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The most worrying thing is that he has Emile Heskey at number 1....

What a load of fuss over nothing. If he has helped them devise the metrics on which the index is based, why not have his name on it? Storm in a teapot.

Storm, meet Teacup; Teacup meet Storm.

Yet again the FA show they have no balls. Fab should have been told a firm NO.

"the perception is that it will be his analysis and could undermine the relationship with his players."

You mean the media will use the ratings as a weapon to undermine the relationship between Capello and his players.

Who cares what he puts his face/ name too?

As usual before any major competition the media are looking for anything to put England/ Capello of their stride. Why don't they leave the off-field stuff to one side and talk about the big issue - the ENGLAND SQUAD BEING ANNOUNCED TODAY!!

Why now, Capello? Why not wait till after the World Cup? Such poor judgement. Also I notice it rates Steven Gerrard as the #1 player in the Premiership over the last 4 games.

Excuse me?

why is this even a story? who cares if he's linked to this site, it will be evident who he rates from who he picks in the team! Besides, how is this any diferent from a Premier Legaue manager sitting on the ITV or ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ world cup studios and passing judgement on those games where their own players are involved? clearly a slow news day on the sports desk ahead of the squad announcement.....

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Anyone know how to get on the website?

What's the point of this article? It really is quite irrelevant

Honestly I think it seems pretty harmless. Just make sure Hargreaves is in the squad then i'm happy.

I totally agree with what Capello has done. If you think about it its genius. Look at it this way ok we was undefeated in qualifying however the players still seemed a little lazy in my opinion. Yeah they had club football on at the same time but they are playing for there national club and with wearing that shirt with the 3 lions on they should feel proud and should out into every single game thirsty for victory. I mean look at the clubs we beat to qualify they weren't exactly top of the world, but when we came up against Spain we was ripped apart. So this ratings idea might actually say to the players look am at the bottom of this list I need to do better. I have total faith in Capello and I have loved what he has done with the England squad, I just think that it will be some players that let us down on the day.

Who really cares? For my money, as long as he can do his job i.e. latter stages of the WC for England, surely that's all that matters. Plenty of players have endorsements without question!

It's a storm in a teacup!
It looks like the nasty media are starting to bite at any part of him.

What is the problem exactly? All it does is rate players to a formula just like the OPTA stats do.

So Capello devised the formula, so what? Formulas can only ever be a guide, it's the other area of judgement that earns Capello his wage.

Non-story really.

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What a pathetic attempt to generate concern about the integrity of Capello, potentially one of Englands greatest ever managers. Yes he has lent his services to this, as a student of the game, he is simply sharing his opinions and expertise. I don't see how anybody could have a problem with this.

I suppose Glenn Hoddle was bang out of order for advertising Shredded Wheat in the late 1990's, and how dare Terry Venables perform some of his favourite swing numbers and release a CD??

Do not compare Capello to Sven. Capello has played and coached at the very highest level of elite football, and has done a wonderful job with England so far. Just because his private life does not provide any gossip column stories for you, don't attempt to create some.

I agree with HackerJack..... so what!

Is this really the worst thing we can say about Fabio Capello? That he's been involved with a website that rates the world's best players? Heaven knows what the media will say if anything even slightly goes wrong in the group stage.

I agree with hackerjack - He devised a formula and the results are on a website?

Surely it's only a problem if the line contacts a line like 'If you name is Defoe, minus 30 points', or as I suspect 'Emile Heskey ends all matches on 99.9'....

Dont see the problem - bruised egos of overpaid prima donnas maybe

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Capello is more astute than the previous England coaches so i don't think this will have any effect on the players. As ever, before a major tournament involving England, its the media who are doing their best to assume there will be "difficulties" in the camp or the players have been "undermined". It seems that nothing changes with regard to media waffle, no matter who is in charge of the national team.

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Bonds blogs are consistently poorly received. This is perhaps the most ludicrous yet, other blogs generate discussion surrounding topical debate. There is simply no debate for this, it may as well have read

"Let's find a way of having a go at Capello, because nobody has rocked the boat yet"

If you wanted to post a sensible blog, it perhaps could have been themed on "disruptions to Englands major tournament planning in the past". Gazza dropped in 98, Bangkok trip in 96, Faria Alam, Fake Sheikh etc etc.

and then comparing them to 2010 which has gone relatively smoothly up until now

I really don't understand what the fuss is about. Even if Capello were to use this Capello-Index to criticise players after a game, it is his right! He is the manager.

