Like we didn't know.

[davieG]

BBC

Stand-in captain Rio Ferdinand says the England camp was like "a circus" before the arrival of coach Fabio Capello.

Ferdinand, whose nation face a World Cup qualifier in Belarus on Wednesday, believes the 2006 World Cup campaign was damaged by the celebrity culture.

The 29-year-old said: "We became a bit of a circus, in terms of the whole WAG (wives and girlfriends) situation.

"People were worrying more about what other people were wearing and where they were going, rather than the team."

Ferdinand will wear the captain's armband in place of the injured John Terry when England attempt to make it four wins from four World Cup qualifiers under Capello in Minsk.

Manchester United defender Ferdinand reveals the atmosphere around the England set-up is now completely different to the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany under Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Back then the squad regularly hit the headlines when they stayed at Baden-Baden and were famously accompanied by their WAGS. "It seems like there was a big show around the whole England squad," added Ferdinand.

"It was like watching a theatre unfolding and football almost became a secondary element to the main event.

"When you step back and look back at that, you think like it was a circus.

"I'm not going to tell the other players what you should or should not do but I just think that, as a squad, we were a bit too open, going out in and around Baden-Baden, and probably had too much contact with families.

"You don't get many tournaments in your career. To give yourself the best chance, you have to be focused.

"That then transposed itself into the team. This regime is very watertight. If I'm honest, it feels as if we're going in the right direction.

"I don't want to speak too soon but you can see we're at the start of something and hopefully there will be bigger rewards than what we've had in the past."

Football Association director of communications Adrian Bevington insisted that the players were not to blame for any negative atmosphere.

"I fully understand the sentiment Rio is making. What I think I can say very confidently is that I don't actually blame the players for that," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"In the end they didn't pick the hotel, we did. They didn't say that if your family wants to come and stay in a town 20 minutes down the road from the team hotel they can do.

"If we had been in a big city we would never have heard so much about this."

After reaching the quarter-finals in Germany, England did not even qualify for Euro 2008 under Steve McClaren. Ferdinand has felt a significant shift in focus since Capello took over as coach - with the Italian guiding his team to a 100% winning start in Group Six of the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign.

"It's a very, very professional regime," he said. "Very result-orientated. Very much like a lot of our clubs. The results come a long way before the performances.

"You see how he is on the training ground, in our meetings, that there's a winning mentality there. That's what he's putting over to the squad he has in front of him. It's about us taking that on board."

Ferdinand feels there is a healthy distance between the players and Capello and the former West Ham and Leeds star compares the relationship with that of his club manager at Old Trafford Sir Alex Ferguson.

"Do you really know any managers? I don't know the real Fergie," he said.

"When he comes to football, he's probably a totally different person to when he's at home with his wife and grandchildren.

"That doesn't matter. They're not here to be buddies, talk about old times or be great friends. They are here to win football matches."

[Corky]

It was a complete circus, and Ferdinand's "merked" show didn't help.

[Fox You Forest]

It was a complete circus, and Ferdinand's "merked" show didn't help.

I doubt it did any harm also, Could have been good for morale all sat round watching that having a good laugh.

[purpleronnie]

Glad all that has ended now can only be a good thing.

[Corky]

I doubt it did any harm also, Could have been good for morale all sat round watching that having a good laugh.

Maybe it didn't in the wider scheme, to me though it looked like another episode where the football was overlooked, like the WAG culture and the Beckham parties.

You may disagree though

[Guest]

Anyone tells me that having the WAGs about didn't affect the team, then I am afraid I shall have to disagree with them.

[Corky]

Anyone tells me that having the WAGs about didn't affect the team, then I am afraid I shall have to disagree with them.

I agree with you. The players should have been able to cope without their partners for four or so weeks. We have this wonderful thing called the telephone that means contact can be kept whilst away from relatives.

They didn't need to be there, and they should have realised that publicity like drinking heavily and dancing on tables was going to bring problems that needn't have been there.

[Guest]

I agree with you. The players should have been able to cope without their partners for four or so weeks. We have this wonderful thing called the telephone that means contact can be kept whilst away from relatives.

They didn't need to be there, and they should have realised that publicity like drinking heavily and dancing on tables was going to bring problems that needn't have been there.

Exactly. 4 weeks every other year isn't too much to ask. Many of the fans would sacrifice much more if given the chance to represent their country.

[Ultra]

Glad all that has ended now can only be a good thing.

It hasn't.

As long as David Beckham is still involved in the set-up, his wife will insist on tagging along, and all the rest of them will demand the same privileges.

Although somehow I can't see them doing too much shopping and partying in Soweto come 2010..

