So, just as Don Fabio thought the dust would settle, his buisness mate goes and publishes the "Capello Index" on the world wide web.

Now, what the general media has failed to pick up is that Capello has not come up with these ratings, his name is simply attached to them. Think of it as a competitor to the Castrol Rankings.

Capello did not realise the uproar this would cause (especially if England did not have a good World Cup) and be used as a stick to beat him with.

So, a good three weeks since that thumping at the hands of Germany, the Daily Mail's Martin Samuel sticks the boot in again,

Adam Johnson is a better player in the summer, apparently. So is Joe Hart.

These were the two names that leaked from Capello’s meeting with the FA last week. They emerged almost as a peace offering to those still vexed by the performance of England’s old guard at the World Cup. We will go forward, was the message. We will be shiny and new.

Johnson’s promise is to be used to appease those who feel the England squad is tired and stale; but the reasoning is flawed. If Johnson should be in the squad now — and he should — he should have been in the squad then, at the time when Capello was trying to coax Paul Scholes from international retirement at the age of 35.

Johnson was left out of England’s party on June 1 when it was cut to 23 for the World Cup. England’s next game, at home to Hungary, will take place on August 11, three days before the Premier League season starts.

Johnson will not have played a competitive game within this period. What has he done, then, to justify being touted as the player who will ride to England’s rescue?

Hart was the only one of three goalkeepers not called on in South Africa. It may well be that he is England’s best prospect long term, but to have him instantly marked for glory is surely counter-productive. Capello did not use Hart at the tournament because he felt it too much pressure for an inexperienced player. What has changed?

Play Hart against Hungary, by all means, start the European Championship qualifying campaign with him, too. Just don’t make a song and dance about it.

To serve up these new faces as if they will transform the English game is self-serving and they should not be made to carry this burden. Just as Westcott was no goalscorer in July, if the future of English football is better created during hiatus, then we truly are in a crisis.

Over to the Guardian now, and Andy Hunter's thoughts on Manchester United's new intake of young talent.

Two days after the sponsorship soirée, United arrived in Toronto for their first friendly of the pre-season, a 3-1 win over Celtic, and Ferguson's increasing reliance on youth was evident immediately. A defence with an average age of 20 began the game – excluding 39-year-old goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar – and a forward line containing two teenagers finished it. This is not the date in the football calendar to be making watertight predictions, but the responsibility on young shoulders will not lessen once the task of regaining the Premier League title from Chelsea and reasserting Champions League credentials begins in August.

There are multiple factors behind the accelerated youth-training scheme at United, however, and not all sit comfortably at commercial engagements in America. While the wealth of Abu Dhabi allows for another round of extravagant spending at Manchester City, Ferguson – who protests there is plenty of money available at United, but that he sees little value in the market at present – spends modestly by comparison with the game's elite. Last summer, £20m went on Valencia and Gabriel Obertan, while the outlay 12 months on currently stands at £19m, for Hernández and Chris Smalling. Interest payments on the loans taken out by the Glazer family for their takeover of United, meanwhile, stood at £69m for last year alone.

A radical overhaul is not required of a squad that would have secured an unprecedented fourth Premier League title last season with two more points. The looming threat of time conspiring against a United squad containing 12 players aged 29 or more must be addressed, however, regardless of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes defying nature with every passing campaign. The lengthening injury record of Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville confirms that not every veteran is immune.

Ferguson does not deny the need for his next generation to impose themselves on Old Trafford. "We expect progress. We have a strong belief in their abilities. They will eventually, at some point, be the next Manchester United," he said of those who featured against Celtic.

"We're good at bringing young players through like that. Some we have to sign, some we bring through from the academy. The important thing is it gives us a proper spirit at the football club to bring young players through the way we do. So I was pleased with most of them against Celtic. I thought when we changed the back four we were a bit rocky at times, but we got through it. I think there are really good talents in the striking department with young players like [Federico] Macheda, [Danny] Welbeck and Mame Diouf. They are very good talents I'm very hopeful about those and, of course, Hernández joins us in Houston. So that's a good area of the squad. There is a good future there."