Take England to the semis or you're fired

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Guiding the team beyond the quarter-finals of major tournaments is the minimum expectation of the FA for Fabio Capello - or whoever succeeds the Italian - in their new four-year strategic vision.

England, who have failed to even qualify for the finals of this summer's European Championship and last reached a semi-final in 1996 when they were hosts, will be expected to reach at least that stage in four years' time in Poland and the Ukraine followed by the World Cup in 2014.

Fortunately for Capello, whose contract runs until after the 2010 World Cup, the FA's requirement doesn't kick in until after that date but the pressure will be enormous on either him or the next boss as they try and guide England to success.

It will be a daunting task for the man in charge of England at that time, particularly with the number of players available to him likely to be further reduced by the amount of foreign imports in the Premier League.

The FA's four-year vision, following 18 months of consultation, wants to change the philosophy of team England to a winning mentality.

A performance director is also to be appointed to help achieve that goal. The man chosen will have an extensive football background but has yet to be identified. Another main feature of the four-year plan announced by FA chairman Lord Triesman and chief executive Brian Barwick today was the promise that the controversial National Football Centre at Burton will be up and running in two years' time.

The future of the site at Burton looked bleak 12 months ago but Lord Triesman confirmed today that it will be operational by 2010.

The FA have already invested £25million in the 350-acre site in Staffordshire. Other main points of the plan include a scheme to increase the number of referees by 8,000 and to launch a summer women's league tournament.

The FA's vision is to divide the FA into business units that include the 2018 World Cup bid, the National Football Centre and Wembley.

Barwick is looking forward to the making the vision work alongside Lord Triesman. He said: "Lord Triesman is a hugely positive influence at the FA. When it gets tough here, he'll be right alongside me in the trenches."