Capello defends England approach

Criticised for his handling of the national team’s captaincy, England boss Fabio Capello has defended his relationship with his players.

The Italian’s well-known authoritarian approach has reportedly included controlling players’ leisure time and diets, but the 64-year-old claimed he lived by a ‘simple’ working mantra.

Capello’s handling of the decision to return the England captaincy to John Terry has been questioned, with ousted skipper Rio Ferdinand said to be disappointed to have not heard personally from the England manager about the move.

But the former Real Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and Roma boss defended his approach of keeping at arm’s length from his charges.

“My way of working is very simple,” Capello told The Sun. “We have the good fortune to work only a few hours a day, therefore in the little time we have for working, you have to do it well.”

“And after work we’re free to have fun and do what we want. I never telephone my players. Never.”

Capello revealed would not directly contact his players even in the event of an injury update.

“If a player is injured, I don’t call him but I will call the doctor,” he said.

“A manager is not a big brother. I have better things to do than put my nose into my players’ business.”

With the spotlight on players’ actions both on and off the pitch, Capello has implored his players to tread carefully when in the public eye.

“You have players who behave well and others who behave less well,” he said.

“The problem here (in England) is particularly that photographers know where the players go, so the next day you find it on front pages of papers or YouTube.”

“You just have to be careful. I say to my players, have fun, but be careful about the people around you and in particular beware of mobile phones.”