By Andrew Warshaw
February 9 – Stuart Pearce (pictured left) was today given caretaker control of the England team for the upcoming friendly against Holland on February 29 following a tempestuous 24 hours sparked by the shock resignation of manager Fabio Capello (right), English Football Association chairman David Bernstein confirmed.
Capello stood down as England manager on Wednesday after opposing the decision by the FA to strip John Terry of the captaincy over his pending racism trial in July.
Terry denies a charge of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand in October.
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, who ironically was cleared of tax evasion charges on the same day Capello walked out, is the overwhelming favourite to succeed the Italian.
But Pearce, who served as Capello’s assistant, is the England Under 21 boss and will take charge of the Great Britain men’s Olympic team, will look after senior team affairs in the short-term.
Bernstein told a press conference at Wembley: “I have got great confidence in Stuart, we will be in good hands.
“Our priority then will be to appoint a new England manager.”
Bernstein revealed that the decision to strip Terry of the captaincy, which Capello vehemently opposed on a point of principle believing his own position had been undermined, had been unanimous by the FA board.
“We all believed that the John Terry case would be dealt with in March or April,” Bernstein said.
“When it was postponed we were taken by surprise like everybody else was taken by surprise.
“The board made a very quick and unanimous decision regarding the captaincy.
“I informed Fabio on Thursday evening as soon as the decision had been made.
“Fabio wasn’t happy but he accepted the board’s authority in the matter.
“On Sunday Fabio conducted an interview with an Italian broadcaster.
“That caused conjecture and huge public debate and frankly it was an unsatisfactory situation.”
Bernstein insisted Capello had “behaved with dignity and honour” during the meetings with the FA yesterday.
“Yesterday was not an easy day but we concluded matters with a handshake,” he added.
“Any reports of [Capello] storming out are a complete misrepresentation of the facts.”
Bernstein (pictured) said the search for a long-term successor to Capello would begin immediately and that someone with an “English or British” background would be preferable though not compulsory.
“We have to do it properly and get a shortlist together – we will certainly be including wishes of the fans, who are very important to us,” he said.
“Clearly there’s a preference for an Englishman.
“The position hasn’t changed.
“There’s a preference for an English person or a British person but in the end we want the best person.”
“We don’t want to rush anything.
“We’ll give it proper consideration and it’ll have high priority.
“I don’t want to pretend we’ve got plans in hand at this moment in time that we haven’t got.
“But we’ll be moving fast.
“I’m not going to go into discussions on individuals.”
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