THE men who have appointed Fabio Capello as England's new manager have issued a stark warning of their expectations of the 61-year-old.

FA chief executive Brian Barwick may have described Capello as a winner with a capital W'' at the formal unveiling of Steve Mc- Claren's successor last Monday but, in a slightly less bullish stance, neither he, nor director of football development Sir Trevor Brooking feels the Italian is likely to turn England into strong contenders at a major championship.

Both men are realistic about how far England's stock has fallen and they have ushered in the Capello era with a heavy dose of realism.

There is no triumphalism,'' said Barwick.

Fabio Capello knows he has a serious job to do. This is a team that has not qualified for the European Championships.'' If anything, Brooking's conclusion was even more stark as it appears Capello's appointment may only be the start of a twostage process to turn England into a credible force once again.

We are not getting carried away by the thought that suddenly, because we have Fabio, we will become world beaters, because we will not,'' he said.

We have not won anything for 40 years. Let us not expect him to suddenly win us two big championships.

We cannot sit back and think everything is rosy. What we have to do is try to get the best out of that group of players.'' While Brooking seems dedicated to the idea of ensuring there is at least one English coach capable of following Capello, there appears to be a more pragmatic edge to Barwick's stance.

He recognises some extreme flaws in the make-up of the present squad which need to be ironed out if England's players are ever to stand a chance of matching their lofty reputations.

And for him, having successfully accomplished just about every single component of his job with the notable exception of the most important one - a man capable of delivering a winning team - Capello's success is crucial to how his overall reign will be viewed.

Fabio has a job to do in terms of mental attitude and what happens when the players cross the white line,'' he said.

He needs to do a lot of work on the players' confidence, as well as the ability and tactics.

We have a set of disaffected supporters. They are fed up with us because we have not qualified for Euro 2008 and because we didn't play especially well during the World Cup.

People put great store by supporting their country. It is a special thing and it pulls them together.

We are not just going for a quick-fix. We have a guy who is committed to turning the situation round.

We also have to turn round the public perception of what we are. They pay a lot of money and come in vast numbers. They are hugely supportive and over the last couple of years we have let them down.'' Capellowill get his first chance to show what he is capable of on February 6 when England tackle Euro 2008 co-hosts Switzerland at Wembley.