The FA have charged him with leading the English national team to the best of his ability, and I don't think there's a single person within the FA, affiliated to the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, or on these messageboards who can argue with his proven track-record in judging player's ability and performances, and with getting his players to function as a team.

If his attachment to a website is influencing the English players because it's giving them a bad rating, that's their problem. Tabloid newspapers give out ratings, noone complains about them, do they? Because Capello has found a way of giving people what they seem to want - his opinion on how well a player performs - you can only applaud this as a savvy business scheme.

Complaining about it is, quite frankly, extremely childish.

I wonder whether Capello should drop Crouch because he prefers Walkers to Pringles...

I'm sure his relationship with any player will stay the same as any comments he has to make about their performance will be said directly to them first and foremost..

A lot of fans like facts and figures.. they will be provided.. who cares..??

Haha, is this supposed to be a story of any importance? You English crack me up

However he rates any player is irrelevant. He is one of the most successful managers of all time. He is well respected. He has presence. He is the man for the job. Should England, dare I say it, win the 2010 World Cup, would any true England fan really care? Let him earn however he pleases, so long as it doesn't bring the game into disrepute or offend.

Not exactly a big deal in my book. So what there's another OPTA-type stats programme that he's given his name to, what's the big deal? If the FA were so concerned about things like this why didn't they put stipulations in his contract? You say they pay him £6m a year to avoid things like this. If they are paying him that much why aren't they making sure he can't put his name to products they deem to be unsuitable?

I'm actually glad this story is out now, it's such a nothing story it'll be gone within a day or 2. If it was any closer to the World Cup the media would try to make more of it but there's no point with the World Cup still a month away.

#1. No he doesn't. If you read the article again you will see it says that the ratings are not supplied by Fabio.

David, what is it about the press always trying to screw people over in this country? It was done with Sven, Glenn Hoddle, Bobby Robson. Fabio has not commited a crime here, but it's reported in the press like he has. It does my head in

Fail to see a problem, Capello is rating players. And, so? Is that not what he is paid to do? Is that not what naming a squad is about, choosing the countries best players. For me, this is simply a non story and the media trying to stir up some controversy before the World Cup.

His rating with WHO takes a "tumble"????

In fact if it wasnt for daft stories like this one appearing
on a supposedely respected NEWS site it would never have made a
ripple in the pool. But well done for digging it all up and
exaggerating it UNTIL it becomes an issue for the national coach!!!

Honestly!!!

So.... Capello devised a formula that is going to be used to rate players?? Sack him now!!

Seriously, is this the best the media can do? I know you try and derail every England bid before a world cup or euros start, but is this really it?

Astounding!

I'm delighted. If this is the best the media can do then we must be looking alright!

seems like a pretty flawed formula to me, gerrard sitting top of the premierleague says it all. however if you wnat a better example fabinski is number 4 on goalkeeps list,lol

Why is he not concentrating 100% on Englnds world cup camapaign,this is just another example of greed from the super rich

Ha Ha Ha, The media needed something negative on Capello. Blowing this website out of proportion fits the bill nicely. Let be honest I reckon 90% of people don't really care including the players. It's the world cup performance that Capello will be judged on, nothing more, nothing less.

Think you have misjudged the feelings of the football fans there David Bond, no one is really interested in the media's attempts to stir up unrest over nothing. So stop telling us this means we should respect Capello any less. I think we'll decide that

The website has just been suspended until after the world cup.

where is steven gerrards rating for the match against chelsea!!!

it does make me giggle

once again the media reveals itself to be the navel-gazing muppets they are.

shock! horror! outrage!

.....oh wait a second, NORMAL people (i.e. 99% of our target audience and customers) don't give two hoots. we may have got this one wrong...

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I don't get what all the fuss is about - is this because there has to be an excuse if we don't perform well at the World Cup, other than the simple one of actually coming up against a better team on the day?

This is something that's only been endorsed by him, and it's not actually him doing all of this - it's just a guideline by which players can be judged. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, due to the fact that it's not him publishing his genuine opinion. If it were, then of course, put him under the intense scrutiny that you're trying to create here, but he's not, so just leave it, and him, alone.

Capello's doing a good job, he'll continue to do a good job at the World Cup and when he leaves, his reputation will remain intact unless he does something absolutely ridiculous. This isn't something ridiculous, is hardly relevant to the World Cup effort and appears to be, instead, the product of a slow news day for Sport. Pity.

What exactly is all the fuss about? So the players are going to find out what their manager thought of their performance; I'd expect them to know that and more before they even untie their bootlaces.

