ENGLAND’S exit from the World Cup is a massive disappointment to everyone.

I was with Jim Thomson, Colin Waldron, Mick Docherty and Steve Kindon at Pontefract yesterday for our annual day at the races and it’s a mystery to all of us why England weren’t at the races at all in this tournament.

There is clearly some unrest in the camp. I don’t know whether it’s the way Fabio Capello is managing the players that’s the problem, but obvious that something isn’t right.

I do think the players should be doing for themselves and for the country, but having said that no player wants to go out and play badly, whatever the circumstances.

All Wayne Rooney wants to do is go out there and do well on the biggest stage in the world.

They give their utmost effort, but sometimes it’s not enough if there’s a missing link and if things are unsettled behind the scenes that could be a big factor in their down-fall.

It’s a bit like going to a party when you have had a barney with your partner.

You try to enjoy yourself but it’s not quite the same. We want stability, but clearly we’ve not had it.

What disappointed me was when John Terry had the guts to stand up and be counted with his opinions, and then the next minute had to go crawling and give a grovelling apology to the manager.

He is too authoritarian, and that is the wrong approach. Why cocoon them in a room and stop them doing anything?

The players haven’t responded to such discipline and being almost caged in the team hotel. They all have different needs, and that’s always been the case.

Take my old Burnley team-mate Peter Noble, for example.

He used to go out for a couple of pints the night before an away game, and Jimmy Adamson and the rest of the players knew about this.

But it was never a problem for any of us. We accepted it.

It was either a case of having a couple of pints so he’d sleep like a baby, or banning him from drinking anything, meaning he’d be tossing and turning all night.

He wasn’t drinking to get drunk, it was just to calm him down. But one way won’t suit another, because everyone’s different.

It’s up to the each individual to found out what suits them and, as a manager, you have to be receptive to that.

The other big thing is the absence of Rio Ferdinand. He and Terry made for a solid and stable back four, but Rio’s injury meant all of a sudden Terry had three different central defensive partners in Jamie Carragher, Ledley King and Matthew Upson.

That’s very unsettling, and led to some pretty simple goals being conceded. I don’t think that would have happened with Rio in the side.

But the goal that wasn’t still dominates the inquest too, and all-but demands goalline technology to be introduced because these big incidents happen.

A penalty is different, because that’s the referee’s opinion about whether it is a foul or not.

But a ball crossing the line is black and white. There is no doubt about it, and it’s something that could be settled in seconds through instant replays.