THEY call managing England 'The Impossible Job'.
And now coach Fabio Capello has just made it impossible for himself.
How can he continue after undermining the FA by insisting John Terry is still his captain?
The 65-year-old Italian has split the FA and made the Three Lions dressing room even more uncomfortable than it was.
Who would want to captain England now if he knows the coach will still turn to his man?
Liverpool's Steven Gerrard is the favourite to wear the armband but this mess needs to be cleared up before any new captain can say yes.
Who can lead their country when the manager doesn't really want him? Capello has succeeded in creating a 'them and us' situation and last night it was him against the FA.
They are in shock at his disloyalty and disrespect. Chairman David Bernstein – the man behind the decision to strip Terry of the armband – will demand answers from Capello at a showdown meeting, probably tomorrow.
It is amazing that Capello was not called in yesterday. Instead there was no attempt to reach him, no need, they said, to treat this as a crisis.
What Bernstein should do at their meeting is says 'Thanks but no thanks Fabio' and sack him.
Put us out of our misery. If he was a winner then it might be different.
But who cares that the European Championships are only four months away?
Currently England have absolutely no chance of success in Poland and Ukraine. They are in complete disarray.
What they should realise now is that Capello doesn't care – about them or English football.
He is in this for himself, his CV, his reputation and his £6m-a-year salary.
The Italian didn't agree with the FA over Terry's sacking as captain and – instead of making his feelings known to them privately and quietly behind locked doors – he went public in his homeland.
If he felt so strongly about it why didn't he call a press conference in this country?
The answer is because he doesn't care.
Starsport reveals today that he felt let down and undermined by the FA and that is why he gave a TV interview to Italy.
His reaction was to let down his bosses, particularly chairman Bernstein. He knew exactly what he was doing.
Capello has contempt for the system and it is not the first time he has gone it alone with controversial comments with the FA unaware of his intentions.
He once said that David Beckham was too old without even bothering to talk to him first.
The FA have only themselves to blame. They should have sacked Capello after the World Cup in South Africa, the worst tournament in our history.
But they bottled it because they didn't want to pay a huge compensation bill.
They kept him on when Capello actually admitted to them that he would understand it if they axed him.
They should also have gone the whole hog with Terry. They were right to strip him of the captaincy but should have suspended him from international football until his racism case had been heard on July 9.
If the FA don't sack Capello this week he clearly has every intention of taking Terry to the Euros and that would be a recipe for disaster.
They can't let that happen.
Terry, stripped of the captaincy because his court case for allegedly racially abusing QPR's Anton Ferdinand was put back until after the Euro Finals, had already split the dressing room.
The entire QPR team would have snubbed him before their FA Cup tie had the FA not abandoned their Respect handshake ritual.
It is understood half the Manchester United team would have refused to shake his hand on Sunday had he not been injured.
How could he possibly have continued to lead the England side? Capello standing alongside Terry means there will be a stink around the England team until this is resolved.
Capello has become a loose cannon and on Sunday he was out of control and out of order.
He is frequently protected by his bosses from the English media, but then let them down by giving an interview to Italian television.
Clearly upset with the FA, Capello made it clear that he wants no part of their stance on Terry.
At the start of the Terry issue the FA made it clear to all media that they didn't want to see headlines saying that they or Capello backed Terry, for legal reasons.
So, what does the coach do? He goes public with a massive vote of support of his captain.
What a mess. What a complete and utter embarrassment for English football.
It is why Capello has to go, now.
What other outcome can there be? It is impossible for him to continue unless he apologises and backtracks on Terry.
The FA were dealing with this mess yesterday while waiting for the outcome of Harry Redknapp's court case on charges of tax evasion.
That verdict is expected either today or tomorrow and if the verdict goes against Redknapp then the FA will not be able to turn to the man they had lined up to replace Capello.
If Redknapp is cleared he should be asked to take on dual roles this season, managing Spurs and England up to and through the Euros.
Redknapp could then take over England permanently for the start of next season.
The captain sacked, the manager still insisting he is his man and the future England manager awaiting a trial verdict.
The England team has never been in such confusion and disarray.