There is no doubting his managerial qualities, with titles in two countries and a Champions League win to his credit.

And I am happy that the Football Association have gone with someone who has a real track record and not just a UEFA final defeat under his belt.

But the likes of Harry Redknapp, Steve Coppell and Paul Ince all expressed regrets that the FA had gone for a foreigner rather than keeping the appointment 'in-house'.

Redknapp was, understandably, miffed because he was the best English candidate but was effectively ruled out by recent off-field events.

Ince could well be a future England chief, but spells at Macclesfield and the MK Dons show his career is still in its early stages.

Coppell ruled himself out of the running then moaned so I think we can discount his plea for a homegrown manager.

I suppose in an ideal world the manager of England would be English.

But appointing one for the sake of it is wrong - just look at Steve McLaren's brief reign.

I remember there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth when Sven-Goran Eriksson was appointed.

But at least under him we qualified for tournaments, even if we flattered to deceive once we got there.

My fear for Capello is that he will suffer a similar fate to Sven.

The Swede was sniped at by the national Press with his private life becoming almost as important to the country as his managerial prowess but he did the best he could with the players at his disposal.

The proof is that a largely similar squad under McLaren failed to reach the Euro 2008 finals.

You only have to look at Manchester City to see that Eriksson is a good manager.

Nine wins out of nine at home have propelled them into the top four and the fans are flocking to the City of Manchester Stadium.

Of course he brought in a raft of foreign players in the summer, but he clearly knows how to build a squad.

Unfortunately Capello will not have that luxury and that is going to be his major problem.

He will have to work with the same players McLaren worked with.

Fortunately, he is a coach who knows what it is to win and the country should get behind him.

GRAND Slam Sunday failed to live up to expectations with two distinctly average games played between the Premier League's 'Big Four'.

We should not have expected anything more as games of such vital importance are almost always dull to watch - for the neutral at least.

The one thing it did do was reduce the race for the title from four horses to two.

And the rest of the season will be duller as a result.