[ozleicester]

These "professional" footballers live with their WAGS every other day/week/month, and it doesn’t seem to affect their games, if we assume that they need to be separated from them for the world cup...then surely they need to be separate for the regular season?

For goodness sake, surely the players understand their roles and expectations anyway, I seem to remember previous competitions where big nights out and the usual unprofessional appearances by players occurred with or with out WAGS

Seems to me its just a bit of buck passing, Mclaren was shite, the players lacked the intestinal fortitude to do what he could not and sort themselves out, if they weren’t with the WAGS, they would’ve been roasting the locals, busting up pubs, or spending all night gambling.

They played shite, the tactics were shite and they still find a way to blame everyone else.

[Foxhateram]

Anyone tells me that having the WAGs about didn't affect the team, then I am afraid I shall have to disagree with them.

Yer you can say that in a negative way. However if you look Cristiano Ronaldo for example he plays alot better when he and his MRS get on well. When he was waith Gemma Atkinson he openly admitted that when he was getting on well with her, he played alot better on the football pitch.

Alot of player performances are based on confidence. A player is far more likely to play better if his wife or girlfriend are there and treating him well. I for one know that when a player falls out with his MRS then his game falls.

Svens thinking when the WAG's went along to germany was that if they were their with the players, then the players wouldnt be missing them, and would therefore be more focused on the game.

There are many ways to look at it.

As for this interview its alright saying it now, why didnt he say to sven how he felt at the time.

[Guest]

Yer you can say that in a negative way. However if you look Cristiano Ronaldo for example he plays alot better when he and his MRS get on well. When he was waith Gemma Atkinson he openly admitted that when he was getting on well with her, he played alot better on the football pitch.

Alot of player performances are based on confidence. A player is far more likely to play better if his wife or girlfriend are there and treating him well. I for one know that when a player falls out with his MRS then his game falls.

Svens thinking when the WAG's went along to germany was that if they were their with the players, then the players wouldnt be missing them, and would therefore be more focused on the game.

There are many ways to look at it.

As for this interview its alright saying it now, why didnt he say to sven how he felt at the time.

Different people react to situations in different ways, but in any other job, if you let your personal life interfere with your professional life, unless you have a very understanding boss, you will find yourself being pulled up for it.

I also would have thought that a tournament featuring the world's best players, where you could be playing a lot of games in a relatively short space of time would require all of the focus that one could give. With the WAGs, they weren't there to provide in a normal domestic situation; they tagged along to pose and to party, and for all the self-publicity that they could muster. So you cannot compare it to club football.

I am married to someone who travels a lot for work, and we manage to cope without each other. He's coming back from Milan today, what are the chances of his employers paying for me to go out there and party?

[Corky]

Yer you can say that in a negative way. However if you look Cristiano Ronaldo for example he plays alot better when he and his MRS get on well. When he was waith Gemma Atkinson he openly admitted that when he was getting on well with her, he played alot better on the football pitch.

Alot of player performances are based on confidence. A player is far more likely to play better if his wife or girlfriend are there and treating him well. I for one know that when a player falls out with his MRS then his game falls.

Svens thinking when the WAG's went along to germany was that if they were their with the players, then the players wouldnt be missing them, and would therefore be more focused on the game.

There are many ways to look at it.

As for this interview its alright saying it now, why didnt he say to sven how he felt at the time.

In his book, David Davies, who was at the FA at the time, says that Beckham was the player who asked if the WAGs could come along, so it does seem slightly hypocritical of him to say he's glad it's gone now.

As Lisa says also, the WAGs weren't there to be supportive of their partners, they were there to party and dance around, grabbing press attention. I know the players should focus on the job, but how would you feel if your wife was partying every night? You would be worrying if they were going to be sensible, an unnecessary distraction.

I feel a part of the problem was that none were genuine football fans. If, say Lisa and Katy were out there as partners of the players, they would understand how important it is for the players to focus solely on the task they are paid to do, and so would do their best not to bring any publicity, or they might refuse the offer of going out there.

Anyway, the players didn't perform well enough at the World Cup. It was a combination of a lot of things as to why we didn't do well.

[Guest]

I feel a part of the problem was that none were genuine football fans. If, say Lisa and Katy were out there as partners of the players, they would understand how important it is for the players to focus solely on the task they are paid to do, and so would do their best not to bring any publicity, or they might refuse the offer of going out there.

Too right! I would want to sit (well, stand...) with the 'real' supporters. I wouldn't want any attention drawn to myself, and I certainly wouldn't want to have any contact with the other half if there was any chance of it being a distraction!!

But you see, I would never, ever, date a footballer (alright, I can't, technically speaking). For a variety of reasons.