TWIT-TWIT HOORAY

MAYBE it was a text, maybe it was an e-mail, maybe it was the sort of picture that some footballers are fond of sending.

Maybe the England player with a phone in his hand at mealtime is a fan of Twitter.

Only one thing is for certain. He was a twit.

He may have been in a grey, mournful Dnipropetrovsk, with loved ones - agents, PR reps, Nike execs etc - only at the end of a temperamental line and 90 minutes of flare-dodging to come.

But this is a cardinal Capello rule. One of the Fabio decrees that dare not be broken.

Hence, the relative tranquility of a Ukrainian hotel was broken by the Italian treating silver service as discus practice.

This is not a modern myth, not a lazy caricature. Capello really is this strict.

And there is not a fan out there who would not spread into an approving smile.

But this goes beyond amusement at seeing these cosseted tycoons treated with schoolmasterly discipline.

Capello has crushed the cult of individuality and has emerged as a novelty of the modern era - an England manager in charge of the players.

Throw your mind back to late 2003 when the FA decided not to take Rio Ferdinand to Turkey for a crucial Euro 2004 qualifier after the Manchester United defender had missed a routine drugs test.

Indignant, Gary Neville threatened to lead a players' strike.

"Can you come and see if there is any way through this?" Sven Goran Eriksson whimpered to the FA's executive director David Davies.

Weak, pathetic, lily-livered.

Can you imagine Capello's reaction had one of his players threatened to withdraw his labour, whatever the cause? His labour would have been withdrawn from him. Pronto.

Or consider the build-up to World Cup 2006 when Wayne Rooney, claiming victory in his recovery from injury, apparently announced his return to the England camp with the words: "The Big Man's back in town."

Rooney is possibly the most important cog in Capello's machine. But there is only one Big Man. And he wears a suit and spectacles.

Talking of suits, who can forget the Giorgio Armani ensemble sported by England players when they met Nelson Mandela in South Africa, ahead of the European Championships in Portugal?

The outfit included a 'revolutionary cardigan -jacket' described by one pre-eminent fashion commentator thus: 'In light cashmere, with a polo collar and snap closure, it was personally chosen by Beckham and has already been christened the Beckham Jacket.'

Oh, Fabio would have just loved that.

There will be none of that this time around. No players' committee haggling over commercial deals, no WAGs, no farewell bling-fest at Beckingham Palace, no Beckham Jackets.

Are the players resentful? No. It has had the converse effect. They appear to respect Capello in a way they didn't respect the chumminess of Steve McClaren, the affability of Sven, the arrogance of Glenn Hoddle. They give him loyalty, and he gives it back.

Beckham must have been seething last Saturday. From Los Angeles to a Ukrainian outpost for a night in an executive box. But Capello rewarded his dedication with a 40-minute show-stealing cameo at Wembley.

Loyalty to the cause has become the mantra.

Which is why Emile Heskey effectively announced an England place as his be-all and end-all. Much, no doubt, to the displeasure of Martin O'Neill.

Which is why injured Steven Gerrard was slapping team-mates on the back rather than laying on an Anfield treatment table. Much, no doubt, to the displeasure of Rafa Benitez.

Which is why Rooney ran himself into the ground out in the Ukraine even though his overworked calf was probably screaming resistance.

Much, no doubt, to the displeasure of Sir Alex Ferguson.

England have reached the quarter-finals of the last two World Cups. If Capello fails to improve that record, the bare print of the history book will bracket him with Eriksson. That is the harsh reality.

Capello's team were outclassed by Spain, the team that provides the European benchmark.

Soon, they will meet Brazil, the team that will provide a Rest of the World litmus test.

Reservations can be held about the ability to cope with injuries to key players and, heck, he doesn't even know who is best keeper is.

But Capello already deserves our gratitude. He has stripped the England set-up bare of its posers, its pretensions, its hangers-on, its millionaire boys club feel.

He has made it a priority where once it was a lucrative diversion.

He has given it back its dignity.

Now by the print edition of the News Of The World for more from Andy Dunn

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