Fabio Capello flipped table in rage when player broke non-negotiable rule

Ignoring your bosses strict rules is one way to wind them up as Emile Heskey found out.

The former England striker recalled the time Fabio Capello went berserk when the squad were travelling.

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Capello was appointed as Steve McClaren’s successor in 2007 following the failure to qualify for Euro 2008.

Heskey won the final 17 of his 62 senior England caps during the Italian’s five-year tenure and quickly understood he was not a man to be messed with.

Known as a disciplinarian, Heskey told talkSPORT what happened when he was caught on his phone by the manager.

Capello meltdown

Sitting alongside Steven Gerrard and Teddy Sheringham, the trio talked England memories while sat around talkSPORT and Burger King’s Squad Table.

“We came off the plane and went straight to Kazakhstan, or one of those places, and went straight to the hotel.

“So we hadn’t had a chance to phone anyone or anything like that. Got to the hotel and you’re not allowed to use your phones.

“So I’ve just got my phone out to text and he’s just gone and literally threw everything over. The whole table went.”

Gerrard added: “He hadn’t been in the door long so everyone was on eggshells anyway because he was Italian. It was very military regimental.”

Capello oversaw England’s 2010 World Cup campaign, where they reached the last 16 before losing 4-1 to Germany in a disappointing effort at a tournament that promised more after a strong qualifying campaign.

talkSPORT

He also successfully navigated Euro 2012 qualifying before stepping down as manager four months before the tournament.

Heskey continued: “I think that’s where he lost a lot of people as well because at that time we’d come into an era where players were using their phone and we were friends with the manager more.

“And he was very distant and did exactly what he wanted to. Never really asked the players what they thought and I was from an older age where it was probably like that anyway.”

Despite infuriating the manager, Heskey was part of Capello’s squad for the World Cup in 2010, featuring in all four of their matches in South Africa.

Gerrard on England’s foreign managers

At the time of his appointment, Capello became only the second foreign manager to be named Three Lions boss.

He followed in the footsteps of Sweden’s Sven-Goran Eriksson, who held the role between 2001 and 2006.

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Gerrard played for the Three Lions under both Eriksson and Capello during his international career.

The former Liverpool midfielder has admitted their are positives and negatives to England having a foreign manager, especially one who had coached Real Madrid, Juventus and Milan.

“Capello came in with the CV, really looked up to him. I’d seen what he’d done from afar in Italy and we were all really excited.

“But I didn’t feel like he was around long enough to get a real connection and get close to and learn more.

“Loved playing for him. I thought detail-wise he was top, but I just wish we could have opened [Capello and Eriksson] up a bit more.”

talkSPORT

As for what held Capello back during his tenure, Gerrard admitted: “I think the language barrier [affected him]. I think he wanted to be warm, I wanted to be warm back, but just didn’t feel like we had enough time, enough connection.

“I would have liked to have got more out of him because I think he was the one out of all the managers we had that was top level and in terms of CV proved that.”

He continued: “I think if he was a club manager and you were with him every single day for a full season, I think you’d really open them up and loosen them up because we did that with Rafa [Benitez], we did that with [Gerard] Houllier.

“I think when you’re together for ten days, three or four times a year, at the back end of the trips you feel like you’re getting warm and close to the players and the managers, and then you’re away in different directions.

“So I wish I either had him as a club manager or he was around for longer to open him up and get him closer.”

Thomas Tuchel has since followed in Capello and Eriksson’s footsteps, with the German preparing to lead England in North America this summer when the 2026 edition begins.

England begin their campaign on 17 June against Croatia before games against Ghana and Panama in Group L.

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