On The Spot
‘IT shows what a ridiculous mess the FA have got themselves into in recent months that they can manage to stage another PR disaster out of offering a man a job.
| ”Wonder what Ulrika would do?” |
But Sven Goran Eriksson is decidedly unimpressed that his employers have put him on the spot by offering him a four-year extension to his contract.
The Mail says England coach is fuming if indeed he could ever be said to fume – at what he sees as an ultimatum, which is bound to create unwanted media attention.
What angers the Swede is the added pressure he is now under to commit his future until 2008 after what he believed was one private, informal meeting with his employers, it says.
And, if it is a ploy by the FA to bounce Eriksson into a decision, the Star predicts it will backfire and he will turn down the £14m offer.
In fact, the paper says the FAs bungling has just hardened his resolve to walk away from the job after the European Championships in Portugal next year two years before his existing contract expires.
Meanwhile, on the pitch Liverpool and Newcastle both made sure of their places in the last 32 of the Uefa Cup, although the Reds did so at the expense of another injury to Michael Owen.
The Sun says the striker has already missed nearly seven weeks of the season already and is set to have a scan on a thigh strain today.
England may have returned home victorious from the Rugby World Cup, but there is one area of that famous night in Sydney they are still deeply unhappy about.
And the Mail says Clive Woodward is preparing to make a formal complaint about the performance of South African referee Andre Watson, who inexplicably kept penalising the dominant England scrum.
The paper says that even the Australians were puzzled by Watsons decisions, which Woodward believes almost cost England the game.
Watson gave six penalties against the England scrum, despite the front row of Phil Vickery, Steve Thompson and Trevor Woodman having a clear advantage over the Aussie trio.
Our scrum was depowered and we werent too sure why, assistant coach Andy Robinson said after the game.
However, that is looking back and looking forward the Mail asks whether Martin Johnson will follow the lead of the great Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh and call it quits after the next Six Nations.
It certainly wouldnt do ticket sales any harm…’
Posted: 28th, November 2003 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
