So what attracted Sven-Goran Eriksson to work for a club owned by billionaires?In a twist more bizarre than Owen joining Manchester United, on 22 July Notts County, now owned by Munton Finance Limited, unveiled the former Goeteborg, Benfica, Roma, Sampdoria, Lazio, England, Man City and Mexico manager as their new Director of Football. Although Notts County have an impressive footballing pedigree as the world's oldest professional team, they are currently languishing in the second division and have not seen top flight football since 1992. However although Notts County are a world away from most of the other teams Sven has managed, Sven does have some experience with lower league teams, having started his career with the lowly Swedish team Degerfors and winning them promotion.
Sven-Goran Eriksson has insisted he can repeat this feat with Notts County and has signed a five-year deal to earn the three promotions required to take them from League Two to the Premier League . "It is the biggest football challenge of my life to take Notts County to the Premier League," said the Swede."I could have gone elsewhere and earned more but I'm here for the challenge."
Sven had very recently been linked with the Portsmouth job. There had also been rumours that he was lined up as a replacement for Wenger should this season see another trophyless year for the Gooners. Sven admits that he always wanted to come back to the Premiership "because it is the best League in the world," and in his own words, he has simply " ..chosen a little bit more of a difficult way to do it."
Sven will be assisted by Tord Grip, who will take up the work alongside current manager Ian McParland
So in answer to the question of what attracted Sven-Goran Eriksson to work for a club owned by billionaires, clearly the answer is the challenge! I wonder how many other top flight managers feel the same way - could we see Mourinho move to Cheltenham Town or Keegan return from the golf course to manage Hereford? For the cynics amongst us who think the appeal of such challenges depend upon the ability of their clubs to offer multi million pound salaries, surely it's worth a punt anyway. What odds would you have got last week for Sven going to Notts County??
One thing's a sure bet however. The players of Notts County are currently working extra hard at training to make give them a fighting chance of being Premiership fit and ready! They must be bricking it!!
