England Star Received Angry Outburst After Breaking Manager’s Golden Rule

An England star was on the receiving end of an angry outburst from Fabio Capello after breaking his golden rule.

Capello was England manager between December 2007 and February 2012, winning 28 of his 42 games in charge but experiencing a disappointing World Cup campaign in 2010.

The Italian eventually resigned ahead of Euro 2012 after the FA removed the captaincy from John Terry.

Many players who played under him in the tenure noted that Capello was a strict disciplinarian and his cold approach did not always go down well.

It was reported that Capello, very particular in his methods, made the decision to ban players from having ketchup with his food.

But it was in fact another key rule which he took more seriously. England legend David James, who played 53 times for the Three Lions, came back into the fold at the back-end of his career and revealed that under Capello's regime, players were banned from being on their phones whenever having team meals.

England players had to adhere to Fabio Capello's strict rule. Image: Getty

However, there was one instance where former Leicester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Aston Villa striker Emile Heskey was scolded by his manager for having his phone out.

"Fabio did have one rule; no mobile phones at the dinner table!" James, speaking exclusively to SPORTBible via CUSL, explained.

"Everyone, especially after one of the lads was on his phone in the dinner room and Fabio kicked off. I think it was Emile Heskey, and Fabio kicked off and he made a valid point. He said, 'I asked you for one hour not to be on your mobile phones', and he was very upset.

"There was a lot of emotion and at the time, everyone was staring at Emile. But it made sense because all he asked for, he didn't say it at any other time, it was just literally at dinner time. I think it was him and a couple of other lads who may have been on their phones and unfortunately for them, Fabio caught them."

Capello raged at England star's rule break

Back in 2009, The Mirror reported that Heskey was "caught using his phone under the table to send a text message" and led to Capello exploding with "rage".

It was claimed that Capello "dropped a metal food tray to the floor" before producing a rant that "stunned the dining room into silence".

The incident happened following a defeat to Ukraine, with Capello reminding players of the rule he introduced in one of his first moves as England boss.

James made his debut back in 1997 under Glen Hoddle in a more relaxed environment where there were not many laws being laid down.

In fact, according to the goalkeeping veteran, players were able to enjoying late drinking sessions in bars. Quite frequently, Paul Ince's room became the hub of social activities that included drinking and PlayStation - and even had it sown nickname.

Paul Ince's room was the hub of England's social activities. Image: Getty

"I remember back in the 90s, it was a lot freer to the point that we would meet up for England squads, we'd be drinking in a bar with the whole staff the night that we met up, and there was no curfew," James added.

"It was just everyone in the bar, lads would be still drinking at two o'clock in the morning. That would happen with less people the following night…

Basically, it was accepted that people were going to drink. What was funny was, and I know some people may have heard this before, but Incey's room was called The Queen Vic, and there was a group of lads who used to go out there, play the PlayStation, chat, have a drink.

If the game was on a Saturday, which was perfectly acceptable to have a drink on a Wednesday night, the lads would be on the training field saying, is 'The Queen Vic open tonight'?

"That's the kind of culture that we had back then!"