack! And not once in his so-called career has he won the FA Cup, or pulled off an audacious relegation escape by signing Paul Kitson and John Hartson, even though he was the man who led his team into deep relegation trouble in the first place, or got a club relegated from the top flight after a 27-year residency, or proved himself to be a more successful boss than Jacques Santini and Christian Gross and Ossie Ardiles and Doug Livermore and Ray Clemence! So, no loss, then. Chancer. Foreign chancer. Bye!</p><p></p><p>Capello also had the bare-faced cheek to take umbrage at England's finest puffed-up bureaucrats telling him how to go about his business. "The manager is the most important figure, but there are moments when the board and chairman have to step up to the plate, and when strong leadership is required," explained FA chairman David Bernstein today, opening a press conference held amid the smouldering rubble of Wembley, during which he and FA Director of Something Adrian Bevington repeatedly paused awkwardly and stammered "you answer this one" to each other. Bernstein was, of course, referring to the issue of The Armband, ripped by said board from the biceps of Eejitry's Brave John Terry, much to Capello's annoyance.</p><p></p><p>Now, the Fiver accepts that going out to bat for EBJT might not have been the cleverest call in Capello's career, unless he was deliberately trying to engineer an out. But as things stand, EBJT has yet to be proved guilty of That Charge, so Capello's stance was, if not necessarily wise, then at least a legitimate one to take. Either way, it was undoubtedly a decision he was better equipped to make than the 14 men of the FA board, notwithstanding the fact that, according to Bernstein, these lads have "a high level of football expertise and a huge knowledge of the game". (For the record, the 14 include Bernstein, who once gave the Manchester City manager's job and a big pot of cash to Kevin Keegan; Dave Richards, who set Sheffield Wednesday trundling on their way from the Premier League to the third tier, and David Sheepshanks, who oversaw Ipswich Town's brave march into Europe and then administration.)</p><p></p><p>"Fabio wasn't happy," explained Bernstein, of events leading up to Capello's resignation "but he accepted the board's authority on the matter." So much so, you'll recall, that he stormed straight off to Italian broadcaster RAI and started swinging wild haymakers. "That caused conjecture and huge public debate, and frankly produced an unsatisfactory situation," admitted the FA's chief penpusher. And so, after a "detailed meeting" yesterday during which "a lot of detailed questions were asked by us", Capello informed Bernstein that he was for the off. "I agreed on behalf of the board that this was the right decision," grinned Bernstein, a job well done, adding that "principles" are important, and that Stuart Pearce, <a href="http://bit.ly/yb9807" title="">who in 1994 had to apologise to Manchester United midfielder Paul Ince for alleged racial abuse made "in the heat of the moment"</a></a>, would be taking charge for England's upcoming fixture against the Netherlands.</p><p></p><p>As for who will take over from Capello on a full-time basis, Richards promised that "we are actually devoting tomorrow to look at this!" So well done to them for clearing the decks to deal with that. "I don't want to pretend we've got plans in hand that we haven't got, but believe me, we will be moving fast to get our ducks in the right row here," continued the man who seconds earlier had suggested Capello struggled to communicate in English.</p><p></p><p>Harry Redknapp is, needless to report, the favourite for the post, although he is currently distancing himself from it. "I don't know anything about the England job," he said today, from the permanent Sky Sports News studio installed in the front of his 4x4. "Not even thought about it, I've got a job to do, a big game on Saturday, Tottenham is my focus. My only interest is with the Tottenham Hotspurs." Seeing Harry's very much the choice of Sid Vicious's good friend, The Man On The Street, he's the short-priced bookies favourite to get the nod. But the Fiver is counting no chickens. "We want to make an appointment that excites the fans," confirmed the populist Bernstein. Which, given the FA's track record of getting things done, should mean Entertainment's Roy Hodgson is a shoo-in.</p><p></p><h2>QUOTE OF THE DAY</h2><p></p><p>"Wayne should keep his nose out of it. He didn't do enough on the pitch when Capello was manager. Wayne should concentrate on being a player and not on who he wants as England manager" - never having been one to rock the boat when it came to offering opinions on certain international managers he was playing under, Roy Keane reacts to Wayne Rooney's tweet that England should replace Fabio Capello with an Englishman named 'Arry.</p><p></p><h2>FIVER LETTERS</h2><p></p><p>"I cannot shake the image of John Terry standing on a desk in Lancaster Gate yelping 'O captain! My captain!' while Fabio Capello retrieves a few personal effects. Anyone else? No? Didn't think so" - J Costello.</p><p></p><p>"Re: the American constitution applying to Kenny Dalglish pleading the fifth amendment as a British citizen on British soil (Brett Lassus, yesterday's Fiver Letters). Perhaps Brett should be referred to the case Literal vs Figurative, the iconic speech interpretation case of 1854. The judge found in favour of the defendant ruling that he did not actually have to 'pull his hair out' after expressing his exasperation at the stupidity of an urchin" - Niall Mullen.