Following England’s humiliating World Cup debacle in Bloemfontein on Sunday, questions regarding manager Fabio Capello and his suitability for the top job have become a pressing issue as the FA weighs up its option of whether to keep on ‘Don’ Fabio as the England manager.
To tap into this simmering opinion, we asked the English public with an interest in the World Cup who should be manager, and Tottenham Hotspur head Harry Redknapp came out as the clear winner at 22%. In joint second place, however, was none other than Italy’s very own Fabio Capello, sharing 13% of the vote with Roy Hodgson, which may suggest that for many footy fans England’s woeful performance in the World Cup was not a result of Capello’s mismanagement but perhaps more symptomatic of the players’ lacklustre performance.
It appears, however, that Capello is least popular among the over 55s – only six percent chose the Italian as their main preference, compared to 17% of their youngest counterparts (18-34s). This was the lowest level of support given by the older age group for the top five candidates, who gave Redknapp 22%, followed by 15% for Roy Hodgson and ten percent for Alex Ferguson.
And following the recent show of patriotism surrounding the Cup, it comes as no surprise that the majority (61%) of football followers in the country would love to see an Englishman as the next England manager – although 37% claim they don’t mind either way. Again, this trend is strongest among our oldest respondents, with 69% preferring an Englishman compared to 60% of 18-34s.
