YES, England were dreadful. Yes, losing to the Germans was humiliating. And yes, it seems most of the nation are again calling for the manager’s head. But the Football Association must show some guts and stand by Fabio Capello.

If the FA are to continue the ‘common-sense’ approach which saw them opt for a fortnight’s breathing space before giving a verdict on Capello’s future, the decision they need to arrive at is one in favour of the Italian.

We’ve been here before. Major tournament failure – sack the boss. It can’t always be the manager’s fault.

Surely there comes a time when we must look past the obvious and pass judgement on the players who have perennially fallen woefully short of the performances they produce in domestic football.

As magnificent as Frank Lampard, John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney might be at club level, there was a yawning chasm in class between them and the top-end talent vying for glory in South Africa.

Rooney is still young, Ashley Cole remains our only truly world class player and Gerrard emerged with more credit than most. Some experience needs to be retained.

But now must be the time to thank a number of other senior players for their lengthy service – and give some fresh talent a try.

Wield the axe on the players – and let Capello be the one to carry out the necessary overhaul.

Bid farewell to David James, Gareth Barry, Lampard and Terry and welcome the likes of Joe Hart, Michael Dawson, Jack Rodwell, Tom Huddlestone and Adam Johnson.

These youngsters will need a guiding hand and who better than someone with Capello’s credentials.

We’ve tried English managers, we’ve tried foreign managers and we’ve tried parting company with every one when things have gone wrong.

Maybe this time we need a different approach. The clock has been ticking for too long on many of our players, but Capello should be given more time.