TheSportsCampus

In a stunning turn of events, Fabio Capello has resigned as England manager with immediate effect. The Italian had a long meeting with the Football Association a few hours ago to discuss the fallout from his controversial comments over the FA's decision to strip John Terry of his captaincy. Capello felt that the FA had gone over his head to make the decision and he handed in his resignation during the meeting. The press in England had been clamouring for action against Capello for his criticism of the FA and the governing body confirmed in their statement that they have accepted his decision to step down.

The FA statement read: "The Football Association can confirm that Fabio Capello has today resigned as England manager. This follows a meeting involving FA chairman David Bernstein, FA general secretary Alex Horne and Fabio Capello at Wembley Stadium."

"The discussions focused on the FA Board's decision to remove the England team captaincy from John Terry, and Fabio Capello's response through an Italian broadcast interview. In a meeting for over an hour, Fabio's resignation was accepted and he will leave the post of England manager with immediate effect."

The FA Chairman David Bernstein had this to say, "I would like to stress that during today's meeting and throughout his time as England Manager, Fabio has conducted himself in an extremely professional manner. We have accepted Fabio's resignation, agreeing this is the right decision. We would like to thank Fabio for his work with the England team and wish him every success in the future."

The FA's decision to remove Terry as Captain did not go down well with Capello as he felt that they had made the decision without his approval and that decision in itself was wrong as Terry was yet to be proven guilty in the racism row with Anton Ferdinand. The press and the FA reacted strongly to the public condemnation, with many calling for his head. Today's meeting was meant to clear the air over the matter but as it turned out it was the Italian's last contribution as England Manager.

Capello's contract with England was scheduled to expire after the Euros this summer after five years at the helm. The former AC Milan manager took over as Manager of England in 2007 after the country had failed to qualify for Euro 2008. He was in charge of a very successful qualification campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but England were dumped out by Germany in the knockout phase under humiliating circumstances.

Harry Redknapp is the odds on favourites to replace Capello and with the Tottenham manager getting cleared in the tax evasion case earlier today, the timing couldn't be more perfect. Redknapp is tied down with Spurs, but he has indicated that the England job would be hard to turn down if and when he was offered it.

Amazingly this story has so many ramifications - what of Spurs' Premier League and European aspirations should Harry leave the Spurs job? Should he perhaps see Spurs through till May before taking on the England job or perhaps even do both full time? Could this mean Jose Mourinho might be the next Spurs Manager at the start of the new season? Will the England U-21 manager Stuart Pearce take over as interim manager of England until the FA appoint a replacement? Maybe even something as radical as Capello taking over the reins at Chelsea from a floundering Andre Villas-Boas? Only time will tell!

File Photograph Copyright: Ryu Voelkel