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Did any of you guys watch the Sven Goran Eriksson interview by Gabby Logan on Inside Sport on BBC1 last night. It was his first British television interview since he was forced out of the England job and I thought Gabby did a pretty good job asking most of the pertinent questions and even pushing him on a few points. I may not have agreed with his team selections, tactical inflexibility, and his incessant use of substitions during friendlies, but I didn't dislike the bloke personally, and I thought he came out of the interview with great dignity.

It was interesting to here him speak frankly about his time in charge of the national squad, his off the field distractions, the invasive press, how the public viewed him, his failure to take England past three quarter finals in major competitions (despite only losing five competitive games during his five and a half year tenurship) and what the future holds for him. He still used the word 'we' when he was referring to the England team but he doesn't think another foreign manager will be given the position again. He felt we were unlucky to be beaten by Brazil and that we were the better team against Portugal. Apparently they practiced taking penalties daily during the World Cup, but he feels that his greatest failing was not taking a trained psychologist with him to the World Cup to work with the players on their mental approach to taking penalties under pressure.

It seems he will be making an announcement within the next few weeks of an impending return to club managementship, but he did not wish to comment on which club(s) he was in negotiations with, or even in which european league it may be. The full interview is being reshown later on in the week in case anyone missed it first time round and I believe it will be posted on the BBC website later today aswell. It's well worth a watch if you get the time.

What a smug bastard (imho)
Geoff (b217bravo)

Are the FA still paying him ridiculous amounts of money for not working for them any more?

Exactly! They are paying him Xk per week until the first of June....and look what happens when there is two weeks to go-Eriksson appears and says the time is right to get back into football.

You don't say! Blimey guv!

I think if Chelsea had not won the Cup, he would have been in there; and then Mourinho for the England job? Stranger things have happened......

I didn't see it but it sounds like Sven said nothing in a very roundabout way which was always his trademark.
His record with Benfica and Lazio was good however their different 'set-ups' in terms of managers/ coaches and roles and responsibilities means that it is a little more difficult to assess Sven's contribution .. was it as significant as it appears ?
He undoubtedly underachieved with England and the 5 defeats is illusory .. it's rather like a boxer who has a succession of weaker opponents but is found wanting when the contest is more equal. He ought to have done better with the talent he had to work with, but perhaps the players should take some responsibility for that too.

Although Sven may complain about media intrusion etc look at the world he's opted into by going out with Nancy who isn't exactly publicity-shy. He's kind of brought that upon himself with the choices he's made and the way in which he's conducted himself.

Jonone wrote:

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Exactly. Especially when 3 of those defeats were when it really mattered, i.e. in the quarter finals of major tournaments.

Don't blame Sven for still being paid by the FA. Blame the bloke that gave him the contract in the first place. He's got every right to ask for what he wants but it's up to the money people at the FA to say no.

As for his next job then he said an announcement will be made in a couple of weeks then it's logical to think it must be in a league that hasn't finished their season yet as he doesn't want to rock any boats, upset existing managers. Likely to be Spain or Italy probably.

Sven got major stick by the media over here. Way too much stick. Was he a top class coach? No. Was he worth the money he got paid? Hell no but I've seen murderers get a better press than him and it was too much.

Slagged off for only making 3 1/4 Finals, there might come a time when we are grateful just to qualify for tournaments the way McLaren is going and see 3 1/4 Finals as the halcyon days.

That very subject was broached directly during the interview, and Gabby asked him whether he could understand the reason why many people were viewing him as being greedy for continuing to accept a salary from the FA. He was surprisingly upfront and honest about this and explained that he could understand peoples feelings on this matter but that under the terms of his contract which was to run until well into 2008, it was clearly stated that if the contract was terminated early by the FA, he would still be entitled to his salary.

He told the FA that he would be happy to accept six months on full pay and then the following six months on half pay. He felt that he was being more than reasonable in this compromise knowing that he could have played hard ball and insisted on the FA paying him until 2008. I don't blame Eriksson for continuing to accept his salary from the FA. If the FA were stupid enough to offer that contract proviso then they deserve all they get. I have no time for the FA, a bunch of incompetent buffoons at the best of times. If the FA want to whine about contract settlements, they should look a little closer to home and see if they can justify some of their own salary bonuses for doing pretty much...sweet FA.

wiseguy wrote:

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That was big of him! Accepting "only" 75% of the total - for doing sod all.

After Germany were knocked out in the first round of Euro 2004, their then coach Rudi V?ller resigned. He had a similar contract provision to Sven, but refused the payments that he would have been due because he didn't think it was right to accept them as he wasn't doing the job any more.

I had a lot of respect for the bloke after that, and if Sven had had any decency he'd have done the same. Or donated it to a struggling League 2 side, or made some such gesture rather than pocketing the cash.

You're right, the FA are a bunch of twats for giving him such a contract in the first place. But Sven for his part is a greedy cunt - and no mistake. The FA and Sven are both as bad as each other in their own way.

Nice one eric, I particularly like the way you spliced two different sentences from two different paragraphs into one soundbite lol. But seriously mate, I said that he was upfront and honest about how he felt the public viewed him. As regards him taking the payout, he has said that he didn't choose to vacate the post at that time, and felt that he still had much to offer the team. I think the time was right for him to go, but he clearly didn't and so that may have fuelled the greed and been a factor in him wanting to make the FA pay for replacing him.

It probably just means that the FA board won't be getting as big a annual bonus as they were expecting this year. There is so much money in the game now, that everyone wants as bigger piece as they can get from football associations, through to club owners, chairman, agents, managers and players. I couldn't care less who gets what slice, let them fight amongst themselves, all I want is an England team that plays stylish football and wins a major trophy. Not too much to ask, or so I thought, until they gave Steve McClaren the job. I just hope that the FA have learnt from their mistakes, but probably not.

Yes, Rudi Voller was a decent bloke and did the honourable thing, but he pretty much accepted it was time for him to go after failing in the group stages and so it would have probably been easier for him to walk from the post without a bitter taste in his mouth. Sadly, being decent and doing the right thing is in short supply in this game.