Only one word really counts, Fabio...WIN!

This week, TWO columns for the price of one. The first assumes the England team under Fabio Capello have beaten Croatia in Zagreb on September 10 in their first major qualifier for the 2010 World Cup, the second that they have lost.

England's triumph...

All hail to the chief. Fabio Capello's

England are on the march, his methods

paying dividends. And it all stems

from the moment when he showed

everyone who was boss, and sent a

message that only form and fitness

and not reputations count, by

omitting David Beckham from

his first squad and leaving

Michael Owen on the bench

throughout his opening,

winning, game against

Switzerland.

From forcing the players to eat

together, and leave table together,

when they first met up, through

calling them by their surnames, the

Italian has brought discipline and

authority back into a lax, cosy

English camp. No more afternoons

of golf, instead some serious

double training sessions.

In addition, Capello has kept

them on their toes by refusing to

reveal the team until 10 minutes

before they leave for the stadium.

Once there, his 4-5-1 formation, after a

stuttering start in which they struggled

to cope with the fluidity of movement

and protection of possession expected,

has seen England look much more

competitive and technically adept.

Through it all, he has cut an urbane

figure, with his immaculate appearance

— in which he takes great pride, even

insisting a hairdryer for his use be

fitted in the Wembley dressing room

— reflecting the neatness he

expects from his team.

...Capello's disaster

There are rumblings of a player

revolt as Fabio Capello's methods

come into question, with

resentment dating back to

England's poor opening match

under him against Switzerland.

The mood is for a recall for

David Beckham and Michael

Owen, who along with their

pride and passion hit 57 goals in

their 187 combined caps.

Players, it is understood, are

now so regimented off the

field, and weary from

over-training, that they are

tired and formulaic on the

field. One stir-crazy player

even threatened to take a

Big Bertha driver to Capello

and his coaches.

Capello's delay in naming

his teams has led to anxiety,

and the 4-5-1 formation

which left Wayne Rooney

isolated, and for which Sven

Goran Eriksson was pilloried

at World Cup 2006, has led to

calls for a return to a 4-4-2.

Capello is also ridiculed

for the vanity of having a

hairdryer installed in the

dressing room. If Steve

McClaren was the

wally with a brolly,

some are saying

Capello is the

buffoon with the

bouffant.

And the moral of all this? The age-old one: results determine perception. No matter what he does, Capello will be judged on his number of victories. Whether he has assessed right the

mood of the English game and its players, thus carrying them with him, will only really be

known after the meaningful games. In the meantime, it might be worth recalling the words

of Bill Shankly. You must treat players like men, he said, because you're going to have to ask

them to play like men. That assumes, mind, they know how to behave as men.

LONG-HAUL PLANS AT FA, TOO

Back in October, this

column floated the idea that

the Premier League would

surely be looking into the

idea of exporting its 'brand'

around the world, playing

matches in far-flung cities.

It was something that

attracted the new breed of

overseas owners, I'd heard.

And you thought we made

all this stuff up, didn't you?

At times like these, there

is the odd unkind heart

within the Football

Association, sometimes

cheesed off by the Premier

League's new power and

influence, who quite enjoys

watching the heat being trained elsewhere. They

shouldn't get too happy as

they have their own issues.

A week ago, an FA

spokesman announced that

wherever England end up

playing at season's end, it

will have nothing to do with

marketing or sponsorship.

It will have everything to do

with politics, however, since

they are planning a trip to

Trinidad and Tobago to get

Jack Warner onside.

The controversial head of

the Caribbean islands'

association is also a FIFA

vice-president and able to

deliver votes when it comes

to the World Cup 2018 bid.

Incidentally, if the FA

aren't making decisions

based on sponsorship and

marketing, why did England

wear red — not white —

against Switzerland? Surely

couldn't have anything to do

with the red 'away' kit being

launched two days earlier.