Spurs news: Fabio Cappello the ultimate lowdown

By Sunshine
February 26 2004

The'Biscardi' football programme(which along with the Gazzetta dello Sport is where these rumours originated from)is an excuse for a dozen or more grown ups (some of whom know about the game, others who know sweet f) to get over-excited and shout at each other, spewing a load of contentious rubbish.

They do sometimes get it right when it comes to rumours, but that is mainly down to the, typewriters, full works of William Shakespear' hypothesis, since around only one out of every 50 rumours that they discuss as 'done deals' actually turns out to be true.

Capello isn't "a top Manager", he is THE top Manager.

Took over the reins at AC Milan after Arrigo Sacchi left (actually, he was Manager for a single game, I seem to recall, before Sacchi arrived. He then left to study Management in the US, if memory serves me right) and turned what was basically a 'cup' team (you will perhaps be surprised to learn that they won the League title only once in four years under Sacchi, winning the Champions League twice, if I remember well), which was nearing the end of it's road, into a League-winning 'machine (four titles in five years, with a record of 55 - I think - straight unbeaten games in Serie A and over 10 hours of football without conceding a goal). He then went to Real Madrid, who had lived in Barcelona's shadow for a few years and won the title immediately (taking Seedorf and Panucci to the Bernabeu). Milan went t*ts up that season, so Capello returned for what was to be his worst season in football management. Milan needed to be completely rebuilt and not even Capello was able to lift them above mediocrity. After a year or so out of football, he took on the Roma job. Managing Roma has always been a nightmare, since the entire set up (club, media, fans) is geared to failure.
Expectations at Roma are sky high, but they have almost always underachieved and the pressure on the team from fans and media alike is unlike anything anywhere else.
It took Capello a couple of seasons to get it right, but he managed to win only their 3rd title for them which, given the circumstances, is a huge success.
They then had a couple of leaner years, with Capello openly saying that he needed a couple of defenders (which he never got until Chivu joined this season) to remain/become competitive. It is also true that retaining the Serie A title is very difficult to achieve, even if you are at the helm of a club (Juve, Milan) which is USED to winning, let alone one like Roma.
This year Roma started wonderfully and let in a goal every 3 or 4 games. They are second in the league at present, having suffered a downturn in fortunes since being beaten (once in the league in Rome and twice in the two Italian Cup legs) by AC Milan.
They are still an awesome force and are my favourites for the UEFA Cup.

At 57 (I thought he was 55 for some unknown reason until I heard his age on telly today), he is at his peak.

A hard man (with himself, his players, the club, the match officials AND the media), he has that aura of credibility which makes it difficult to criticise the man.

What most impresses me about him is his willing to learn and update his beliefs about football and tactics in general.

Maniacle in his attention to detail (goodness knows what he'd make of our training facilities at Spurs?!), he gets extremely upset if one of his players fails to do what he's told on the pitch (and I don't mean if the player screws up ALL game, I mean one SINGLE thing).

Capello was also a top footballer and played many a time for his country, the pinnacle probably being the goal he scored against England at Wembley in the early '70s ('71?) when Italy won for the first time on English soil. He plied his trade as a player mainly at Juventus and AC Milan.

Would I want him as Spurs Manager?
Guess....

Do I think he will be the next Spurs Manager?
No, I don't.
The key word in his comments (which I haven't read in his native Italian) when talking about Spurs is "if": "if they have the ambition and the strength to make a big team".
When Capello says ambition and strength, he means financial and you just know that a £15m war chest is not going to suffice (he's got more money than that doing nothing in his current account).

Who said football was a sport....it's all about money.

If we did get Capello as Manager, the club backed him with the resources he'd ask for and the fans gave him a couple of seasons to get it right, then I believe that the stars of outfits such as AFC and Man U would finally start to wane in comparison to what Spurs could achieve.

Check out the message board, cos it beats listening to the wife.