So it would seem that the sixty-one year old Italian, Fabio Capello, is to be the new manager of England’s football team. There is no doubting the man’s pedigree, but I would ask whether he is the right man for the job.

Many people believe that an English coach should have been appointed. I fully understand that desire but the simple fact is that there are no suitably successful English coaches out there. Harry Redknapp was the best English option, but recent events surrounding his arrest on suspicion of corruption made his appointment inappropriate. It is true to say that there are no current English managers who have won anything.

There was a clamour of support for Alan Shearer. He has no managerial experience at all, and the fact is that he won nothing as a player apart from one bought title win at Blackburn. He won nothing as an international footballer, and the prospect of his appointment can’t be compared to that of Jurgen Klinsman in Germany, who despite having no managerial experience was a world cup winner as a player.

I believe that most football supporters and most players in this country hoped that the job would be given to Jose Mourinho. He has said that he is not interested in the job, but I’m sure if FA Chief Executive Brian Barwick had flown to Portugal on the day that McLaren was sacked, and offered Mourinho whatever he wanted to take the job, the former Chelsea boss could have been persuaded.

It was disappointing that the FA appeared to take so long to speak to Mourinho. I truly believe this was a chance missed.

Although in my opinion Mourinho would have been the better choice, the appointment of Capello is to be applauded. There are few managers in the game today who have a record like his. His success in domestic football is unparalleled. He has won nine league titles in Italy and Spain with AC Milan, Roma, Juventus, and Real Madrid. Nine league titles in sixteen years of coaching is indeed a fine track record. He has a history of dealing firmly with prima donna players, and of organising teams to be effective, if not attractive.

So if he is so successful, why the reservations about his appointment? Firstly, Capello speaks little English. Obviously he will try to learn the language but sixty-one is not the best age to be doing that. He will have translators, but I can’t help but feel that the communication between him and the players he will see so rarely is bound to be less fruitful than it would be if he could converse easily. Secondly, Capello has no major record of winning things at European level. He managed AC Milan to the Champions League in 1994, but that was his only success in several attempts. Football has changed a great deal in the thirteen years since that solitary international tournament victory.

I believe Capello will be as successful as any England manager can be. There is little doubt that he will improve the team from they currently are. Hopefully he will finally end the doomed attempt to play Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard in the same team, and he should allow David Beckham to gain the one hundredth cap he so richly deserves. Capello will deal firmly with the press, and he will no doubt use his lack of English to assist him with that.

As an England fan I wish Capello all the best and hope that the media and the fans get behind him and support what he tries to do. The job of England manager has been described as impossible. It just might be that Capello is the man who could change that belief. England to win the 2010 World Cup?