Bristol City and Bristol Rovers react as England boss Fabio Capello quits

Bristol City chairman Colin Sexstone believed the Football Association had no option but to part company with Fabio Capello, who last night quit as England manager.

And Bristol Rovers’ assistant boss Shaun North, who travels to watch a lot of England’s away games, said he was not surprised by Capello’s departure.

Capello resigned following a meeting with FA chairman David Bernstein and general secretary Alex Horne at Wembley Stadium.

An 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.”

Bernstein said the resignation was the right course of action.

The FA chairman said: “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.”

Bernstein and the Club England management team will hold a media conference at Wembley at 12 noon tomorrow.

The shock resignation brings an end to Capello’s four years in charge of England – he had been due to step down after the European Championship and leaves the FA needing to appoint a replacement as soon as possible.

The next international is later this month, a friendly against Holland on February 29 at Wembley.

The timing of the meeting coincided almost exactly with Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, the outstanding candidate to replace Capello, being cleared of tax evasion charges.

The FA’s decision to go over Capello’s head and strip Terry of the captaincy until after his July court case where he will deny racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand led to the Italian quitting his £6m-a-year post.

Capello told Italian TV that he “absolutely” disagreed with the action against Terry and that set him on a collision course with the FA.

Sexstone likened Capello’s position to that of Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat politician, who resigned from his position as Energy Secretary in the Government last week.

“Just as Huhne could not continue with a court case hanging over him, so John Terry had to go as captain,” said Sexstone.

“It does not matter whether the court case has been heard or not. It would have been a major distraction going into the European Championships.

“Whether he is guilty or not, players in the England’s dressing room will have strong opinions about what it is he has been alleged to have done.

“In the circumstances, the FA had no alternative but to strip him of the captaincy. To have done otherwise, would have courted controversy further down the line.”

He added “Capello knew the FA’s stance and probably knew what would happen if he went against it publicly.

“Once he said what he said in support of Terry, the scene was set for what happened last night.”

Asked who he felt should succeed the Italian, Sexstone, pictured, said: “There is one obvious candidate (Harry Redknapp) out there. But like any other candidate who is likely to be considered, he is already in a job and appointing a successor will necessarily take time. In the meantime, putting Stuart Pearce in temporarily charge is a commonsense move.”

North agreed they should look closer to home for Capello’s successor. “I was quite delighted when I heard the news – and now they have to go for an English manager,” he said.

“I’m not a believer that foreigners should be in charge of the English national team – whether they are Italian, Scottish, Irish or Welsh.

“Of course it’s a different thing at club level, but you can’t play for another country, so why should you manage one?”

North, pictured, believes Harry Redknapp is the obvious choice as Capello’s successor.

“As soon as I heard that Harry had been cleared in his court case earlier in the day, I thought that Capello might go,” he said.

“They have to give it to him now because I don’t think there are many other possibilities – apart from maybe Roy Hodgson, who has previous experience in international management.

“But Harry is the man for the job and I’m convinced he would take it because I have spoken to him about it in the past. I think there will be an outcry if he doesn’t get it.”

Bernstein said the resignation was the right course of action.

The FA chairman said: “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.”

Bernstein and the Club England management team will hold a media conference at Wembley at 12 noon today.

The shock resignation brings an end to Capello’s four years in charge of England – he had been due to step down after the European Championship.

The next international is later this month, a friendly against Holland on February 29 at Wembley.

The FA’s decision to go over Capello’s head and strip Terry of the captaincy until after his July court case where he will deny racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand led to the Italian quitting his £6 million-a-year post.

Capello told Italian TV that he “absolutely” disagreed with the action against Terry and that set him on a collision course with the FA.

Capello last night insisted that he will not go into detail on the reasons behind his resignation. He told ANSA, the national Italian news agency: “I leave England and I will not say anything else.”