I frankly did not peg Capello to have anything to do with bookies. He seemed to be too high minded for that.
But this is what his new Capello index will accomplish in association with a betting company. Place bets against his own players right during the World Cup by analyzing and assigning scores to their performances after every match.
Call it an online perp walk and maybe Capello can spin it by saying that it was a way of motivating players to do better. But there are other perceptions including a more sinister Gordon Gekko style greed. Which is why he is walking back on this one.
Call it what you will. The timing is just awful and if the scores are anything to go by then Capello is betting against John Terry and Rio Ferdinand not going. Owen Hargreaves is.
But here is a point.
The only reason this venture has a chance of succeeding as a betting tool is because the composition of the England squad has so many question marks. The only given is Wayne Rooney. We can place an over and under on the other selections till the cows come home.