ENGLAND preparations for Euro 2012 were thrown into disarray last night as Fabio Capello took it upon himself to bring down the curtain on his career as national team boss.
Capello's resignation came hours after he had faced showdown talks with Football Association chairman David Bernstein following their disagreement over the FA's decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy.
The 65-year-old had publicly declared his support for Terry on Italian television on Sunday even though the Chelsea defender faces trial in July over his alleged racist abuse of Queens Park Rangers' Anton Ferdinand.
Once it was clear that the FA was not going to change its mind on the matter, Capello decided that it was time for him to go - but not without first aiming a parting shot at his former employers over the Terry saga.
In quotes attributed to the Italian news agency Italpress, Capello fumed: "They really insulted me and damaged my authority.
"In Terry's case, they gravely offended me and damaged my authority at the head of the England side, effectively creating a problem for the squad.
"I have never tolerated certain crossing of lines, so it was easy for me to spot it and take my decision to leave."
For their part, the FA response was more amicable, though it has been made clear that this was Capello's decision, and not a case of mutual consent.
Following the prepared statement which broke the news, chairman Bernstein added: "I would like to stress that during today's meeting and throughout his time as England manager, Fabio has conducted himself in an extremely professional manner.
"We have accepted Fabio's resignation, agreeing this is the right decision. We would like to thank Fabio for his work with the England team and wish him every success in the future."
The FA board members subsequently held a press conference at midday today in which they stated their preference for "an English or British" manager.
That desire is reflected by the betting on the next permanent manager with Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp as short as 1/6 with one bookmaker.
It completed a whirlwind of a day for Redknapp who, just hours before Capello quit, had been found not guilty on two counts of cheating the public revenue in a trial at Southwark Crown Court.
So far, Redknapp has acted coyly on the suggestion that he becomes national team boss.
But it seems unfathomable that he would not at least be tempted to take charge of England in the summer, especially as he has already received the backing from the likes of Wayne Rooney and Jermain Defoe.
Meanwhile, second favourite - and current under-21 coach - Stuart Pearce has been installed in the caretaker role for the senior team's friendly international at the end of the month against Netherlands at Wembley.
The debate over whether the England coach should be English or foreign is generally pretty tiresome but it is no surprise to see it back on the agenda now that Capello's tenure has finished.
For Capello was not just a foreigner but - unlike an Anglophile like Arsene Wenger or a linguist like Jose Mourinho - he was a foreigner who was distant and aloof, one who made minimal efforts to learn the language.
The BBC's Tom Fordyce has suggested in his latest blog that Capello "seldom seemed to enjoy England or its culture".
Meanwhile the Guardian's chief sports writer Richard Williams wrote: "His £6m a year was not enough to interest him greatly in the culture of the country whose national game he was hired to revive by winning a major international tournament."
Certainly, Capello rarely stepped outside of his comfort zone while he was in charge.
Indeed, it remains somewhat of a bugbear among followers of north east football that, incredibly, the lucratively-rewarded Italian did not once watch a game at St James Park in Newcastle or in Sunderland's Stadium of Light.
Nevertheless, Capello can actually boast of a very favourable statistical record from his time in charge.
Out of the 12 permanent England managers in history, not even World Cup winner Sir Alf Ramsey can match Capello's win percentage of 66.67%.
But, this is very much a case of "lies, damned lies and statistics" - in the same way that Euro 2008 flop Steve McClaren can claim to be a statistically better England manager than Sir Bobby Robson.
Unlike with McClaren, England actually qualified for successive major finals with Capello. However, just like with McClaren, the players struggled to perform in the really big games.
That 4-1 drubbing by Germany in Bloemfontein may have statistically only been one of six defeats in 42 matches under Capello.
But the performance - and the nature of the collapse in particular - will now forever tarnish what is left of the Italian's career.
Capello's record as a club manager - seven Serie A titles, two La Ligas and a European Cup - remains outstanding but, as an international coach, his judgement was sometimes sorely lacking.
Following an impressive World Cup qualifying campaign, in which England won nine and lost just one of their ten matches, it looked as if the team was well-placed to go far in the finals.
