Capello's regime change pays off

It sounded like an issue that Rio Ferdinand had been waiting to get off his chest for a long time and when it came to confronting the worst excesses of the national side's recent past – the WAGs culture of the 2006 World Cup finals – he finally nailed the sorriest episode of this current England generation. It took a senior player to say it outright and now you have to hope the "circus", as Ferdinand described it, really has left town for good.

If there was a truth and reconciliation committee to oversee the crimes of underachievement for this England team, this was a good start. A player who has, in his past, appeared to be among the most feckless was outspoken in a way that is unusual among the players. Ferdinand welcomed the new austerity of the Fabio Capello regime as a contrast to that summer of two years ago in a way that was refreshing. Let's be straight – it needed saying. Although, before we get too carried away, it should be remembered that the new Mr Responsible of the England team is certainly no angel himself.

The Belarusians in the room were exchanging puzzled glances as Ferdinand went into a long exposition about the follies of having too much of a scene around England's players – and in that he made special mention of the players' families sharing the same hotel as the press. It is a personal view that it was not in itself a disaster but when England went out in the quarter-finals in 2006 the high jinks of their partners and families were always likely to be presented as symbolic of an uncaring, complacent team.

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At the time, Ferdinand's partner, Rebecca Ellison, was pregnant and not part of the general dancing-on-tables-and-champagne-cocktails mood. Ferdinand himself has undoubtedly matured since his infamous holiday with Frank Lampard and Kieron Dyer, his missed drugs test and his questionable choice of company. However, he would have to concede that his World Cup wind-ups television programme – while fairly harmless – did not contribute to the idea that this was a team completely focused on success.

Should England win against Belarus, this fourth straight victory would be their best start ever to a qualification campaign for a major tournament and a good point at which to say that some kind of progress has been made from the disasters that bedevilled the Euro 2008 campaign. That is not to say that all the players are happy with a Capello regime that has them cooped up in the hotel for long periods, that controls what they eat and when they eat it. But they are winning – and that alone solves a lot of problems.

Capello gets awkward when asked about the frailties of past England set-ups, about which he evidently has opinions but is unwilling to share them, and yesterday was no different. When the Belarus international Alexander Hleb's observation that Capello runs his teams like a "Communist state" was put to him, he responded by saying that Hleb was too young to know a Communist state. "I run a professional structure," Capello said. "We earn a lot of money. We have to be professional. Nothing more."

That could just about be Capello's epitaph, although it would not reflect the success that he has also enjoyed as a manager. He said that he finds England's players to be well-disciplined, even compared to those he coached in Italy and Spain, although it is understood that he finds their constant need to be entertained by activities baffling. The nine holes of golf they were allowed to play in the build-up to the Andorra game last month was a hard-won concession and Capello was astonished that the players were petitioning to play 18 holes.

"I think every manager decides the line," Capello said. "I always have wherever I worked. In Italy, one line. In Spain, different. But I have to respect the ideas and the lives of every country. I find the results always with my line. When I arrived here, I spoke with the players and I told them normal things. Not strange things. Normal things for the players."

What followed was a comical misunderstanding over whether players should be allowed to see their wives during long tournaments. "When I was a club manager, sometimes during long training camps – 10 or 15 days – it was possible to meet women," he said. Any women in particular? "Wives, official girlfriends," said Capello, getting slightly flustered before adding: "Not strange girlfriends." And no one was quite sure what he meant by that.

There is a record of sorts at stake tonight at the Dynamo stadium although Capello is not bothered by it. He dismissed the notion that any importance should be attached to a record-breaking start to the campaign – "We have to win tomorrow for the fourth time [in a World Cup qualifier] and [play as if it is] for the first time" – and he was unperturbed by the changes that have been forced upon him by injury. That means that once again he will have to start with Matthew Upson in defence and move Wayne Bridge, or possibly Joleon Lescott, in at left back in place of the injured Ashley Cole.

"Upson played a normal game [against Kazakhstan on Saturday], he made two important tackles," Capello said. "He lost out on some but he's one player, what's important is the team. Upson's played three games [for Capello] so he's not new. Rio and John Terry have only played together four times for me. That's not a lot."

In midfield, the big decision is the Lampard and Steven Gerrard partnership and if Capello plays 4-4-2 it seems inconceivable that he will leave out Gareth Barry. That means accommodating Gerrard on the left, which he will not like but, given Monday's pledge to apply himself he can hardly complain. "I think we are a good team, a strong team," Capello said. "We are thinking just about victory. Always, when I speak with the players, I say to them we have to win, they have to play with the same style that we play for their clubs."

It is, as Capello said once again last night, "about belief and confidence". That has been the core of his message from the start when it comes to rebuilding this squad and, as Ferdinand pointed out, the new England manager has no time for distractions.

World Cup qualifying Group Six

Results: Kazakhstan 3 Andorra 0; Ukraine 1 Belarus 0; Andorra 0 England 2; Croatia 3 Kazakhstan 0; Andorra 1 Belarus 3; Croatia 1 England 4; Kazakhstan 1 Ukraine 3; England 5 Kazakhstan 1; Ukraine 0 Croatia 0.

England's remaining fixtures: Today Belarus (a); 1 Apr 2009 Ukraine (h); 6 June Kazakhstan (a); 10 June Andorra (h); 9 Sept Croatia (h); 10 Oct Ukraine (a); 14 Oct Belarus (h).