"Lesson learnt" as Capello reinstates Terry as England captain

Fabio Capello confirmed yesterday that John Terry would once more be England captain, stating that the Chelsea defender has learnt his lesson and has been punished enough.

Does that mean that he's no longer the womanising cheat who divided the national squad's loyalties and forced one team-mate in to an early international retirement? No, he is still as reprehensible as ever.

Does it mean that Capello has learnt his lesson and changed his own mind? Maybe. Or maybe it is just the latest example of casual mismanagement in the England manager's rein, which is ever more so resembling precisely what the cynics say it is: a cushy little pre-retirement pay-day.

The Italian has certainly botched his handling of this matter, whichever way you look at it. He either should have stood by Terry and not sacked him in the first place, or he should have stayed true to his original decision. Having done neither, he should have extended Rio Ferdinand the courtesy of not debating the subject in the media before discussing it with him. Some matters should certainly be kept behind closed doors.

The revelation, skirted over, at least in the BBC coverage of story, that Ferdinand refused an invitation to meet with the gaffer on Wednesday night shows that the now former England skipper felt slighted and undermined by the highly public discussion over the previous few days. That it coincided with media reports over the sustainability of the injury-plagued centre-half's career as even a Manchester United player can't have helped.

So Ferdinand is put out. Steven Gerrard is probably a bit put out. John Terry was put out for a year but now he can be smug again. The overall harmony of the England camp, it seems, is a bit all over the place. It is almost as if Capello does not understand the nature of managing Englishmen in the full glare of the English public. But then, not being English and having never played or managed here, how could he? His Italian compatriots, you imagine, would not have made such a fuss of what was an entirely non-football manner.

It is another source of the English football team's disharmony that he is even in the job at all. Post Sven Goran-Eriksson it was decided an Englishman was needed, so we got Steve McClaren. When he was no longer deemed fit, the FA once again lost faith in its indigenous managerial candidates: Sam Allardyce's face didn't fit; neither he nor Harry Redknapp was proven at the very top; who else was there?

In desperation the FA reached out for Capello, who was as proven as any manager in the game. Well, he was at club level. In international management, he was no more experienced than Allardyce or Redknapp. But, truth be told, no-one going in to the England job can really be qualified by experience. The job is unique: a narrow pool of talent; a domestic league over-ridden with foreign talent; no players with experience of any league other than our blood and thunder Premier League. Too many players of the same quintessentially English mould; too few of any other.

And now the FA have stated, presumably for some of the reasons above, and also just because people think it's the right thing to do, that the next boss should be English. Like Capello's hard and soft handling of John Terry, it seems that the FA is hot-stepping between moral footings. If it was not the right thing to do before, then why is it now?

Regardless, Capello is retiring from the post next year. Who will replace him?

If only a perfect candidate were to arise. Someone with all the relevant experience: success at home, abroad and in Europe. Intimate knowledge of the England set-up and the pressures associated with it.

Steve McClaren anyone?

The FA did not-so-long ago state that they would consider re-appointing McClaren, who at the time was gaining wide repute for his title-winning success at Dutch side FC Twente. He would never be accepted back though, would he? In this age of trial-by-media he would have the noose around his neck before he even had chance to unfurl his brolly.

So who then? There is no perfect candidate, and the best coaches and the best tacticians, even the much-trumpeted Fabio Capello, have failed. So who?

A patriot. A pragmatist. A man who demands respect not for his world renown or for his past successes, but for his passion. Someone who would have either told Terry to shove it or who would have backed him unequivocally. Someone who may not be the best and brightest, but who is honest and true. Someone young, English and driven, who could feasibly lead the team for a generation. Someone we, players and fans alike, can all get behind without any debate or doubt.

My man may also be the FA's man. After all, he is already on the inside. He is Stuart Pearce. Psycho. Could he be the next England manager?

I'm male. I'm white. I'm not yet 30. What happens if I'm the one who is discriminated against?

Let's discuss a hypothetical scenario: I feel that I'm discriminated against at work.

It's not on account of my race, gender, age, religious beliefs or sexuality - none of which could be considered marginal.

I have read the employee handbook, and I have referred the situation to Unite, the union. They both refer to employment law, which prohibits discrimination - but only on specified grounds, such as those listed above.

The truth is, I don't know exactly why I am discriminated against. I just feel, sometimes, that my face doesn't fit. This is not covered in law.

Bullying at work is covered by law, although Unite recognise that, as a form of discrimination, bullying is hard to define and even harder to confront.

