You may have heard that the English football team has a new manager.

He’s foreign. Fabio Capello. That Italian fella with the funny goggles.

Steve Coppell (19 seasons as a coach, no honours) doesn’t like it.

Gareth Southgate (1 season, no honours, no UEFA Pro coaching licence) doesn’t like it.

Paul Ince (1 season, no honours) doesn’t like it.

Fabio Capello: 17 seasons, seven league titles, one European Cup.

Indeed, according to Ince (manager of Fourth Division Milton Keynes Franchise FC) the appointment represents “a sad indictment of English football”.

We’ve got good enough managers here in Harry [Redknapp] and Glenn [Hoddle] and people like that. And they’ve got cvs. I know Capello’s won titles and titles but look at the job that Harry’s doing… Why not give him a chance? …I would just like to have seen an Englishman get it and I think someone like Harry or Glenn Hoddle would have been absolutely fantastic.

Harry Redknapp’s managerial cv: 21 seasons, no honours, one arrest.
Glenn Hoddle’s managerial cv: 10 seasons, no honours, one staggeringly offensive remark about disabled people.

These men “would have been absolutely fantastic.”

By way of reminder – Fabio Capello’s managerial cv: 17 seasons, seven titles, one European Cup.

Hmm. Why NOT give it to Harry Redknapp or Glenn Hoddle, eh, Guv’nor…?

Apparently, this is a new phenomenon. Apparently, England used to be overrun by talented native managers.

Shall we take a look at the stats?

Discounting caretakers, ten Englishmen have been appointed as the national football team coach in the 61 years since the role was created.

In 97 combined seasons of club management, those ten men had collectively won four league titles (three English, one Spanish), three UEFA Cups and one European Cup-Winners’ Cup. That’s one league title and one minor European trophy every quarter-century.

Five of the ten had won no major honours as club managers when they were appointed!

(In fairness, Sir Bobby Robson went on to win two league titles – one each in Holland and Portugal – and a European Cup-Winners Cup after his stint as England manager.)

The only previous non-English appointee, Sven-Goran Eriksson, had won five league titles (one Italian, three Portuguese and one Swedish), a UEFA Cup and a European Cup-Winners’ Cup in 23 seasons. That’s one title for every 4.5 seasons and one minor European title every 11.5 seasons.

One more time: Fabio Capello has won seven league titles (five Italian, two Spanish) and a European Cup in 17 seasons. So that’s one league title every 2.5 years and the Big One.

Of post-war football managers in the English league, the only undisputed legends have been Matt Busby, Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Brian Clough and Alex Ferguson. 25 league titles, seven European Cups, two UEFA Cups and two European Cup-Winners’ Cups between them. Three Scots. And just two Englishmen – neither of whom were ever even offered the England role.

This is the first time that a real managerial great has been appointed as England manager and instead of talking laughable, pseudo-nationalistic bollocks about Harry bleedin’ Redknapp self-important, puffed-up little pricks like Ince and Southgate should concentrate on achieving as coaches just a quarter of what Capello has achieved.

Because if they do, they’ll then have earned the right to be appointed England manager themselves.