Miracles take a little longer but Jenas and Wright-Phillips give their new boss a winning start

It is going to take more than a new set of rules to turn this lot into World Cup winners.

In fairness to Capello, he only had three days to prepare and he did say he could not perform 'miracles' quite that quickly. England won, beating an average Swiss side thanks to goals from Jermaine Jenas and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

But the 'boss' would not have been terribly happy with his new students on what was jokingly referred to as the first proper day at their 'new school'.

While Joe Cole, Wayne Rooney and Jenas deserved gold stars for their effort and imagination, too many could yet find themselves in detention when they report back to Capello for next month's rather more daunting encounter in Paris.

It was a stuttering display, not least in a first half memorable for the manner in which it echoed so many of those nights under the guidance of Steve McClaren.

It was a performance lacking in urgency as well as fluency and one that Capello would not have had in mind when he tried to communicate his ideas to his players.

They could not even blame Wembley's pitch on this occasion. It looked terrific.

If things improved after the interval with the introduction of Peter Crouch as a good oldfashioned target man, fundamental problems remained.

England were short of confidence and composure and, if we applauded Capello for making his players sweat on their places until a few hours prior to the game, they still looked badly in need of more preparation and more time with their new manager. As Capello conceded, his players were 'nervous'.

Certain decisions Capello made will divide opinion.

How, for instance, could he possibly prefer Wes Brown to Micah Richards — Brown was awful — and Matthew Upson to Jonathan Woodgate? How could he possibly watch Steven Gerrard and then deploy him on the left of a three-man midfield? How can Michael Owen make the rapid transition from talismanic striker to understudy?

Even the decision to take off Joe Cole and Jenas after 57 minutes came as something of a surprise, although Capello will respond by pointing out how much of an impact Crouch and Wright-Phillips made as their replacements.

Supporters who did not quite observe a minute's silence for those who perished in Munich 50 years ago — the referee blew his whistle after 25 seconds, fearful, no doubt, that the noise was going to escalate — did not possess the patience Capello demanded, booing after little more than 20 minutes and calling for the return of David Beckham.

But that, you suspect, was a response to David Bentley's poor crossing from the right rather than a direct dig at Capello.

Only five games remain before England meet Croatia but Capello should not be judged until that World Cup qualifying campaign is under way. His record as a club manager has earned him that much.

The next seven months promise to be fascinating, given how secretive and unpredictable he has already proved to be.

The players, it turned out, did not know the team when they walked off the training pitch at London Colney on Tuesday.

And what was that about always playing 4-4-2? Last night it drifted somewhere between 4-3-3 and 4-5-1 and perhaps even 4-1-4-1.

Whatever it was (and that could have been part of the problem during that desperately disappointing first 45 minutes), England did not seem entirely comfortable.

After little more than five minutes, Capello was in the technical area reminding them of their duties. England dominated possession — 69 per cent in the early stages — and when Cole delivered a super ball for Rooney, it took a fine save from Diego Benaglio to deny the Manchester United striker another international goal.

But Rooney was not enjoying the kind of support he receives from his colleagues at United and until he was joined by Crouch he was forced to carry too heavy a burden.

Capello spent long periods in the technical area, albeit without an umbrella and a cappuccino, and he remained there as the boos and jeers began to descend from the stands. Not even the occasional chance could placate supporters still scarred by England's failure to reach Euro 2008.

In Joe Cole, however, Capello at least had someone capable of inflicting real damage down England's left flank.

He forced another fine save from Benaglio but when he then accelerated beyond two Swiss defenders in the 40th minute, he delivered the ball to the feet of Jenas and the Tottenham midfielder did the rest. 1-0 to England.

Relief for their Italian manager. After the break England were indeed better, Rooney, Joe Cole and Jenas all going close to scoring a second only for the Swiss to score an unexpected equaliser in the 58th minute.

An equaliser that embarrassed England's defenders and reminded Capello that he will have to earn every penny of that £6million a year.

If a neat pass from Tranquillo Barnetta was followed by a super strike from Eren Derdiyok that was hit too early for James, the replays will not make pleasant viewing for Rio Ferdinand and his colleagues.

By then, at least, Capello had unleashed Wright-Phillips from the bench and within four minutes the Chelsea winger had struck, making the most of a fine attacking move that was orchestrated by Rooney and Gerrard.

It might have been enough to secure a victory but Capello did not seem overly impressed.

When the final whistle arrived he followed Owen straight down the tunnel, thoughts of just how massive a challenge he has accepted no doubt occupying his mind. Welcome to England, Fabio.

ENGLAND (4-4-1-1): James; Brown, Ferdinand, Upson, A Cole (Bridge 73min); Bentley, Jenas (Wright- Phillips 57min), Gerrard, Barry (Hargreaves 73); J Cole (Crouch 57), Rooney (Young 87).

SWITZERLAND (4-2-3-1): Benaglio; Lichtsteiner (Behrami 46), Senderos (Grichting 58), Eggiman, Spycher; Inler, Fernandes; Barnetta, Yakin (Margairaz 63), Gygax (Vonlanthen 46); Nkufo (Derdiyok 46).

Man of the match: Joe Cole.

Referee: Felix Brych (Germany).