Alarmingly I realise that some of the bullying behaviours identified on Unite's website describe ME. Am I a bully? I certainly don't mean to be, but I can be bloody sarcastic sometimes.

I read on, and the website tells me that bullying behaviour is often a reaction to being bullied - of course, this is playground stuff, and it is silly. No one bullies me.

But then I read about institutionalized bullying. Qualified by effect rather than intention, this may make its victims feel hopeless, depressed or worthless. It may involve passing people over for promotion, even if they are better qualified or more experienced. It may involve favouritism towards others, or inequal treatment (better pay, better opportunities, more recognition for the ones whose faces do fit). Institutionalised bullying may occur when you are asked to perform to a higher level than those around you, without the benefits or status which should accompany such responsibility. You may find that you have to pick up the slack for others, including those above you, for little or no extra reward. You may find yourself kept in the dark about your own future - especially where short-term secondments and departmental re-organisations are concerned. You have proven you can do the job, will you be rewarded? There may be little opportunity for progression in your role, particularly if those above you seem to be job-for-lifers. You may feel that you can't complain about these things or that, if you do, your words fall on deaf ears. Worse still, if you speak up you may be resented, or even further victimised, as a result.

This is institutionalised bullying. It is hurtful, and cruel, and it can make your working life a misery. And, looking around, I see others like me who must feel the same - how do they deal with it? Happy pills? Or do they become, eventually, so jaded and worn down by it that they just don't care.

Of course, this is hypothetical - if it were true I wouldn't write about it. I'd be too scared of the consequences.

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"We have put down the placards, and picked up the reins of power"

That was Nick Clegg's rallying call to his Liberal Democrat party yesterday, reported by the BBC here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12720315

It was an evocative choice of words as public opinion of the Lib Dems continues to angrily plummett.

They have gone back on their manifesto promises on cuts and tuition fees. They have tried to shift focus on to electoral reform - though even that has come with concessions to their Tory masters.

Barely a word is uttered now about the Proportional Representation that they actually favour. Instead we have a referendum on the Alternative Vote system - this is far from the same thing, and it is not what the Lib Dems really believe in.

I refer you to Chris Huhne MP, who surmises this better than I can:

http://www.libdems.org.uk/news_detail.aspx?title=Liberal_Democrats_will_fight_for_proportional_representation_says_Huhne&pPK=700bb819-e9c5-443f-9d77-8612c33044fa

But who cares what they believe in. They have "put down" their beliefs and "picked up" their role in the Coalition Government.

That, it seems, is Nick Clegg's real message to his party: forget your principles, it's all about power.

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Life in the words of....

"
This is my book, and this is how it reads
A documentary that nobody believes

Ginger Elvis Presley looked a fraction sad
Roaming the whole town from bin to bin
But living on the street isn't all that bad
Where no-one seems to that he's the King

Half an hour is seven hours
A year could be a decade, spent alone

You had a little time and you had a little fun
Didn't you?

You cheapened and you nastied every woman in this land
But you're so handy

Like pink lipstick on a 5 year old girl
It makes you think that it's a plastic world...
A plastic world and we're all plastic too
Just a couple of different faces in a dead man's queue

I want my sundrenched, windswept Ingrid Bergman kiss
And not in the next life
I want it in this

But if... If you choose
That we must always lose
Well then I'll sail this ship alone
Between the sharks and the treasure
I'll sail this ship alone
Through the pain and the pleasure

Your name is always mentioned in the jokes and cracks
Your Coach & Horses and your Woolpacks

They have the vocal chords of elephants
And the characters of mice

Good as gold, stupid as mud
They carry on regardless

I wrote this song for you

Let love speak up itself....
Let it rise up in the morning and take us for a walk
And let it do the talking
When we're too tired to talk

We are eachother

And... Now my face looks like a map of the town
And my teeth are either yellow or they're brown
But you'll never hear the crack of a frown when you are here
You'll never hear the crack of a frown
"
All quoted, in bits and pieces, from Paul Heaton and Dave Rotheray (the Beautiful South). The OST of my life! Angry / nostalgic montage. Lol.

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Sailing this ship alone

So that's it. It's over. My ex-girlfriend has told me that she no longer wants to keep in touch.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise, but it did.

We haven't seen eachother since before Christmas. We broke up last summer. We don't talk on the phone. We are not friends on Facebook.

I shouldn't miss her, as a friend, but I will.

I will miss little things. Texts asking how I am doing. Someone to text when I am down, or angry. Knowing that someone out there cares. Little things are important, sometimes.

