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Fabio Capello launches his quest for redemption today knowing only a convincing victory by a makeshift England team over Bulgaria can hush a growing band of critics clamouring for his dismissal.

fter an extended honeymoon where Capello was lauded for presiding over an imperious World Cup qualifying campaign, a familiar storyline has unfolded in the wake of England’s calamitous showing in South Africa, which ended with a miserable 4-1 second round defeat to Germany.

Now, just months after being favourably compared to Sir Alf Ramsey, the architect of England’s 1966 World Cup triumph, Capello finds himself subject to the sort of ridicule dished out to less celebrated occupiers of the managerial hot-seat known as international football’s ‘Impossible Job.’


One tabloid even branded him ‘Jackass’ — above a picture of the Italian wearing a pair of super-imposed donkey ears — following his decision to drop Arsenal starlet Jack Wilshere back into England’s Under-21 squad.

On Wednesday, meanwhile, the Daily Mirror called for Capello to be fired next week, regardless of the outcome of England’s opening Euro 2012 Group G qualifiers against Bulgaria at Wembley today and Switzerland in Basel next Tuesday.

“It is obvious that it is over for Capello,” the Mirror wrote. “Everybody knows he should be gone already. The FA knows it. The England fans know it. The players know it. And most of all, Capello knows it.”


In public however, Capello has brushed off the criticism with the confidence of a man who amassed five Serie A titles, two Primera Liga crowns and one European Cup during a glittering career in club management.

“I’ve read and heard a lot of different things but I am focused on my job,” Capello told journalists ahead of the Bulgaria match. “I’m a fighter. It’s my job, I fought for it. I am here because I enjoy my job.

“We must focus on the games we play against Bulgaria and Switzerland — and the future will be to play the finals because England is a very important country to play in the Euros.”


Capello has also dismissed suggestions that his faltering grasp of English has hindered his ability to communicate effectively with his players.