THEY say you don't entirely appreciate the good times unless you've come through the bad.
This is never more the case than with supporters of the England football team.
The so-called golden generation soon rusted and never looked remotely like winning any silverware.
Under Sven-Goran Eriksson they were grew stale and Steve McClaren, didn't manage to achieve. The team badly needed someone like Fabio Capello, who - and admittedly it is still early in the Italian's reign - looks like being exactly what the doctor ordered.
The handsome salary will cause discontent, and perhaps rightly so. There will also be those still in the dark ages that insist the manager of the national team needs to be English.
Such voices will be quiet at the moment, because Capello can currently do no wrong.
Of course, players famously win games and managers lose them, and it is hard to escape the contributions being made by Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcott to the flying start to life under the Italian.
Both have been absolutely key and it bodes well for the future of English football that both are still not only very young but also play for club managers who will know exactly the best way to develop their vast natural talents.
Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger are perhaps the two men in the game in this country who you would trust with young footballers more than any other.
In due course, you might be able to add the name of a certain Italian to that list.

Minor point of order regarding the 3-0 win over Yeovil Town: During the latter stages of the game there were one or two rumblings of discontent around the West Stand that the side were happy just to pass the ball around rather than go for more goals.
Such moans and groans were silenced when the Cobblers prised open the visitors' defence with a 20-plus pass move for Jason Crowe to score the cake-icing third.
A memo to these fans then, on behalf of Stuart Gray and the players: Relax. Don't worry. They are professionals and know what they are doing.