Monday 24 October 2011

Eriksson Sacked From Leicester Post



Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has been sacked as boss of Leicester City, BBC Sport understands.

The 63-year-old has overseen an inconsistent start to the season after having spent heavily in the summer.

The Foxes have won five of their 13 league games this term and were beaten 3-0 at home by Millwall on Saturday.

BBC Radio Leicester reports that Eriksson gave no comment as he left the club's Belvoir Drive training ground on Monday evening.

Club owner Vichai Raksriaksorn also declined to comment.

"The last straw was the 3-0 home defeat to Millwall on Saturday. It was a rather poor performance. They've been inconsistent. The owners have got very very high aspirations, and in the last year since Eriksson joined they've spent over £20m. They're not too impressed with Eriksson's stewardship. They feel he lacks practical experience at this level, despite his eminent experience with England."

City were taken over by Thai-based consortium Asia Football Investments in August 2010 and appointed ex-Manchester City manager Eriksson in October.

At the time, the club were bottom of the Championship but Eriksson, who was able to recruit the likes of defender Kyle Naughton and striker Yakubu on loan from Tottenham and Everton, led them to a 10th-place finish after winning 17 of 36 matches.

During the summer, the Swede recruited a number of high-profile players, backed by the financial clout of the club's owners.

These included Matt Mills from Reading for £5m, fellow defender Sean St Ledger from Preston, striker David Nugent and midfielder Neil Danns on free transfers and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel for an undisclosed fee from Leeds.

However, despite being viewed as one of the favourites for promotion Leicester have struggled for form, amassing just 19 points from 13 matches.

They have lost three of their four games at the King Power Stadium this season, the latest being Saturday's 3-0 defeat by struggling Millwall, which was Eriksson's 24th and final loss of his 55-match City reign.

Martin O'Neill, who successfully managed Leicester from 1995-2000, leading them into the Premier League and to two League Cup successes in 1997 and 2000, has been installed as an early favourite to succeed Eriksson.

As a result of his pedigree, Eriksson's appointment was seen as a major coup for City.

After early managerial success in his native Sweden, Eriksson went on to win trophies with Benfica in Portugal and Roma, Sampdoria and Lazio in Italy.

It was this that brought him to the attention of the Football Association, who appointed him as England manager as replacement for Kevin Keegan.

"I did say when he took over I was certainly not convinced. A scattergun approach to purchases last year and no real direction to the club. They've spent a fortune this year, and clearly the return's not there. The owners are very impatient, and they wanted to go up last year. It's not a massive surprise."

He led the national side to three successive quarter-finals at major championships before leaving the post after the latter of these, the 2006 World Cup.

In July 2007, he took charge of Manchester City - then owned by former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra - and spent heavily before leading them to a ninth-place Premier League finish, but he left the club by "mutual consent" in the summer of 2008.

Following a 10-month stint as coach of the Mexico national side, Eriksson then had a seven-month spell as Notts County director of football before managing the Ivory Coast at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Less than three months later, he became Leicester's seventh boss since 2007.