Capello backed by top bosses

ALEX FERGUSON and Arsene Wenger have combined to back the likely appointment of Fabio Capello as England manager.

The heavyweight Premier League duo were among a hand-picked group sought out by FA chief executive Brian Barwick and director of football development Sir Trevor Brooking for their views on the vacancy created by Steve McClaren’s dismissal.

With Jose Mourinho now out of the running, Capello seems set to get the job providing he successfully navigates an interview with Barwick and Brooking, which is likely to take place today.

And, while Ferguson agrees with Wenger’s theory that it would be better to have an Englishman in charge of the national side, under the circumstances, they both believe Capello can give the Three Lions their roar back.

“To manage a national team, you need to be a certain age and have plenty of experience, with a presence and a CV that is indisputable,” said Ferguson. “Fabio Capello has all that.

“In a perfect situation, Arsene Wenger is correct. If you could get someone from England, that would be good.

“But the most important criteria is to find a manager who is going to be successful and the choices in England are limited.

“The demands on England should be the same as they are on Italy, Germany and France, so, there is pressure on the manager to do well. You need a guarantee, so the wisest thing to do is get someone who can be successful, whether they come from Mongolia, Italy or Scotland.”

Wenger is also in no doubt Capello could make a go of what has been labelled “the impossible job”.

“I have known Fabio for a long time and the quality of the candidate is outstanding,” said the Arsenal boss.

“The only problem I think he could have is with the language. I do not know how good his English is because a big part of the job is to deal with the media.

“However, he can deal with media pressure as he done that before — he was at Real Madrid and in Italy as well where there is big media pressure.”

Wenger continued: “Fabio has a clear idea of what he wants and when he is convinced of something he goes to the end of it.”

Former Chelsea star Gianfranco Zola has also weighed in behind Capello.

“Even when Jose Mourinho was in the running I believed Capello had even more charisma, talent and experience for a challenging job like this one.”

Alan Shearer and current Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce may also be heavily involved if Capello is installed.