When England appointed Fabio Capello as their new manager in 2007, there was a real buzz among football fans. The Albion was full of stars like Frank Lampard, Steve Gerrard, John Terry, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen, to name a few, and the opinion was that if there was a manager out there who could finally win something for England it was Capello, an established coach with impressive trophy portfolio at AC Milan and Real Madrid. Unfortunately, he stayed until 2012 and didn’t win anything. 😳 Fabio Capello on how he had to get rid of Ronaldo Fenomeno 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/iWFC7r6495— FIVE (@FIVEUK) June 18, 2024 But there were a few funny stories about his authority, discipline and rules, which Rio Ferdinand was happy to reveal. In the presence of the coach himself, the former England defender recalled the diet rule. “The manager was always serious the whole time. Every now and then a joke but always serious. So then training has to be serious. He really wanted to create an atmosphere where we knew it was serious here. I remember when came down for breakfast when the manager was there and all of a sudden there’s no butter. I have butter every day. I said to the lady, “Where’s the butter?”, she said, “I’m sorry, the manager says it has to be gone”. All banned, no ketchup. ‘I went to you (Capello) and said, “Please, I need butter in the morning”, and he went, “Why? Why do you need butter, it’s not good for you”. So I went and got olive oil and salt and put it on my toast” he said on his podcast FIVE.Capello’s trouble with Ronaldo and Cassano: One smelled of alcohol, the other ordered friesAnd when things got really nasty for Rio and his teammates and they decided to risk it and go for it all. And he turned to Capello to admit to him. “When he was the manager, I remember the lads were like, “We’re not eating, the food is terrible”, and me and Stevie Gerrard came to you and asked if we could please get some better food, and you said no, the doctors said no, Franco Baldini said no. And in the end, after one of the games, we went and got McDonald’s to come round the side of the hotel and bring the McDonald’s in the room — and we were all sitting there like scavengers eating the food” confessed Rio. When Capello asked him who was involved, the former England defender named almost the entire squad, including John Terry, Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. Why Lampard avoided Ronaldo on holidayFerdinand also remembered one situation when Emil Haskey ‘dared’ to break the rules. “The good thing about Capello is you knew where you stood. It was all black or white, no grey areas. You can do this and can’t do this. I remember another rule was no phones around the dinner table, and Emile Heskey had his phone out, texting someone, after finishing his food. The manager went crazy. You know the lids you get on buffets? He picked them up like tambourines and went bang! “Respect, respect”, he was saying” remembered Rio. ##NAJAVA_MECA_8167927##
