Does Capello Finally Have the Three Lions Ready To Roar?

There will undoubtedly be many England fans still harbouring doubts, lingering or otherwise, with regard to Fabio Capello’s stewardship of the England team with memories of last year's World Cup still in mind. However, there will be many more that would applaud the Italian for the way that he has turned the fortunes around since the debacle in South Africa.

Capello has guided the England team to Euro 2012 in Poland/Ukraine next June, with the little or nothing for fans to worry about, finishing top of group G with an unbeaten record whilst at the same time, changing the playing system and introducing a number of young new players to the team.

In essence, the "old guard" of Terry, Ferdinand, Lampard and Gerrard no longer have the same influence on the team as they have had in the past, instead, it is Capello who is clearly in charge and who now makes all the decisions.

Capello’s methodical introduction of "new blood" into the England squad has added plenty of competition for places and it was noticeable how only very few players made themselves unavailable for these last two games of the year which is very refreshing to see!

What most England fans will want to know next of course is exactly what squad Capello will select for Euro 2012.

He will have to pick 23 players prior to the tournament and given that three of them will be goalkeepers, there will be no doubt that a few players, who have made substantial contributions recently or even over the long term will be disappointed when the final squad is announced next May.

It is not long ago that the calls of the media were for the FA to sack Capello on numerous occasions since the World Cup but those calls have become somewhat muted more recently. The FA relented of course when it dawned on them that the compensation package that Capello would be due by taking such an action was embarrassingly high.

Having no alternative, the FA kept their faith in him and he have been rewarded them with a hugely encouraging last 18 months.

England played nine times in 2011 and became the first England team since 1996 to go through a calendar year unbeaten. The year culminated with 1-0 wins over European and World Champions, Spain last weekend and Sweden in midweek.

Those results will have sent out a message to the other 15 teams heading to Euro 2012 that England could be a major force participating in Poland and the Ukraine, whether that will materialise however remains to be seen.

What is know though is that for the first time in many years, the pool of players from which an England manager has to pick from is as wide and deep as most can remember and despite his critics, Capello may just have his Three Lions ready to roar.

Attention will now be turned to Kiev on 2nd December when the draw for the group stage Euro 2012 will be made. England have been seeded in the second pot of seeds, alongside, Germany, Russia and Italy, which means that they will not face any of those three in the first phase but could face Spain or the Netherlands!

The four groups of four for the group stages will be made up from the following seedings.

Pot 1 - Ukraine, Poland, Spain, Netherlands
Pot 2 - Germany, Italy, England, Russia
Pot 3 - Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Sweden
Pot 4 - Denmark, France, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland

Written by Rod Crowley

English FA's Move to Postpone Fifa Presidential Election of Blatter Fails

172 of the 208 Fifa groups have rejected the call by the English FA to postpone the re-election of Sepp Blatter.

Although the move by the English FA, backed by the Scottish FA was expected to fail, this is perhaps a larger figure than was expected. If this had come up earlier than yesterday it probably would have been significantly more.

Unfortunately they had to make their minds up overnight, but this does show that the national Fifa representatives are becoming more and more uneasy with Blatter.

Some quarters are claiming that this leaves the English FA humiliated and boxed in to a corner.  This will come as a bitter disappointment for David Bernstein, who wanted effectively to unseat Blatter and precipitate a wave of change in Fifa.

Bernestein needed 75% of the groups to back his proposal so Sepp Blatter will now go ahead and be re-elected.  After all, he is the only candidate.  Unless the unthinkable happens and the voters block him by showing no confidence and not voting at all it looks like this most slippery of football animals has escaped to fight his corner another day.

Bernstein remains adamant that this has been a hugely damaging time for the reputation of Fifa and that it should appoint a genuinely ­independent external party to make recommendations regarding improved ­governance and compliance procedures and structures throughout the FIFA decision-making processes for ­consideration by the full membership.

Blatter has himself proposed 'a committee for solutions not a committee for discussions'.  If needed he has said that Fifa will call an extraordinary congress in order to stop the 'ulgly allegations'.  He said 'We must take a look at this today and we must go ahead with all the power of this congress gatherered here today. I hope that we will follow the path that I am trying to chart... because we must know where we are going.  We must build a better future for our game.

'We can perhaps be more at ease when it comes to the financial situation but we must protect football.  You the National Associations are the ones in charge of protecting football. Give me the possibility to create this famous Solutions Committee. Football belongs to everyone and we are the ones in charge. Together we can do it, together we will get there.  Fifa will once again find the credibility it must have.'

In other words, Blatter is passing the buck. He remains a hugely controversial figure but it looks as if it will be another four years of him at the helm unless some sort of two year deal is brokered. It is quite likely that after he is re-elected he will eliminate all his FIFA of all his detractors.

How Blatter manages to his hand on the rudder is extraordinary and is in some ways a tribute to his sheer tenacity and will power.  Yet any measured thinking about the running of Fifa would come up with two conclusions.  How can he stay at the helm if he didn’t know what was going on? If that is the case he is not fit to run Fifa.  On the other hand, if he did know about the irregularities then his exit should be expedited because he will have been part and parcel of this whole degradation of the reputation of football. Yet such is the way of the world with secret and unaccountable organizations.

The sacrificial lamb offered up for his survival may well be Qatar.  Pundits believe that the choice of Qatar to host the World Cup of 2022 may well be reversed.  A new ballot could be held within a year.