Shotgunbagsy

The BBC has released information about the now infamous “Capello Index” in which England manager Fabio Capello will “rank” players as they come off the field during the England tournament. The controversy is that Fabio has co-founded the idea (and the website) with Chicco Merighi “The founder of an online gambling company”.

Capello insists that he’s in it for the football, and frankly, as far as this blogger is concerned, that’s his business.He’s the best manager we’ve seen in a long time, and if he makes millions off the back of us winning the World Cup, then let him have his millions.

BBC Sports Editor David Bond said: “The perception is that he is rating England players immediately after matches.

But Bond said: “The idea of managers cashing in doesn’t look good for Wembley.

I don’t understand the reasoning behind this statement (I’m not discrediting it, for the record, I just miss the point), as I would expect Wembley would enjoy nothing more than a manager being upfront and honest about his decisions (for the first time for a manager of our national squad), and ultimately bringing the best England team that we’ve seen in YEARS to the tournament.

As a fan I look forward to seeing how this ranking would work: we are already given all sorts of interesting information by the analysis teams (distance covered, team averages, possession), and even more could be really interesting. If you miss the game you would be able to see an instant update on the players without having so see any video footage (which no current system has the capability to do). We’d grow to use the Index to follow the curve of our finest.

A four-week trial of the index – limited to players from Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – rated Ledley King, Michael Dawson and Sol Campbell as the best English central defenders ahead of John Terry and Rio Ferdinand.

Both Terry and Rio have had a turbulent time the past few seasons: a mixture of sex and drugs between them have proved all kinds of worrying on the pitch. Terry has lost concentration a couple of times making crucial misjudgements like the recent sending off against Tottenham, and Rio has dropped from one of the finest defenders in the world to a decent centre back (probably because of a long spell off the pitch due to injury). On paper they may look like the better choice, but the way they are playing is a different story, whereas you know that King, Dawson and Campbell will NOT mess about. So far I completely agree with the Index: it seems to be an honest recommendation of players, rather than the usual shy, brown-nosing star rating system. These are troubled times for celebrity footballers in the limelight, and a system like this may be exactly what we need.

I expect it will put pressure on the players to prepare for seeing their numbers come up after each match, but as a player of the game you know when you’ve performed poorly. If the analysis matches the opinion of the players and the manager this could be a change for the game internationally. Predictions made by programs like Championship Manager are uncanny: imagine a professional tool that could be viewed by the nations?

The website is also set to rate players’ performances in the Premier League next season.

If it kicks off next year, and there are no major problems that have been overlooked so far, this idea really could shape modern football not only permanently, but on a global scale.

We wait on baited breath as the provisional squad is to be announced later on today. Joe Cole really does deserve a place, but fair play to Capello if he sticks by his promise of leaving the potentially unfit behind. Wise men see further into the future.