IT’S hard to know where to start when you break down where English football has gone so badly wrong.

So how about at the top?

THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

The FA need to stop making nonsensical decisions.

Like giving people four-year contracts juts before a tournament. What on earth is that about? It has to stop right now.

Whoever the next England manager is (and I think there will be a new one soon, but more of that in a minute), he must be given two years to see us through to Euro 2010.

If he does that then it’s another two years for the next World Cup campaign.

That way you cut out the mercenaries who know they’re guaranteed a fortune even if they completely flop, and you get the people who really want to do the job.

The trouble with the FA is there’s too many people who like to say stuff like: “I was the one who got Capello, I landed us a star foreign name”.

Well sorry guys, but international football just doesn’t work like that and the sooner the FA get away from treating the England job like a star-studded celebrity talent chase the better.

But then the FA seem to have a new leader every week. It’s clear they can’t get their own house in order so how do they expect to run the national football team?

THE MANAGER

We’ve tried, Sven, we’ve tried Fabio. It’s the same old story. The England team needs an English manager – what have they got to lose? Can things get any worse?

In the case of Capello, I honestly feel the language barrier was a problem and you can’t get over that in certain situations.

At half-time for example, you’ve only got a very short space of time to put your point across and gee the lads up.

You can have a translator but they won’t make the point with the same amount of vigour.

I was also critical of Capello here last week when he was refusing to bend his rigid ways to improve the morale of his clearly demoralised squad.

Although he appeared to relax the rules a bit ahead of the Slovenia game, it was too late.

England might have stayed in five-star luxury but in effect their training base was a prison.

So by the time Sunday’s game came around it’s no wonder the players looked well and truly fed up.

All in all, it was a case of the manager not knowing his players, and you just can’t have that situation if you want to be successful.

So it’s time to ask Harry Redknapp (pictured right) or Roy Hodgson if they want it.

If they say no then fine, have a re-think, but at least that would be a step in the right direction.

THE PLAYERS

Can anyone tell me a tournament when England have clicked together as a group of players and played well?

We haven’t beaten a major nation in a knockout round of the World Cup since 1966 and even if you think back to Euro 96 you have to say that hosting that one was a major advantage.

But when we go abroad and get to the serious stuff the players look like they’d rather be on the plane home than on the pitch.

And who can blame them? Back in England, it’s the megabucks of the Premier League, where everyone tells them how great they are and they’re surrounded by foreign players making them look a lot better than they are.

Sadly, we don’t have a lot of talent waiting in the wings so can’t make wholesale changes.

So for now, it’s Joe Hart in for David James, a return for Adam Johnson and Theo Walcott after Aaron Lennon and Shaun Wright-Phillips weren’t up to it and because we need to come out of the Dark Ages, it’s no more Heskey or Crouch I’m afraid.

GRASS ROOTS

Kids in this country are playing 11-a-side on full size pitches by the time they are 11, with the emphasis on wining games and going through seasons unbeaten with 200 goals scored, rather then developing skills and technique.

Like Trevor Brooking has been saying for years, we need to get kids working hard on their skills day after day so by the time they are on the pitch when they are 18, 19, 20, their technique never lets them down.

THE FUTURE

All in all – and I know we said this when we failed to get to Euro 2008 – but this time, surely this time, the events of South Africa 2010 will give English football the kick up the backside it so badly needs.