Eff Off To The FA
‘SVEN Goran Eriksson will quit his job as England coach this weekend whether his side get the draw against Turkey that they need to qualify for Euro 2004 or not.
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| One big headache |
That is the claim in the Express, which says the events of the past week have pushed the Swede over the edge.
Last night, a Swedish paper ran a story saying that Eriksson has already signed a pre-contractual agreement with Chelsea and it is to Stamford Bridge that he will go when he walks out on England.
The Mail agrees that Eriksson is now wondering whether his £3m salary is worth the strain.
A revolt by his players, which led to spats between best friends David Beckham and Gary Neville, further bewildered a man not used to dressing room unrest, it says.
The Sun says Eriksson has been offered a staggering £34m over four years to take over from Claudio Ranieri as boss of Chelsea.
If top footballers are obscenely overpaid (as the Mail claimed yesterday), what about top managers?
Meanwhile, the row over Rio Ferdinands exclusion from the England squad rumbles on, with the Sun suggesting that Englands stars are preparing to bankrupt the FA by refusing to co-operate in commercial activities.
The paper (which has cynically come down on the players side, having originally backed the FA) says the FA gets £20m a year from each of its five major sponsors Umbro, Pepsi, Nationwide, McDonalds and Carlsberg.
If they do not get any players, it is worthless and without the £100m there is every chance the FA could go bankrupt, it says.
There is also every chance that fans patience with these preening prima donnas will finally run out if that happens and a bit of sanity may be reintroduced to the game.
How is it that, at whatever sporting event in which they appear, England manage to alienate the local population before the competition has even kicked off.
And so it is with the Rugby World Cup, where England have (in the words of the Mail) scored an own goal by refusing to take part in a public ceremony to mark the launch of the tournament.
All four of their pool rivals sent two players to the function in Perth, but England snubbed the invitation and then ignored pleas to change their mind.
A great way to make friends…’
Posted: 10th, October 2003 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
