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Sven-Goran Eriksson Takes On A New Challenge. It’s Got Nothing To Do With Money

July 23, 2009

Alex Nekrassov writes: Claiming your are moving to a new football (soccer – for our American readers) club purely out of altruism has become a popular trend this summer. Several huge names in English Premiership football have done it, saying that money was of no interest to them and that it was the challenge they found exciting. Their increased salaries, we were assured, played no part in their transfers.But brace yourselves, readers of StirringTroubleInternationally: former England, Mexico, Lazio and Manchester City manager, a sex god with a receding hairline, Sven-Goran Eriksson, will join Notts County, a team in the lower tier (League 2), as director of football, because he likes the challenge. Notts County, which had finished a disappointing 19th last season, is obviously destined for big things and Eriksson is ready to help.

Let us take a pause here, breathe in and then slowly breathe out. Notts County are the oldest football club in the world, according to records, but it is sure not doing well at the moment. In terms of infrastructure, the club is in a better position than most other sides in League 2, and now, with new owners, Munto Finance – a Middle Eastern consortium put together to buy the club – they have money to spend.

Getting Eriksson to accept the ‘challenge’ of helping Notts County find their way into the Premiership is a coup. Of sorts. Sven himself will, probably, feel that it is also great news for the women of Nottingham. Although Eriksson’s current abilities are questionable, given his patchy track record with England, Manchester City and Mexico (all posts which he was fired from, by the way), he did win a number of major trophies with Italian Serie A side Lazio, both domestically and in Europe, and his form with the ladies, especially the secretaries, is admirable and proven. He has good contacts in football, highlighted by his ability to resurface without delivering anything significant, time after time, to take on big roles in both national and international football.

Thankfully for Notts County fans, Eriksson is not going to manage the club. Not yet, anyway. Notts County will use mostly his contacts and influence in the game and help to sign high calibre players, who would not normally join a low profile team. He would also act as an ‘ambassador’ for Notts County, helping raise its profile.

In reality, the proper definition of a ‘director of football’ is of someone who is appointed with the sole aim of annoying the manager of the club, by either constantly questioning his tactical acumen, both publicly or privately, or, even more comically, by forcing the signing of players neither the coach nor the club want or need. When these players don’t click, the director of football will blame the manager, compromising his position further. Eventually, usually either because the current manager has had enough or because the board gets all confused, the director of football takes the managerial position.

That is how it usually works. And it is possible that this is what, eventually, will happen at Notts County.
Given Notts County’s lowly position, the only way for Eriksson is up, and it is probably the first time that he has attained such a comfortable position. If the club succeeds and win the divisions, he will be recognised for playing a part in that, maybe even become a local hero, and no one will care about the money he is paid. If he fails to make an impact, he will not be sacked, because few recognised faces in the game would take his role (neither as Director of Football nor Manager) and he has the ‘long term over short team’ success argument. During all of this, he will continue to make a handsome wage, and eventually retire and subside into obscurity.

But it is the challenge that he will find rewarding.

– End -

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