This isn't the first time and certainly won't be the last time the FA shoots itself in the foot, but the grand nature of this self-inflicted wound probably leaves many England fans and multitudes in the soccer world shaking their heads in unison.
In the interest of transparency, I'll say that I would have been just fine with John Terry being stripped of the captaincy if Capello had been the one to make that decision. After all, the charges of racial abuse towards Anton Ferdinand back in October are deplorable, to put it lightly, and moreover, this is hardly the first time we've seen Terry in the headlines for all of the wrong reasons, lest we forget the tryst with Wayne Bridge's ex-girlfriend which led to a PR firestorm and the temporary loss of his England captaincy.
If the FA wanted to have Terry removed as England captain, then the decision to do so should have been reached upon actually discussing the matter with Fabio Capello in the first place instead of being made behind Capello's back while he wasn't even in the country. In making this call in the dark of night without the absent Capello, the FA, with utmost efficiency, treated Capello as if he were little more than an anonymous caretaker manager plucked from some Sunday pub league as opposed to one of the most accomplished and highly decorated managers in the modern game. Given Capello's record as England manager on top of his already formidable resumé, surely he deserved to be shown some iota of respect in this decision making process. Now we see that he wasn't afforded the luxury, despite being the man who had been handed the keys to England with the hopes of driving to the promised land of either World Cup or Euro glory that has evaded England since that fateful day in 1966. It's hard to reach the destination when someone else is grabbing at the wheel from the passenger's seat.
Now comes the question of just what England is to do with Euro 2012 a mere four months away, and after watching Sky Sports News' coverage of the fallout, the prospective answer to this question, as shot forth by many of the talking heads, was almost as sad as it was predictable: the next manager must be English. This seems to be a bit of security blanket response from some in the English game, but it is a response that reeks of the romanticized notion of what an English manager could do at the helm; it's also a response that echos ever so slightly with a tinge of xenophobia.
The humor, however unintentional it may be, in these renewed cries for an English manager comes from the apparent faded memories of more recent English managers past. Foreign managers didn't cause England to fail to qualify for Euro 2008 (McClaren) or World Cup 1994 (Taylor), nor did English managers lead England to the quarterfinals of World Cup 2002, Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006 (Eriksson). It is also not an English manager who has the highest winning percentage while in charge of England (Capello).
In the wake of all of this, I feel badly for the England fans who would love nothing more than to see the Three Lions find glory in Poland and Ukraine this summer, but now they and their dreams have been left to hang in the balance while grown men play their power games in posh offices and boardrooms. Maybe a Harry Redknapp could take the job in the coming days and do well this summer, though I feel that the problems currently facing England, not least of which is a potentially divided team in the wake of the Terry scandal, will make this a tough mountain to climb. England fans deserve better.
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