It's time to call a halt to playground abuse

England's World Cup debacle still lingers in the memory but Friday brings Fabio Capello and his side the chance to begin afresh when they take on Bulgaria in their opening Euro 2012 qualifier. And Martin Samuel from the Daily Mail says it is time to show Capello the respect he deserves.

A life in football being what it is, there will come a time when one of the greats, Sir Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger, makes a real mess of the season. Brian Clough, remember, finished not with a bang but the whimper of relegation with Nottingham Forest, the club he led to two European titles.

The equivalent now for a member of the established Champions League elite would be to finish without a trophy and outside the top four. It marked the end for Rafael Benitez at Liverpool, and may one day hasten the departure of men of greater standing at Manchester United and Arsenal.

The death throes are never swift, either. In Benitez's final season, it was plain Liverpool were in trouble from October and there followed steady decline: exit at the Champions League group stage, FA Cup elimination to Reading, the Europa League semi-final stumble against Atletico Madrid and the hollow guarantee of a top-four finish. From halfway through the campaign, Benitez's departure was presumed and, in similar circumstances, many would expect Ferguson or Wenger to call it a day.

Yet even in retreat, it would not be possible to speak of either man as a fool. There will be decades of brilliance, of inspiration and success to be taken into consideration. An appraisal that amounts to 'Useless pillock Ferguson stuffs it up again' would ignore spectacular achievements. Clearly, Ferguson is not useless, just having a bad year. Whatever the consequences, they could never override his past.

Yet for Fabio Capello, different rules apply. Winner of the Champions League and UEFA Super Cup: weirdo. Winner of five Italian league titles at two clubs: gormless. Winner of two La Liga titles with Real Madrid: jackass. All terms used to describe Capello either in reports or banner headlines during the last three weeks.

What is it with the vilification of England managers? Nobody is claiming Capello has not made mistakes. Nobody would argue that, by his standards, England's performance at the World Cup in 2010 was a professional low point. But, come on, Fabio Capello? Gormless weirdo jackass? It rather places the 16 straight seasons of achievement into context. No mean feat for a fool.

'The donkey is fine,' I was told, by one of Capello's allies this week. 'We have fed him some hay and he is very happy.' Dry humour conceals serious irritation, however.

Capello was agitated at the press briefing preceding his squad announcement. He believes there is a media campaign to oust him and compared it to his second spell at Real Madrid, when he received considerable criticism and then a sharp volte-face when he delivered the title on the final day of the season.

The first thought is that he should get over it. He is not paid £6million annually to worry about headlines. Capello was supposed to be the finished article, the great problem-solver, not a man susceptible to petty distractions. A second thought is that we need to get over it, too. A manager of international renown has experienced, not even a bad season, but a torrid few months, culminating in a succession of performances that were entirely out of character for his team.

He has endured some bad luck - most notably the injury to his captain, Rio Ferdinand, and Frank Lampard's disallowed goal against Germany - and made a few wrong calls. If he was an idiot, however, he would not have consistently won Europe's greatest prizes.

So in a week when every decision, each twitch and grimace will be analysed for signs of stupidity or drool, it might be time to pause and ask if we truly have the hunger for this. Are we going to spend the next two years pretending one of the most successful managers in the history of European football is actually a clown, or are we going to afford him a little respect, and cut him some slack over decisions that are really no more than differences of opinion?

Take the selection of Jack Wilshere, the Arsenal midfield player. He was included in the squad for the first international of the season, a friendly against Hungary, and then returned to the Under 21 team this week. It was this decision that saw Capello branded an ass. Yet most would agree that Wilshere is nowhere near ready for a full England appearance in what will be a tough competitive game against Bulgaria. He is barely ready for Arsenal and only started at the beginning of the season because Cesc Fabregas was not fit.

One could argue that Wilshere would benefit from being around world-class or at the very least first-team England players; yet he trains at this level every day with Arsenal, surrounded by international footballers such as Andrey Arshavin and Robin van Persie. He can only progress so far this way. He needs match experience, which is why Arsene Wenger, his manager, loaned him to Bolton Wanderers last season, and why Capello thinks he is better off playing for the Under 21 team, rather than admiring the seniors.

Still, there are those who will always want the brightest talent fast-tracked and Wilshere is certainly that.

It is a talking point, then; but not one that is so defined on either side that it warrants use of the word jackass. If Capello had, for instance, become embroiled in a street brawl and been arrested on suspicion of assault - which is what happened to Wilshere on Saturday night - a stronger term might be justified. Even if it was claimed Capello was acting as peace-maker - as is said of Wilshere - there would still be questions over his judgment. By comparison, thinking an 18-year-old with 15 Premier League starts is not ready for England hardly merits the stocks.

So much of the charge sheet against Capello regards peripheral matters. For instance, there is a way to prevent him putting his foot in it over David Beckham and that is to stop badgering him on the subject. Stop pretending that a 35-year-old squad player with a serious injury is relevant to the task of beating Bulgaria and only raise his name again when he is fit and functioning or the team are in such disarray that they cry out for his return.

Capello should have brushed aside the Beckham question before the match with Hungary, we all know that. He should never have offered a farewell game as a sop when the storm blew up, either. These were the actions of a manager who was poorly advised and on the defensive. Yet, having made his mistakes, the matter should rest. Instead, Capello is repeatedly confronted with his past, as if Beckham remains a serious topic, not a tired national obsession.

Capello's reputation, his supposed infallibility, took major damage in South Africa. Yet if he is going to be dogged by cynicism, at least let it concern subjects of relevance to qualifying for the European Championship: motivation, team selection, his style of play.

That we remain mired in name-calling and celebrity sideshows says more of us than him; not least why we have to pay such a ludicrous premium for our managers. It is for this same reason the parents of spoiled brat kids are charged through the nose by baby-sitters.