In the immediate run-up to the tournament, though, things began to take a turn for the worse.
First, there was the issue of the Capello Index, a formula for assessing the performances of his players which published its results in the public domain.
Then came some peculiar selections in the World Cup squad. Emile Heskey was included ahead of Theo Walcott, the injury-prone Ledley King made the cut ahead of his in-form Spurs team-mate Michael Dawson, and none of the goalkeepers knew if they had the number one shirt.
Jamie Carragher was even dragged out of retirement and Paul Scholes refused a similar offer. Meanwhile, Terry had been stripped of the captaincy for the first time following his affair with the ex-wife of Wayne Bridge.
It meant that English optimism had begun to drain away even before the start of the tournament - but still no one expected that the team would fall to a worst-ever World Cup finals defeat.
Results improved again once England returned to the relative comfort of the qualifiers but a second situation involving Terry always seemed likely to cause a divide between Capello and his employer.
In the end, the rift was irreparable and England's Euro 2012 campaign looks in turmoil before it has even properly started.
With only 120 days to go until the opening match against France on 8 June, the national team is without a permanent manager or a permanent captain.
However, an alternative view is that all is not yet lost. A successor, once appointed, could be in a no-lose situation: if he reprises England's regular appearance in the quarter finals, then he will be commended on this occasion.
If he does even better than that, then he can expect to receive unreserved adulation; if he does worse, he can blame a lack of preparation time.
Regardless of what happens in the summer, though, it is perhaps a relief that Capello will now play no further part in the successes or failures of the England team.
Arrivederci Signor Capello. There will be few tears shed at your departure.
FABIO CAPELLO: OVERALL RECORD: P42 W28 D8 L6 F89 A35 (66.67% win)
World Cup matches: P14 W10 D2 L2 F37 A11
European Championships: P8 W5 D3 L0 F17 A5
Friendlies: P20 W13 D3 L4 F35 A19
Home: P21 W16 D4 L1 F52 A15
Away: P15 W10 D2 L3 F32 A13
Neutral: P6 W2 D2 L2 F5 L7
Record: ||WLWWDWWWWW ||LWWWWDWWLWL ||WWWDDWLWWWDL ||WWDDWWDWW
Competitive record: WWWWWWWWLWDDWLWWDWDWWD
2008
| FR | 06.02 | ENGLAND 2-1 SWITZERLAND | Wembley, London (86,857) |
| FR | 26.03 | FRANCE 1-0 ENGLAND | Paris, France (78,000) |
| FR | 28.05 | ENGLAND 2-0 UNITED STATES | Wembley, London (71,233) |
| FR | 01.06 | TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 0-3 ENGLAND | Port of Spain, T&T (25,001) |
| FR | 20.08 | ENGLAND 2-2 CZECH REPUBLIC | Wembley, London (69,738) |
| WCQ | 06.09 | ANDORRA 0-2 ENGLAND | Barcelona, Spain (10,300) |
| WCQ | 10.09 | CROATIA 1-4 ENGLAND | Zagreb, Croatia (35,218) |
| WCQ | 11.10 | ENGLAND 5-1 KAZAKHSTAN | Wembley, London (89,107) |
| WCQ | 15.10 | BELARUS 1-3 ENGLAND | Minsk, Belarus (29,600) |
| FR | 19.11 | GERMANY 1-2 ENGLAND | Berlin, Germany (74,244) |
2009
| FR | 11.02 | SPAIN 2-0 ENGLAND | Seville, Spain (42,102) |
| FR | 28.03 | ENGLAND 4-0 SLOVAKIA | Wembley, London (85,512) |
