On Capello: only half the job is done

Firstly, I think the FA have done a good day's work in hiring Fabio Capello to be the next England manager.

Capello's CV is impeccable, winning eight* league championships at four different clubs along with the 1994 European Championship while at AC Milan. These ten trophies, it should be noted, are ten more than England's previous boss, Steve McClaren.

He also has a great deal of experience dealing with some of the top talent and biggest egos in the game. Managing twice at Real Madrid for solitary seasons, he won a championship each year. Particularly during his last season (2006-2007), he proved able to step into a job and mould underachieving stars into a unit capable of winning.

This should be just the tonic for England. No more freedom to roam for the likes of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, no more selections based on reputation alone, no more tolerance of Paul Robinson's gaffes. Capello is the type of manager who plays to win, not to make his players feel wanted or important.

There appears to be some apprehension on the part of the FA, as Capello has indicated he wants to bring his all-Italian backroom staff along. The report on Guardian Unlimited indicated that the FA board had some issues with the staff, particularly Franco Baldini, whose role they believed may clash with that of FA director of football development, Trevor Brooking. We shall see, but I doubt even the FA would turn this into a make-or-break issue.

The only caveat I have about the hiring of Capello is that I don't think he will necessarily be the answer to the youth crisis in England. Capello is a fine man to deal with proven talent to be sure, but is he the man to guide the stars of tomorrow?

He's never spent a great deal of time at a club, with his spells at Milan (1991-96) and Roma (1999-04) being the longest at five seasons. That's not the kind of time a developer spends at a club. I think the longest he'd be at England would be through Euro 2012, considering he is 61.

I feel the FA would do well to pursue someone the calibre of Gerard Houllier, who had tremendous success developing youth in France, to be a youth director in England. Only by developing younger talent will England sustain any momentum that Capello may begin.

If the FA content themselves with paying Capello a reported 6.5 million pounds a year and don't seek a solution to the dry well that is the English talent pool, they may as well have kept McClaren.

* A ninth title, won at Juventus, was stripped after the match fixing scandal. Not his fault, but only eight medals to show for it.