MANY adverse comments have been made regarding the engagement of Italian Fabio Capello as England manager, but just how can a manager be engaged for this thankless task and command such a high salary without an appropriate record at club and international level?

British clubs these days require immediate success, so the grounding of a quality English manager is near impossible.

Managers like Bill Shankly (Uefa Cup, Liverpool 1973) and Bob Paisley (won 19 trophies at Anfield) are not available any more. Before managing the England side that beat Germany in the 1966 World Cup final, Sir Alf Ramsey was established as a winning club manager, his experience longstanding.

He also had a great knowledge of football.

Capello won the job on merit. He has won titles at every club he coached, including AC Milan, Real Madrid, Roma and Juventus. His playing career was just as illustrious with Juventus and Roma and he won 32 caps for his country, even scoring the only goal in a match against England in 1973.

Capello says he will win us the World Cup. Apparently, he has a good eye for talent, gets the best out of players and is not influenced by any football cliques.

Bernard McCormick, Newton Aycliffe, Co Durham.