Honestly, this story is the journalistic equivalent of scrabbling around in the mud for a grain of rice.

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I agree with comments such as hackerjack, lee fett. In his entire tenure with England Capello has shown himself to always be sensible and thoughtful in his handling of matters. He always ensures nothing he personally does overshadows the team and their preparations.

An excellent example of this was his discreet handling of the John Terry situation. Most importantly, on the pitch, his decisions have been excellent. He took an England team that was badly bruised as far as confidence goes, reinvigorated them, made them more of a unit, and got them winning again.

Surely this is what we should be focussing on, instead of making a mountain out of a molehill over this stats index. The example of Eriksson promoting other products is a slight red herring, they are not football related. Capello has clearly put his name to a product he feels will give fans a better understanding of the games, sometimes on television / at matches it is easy to miss how well some players do (or don't do!) off the ball, so this will be a good aid for match analysis, and not simply a Capello money-spinner.

Let's focus on the football, and hopefully on a strong world cup campaign!

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Why is it that the British public are the only people in the world that build up the hopes of the national team so high just before a tournement and during it with marketing companies trying to squeeze every penny out of the public then at the same time the media use this to say that 'this is our time' Im not sure if it is your time you have to earn the right to win the world cup.

Personally I hope England dont win the world cup for two reasons: one this will take the expectations of the English public too far and the England Fans will think there team is the best in the world and then place even more pressure on your good not great team. Secondly, to stop England form being too arrogant and thinking that the game belongs to england.

How does this affect Capello, my view is leave him be, he isnt breaking the law, his contract or doing what Seven Goran Eriksson was doing (not that he was that bad he just knows how to make his money). The English like in the elections can never be settled with a good thing until its gone.

I'm surprised at all the comments saying this is fine, what's the problem etc?

The guy is paid 6m a year to win England the WC, surely any distraction of this kind is far from helpful.

Even if he's not doing the analysis directly, by putting his name to the website he's obviously associated with it, and it will potentially cause instability within the camp.

Of course some people search for excuses when we fail each WC to get beyond the 1/4 finals, but there is such a fine-line between success and failure that we need the manager and players to be 100% focused on their jobs.

The Wags didn't stop us in 2006, but they certainly didn't help, and this isn't going help either, whether you think it relevant or not, as it's not your opinion that matters, its the opinion of a player who's 'stats' might publicly indicate he's rubbish.

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Much ado about nothing! Would have been interesting to try and see how the manager might have analysed the players performances, that is what the pundits are trying to do all the time, get inside the head of the manager.

And why would the perception be that it is his analysis? You don't think supporters are smart enough to tell the difference between a computer program that he has had an input on and real thing of a manager analysing a game? A bit patronising or supporters really, by the media.

Sniffing for a story - and they claim it's Capello undermining the squad! Sanctimonous bunch. Well, that's not news, is it.

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The saying mountains out of mole hills springs to mind.

I do agree he should not have done this, but its not THAT bad.

Is anyone really interested in this apart from the press? The man has been too good for too long and the press simply need something to attack him for. Pathetic really.

What happens when he replaces someone with a high rating with someone with a lower rating.... will this affect the ratings..

Here we go silly season for the media - get back in your cages you report news you dont make it- we like Capello and an OPTA style rating system isnt going to change that!

Hands up if you care about this rating site. Okay, now hands up if you care about yet another scandal whipped up by a news media desperate for "content", which could easily upset England's preparations for the World Cup.

Stop messing about and get yourself writing a puff piece about why our players are the best in the world.

By what i can read from different sources, blogs and communities, no-one actually cares that Capello has done this so why is the media such a storm out of it?

If i was playing for a team and my performances were being rated against some pre-determined formula I wouldn't care... I get this anyway, it's called an annual review. And my employers use it to judge me.

Why would the England players care about this?

No question, this is an embarrassing climbdown for the England manager.

But having failed to spot the potential hazards with this website - or certainly to persuade Capello to change his mind before announcing it on Monday - the FA has moved quickly and decisively to take the sting out of the controversy
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No question...... etc. Say's who? Only a journo ( you ) trying to whip something up out of nothing.

What hazards exactly? Controversy? You journo's do love to go over the top on everything don't you? What's it a quiet day in the office?

The only lack of judgement that I can see in Cappello's make up is his persistence with Heskey. I am totally bewildered. Can someone please explain what I am not seeing?

