Gerrard defends Fabio Capello

England captain Steven Gerrard has leapt to the defence of Fabio Capello and hopes the Italian`s future as England manager does not depend on the opening two Euro 2012 qualifiers.

England take on Bulgaria at Wembley tonight and then are away to Switzerland on Tuesday.

Full Time Result betting for tonight`s clash has England fancied at 1.30, Bulgaria 10.00 and the draw 5.00.

Gerrard insists it is "crazy" to suggest that England will suddenly be transformed into a tournament-winning team by a "knee jerk" change of head coach.

The Liverpool talisman insists the players and not Capello should bear the majority of the blame for their disappointing World Cup campaign.

Gerrard has also ruled out rumours that there has been a communication breakdown between Capello and the players.

Gerrard said: "I wanted Fabio to stay. I have a lot belief in him.

"It`s important that Fabio is still given a chance. For me, he`s a fantastic manager.

"Who out there that is an English manager has the CV that Fabio Capello has got?

"Will his future decided by these two games? I don`t know. I hope not. I`m not in control.

"It has happened before but hopefully that won`t be the case again. Hopefully we can get two good results and start slowly building for the future.

"There are still good managers out there.

"But it would be a knee-jerk reaction to sack a manager after one bad tournament, then think everything will be rosy when you start with a new guy and we`ll go on and win Euro 2012.

"That`s crazy. It`s crazy to think it`s as easy as that."

Some sections of the media have turned on Capello since England`s dismal showing in South Africa.

Gerrard said: "It seems as if there`s a lot of blame going towards the manager.

"But it was the players who under-performed out there. People talk about tactics and stuff, but there`s only so much that a manager can do.

"The players have to deliver, and the players never delivered in Africa.

"Of course, everyone knows in football that the manager eventually gets the blame if things don`t go well, but for me, we should get behind him now.

"The communication between players and managers is also not a problem. He talks to the players individually, and the team, and the message does come across."

Gerrard believes Capello has not been affected by the criticism which has rained down on his shoulders since the 4-1 mauling by Germany which saw England crash out of the World Cup.

He said: "It doesn`t seem to me that it affects him. He`s got a lot of experience and he`s handling it quite well.

"But it`s up to the players to ease the pressure and take the focus off him, and make us a better team, more successful."

It`s 9.00 that Capello leads England to glory to win Euro 2012 outright.