As an Arsenal fan of some 30 years, I really didn’t think that anything else concerning my club could wind me up, but how wrong I was. Today’s papers are full of stories about Fabio Capello (born June 18 1946 in Gorizia, Italy) and the near certainty that he will be interviewed (and probably appointed) by the FA for the vacant England manager’s job.

Jose Mourinho (born 26 January 1963 in Setúbal, Portugal) has already been interviewed but has ruled himself out and if my memory serves me correctly, a bespectacled chap called Sven Goran Eriksson (born 5 February 1948 in Torsby, Sweden) was England manager from 2001 – 2006.

Luminaries of the English game such as Steven Gerrard, Gordon Taylor, Steve McClaren and many others attempt to cover up their own failings by throwing accusations at Arsenal. Yet within a couple of weeks of Euro 2008 failure, the FA seek to appoint a Portuguese and then an Italian – you couldn’t make it up. It’s quite okay for the FA to disregard English born managers for the top job in English football but when Arsene Wenger decides that Alex Hleb is a better option than Jermaine Pennant, Arsene is somehow responsible for the demise of our national game. How does that work exactly?

I’m sure we will still have to endure mindless chants of ‘Ing-er-lund’ at away matches but I hope that non Arsenal fans can gradually wake up and realise that there is a reason why England haven’t won a tournament for 42 years. I stopped watching our national team in the mid 1990’s when I grew tired of watching the likes of David Batty and Phil Neville being outclassed by Dennis Bergkamp and Gabriel Batistuta.

Until the FA, English players, English managers and English fans accept that football is about technique and lifestyle, rather than huffing, puffing and ‘OK’ magazine cover shoots, France, Italy Holland and everyone else will remain ahead of England in the world rankings. And Alex Hleb will be in the Arsenal first team rather than Jermaine Pennant.

Oh and I’m sure that £6million per year will compensate Signor Capello very nicely for the crap he’s going to get from the British media.