The Hindu : Sport : Who wants toughest job in football?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 29, 2006

Sport

Sport - Sports : General

Who wants toughest job in football?

LONDON : Job vacancy: Head coach, England national soccer team. Salary: up to £5 million ($8.9 million; euro7.25 million) a year (negotiable).

Qualities required: Squeaky clean image; very thick skin; ability to handle aggressive domestic media.

Qualifications (if from overseas): winner of domestic titles and/or major success at national team level.

Qualifications (if English): none needed. English applicants don't need to win anything to get the job.

Interested? Apply to the English Football Association, but suggest give Sven-Goran Eriksson a call first. The Swede is stepping down after this summer's World Cup even if he leads England to a first championship in 40 years.

The first foreigner to coach the England national team, Eriksson has decided to quit two years early after becoming the latest to succumb under the weight of tabloid pressure.

Astonished that his off-field activities have created bigger headlines than his achievements on the pitch, Eriksson has tired of being kicked around by a media that has turned his career into a television drama.

When the Swede arrived in English soccer five years ago, half the nation applauded the appointment because of his successful record at club level. A succession of English coaches had failed to take the national team any further than a semifinal, and England was crying out for some new ideas.

The other half condemned his arrival simply because he wasn't English.

Bumpy ride

What followed was a bumpy ride of modest successes on the field and newspaper headlines about Eriksson's private life. Although he has a glamorous Italian-born girlfriend, Nancy Dell' Olio, he had two flings — with a TV celebrity and FA secretary — which were devoured by the tabloids.

Eriksson suggested he would like to become coach of Aston Villa if the ``sheik'' bought the club. The papers accused ``slippery Sven'' of putting personal greed ahead of glory with England.

Still fancy the job? Virtually every former England coach has found the domestic media to be their biggest opponent.

Bobby Robson, widely respected as a successful coach in Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, was accused of letting the players bully him into tactical changes at World Cup 1990. Graham Taylor was ridiculed as a ``turnip'' after flops at Euro 1992 and failing to get England to World Cup 1994.

Terry Venables was plagued by business problems, Glenn Hoddle's comments about disabled people brought his downfall and Kevin Keegan was considered tactically naive.

Now Eriksson's own inability to win over a skeptical media has effectively cost him his job. Although he wasn't fired, he was forced into admitting he had been secretly negotiating an early escape.

The papers are wondering who will be next to accept what they admit is a ``poisoned chalice.''

Any takers? — AP

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