Slick continental style, a taste for unabashed luxury, a silky smooth operator with a proven track record, a thoroughly winning pedigree… we could go on… so we will: Drafted in for reliability, performance and an unquestionable ability to drive the team forward, England’s two new coaches – that’s manager Signor Fabio Capello and the team’s brand-spanking Scania Irizar PB luxury tourer – are all about carrying the nation to victory. Hopefully, one day they’ll also both be bringing some silverware (or preferably goldware, à la Jules Rimet) back to Blighty to grace the cabinets of the Football Association’s Soho Square home.
With the future dreams of the nation now resting firmly upon his shoulders, Fabio Capello has a reputation for insisting upon the best. So he shouldn’t be disappointed with his new Scania Irizar PB. And as he’s going to have some time on his hands until the World Cup qualifiers come around this autumn, we thought we’d take him on an exclusive tour around the latest addition to his squad.
First and foremost, the Scania Irizar PB is a cracking passenger carrier by anyone’s standards – reflected by the fact that the vehicle was awarded the coveted International Coach of the Year trophy soon after its launch.
Art lover
With a collection of his own estimated to be worth in excess of £10 million, Fabio Capello has a long-standing and deep-rooted love of art. So he’s sure to glow with pride and admiration as he gazes at the PB’s impressive exterior, complete with its sleek, flowing lines and dashing livery. Only the personalised number plate – FA07 ENG – may give cause for concern, but sorry Fabio, the pink Rolls Royce of Lady Penelope has the plate you’d really have liked…
Next it’s round the back and a visit to the engine room. Quiet as a whisper, the team’s new leader will be lucky to hear the purr of the PB’s 380 horsepower Euro 4 Scania EGR six-cylinder unit above the roar of the crowd. But rest assured Fabio, like the England Band belting out the theme from The Great Escape, it won’t miss a beat. And once you’ve got them revved up, getting them into gear won’t be a problem either, courtesy of the vehicle’s proven Scania Opticruise transmission.
Should a trip to the automotive physio ever prove necessary, Signor Capello will be delighted to learn there are as many Scania service centres in the UK today as there are clubs in all our major football leagues – that’s Premiership, Championship and League Divisions 1 and 2 – put together. In fact, in one of those quirky soccer-type coincidences, there are precisely 92 Scania locations and 92 football league clubs in the UK at the present time.
His exterior tour complete, Fabio is invited to step aboard. With its plush leather seats, intimate tables and soft lighting throughout, he could perhaps be forgiven for thinking that he was entering a luxury yacht!
The coach’s seats are arranged in a 2-2-2-2 formation around the tables either side of the aisles. Not exactly the kind of set-up a soccer manager may be most familiar with, but one we’re sure Fabio will tip his hat to when he sees how effective and well-balanced the arrangement is in practice.
As it happens, (and this has nothing to do with the seating) a flexible configuration is one of the hallmarks of the Scania Irizar PB. Offered in two body heights, 3.5- and 3.7-metres, and a range of overall lengths from 12- to 15-metres, the vehicle is available in no fewer than 13 different combinations. As a top manager, Fabio Capello will certainly appreciate the ability to change shape, leading us to ponder whether the Scania Irizar designers should try their hands at the Beautiful Game too...
Performance
Finally, and this is where push really comes to shove, let’s take a look at performance. The indications are that with Fabio at the controls, the England team should effortlessly cruise along the fast lane of the motorway to success. After all, here is a man to whom winning has become a way of life.
That goes back as far as 1967, when a young Capello won his first trophy, the Italian Cup, as a player with Roma. He is also remembered for his 1973 goal which saw Italy claim its first ever victory over England at Wembley (hang on, he is on our side, right? ed). Then there’s all those winning years as a coach with Milan, Real Madrid, Roma and Juventus.
Put all this together and we can already see football coming home – in our hopes and dreams at least: Fabio Capello and his reinvigorated squad of world-beaters celebrating aboard their Scania Irizar PB, complete with a certain 14" high golden trophy gleaming on the dashboard…
Let’s hope, (with all due respect to any non-England supporters reading this article), that our tour turns out to be no fantasy football excursion. As we see it, with a fabulous new coach that’s truly fit for purpose with a proven track record to match, it’s surely only a matter of time before the results start rolling in.
He’s got the vehicle to make it happen. The rest, Fabio, is down to you.
Scene Scania would like to express its thanks to Guideline Coaches (London) Limited, the owner and operator of the new England football team coach. We wish Tom McKechnie, the company’s Managing Director and kitman for the England squad, and team driver Joe Noctor every success as they drive the players to what we hope will be many a famous victory in the not too distant future.