Typical English masochistic media, looking to drum up some controversy and create richochet stories off this non-item, just before our first big chance to do well in a football competition for 54 years... I can see it now, "Is Capello's error to blame for so-and-so's dip in form?" blah blah blah... SUPPPORT YOUR TEAM ENGLAND!!! That means keeping morale HIGH!!!

"For a coach who is meticulous in his preparation and expects his players to always put the interests of the team first, it is a worrying lapse of judgement. And although the FA says the ratings are not being provided by Capello, the perception is that it will be his analysis and could undermine the relationship with his players."

Arf! Typical English journalism before a World Cup, happens every year. Talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill!

The infamous English press has struck again. It would appear that no one is above the usual inquisition. What will the press do next? I hope not another 'fake sheik' antic. Capeelo is probably the best coach England will ever get in a looooooooong time. Be ver careful.

I am shocked by Sven's, I mean Capello's selections. You have a left sided player in Young, who can kick with both feet and he cannot make the team? Heskey? Give me a break. He is a Champioship player. Glen Johnson is a very poor defender. Does anyone realize that he was responsible for the defeat in Europa? How can he play ahead of Richards? I say that if England gets out of the first round. One more game.

A very pompous view. His rating hasnt fallen. The media make him 'Saint Capello', the fans dont. Hes just a bloke with opinions milking an FA stupid enough to pay him the salary he gets for running a stable full of donkeys before he runs off home in a wekk or three soon after the donkeys head for Blackpool beach as soo as they meet a decent team.

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And now that the 30-man squad's finally been selected with some potential debutants who've been playing well in the league season (i.e. Adam Johnson and Michael Dawson), these are classed as "surprise" choices.

Excuse me while I yawn.

This is what I hate about the British press, they speak of these imaginary rifts between parties in the England camp and in doing so risk either creating those rifts or at least making a relatively small incident into a major talking point.

Capello has just released am exciting 30 man squad for the biggest competition in the world. Can we please focus on that instead of this insignificant piece of tabloid journalism. There are a lot of positives about this World Cup campaign for so many reasons, lets focus on that please.

"the FA has moved quickly and decisively to take the sting out of the controversy."

Haha what controversy? The only people who cared about the story are the media because they have something negative to write about.
Non-event.

Oh and in other news..... great squad Mr Capello nice blend of youth, experience, creativity and hard work. Excellent job!

I actually think this ratings website is a good idea. It will make the players work harder as they won't want to have a poor rating from their own manager. Let's stop this harassment of our national manager and get behind him! The last thing he needs before the World Cup is to be undermined by the media!

Is this really all the media can come up with to undermine England's World Cup? I'd come to expect more from them.

I think Mr. Bond knew this story was weak at best. It seems to be a case of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport crew trying to make a story debate-worthy so that the message boards and comment boards get a good run out, which they will. And also so they can write enough column inches to justify themselves.

Is it a uniquely English disease to try and unsettle our own national team at every competition? Or do other countries think that this is also the best preparation? I can understand a tabloid printing dross like this to try and sell a few extra copies, but the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ?

How about writing something positive about how Johnson, King and Bent are all in the squad, players who have earned their places through excellent performances.

Being under intense media scrutiny hasn't helped England at all over the last few years, so why do they think this year it will suddenly work? How about just taking a step back and taking some pressure off the team.

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Tree wrote:

And now that the 30-man squad's finally been selected with some potential debutants who've been playing well in the league season (i.e. Adam Johnson and Michael Dawson), these are classed as "surprise" choices.

Excuse me while I yawn.

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It saw the "surprise choices" and was expecting southgate to have come out of retirement or something but no just all of the most in form players. The biggest non-surprise being Hesky is included despite having not really played since England last played.

Clearly the mods think this is a stupid blog to taking so long to mod all of these comments.

What is the problem with Capello rating his England stars. What this will prove is who are the premadonna's in the team and who are not working their socks off. I think its a great idea means the team will all play harder to not get a bad mark, that will be used by the media to manipulate when things go wrong for englan. In fact I think Man U should have used that for Berbatov LOL

Why are we talking about this...its not even an issue. You English media always try to do your best to make a mountain out of a molehill - its quite amusing. Go write about some WAG and let the footballers and the managers concentrate on the football rather than this nonsense.

This kind of stuff makes me glad I'm not an England supporter but does annoy me as I would like to see England compete without all this outside interference and mental distraction.

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Can somebody please give this journalist a real story to write about?

As Rory Bremner said when mimicking Tor leader, William Hague, a few years ago....
"Don't worry, there'll be another one along in a minute!"
In Capello's case, "there'll be another one along after the World Cup."

