No need to repair player relationships

LONDON – Sven-Goran Eriksson’s agent Athole Still was adamant the England manager would not have to try and mend broken relationships following revelations in a Sunday newspaper and revealed the Swede is eager to extend his current deal to 2010.

Eriksson told an undercover News of the World reporter – posing as a rich Arab – he would quit as England coach if they win the World Cup this summer, and suggested he would be prepared to become manager of Aston Villa as part of a takeover bid. The Swede also made indiscreet comments about his own players, just a few days after he stressed the importance of creating the right “ambience” in the squad when took over from Kevin Keegan five years ago.”He is lazy sometimes,” Eriksson said of Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand and then, referring to Ferdinand’s United team-mate Wayne Rooney, he talked of the player having a “temper” and “coming from a poor family.”Eriksson said David Beckham was “a bit frustrated” at Real Madrid and offered to phone the England captain to persuade him to return to English football with Villa.And Eriksson also made reference to England striker Michael Owen, who joined Newcastle in a 17-million-pound transfer from Real Madrid in August after a deal could not be struck with his former club Liverpool.He added in the News of the World report: “I talked to Michael Owen and said, ‘You are happy?’ He said, ‘Not really with the club, but economically I never earned that money in my life’.So they paid a higher salary than Real Madrid did? “He said: ‘They gave me a house, they gave me a car, it’s incredible’.They had to do it because in any other way he wouldn’t have gone there.”Even though the World Cup finals in Germany are looming large Still insisted that Eriksson’s comments about his players were “not damaging.””They’re the kind of things that would be said in conversations up and down the country in what you would think is a confidential manner,” Still told Sky Sports News.”They are not damaging.He has not said that any player is not good or cannot be trusted.”And Still revealed in a separate interview with BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek that Eriksson, whose current deal runs to 2008, recently urged him to sound out the Football Association about a possible contract extension to 2010.”Sven said to me quite recently ‘perhaps I’ve got used to this job despite the annoyances of it – perhaps you should have a word with Brian Barwick and see if the FA would be interested in me staying until 2010’.”It depends entirely on what will happen in the World Cup.Is there any surprise in that? Do you need to be a genius to understand that?” -Nampa-AFPThe Swede also made indiscreet comments about his own players, just a few days after he stressed the importance of creating the right “ambience” in the squad when took over from Kevin Keegan five years ago.”He is lazy sometimes,” Eriksson said of Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand and then, referring to Ferdinand’s United team-mate Wayne Rooney, he talked of the player having a “temper” and “coming from a poor family.”Eriksson said David Beckham was “a bit frustrated” at Real Madrid and offered to phone the England captain to persuade him to return to English football with Villa.And Eriksson also made reference to England striker Michael Owen, who joined Newcastle in a 17-million-pound transfer from Real Madrid in August after a deal could not be struck with his former club Liverpool.He added in the News of the World report: “I talked to Michael Owen and said, ‘You are happy?’ He said, ‘Not really with the club, but economically I never earned that money in my life’.So they paid a higher salary than Real Madrid did? “He said: ‘They gave me a house, they gave me a car, it’s incredible’.They had to do it because in any other way he wouldn’t have gone there.”Even though the World Cup finals in Germany are looming large Still insisted that Eriksson’s comments about his players were “not damaging.””They’re the kind of things that would be said in conversations up and down the country in what you would think is a confidential manner,” Still told Sky Sports News.”They are not damaging.He has not said that any player is not good or cannot be trusted.”And Still revealed in a separate interview with BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek that Eriksson, whose current deal runs to 2008, recently urged him to sound out the Football Association about a possible contract extension to 2010.”Sven said to me quite recently ‘perhaps I’ve got used to this job despite the annoyances of it – perhaps you should have a word with Brian Barwick and see if the FA would be interested in me staying until 2010’.”It depends entirely on what will happen in the World Cup.Is there any surprise in that? Do you need to be a genius to understand that?” -Nampa-AFP