Championship club Leicester City have parted company with manager Sven Goran-Eriksson.
The former-England boss had only been in charge of the Foxes for a year and was fired after a weekend 3-0 home defeat to Millwall.
Struggling
Leicester were the big spenders in the Championship this summer. They were expected to top the table after Eriksson spent more than £10million, quite an amount in terms of England’s second tier. The club also brought in some players on big wages.
Confirmation
Eriksson’s sacking was confirmed via a statement on the clubs official website which read: “ Leicester City football club has confirmed today (Monday 24th October) that, by mutual agreement, Sven Goran Eriksson has ceased to be the first-team manager, with immediate effect.”
Poor
Sven Goran-Eriksson has had a poor time in English football in recent years. His poor spell at Leicester followed an unsuccessful spell as Notts County’s Director of Football. Eriksson’s only real success in English football was stabilising Manchester City while the club were in the possession of Thai owner Thaksin Shinawatra.
Next
You have to wonder where Sven Goran-Eriksson can head now after this perceived failure in the Midlands. He has been living on his reputation for awhile and he is not going to be offered top jobs in world football. Eriksson may have to settle for another job in a second tier post.
Signings
Some of Sven Goran-Eriksson’s signings were questionable. The reported £4million signing of Everton striker Jermaine Beckford for example wasn’t the best decision by the Swede. A lot of Everton fans were happy to see the striker leave, as he was viewed as not good enough for the Premier League.
I think some Leicester fans were starting to believe that he wasn’t good enough for the Championship either. The 27 year-old has scored just once since arriving on transfer deadline day.
Favourites
With Eriksson gone Leicester are now looking for a new boss. The favourite for the post is former-Foxes boss Martin O’Neill. The Irishman was also the favourite for the Nottingham Forest job before the appointment of Steve Cotterill.
It remains to be seen if O’Neill would be willing to take the job. He would be the ideal choice for the job though. The club has changed a lot since he left the Midlands but O’Neill is a top boss and I’m sure with the backing of the Leicester owners he could be a big success at the King Power Stadium.
Alan Shearer and Mark Hughes are other names in the frame for the vacant post. Shearer hasn’t had much managerial experience apart from a brief spell in charge of Newcastle, when the Magpies were relegated.
Hughes however has accrued some really good managerial experience and has a decent record. I believe he would be a really good choice for next Leicester boss. He was really unfortunate to lose his job at Manchester City and did a good job at Fulham last season.
The next Leicester boss will be probably be given major transfer funds to strengthen an already strong squad. It will be a perfect job for any boss hoping to be successful.
Time
Leicester are an example of foreign owners taking over a club and expecting success straight away. However they gave Eriksson enough money to help the club move forward. Eriksson might only have had a year at the club but from what I’ve read Foxes fans didn’t believe the club were making any progress at all.
Ideal
Everything at Leicester City is setup for progression. They have a good stadium, a decent squad and apparently foreign owners who are willing to finance their rise back up into the Premier League. However as Sven Goran-Eriksson knows progress is never that simple.
Who will be Leicester City’s next boss?
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