Typical English press, criticise him for his association with the website:

"For a coach who is meticulous in his preparation and expects his players to always put the interests of the team first, it is a worrying lapse of judgement."

...and then criticise him again when he then dis-associates himself with the same website:

"No question, this is an embarrassing climbdown for the England manager."

Anyone would think that he'd done the wrong thing twice. You people should be ashamed of yourselves, always looking to manufacture crises in the build up to any World Cup. Get a grip and support the team for once.

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LMAO!

Capello's World Cup ratings site.

Neither Ferdinand nor Terry make the Top Ten Defenders list.

And Rooney fails to make the Top Ten Strikers list.

Looks like Capello shares most people's view on England's overrated duds. (thumbsup)

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ take note. We are not interested in this kind of rubbish- look at the angry response. Leave this kind of article for the tabloids. We are interested in football. That is why we are on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ website. Hopefully, someone in the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ etc is actually taking note of the anger and irritation this kind of non-football related article, which undermines players/managers, causes most football fans.

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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ guys, there is a big problem with your World Cup pages. The text doesn't appear in Firefox, but is ok in Internet explorer.

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Exactly my thoughts, what a load of fuss about nothing. England is so boring people tend to jump on the tiniest thing that remotely approaches being newsworthy and create a storm out of it.

These so called journos are so hungry for news now, they will describe things like this as 'embarrassing climbdown', 'own goal' etc. England is a master at orchestrating it's own downfall, we've watched it happen time and again...

Why do the British feel the need to continually undermine the national team at major tournaments? These are the same journalists that will crucify the England team should it not reach expectations. This is after building the team up during qualifications.

Its the same with young players, especially keepers. They get hailed for their performances then after one mistake the media launch an onslaught and pick through every fault which destroys their confidence.

Its easy to find the whole situatuon very pathetic. Lets just try and have some decent journalism rather then trying to create scandal....

David Bond, so what???? You are a fool to print this rubbish and all those other journalists attempting to screw up our chances of success next month. You all make me sick. Leave them to their preparations. This country's media is its own worst enemy!!!!

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I'm sorry but this blog is for nothing.

Capello has put his name to a football stat website that monitors players performance during the world cup?

Big deal.

Had he had liasons with anyone he shouldn't? Been caught in a brothel? Taken drugs? Abused his position in any way? NO.

Has he guided us through our most succesful qualifying campaign and had the british media try and scupper his teams chances of success, as unlikely as they may be, at the forthcoming world cup?

Yup, 100%...you guys are a joke and should find something better to write about

G_K__

LMAo

At howq stupid your comment has made you look, slightly misunderstood what's going on.

Muppet

It didn`t matter what squad he picked as England are not good enough to win the world cup. No doubt the Sun will still plan a victory parade. Think England may get to QF which in my opinion would be a good acheivement. I love football so will eagerly watch as many matches as possible.Spain & Holland are the ones for me.

The words "lead" and "balloon" could be used to describe how well this blog has gone down.

What exactly were you hoping to achieve with this David? I'm sure all other posters would like you to explain, or furthermore defend your article.

A clever journalist may look upon this as a masterstroke of propaganda by Capello. By the ratings of the England players being lower than everyone would expect, surely he is lowering the expectation of others of what this england side can do. Thus giving England more of a surprise element within the tournament. It also gives Capello as solid platform of statistical analysis that he has evaluated himself on how he finds the opposition players.

IE, he can prepare his team for a Messi or Ronaldo, based on his ratings, and may worry less about somebody with a massive reputation who he possibly doesn't rate that much ie. Robinho

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Article gets 1/10 from me. Must try harder.

Just checked out the index. C.Ronaldo is the top player in the world according to that index and the only player to garner more than 70 points

So this is what our TV License is going towards; journalists who are trying to make mountains out of molehills in an attempt to ruin our World Cup campaign.

Top reporting again from the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ.

Why does the media try and find any excuse to start a storm. Why try and put yet more pressure on a team that, by reputation, cannot handle it?

We have a chance of winning the world cup, yet the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ insist on trying to find irrelevant side issues and label it as journalism.

Capello is a great manager, and a consummate professional. Why cant the Beeb be the same, and instead of forcing an opinion onto us the public with bias analysis, try and stick to writing about sport

This is not a story. Who gives a flying duck? .. Err.. I mean pig.


We're trying to win a World Cup here, so get on side and talk about the POSITIVE things going on in the world of football - or just be quiet, please.


YOU are not helping. Fact.