| WCQ | 01.04 | ENGLAND 2-1 UKRAINE | Wembley, London (87,548) |
| WCQ | 06.06 | KAZAKHSTAN 0-4 ENGLAND | Almaty, Kazakhstan (24,000) |
| WCQ | 10.06 | ENGLAND 6-0 ANDORRA | Wembley, London (57,897) |
| FR | 12.08 | NETHERLANDS 2-2 ENGLAND | Amsterdam, Netherlands (50,000) |
| FR | 05.09 | ENGLAND 2-1 SLOVENIA | Wembley, London (67,232) |
| WCQ | 09.09 | ENGLAND 5-1 CROATIA | Wembley, London (87,319) |
| WCQ | 10.10 | UKRAINE 1-0 ENGLAND | Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine (31,000) |
| WCQ | 14.10 | ENGLAND 3-0 BELARUS | Wembley, London (76,897) |
| FR | 14.11 | BRAZIL 1-0 ENGLAND | Doha, Qatar (50,000) |
2010
| FR | 03.03 | ENGLAND 3-1 EGYPT | Wembley, London (80,602) |
| FR | 24.05 | ENGLAND 3-1 MEXICO | Wembley, London (88,638) |
| FR | 30.05 | JAPAN 1-2 ENGLAND | Graz, Austria (15,326) |
| WCF | 12.06 | ENGLAND 1-1 UNITED STATES | Rustenburg, South Africa (38,646) |
| WCF | 18.06 | ENGLAND 0-0 ALGERIA | Cape Town, South Africa (64,100) |
| WCF | 23.06 | SLOVENIA 0-1 ENGLAND | Port Elizabeth, South Africa (36,893) |
| WCF | 27.06 | GERMANY 4-1 ENGLAND | Bloemfontein, South Africa (40,510) |
| FR | 11.08 | ENGLAND 2-1 HUNGARY | Wembley, London (72,024) |
| ECQ | 03.09 | ENGLAND 4-0 BULGARIA | Wembley, London (73,426) |
| ECQ | 07.09 | SWITZERLAND 1-3 ENGLAND | Basel, Switzerland (37,500) |
| ECQ | 12.10 | ENGLAND 0-0 MONTENEGRO | Wembley, London (73,451) |
| FR | 17.11 | ENGLAND 1-2 FRANCE | Wembley, London (85,495) |
2011
| FR | 09.02 | DENMARK 1-2 ENGLAND | Copenhagen, Denmark (21,523) |
| ECQ | 26.03 | WALES 0-2 ENGLAND | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (68,959) |
| FR | 29.03 | ENGLAND 1-1 GHANA | Wembley, London (80,102) |
| ECQ | 04.06 | ENGLAND 2-2 SWITZERLAND | Wembley, London (84,459) |
| ECQ | 02.09 | BULGARIA 0-3 ENGLAND | Sofia, Bulgaria (36,521) |
| ECQ | 06.09 | ENGLAND 1-0 WALES | Wembley, London (77,128) |
| ECQ | 07.10 | MONTENEGRO 2-2 ENGLAND | Podgorica, Montenegro (12,700) |
| FR | 12.11 | ENGLAND 1-0 SPAIN | Wembley, London (87,189) |
| FR | 15.11 | ENGLAND 1-0 SWEDEN | Wembley, London (48,876) |
2012
| 08.02 | FABIO CAPELLO QUITS |
PERMANENT ENGLAND MANAGERS: OVERALL RECORDS
| P | W | D | L | Win% | |
| FABIO CAPELLO (2008-2012) | 42 | 28 | 8 | 6 | 66.7% |
| SIR ALF RAMSEY (1963-1974) | 113 | 69 | 27 | 17 | 61.1% |
| GLENN HODDLE (1996-1999) | 28 | 17 | 6 | 5 | 60.7% |
| RON GREENWOOD (1977-1982) | 55 | 33 | 12 | 10 | 60.0% |
| SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON (2001-2005) | 67 | 40 | 17 | 10 | 59.7% |
| WALTER WINTERBOTTOM (1946-1962) | 139 | 78 | 33 | 28 | 56.1% |
| STEVE MCCLAREN (2006-2007) | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 50.0% |
| SIR BOBBY ROBSON (1982-1990) | 95 | 47 | 30 | 18 | 49.5% |
| DON REVIE (1974-1977) | 29 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 48.3% |
| TERRY VENABLES (1994-1996) | 23 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 47.8% |
| GRAHAM TAYLOR (1990-1993) | 38 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 47.4% |
| KEVIN KEEGAN (1999-2000) | 18 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 38.9% |
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