In keeping with the spirit of the times and with his own stern image, Fabio Capello has clamped down on the WAGS.

The wives and girlfriends, whose exuberance and excess often made for more interesting viewing three years ago in Germany than the games their HABS were involved in, have been banished to the stands.

Capello is going to allow England's players to see their families only one day a week, after matches, at the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

“We’re going to South Africa to play, not for a holiday," he growls. "If they don’t want to come for the day only, they should stay home.”

To make matters worse, he says the Football Association will not pay for them to go to the tournament, as it did in 2006.

Do you think the WAGS made much difference to England's lacklustre performance in Germany. Is Capello being a bit harsh on them?

The death of Sir Bobby Robson, England's most successful manager after Sir Alf Ramsey, had been expected given his long battle with cancer, but his passing still jolts.

The son of a miner, Robson's career was characterised by dignity, loyalty and hard graft and no little success.

As a player he won 20 England caps, but it was as an innovative manager that he will be best remembered, notably his success in guiding England to a World Cup semi-final in 1990, when his side came agonisingly close to reaching the final.

Before his stint with the national team, Robson managed Ipswich for 13 years, guiding the Suffolk club to FA and UEFA Cup success and twice led the Portman Road side to the runners-up spot in the old First Division.

At Ipswich, Robson brought in two Dutch players -- Arnold Muhren and Franz Thijssen -- who helped forge Ipswich's reputation as a passing side playing attractive and enterprising football.

After stepping down as England manager in 1990, Robson then went to Holland, where he managed PSV Eindhoven, before going on to coach Sporting Lisbon and Porto in Portugal and then Barcelona in Spain.

While he was at Barca he helped to preside over the development of the Brazilian striker Ronaldo, before he returned to England to manage Newcastle in his native north-east.

Robson was famed for his malapropisms. Once when former England captain Bryan Robson emerged from a lift, his manager greeted him by saying "Hello, Bobby," to be met with the response: "No boss, me Bryan, you Bobby."

The football knight will be much missed. What are your memories of Sir Bobby and what is his importance to English football?