I should be over missing her as a girlfriend and, in many ways, I am. I am still notalgic though, for the good times we had. We both know that the bad ones outweighed them. Still, we had something special and I choose to remember that first.

I choose to remember the first date. I choose to remember the first kiss. I choose to remember the Sea-life Centre. I hope she remembers that too.

The bad stuff is personal and, I think, it can stay that way. Let's both forget it.

I'll refer to the soundtrack of my life here - the Beautiful South back catalogue - and i'll say that, if you want to know how I feel, listen to I'll Sail This Ship Alone. If ever any song summed up any man's feelings at any time, this is it for me, now.

You might listen to it and think it is hopelessly depressive. It's not. The song is about love and loss, yes. But it is also about dealing with it, and moving on. Love and loss is easier because, normally, there is no element of choice. It's the moving on that's hard.

Don't worry though. I will.

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Disgrace!

It's a disgrace! That's the resounding sentiment of Tweeters, Facebookers and general disgruntled Englanders.

The reality? England have lost. England have lost to Bangladesh. England could go out of the World Cup.

Of course, England have had a mammoth winter of touring. England have won The Ashes on Australian soil for the first time in a billion years. England have made great strides under Andy Flower.

None of this matters. They lost to Bangladesh. Disgrace!

Ok. It's sensationalist. It's unfair. It's lacking in context, balance and grace. But, nevertheless, it is the overriding public opinion. It is also, to an extent, what makes sport interesting. Or, at least, what makes it newsworthy. But only to an extent.

Sport, really, should be about excellence and competitiveness: two traits which England seem currently to be lacking.

Why? The gruelling touring schedule. An obscene number of one day games. An unrelenting hunger for more and more cricket - not from the players, but from the consumers.

For sport, like any other commercial asset, is now an item of consumption. No wonder the players are jaded.

Kevin Pietersen went home a few days ago. Andy Flower, through diplomatic lips, vented his dissatisfaction at this (read Mike Atherton's piece in The Times).

But Pietersen probably just doesn't care that much. He's both over-worked and over-paid - a mind-boggling combination, for us mere mortals. But consider this: the press build you up as a star, you earn a fortune; you are dragged around the world to play in seemingly infinite and often meaningless games, and every stroke of your bat, and every word you utter, is under the most extreme scrutiny.

Wouldn't you ever feel like just walking away?

Of course that's wrong. Millions of honest Englanders would kill for KP's life. He should honour the badge. But, if you treat people like commodities, they will often start to behave accordingly.

If sport could go back, which it can't, perhaps we could see real men, real passion and real competition once more.

That won't happen, but there are compensations: the technical ability of players, driven by intensified training and higher prizes, is higher than ever before; the television coverage, driven by technology and consumerism, is more interactive and illuminating; the press coverage is, it pains me to admit, more interesting.

But the highlights of my cricketing spectatorship have been the Darren Goughs and the Freddie Flintoffs. The flawed everymans who give a shit. Though their bodies were broken by the intensity of consumer-sport's demanding schedules, their spirits were never quelled.

That's what sport should really be about but, sadly, it is now akin to mere old-fashioned sentimentalism. The Brave New World of sport often has too little time for such trifles.

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Hague blunder leaves Cameron red-faced

"How would you welcome new neighbours to your street?" asked the Shadow Home Secretary, Douglas Alexander. "Would you ring their doorbell, or climb over the back garden fence?"

That about sums up the mess William Hague has made of his "diplomatic mission" to Libya. It started with errors: no communication with the rebel leaders; poor military advice. It ended with a "serious misunderstanding" which could have cost British lives.

Under the cross-examination of his fellow MPs, Hague more closely resembled a child sulking on the naughty step than one of the UK's most senior politicians. Head bowed, he had little defence as MPs took turns to dissect the Foreign Secretary's "serial bungling".

"Ill-conceived, poorly planned and embarrassingly executed," former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell surmised.

It is the latest in a series of headaches for Prime Minister David Cameron, who is already on the back-foot over Prince Andrew's role as UK Trade Envoy, after revelations about his links to a convicted sex offender.

It is not the first time Hague has caused embarrassment for the Conservatives. During his spell as Party Leader he famously claimed to have drunk 14 pints a night in his youth - a comment which drew ridicule, rather than the street cred he may have hoped for.

Nevertheless, Cameron backed Hague by appointing him to one of the most senior positions in the Coalition Cabinet. At such a crucial point in the Libyan crisis, he might have expected a better return on that show of faith.

Watch Hague's explanation of events on the BBC Website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_commons/newsid_9417000/9417033.stm

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