Happy campers under new boss

Cast your mind back to June 2010 when England had just completed the opening game of the World Cup with a 1-1 draw against the USA. All is doom and gloom back in Blighty, and while the peasants may not be totally revolting, the players are close to mutiny. Fabio Capello’s previously unblemished reputation is about to be torn to tatters, while the split in the England camp between John Terry and Steven Gerrard’s factions threatens to destabilise the whole campaign.

Within two weeks England’s players are back home and in disgrace, and even their staunchest supporters are giving up on them.

Fast forward two years, almost to the day, and the mood both inside and outside the England camp following their 1-1 draw with France in their opening game of Euro 2012 could not be more different. Capello has gone, of course, to be replaced by Roy Hodgson, who was distinctly second choice behind Harry Redknapp in the eyes of most fans and many players.