He was supposed to be the saviour of the English national team.

A man with an impeccable track record and a tough talking, no nonsense approach to management that would finally transform England's overpaid passionless stars into a cohesive team.

Under Fabio Capello, we were told, there would be no room for slackers and places in the team would only be given to those who truly deserve the honour of wearing the three lions.

Now, just eight months into his reign and those promises are starting to look like little more than spin. Not only has there been no revolution within the England ranks, there has hardly been any evolution.

On Wednesday night a rather pathetic England side scraped a 2-2 draw with the Czech Republic thanks to a last-minute equaliser and, unsurprisingly, they were booed off the Wembley pitch by fans that have seen it all before.

Many critics have described it as the worst England performance they have ever seen which, considering some of the brain-aching drivel we have endured in the past, is truly scary.

The problem is not that Capello has changed things round and those changes aren't working. The problem is that nothing has changed.

John Terry is back as captain, David James is making his usual errors in goal, the defence still can't defend, the midfield is imbalanced and the strikers can't score. All wrapped up in a traditional 4-4-2 formation. Same old, same old.

The starting four in midfield, for example, were Beckham, Lampard, Gerrard and Barry which is not so much innovative as another futile attempt to squeeze square pegs into round holes. Using a glass hammer.

You don't need to have more than two working brain cells to realise you will never get the best out of Gerrard playing him out on the left.

And it was a decision made all the more horrendous by the fact it meant Joe Cole was left warming the bench.

Up front Capello picked Rooney and Defoe, a combination that is neither new nor likely to work. And his answer when that didn't work? Bring on Emile Heskey. Now that's original.

In his defence, Capello has only had five games in charge and none of those have been competitive. But even so, where are all the fresh faces? Where are the new and interesting tactics? Where is the passion he promised to return to the national team?

When he first took over the Italian said all the right things. His sound bites, despite the broken English, hit all the right notes and it was easy to warm to a man who seemed genuinely determined to strive for glory.

Less than a year down the line and it is looking increasingly like sound bites is all they were - a public relations exercise with no substance.

Lucky for him that England's first competitive match is against Andorra which should be a comfortable and emphatic win. Anything less and the knives which are still tucked away will be brought out and the sharpening process will begin.

And we might all start wondering if McClaren was actually that bad a manager...

Bolt from the blue

In all my years of watching sport I don't think I have ever seen anything quite as surreal as the Olympic 100 metres final.

It may, like other events in my life, have been all over too soon, but despite lasting less than 10 seconds it will surely go down as one of the most memorable moments in Olympic history.

That the fantastically named Usain Bolt broke the world record was impressive in itself. That he did so despite dancing the last 20 metres is truly astounding. And, if that already wasn't enough, he managed the whole running/dancing/winning thing with one of his shoelaces undone.

To be honest, Bolt was just what the event needed. In recent years the fast sprints have lost some of their old magic thanks, in no small way, to the antics of drug cheats like Ben Johnson.

Instead of admiring the men and women for what they normally are - supreme athletes - there has been an increasing tendency to wonder just how much of a role illegal substances are playing in the races.

But Bolt, with his 100 metres pantomime and his slightly less theatrical but equally dramatic victory in the 200, has helped restore faith and boost interest in these showpiece events.

This is a man, after all, who is so far removed from illegal substances he spent the hours before the race lounging in bed eating chicken nuggets.

And a down-to-earth champion like that is just what the athletics world needed.

A United front

A delegation from Sheffield United was here this week to formally launch the unique sponsorship deal between the club and the Malta Tourism Authority.

As one of the few who can legitimately claim to be passionate about both parties - the Blades and Malta - I felt it was my duty to get stuck in and meet as many of the people involved in the deal as possible.

And, having done just that over the course of a few days, I can say with total confidence that Malta is on to a winner.

Like with all things new, there have been some doubters questioning the benefits of this tie-in. Is it worth the £350,000 it has cost for a year's sponsorship? Will Malta as an island see any return on its investment? Or is it all just a high-profile but ultimately fruitless waste of taxpayers' money?

The simple truth is that this deal represents exceedingly good value for money for Malta and there are numerous benefits we will be reaping in both the short and long-terms.

The immediate effect will be of substantially increased awareness of our tourism product in the English market. Having visitmalta.com splashed across the club's shirts, all around the ground and on its website will give us great exposure in a market so competitive, every single reminder counts.

There has already been a knock-on effect in that many Sheffield United fans who may have been considering holidays elsewhere are now changing their plans to include Malta in a you-support-us-we-support-you sort of way.

And the direct benefits to our tourism industry will continue throughout the season as the exposure continues and increases with every match - especially those that are televised.

But there is so much more to this deal than simple advertising. By throwing its support behind United, Malta will be reaping rewards for years to come in a variety of ways.

The Blades are a progressive club and they run numerous community schemes in Sheffield - schemes they will be bringing to Malta as part of the deal.

And the setting up of a football academy here - also part of the sponsorship - will be a real boost to Malta's overall footballing infrastructure as it accelerates the process of nurturing our next generation of stars.

In fact, if there is a downside to the current deal it's that it only runs for one year. From what I gather both sides are keen to extend it and, to my mind at least, any extension will only strengthen Malta's return on investment.

There is, of course, a natural tendency to be wary of the unknown. And the uniqueness of this deal is taking both club and country into previously uncharted territory.

But I sincerely believe when we look back on this whole thing in a few years' time it will be in the knowledge that Malta was brave enough to try something that was new and, ultimately, a great success.

Great expectations

In Olympic terms the words Great and Britain rarely sit comfortably together.

Over the last 100 years there has been the occasional high but, for the most part, Team GB's exploits at the world's biggest sporting event have been a succession of lows.

This time round, however, they grabbed the Beijing games by the scruff of the neck, gave it a good shake and spent two weeks picking up the medals off the floor.

Originally, these games, which end today, were seen by many as little more than a training session for London 2012. A chance for everyone to gain valuable experience ahead of hosting the event in four years' time.

The athletes, however, had very different ideas as they racked up podium after podium to return home with more bling than a Californian rap star.

Cycling, rowing and sailing were the three key areas for the Brits although there were promising performances in a whole host of other sports. And let's not forget that Britain unearthed its own Phelps-ette in swimmer Rebecca Adlington, the 19-year-old who smashed the world record on her way to claiming two golds in the pool.

The only area where the British failed to make any substantial progress was in the athletics. A handful of medals are not what you expect from a nation that has produced such athletic greats as Jonathan Edwards, Linford Christie, Colin Jackson, Daley Thompson and Sally Gunnel.

This is the one low point of an otherwise exceptional display.

However, despite the overall success, Team GB's final medal haul from Beijing will still be a far cry from 1908 when it won a quite staggering 56 golds on home soil.

Then again, that's hardly surprising considering many of the events in that Olympics - including such classics as tug-of-war and real tennis - were only entered by British teams.

Unless they receive special dispensation to include darts, complaining about the weather and binge drinking at 2012, there won't be any of these one-sided events to boost the medal table.

But the triumph of their Beijing adventure combined with home advantage means Team GB can look forward to the next Olympics with levels of optimism they have not felt for a century.

All they need now is to find a few people who can run, jump and throw...

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com