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Eyeing Redknapp, British Press Wave ‘Arryvederci’ to Fabio Capello
February 09, 2012

Britain’s media shed few tears Thursday over the sensational exit of England manager Fabio Capello, pictured, overwhelmingly backing Harry Redknapp to replace him after the Tottenham boss was cleared of tax evasion. (Reuters/File) Britain’s media shed few tears Thursday over the sensational exit of England manager Fabio Capello, pictured, overwhelmingly backing Harry Redknapp to replace him after the Tottenham boss was cleared of tax evasion. (Reuters/File)
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London. Britain’s media shed few tears Thursday over the sensational exit of England manager Fabio Capello, overwhelmingly backing Harry Redknapp to replace him after the Tottenham boss was cleared of tax evasion.

The Sun and Daily Mirror tabloids bade Italian coach Capello, who quit on Wednesday following the Football Association’s decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy, a cheery “Arryvederci.”

“Now give it to cleared Redknapp,” said The Sun after the Spurs manager was acquitted, just hours before Capello resigned on one of the most dramatic days in English football history.

The paper hailed Redknapp as “the people’s choice and the players’ choice to rescue England” after Capello, 65, led the side in a disastrous campaign at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

“Good riddance,” agreed the Daily Mirror, which reported that Capello would leave with a £1.5 million ($2.4 million, 1.8 million euro) payoff despite abandoning the side before Euro 2012.

Capello’s reign was “characterized by a general sense of confusion, apathy, miscommunication and mediocrity”, Oliver Holt wrote in the Mirror.

The paper’s Mark Lawrenson said Redknapp could bring “a hunger, style and will to win which was missing from the end of Capello’s reign.”

The Guardian too expressed little regret over the departure of the former AC Milan and Real Madrid coach, who took charge of England in December 2007.

“Fabio Capello never bothered to learn much English, or much about England,” wrote Richard Williams.

“His £6 million ($9.5 million, 7.2 million euros) 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.”

Henry Winter added in the Daily Telegraph that Capello “stamped his feet like a stroppy child” over the decision to axe Terry, who faces a criminal trial over claims he racially abused Queens Park Rangers’ Anton Ferdinand.

The Independent agreed: “To quit over the FA taking a stand that it was inappropriate for the England team to be led by a man on a charge of racial abuse is a pathetic waste.”

Much of the press paid tribute to Redknapp’s human qualities, which were much on show during a two-and-a-half week trial at which he confessed to being “utterly disorganised” and baffled by modern technology.

“In the backlash from Capello’s four years of calamity, the London vowels of Redknapp sound like the voice of sweet sanity,” Simon Barnes wrote in The Times, declaring Redknapp “made for the job.”

The Daily Express said Redknapp, the most successful English manager currently working in football, had “the elusive knack of lifting players and of making them believe in themselves.”

“Good luck to Harry Redknapp,” concluded Matt Dickinson in The Times. “He is going to need it.”

Agence France-Presse