It's gonna be Fab

Fabio Capello has been appointed as the new England coach on a four and a half year contract with a break clause after the 2010 World Cup.

Capello comes into the job with a CV that only spells success, with national championships and Champions League titles at Real Madrid, AC Milan, Juventus and Roma. He also has the reputation of being a coach with no respect for celebrity status and somebody that suffers fools lightly, all of which should come as a wake-up call for the huge egos that made up McClaren's failures.

Mostly the appointment has been greeted by the Press positively. There are minor reservations about his lack of, or reluctance to use, English and, of course, these days there will always be an inquest regarding the salary of the man in charge. But the most polarising of viewpoints with press and public alike is the lack of an Englishman, firstly at the helm itself and secondly within the coaching set up that Capello brings with him. There is a large number of englandfans members that despite the abject qualifying campaign still believing that England should only be managed by an Englishman. I would love this in an ideal world, but there is literally nobody of the quality of Capello, or indeed Lippi or Mourinho, who were considered or perhaps even offered the opportunity.

It is thought that somebody like Stuart Pearce could be added to the coaching team, but with all due respect, it smacks of tokenism.

My reservation with the appointment falls within the FA's statement following McClaren's dismissal that there would be a "root and branch review" of English football. Only three weeks have elapsed since then and I cannot imagine that any such review has decided that Capello is the cure all. I have no idea whether Capello had any influence in the structure below the first team of the clubs where he has had his success, but somehow I cannot see him turning up for the next schoolboy international to watch the players that might be donning the Three Lions directly after the Italian's contract has ended. But, I suppose legacy will be furthest from the mind as the World Cup is being lifted in Johannesburg.

FA statement