Sven Goran Eriksson at Notts County
Former National Team Boss Makes a Suprising Return to England
Eriksson was relieved of his duties with Mexico back in March following a poor World Cup qualifying campaign and many had expected him to take the vacant managers job at Portsmouth.
However, that job went to Paul Hart and instead Sven has surprsingly turned up at struggling League Two side Notts County as their new Director of Football following the clubs recent takeover by the Munto Finance Group.
Who Are Notts County?
Notts County are currently the world's oldest professional football club having been formed in 1862. The Magpies, as they are known to their supporters, have never really excelled in English football and have only made sporadic appearances in the top division, the last being in the 91/92 season.
Since then, the club have been on a downward spiral falling all the way to the Football Leagues bottom division (League Two). Along the way they almost went out of business during a particularly lean spell in September 2003. On that occasion, the club were saved by investment from a few local businessmen and donations from fans.
Last season, County only narrowly avoided relegation out of the football league and have become a regular fixture in the bottom half of the League Two standings for many years.
The recent takeover and Sven's appointment should see a drastic turn of fortunes for the ailing club who harbour aspirations of one day making it back to the big time.
Eriksson's Role at Notts County
Sven's role as Director of Football has left some people confused as to what duties are involved in the position.
Notts County already have a manager in the shape of Ian McParland and he will continue in his role which includes handling training, picking the team and all the other day to day activities of football management. So what will Sven Goran Eriksson do?
In a nutshell, Eriksson has four main responsibilities. They are overseeing player development, taking charge of the clubs transfer policy, establishing links with oversees clubs and youth development.
How he goes about these tasks is up to him. In the past, some Director's of Football have come under scrutiny for their heavy handed approach to the role, with some muscling in on the managers job leading to their resignation. Only time will tell how aggressively Sven will approach the role.
Eriksson's Previous Success
No matter what Eriksson brings to Notts County, fans will be hoping that a little of his success rubs off on the Nottingham based club.
As a manager, the Swede has won many high profile trophies in a variety of countries. All in all, Eriksson has won 6 league titles (with IFK Gothenburg, Benfica and Lazio) and 7 domestic cups. His pedigree in European competition is excellent as well, having won the UEFA Cup, Cup Winners Cup and European Super Cup over his career. He also guided Benfica to the European Cup final in 1990 but without success.
For a team like Notts County to have a man of Eriksson's stature at the club can only be a good thing. County want to start climbing the football ladder again and at least get back to the second tier (Championship) of English football. With Sven involved, they may just do it.
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