Repent at Leisure...!

On 28 May 2010, an article appeared in the UK’s Independent newspaper linking the current England football manager, Fabio Capello, with the manager’s job at the Italian club, Inter Milan. Capello’s response to this story was interesting: he “distanced himself” from the job.

Note that response! He did not categorically deny interest or say that he was fully committed to the England job; he “distanced himself”. From the club’s perspective, I imagine that the Inter Milan president, Massimo Moratti, probably took heart from the gentle signal that Capello had not ruled things out altogether, but from the English FA’s perspective, this was a new and unwelcome development on the eve of the South African World Cup.

Three days later, another of the English broadsheet papers, this time the Daily Telegraph no less, breathlessly headlined that Moratti “hopes to prise Fabio Capello from his England contract”. This and other stories put the Football Association under pressure to reopen discussions. So what happened?

Well – first some more background. Capello’s ex-boss, Lord Triesman had unexpectedly resigned as Chairman of the Football Association on 16 May; prior to his resignation, he and Capello had apparently shaken hands on a reworked contract that removed one important clause. In the original version, both parties had the right to “review” Capello’s position at the end of the World Cup; this clause had been removed and thus protected Capello in the event of a poor performance in South Africa. Between Triesman’s resignation and prior to the Inter Milan interest, the FA had refused to be drawn on Capello’s contractual terms, but their hand was forced by these developments and they had to come to the table.

Successful talks were concluded and the Daily Mail was able to announce on 2 June that discussions between Pierfilippo Capello (Fabio’s son and lawyer) and the FA represented by new President, Sir David Richards and managing director, Adrian Bevington had included the removal of the review clause.

Fast forward with me now to the Daily Telegraph of 28 June. England, after a lacklustre performance in the group stages of the competition, had just lost to its old footballing enemy, Germany in the first knock-out round and crashed out of the competition, losing 4-1 in the process. “Fabio Capello will meet senior Football Association officials on Monday,” the Telegraph announced, “to seek reassurances over his future, signalling the start of negotiations that could end in his departure as England coach.” Later on in the same article, the paper reports that “he (Capello) made it clear that he had no intention of resigning without compensation for the remaining two years of his £6 million-a-year contract.”

Should the Football Association have been drawn into negotiations with Capello’s people when they were?
Should Capello have exploited his new-found power in the way that he did with the World Cup only days away?
Did the negotiations take Capello’s eye off the World Cup ball?

Well, it is easy to be wise after the event and hindsight is an exact science. I am not going to comment on England’s World Cup performance, as that is beyond the scope of a negotiating blog, but in terms of the negotiator, there are a number of interesting questions and lessons from the episode.
• Never underestimate your power in a negotiating situation and recognise that external developments can alter the power balance.
• Be prepared to exploit these external developments if they strengthen your position.
• Occasionally, it might be in your interests to be economical with the truth! Signalling outright rejection of the Inter Milan interest would have seriously weakened Capello’s negotiating position.
• Be clear about your objectives; focus on them and do not be scared to ask for what you want.
• Time – especially as deadlines approach – can be a valuable reminder to the other side that there might be risks in not making concessions.
• From the FA’s position, mind you, they might argue that they acted in haste and will be repenting leisurely and at great expense!