STAND-IN captain Rio Ferdinand has criticised the celebrity culture of the previous era and their infamous WAGs 'circus'.

The central defender said: 'We became a bit of a circus, if I'm honest, in terms of the whole WAG situation.'

That culture peaked during the 2006 World Cup Finals when the squad stayed at Baden-Baden and were famously accompanied by their wives and girlfriends (WAGs).

'It seems like there was a big show around the whole England squad.

'It was like watching a theatre unfolding and football almost became a secondary element to the main event.

'People were worrying more about what people were wearing and where they were going, rather than the England football team.

'That then transposed itself into the team,' added Ferdinand.

But the Manchester United player said current England manager Fabio Capello has put the team on the right track.

Water-tight

'This regime is very water-tight. If I'm honest, it feels as if we're going in the right direction.

'I don't want to speak too soon, but you can see we're at the start of something and, hopefully, there'll be bigger rewards than what we've had in the past.'

Ferdinand, who wore the England armband in Belarus early this morning in a World Cup Qualifier, can point to a change in results as a mark of how effective Capello has been.

Ferdinand was known to be a player who preferred to stay at the hotel rather than get photographed in Baden-Baden - but he admits it was easy to get caught up in it.

'That's said in hindsight,' he admitted. 'You were caught up in the bubble. Being somewhere like Baden-Baden, walking around the town, there were paparazzi everywhere and we were among journalists as well, our families were there.

'When you step back and look back at that, you think like it was a circus.'

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