</p><p></p><p>"Brett assumes that Kenny Dalglish was referring to the US Constitution when talking about 'pleading the fifth amendment'. However, there are numerous legal documents in UK law with more than four amendments and unless we can get a clear statement from Kenny, which is highly unlikely if his interviews of the past thirty years are a guide, then we cannot be sure he was referring to self-incrimination as detailed within the Bill of Rights" - Gary Brenner.</p><p></p><p>"Re: the opening score of the Super Bowl (yesterday's Fiver Letters). May I point out that there was nothing 'troublesome' about the safety. The rule clearly states that a quarterback can't just throw the ball away when he's about to get tackled in the end zone. The proper football equivalent of an umpire ignoring that rule just because it was a big game would be a ref in World Cup qualifying ignoring a blatant handball just because one of the top players on a top team... oh" - Jason Waldman.</p><p></p><p>Send your letters to <a href="mailto:" title="">the.boss@guardian.co.uk</a>. And if you've nothing better to do you can also <a href="http://twitter.com/TheFiver" title="">tweet the Fiver</a>.</p><p></p><h2>BITS AND BOBS</h2><p></p><p>Swansea fans will be sleeping a lot easier in their beds than their Tottenham counterparts tonight, and not just because the air on the Gower Peninsula is fresher than in north London - the club's Norn Irish manager Brendan Rodgers has inked a new deal that will keep him at the Barcelona of South Wales for the next three-and-a-half years.</p><p></p><p>Alan Pardew has ruled himself out of the frame for the England job, prompting a glut of hilarious never-to-be-published correspondence from Fiver readers ruling themselves out of the England job, which is a bit unfair considering Pardew only ruled himself out of the frame for the England job upon being asked in a press conference if he considered himself to be in the frame for the England job.</p><p></p><p>Wolves defender George Elokobi has leapt out of the Premier League frying pan and into the Championship fire after being shipped out on loan to Nottingham Forest from Wolves.</p><p></p><p>And Bayern Munich have announced the signing of Xherdan Shaqiri from plucky Swiss minnows Basel/Basle/Baaaaaarl for an undisclosed fee. The Swiss international will pull on the club lederhosen and Tyrolean hat for the first time after the end of the season.</p><p></p><h2>STILL WANT MORE?</h2><p></p><p>Proper Journalist David Conn took ages to write this epic about how <a href="http://bit.ly/zlqvkF" title="">'Arry's acquittal is a blow for the Old Bill</a>. The least you can do it is read it.</p><p></p><p>A more judicious tea-timely football email would provide individual, bespoke links to each of the 682 opinion pieces about the Departure of Fabio Capello and the imminent coronation of 'Arry Redk ... sorry, whoever his taking over the Big Gig, but we're just going to provide a random series of links <a href="http://bit.ly/z536QX" title="">here</a> and <a href="http://bit.ly/y9pgHs" title="">here</a> and <a href="http://bit.ly/y0F4Bg" title="">here</a> and <a href="http://bit.ly/zjK0Zr" title="">here</a> and <a href="http://bit.ly/Ai8j75" title="">here</a> and <a href="http://bit.ly/AnwQRh" title="">here</a> and <a href="http://bit.ly/w6LUkt" title="">here</a>.</p><p></p><p>"The English could not stand him and he could not stand the English" - is that the Italian press reaction to the Fiver's knobbly stick-waving, green felt hat-wearing Irish cousin Theme Pub O'Fiver's recent holiday in the Lake District, or something even more sinister? Click on <a href="http://bit.ly/wirwF1" title="">this link</a> to find out.</p><p></p><p>A joke about the Pope's O'Rangers, AC Jimbo at the world's most middle class dinner party and Jonathan Wilson on the phone from Africa while gazing out over the Atlantic are among the myriad delights that may or may not have made the edit in this week's <a href="http://bit.ly/2oyzcB" title="">Football Weekly ... Extra</a>.</p><p></p><p>Jonathan Wilson hasn't spent all his time at the Africa Cup of Nations gazing wistfully out to sea. Here's his take on <a href="http://bit.ly/xP0v4V" title="">Zambia's date with destiny</a>.</p><p></p><p>Dreadful free-kicks, Soccer's Hard Men and a potty-mouthed Peter Reid turning the air spectacularly blue all feature in this week's <a href="http://bit.ly/zLOjXy" title="">Classic YouTube</a>.</p><p></p><p>And finally, want to enjoy a doner kebab without all the hassle of catching botulism, getting in a fight on a night bus or slicing grey meat off a rotating elephant's leg? The Guardian's <a href="http://bit.ly/wmUUOg" title="">illustrated step-by-step guide to making one is here</a>.</p><p></p><h2>SIGN UP TO THE FIVER</h2><p></p><p>Want your very own copy of our free tea-timely(ish) email sent direct to your inbox? Has your regular copy stopped arriving? <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/signup/2010/mar/30/1?CMP=twt_gu" title="">Click here to sign up</a>.</p><p></p><h2>AT LEAST PELE'S OK</h2><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/scottmurray">Scott Murray</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" />
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