It has been an incredible week of drama and of the unexpected. And now, as we take stock at the end of it, let’s use this as an opportunity.

Let’s use the fallout of the week, in which England have lost a manager and in which Harry Redknapp has rightly been cleared in a trial that should never have taken place, to build a structure around the new England manager that can benefit the football nation for years ahead.

And let’s stop thinking about two-year cycles and start thinking about where we might be in 10 years because that’s the only way we might one day win a major trophy.

Pride of Lions: Harry Redknapp is the outstanding candidate to lead England into a new era by blooding youngsters such as Phil Jones, Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck

I can't say I was wholly surprised at the dramatic developments. I sensed last week, when I called for Football Association chairman David Bernstein to address the Fabio Capello issue and end his reign as England manager, that conflict was brewing.

It took a lot for me to say Capello should go, as I always would veer on the side of longevity and stability for the manager, but I didn’t believe the story could have a happy ending. I knew the manager, the team, the fans and the FA would suffer if the show was allowed to limp on in disunited fashion until Euro 2012.

Funnily enough, both Bernstein and Capello have gone up in my estimation this week. I didn’t agree with the chairman’s decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy without Capello being consulted. However, the chairman has acted decisively.

I didn’t think the FA board really believed in Capello and he certainly wasn’t creating any legacy for English football, so Bernstein acted in the interests of the game by accepting his resignation.

AND Fabio Capello at least stuck to his guns. I felt he had been undermined and he clearly agreed. He had the integrity to say so and offer to resign, helping England remove the negativity that was beginning to envelop England’s Euro 2012 campaign. It was the right decision for all parties.

But let’s not get carried away. The minute we have a new manager, it will be: ‘Harry’s in, bring in the kids, everything will be fine, we’re going to win the Euros!’ Let’s inject some reality into the debate.

Are we going to win Euro 2012? Probably not. Why not? Well, Germany, France, Portugal, Holland and, of course, Spain are five sides better than England straight away.

Do we have a chance of beating those sides on our day? Yes, of course we do, as we showed against Spain in November.

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