Redknapp questions appointment
2007-12-15 13:26
London - Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp believes the Football Association has taken "unnecessary" steps in appointing the respected Italian coach Fabio Capello as England manager.
Capello will take charge of England on a four and a half year contract reportedly worth £6.5m a year.
The no-nonsense Italian's CV is rich with nine league titles in 15 seasons with four different clubs in Italy and Spain, and a Champions League victory with AC Milan in 1994.
With such a record, the FA have achieved their aim of appointing a 'world class' coach who, they hope, will lead England to success at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
But Redknapp feels that England, who failed to qualify for the 2008 European Championships under former manager Steve McClaren, don't need a coach with such a pedigree to succeed.
He told the Daily Mail: "Do you have to be a super-coach to manage England? Does Steven Gerrard need coaching? Of course not. Or Ashley Cole, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Micah Richards, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney?
"You get them for three days before a game, what will you coach them? Would I get Gerrard and coach him on passing a football or Lampard on running on to the ball and hitting it in the top corner from 30 yards?
"It's not about coaching! It's about picking the players, getting them organised, giving them belief, giving them a platform to play without fear and getting the best out of them.
"It doesn't need Jurgen Klinsmann or Fabio Capello. Top coaches? It's a fallacy. I've seen one, maybe two in my lifetime, no more.
"Football is about the management of players. To be manager of England, you don't have to be a great coach - they don't exist - you have to be a manager."
He added of Capello: "I'm not unhappy with his appointment. I just think the manager of England should be English."
- AFP