In addition I think it's a bit harsh to criticise the FA for not being able to manage this process perfectly. A number of the rumours yesterday were completely spurious (and just plain wrong – how many times did I see on a twitter page that SWP was out of the squad?). I'm not quite sure how you expect the FA to control people just making stuff up. In addition to that, the only people who knew what was happening were the players in question and Capello. If the players can't keep their mouths shut for a few hours, then that is just human error rather than a failure of the FA's social media strategy.

Twitter et al do allow for instant transfer of news and information, and that will always be a challenge for organisations in the public eye. However, I would much rather my national manager showed a human touch by informing the players directly, and relying on them to keep quiet until it was officially announced, instead of the alternative option of sending the unlucky 7 an email at 10am on the dot breaking the bad news. This is of course the alternative option, and one that the FA will undoubtedly implement if the players are unable to do their bit to control the rumour mill.