Charlton doubts foreign choice

Former Republic of Ireland manager and England World Cup winner Jack Charlton has questioned the wisdom of appointing Sven Goran Eriksson as the new England manager due to his lack of international experience.

Having made a name for himself with Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough before transferring allegiance to the Republic of Ireland, Charlton knows just how big the transition from club football will be. And he is not confident Eriksson will leap the divide.

"It was easy for me," said Charlton, who guided the Republic to the 1990 World Cup quarter-finals. "The players were already in place. All I had to do was improve them and give them a way of playing.

"Sven Goran Eriksson knows nothing about English football. He has done a good job with a couple of clubs abroad, but suddenly he becomes our messiah and I don't agree with it. The job is an unenviable task because there are very few high-quality players available to him. I believe an Englishman would do a lot better at selecting an English team to play against the best teams in the world."

"There is a huge difference between international and club football," said Charlton. "At club level, you can put a player into your side or leave him out on a weekly basis. In international football, you never know what you are going to get.

"There is no continuity of selection and you have to know exactly how every team is going to play against you so you have the right balance in your own side.

"You have to formulate tactics which are relatively simple to understand because you don't see the players from one month to the next."

Charlton's own method was to introduce a long ball system which upset some of his more cultured stars such as Liam Brady. However, it enabled them to qualify for two World Cups and a European Championship.

"There has been a huge influx of foreign players into this country (England) and that has not helped the national side.

"People say `throw in the kids' - but where are they? You could pick six at the most who even have a chance of surviving at the highest level just now.

"The new coach must spend half his time just learning about England and the players he has to choose from. I appreciate he has won a few trophies but this is completely different. We shall see how well he does."

Eriksson yesterday signed a five-year contract to coach England from July, although the signs in Italy last night were that the FA could get its man far earlier.

He is due to succeed Kevin Keegan full-time after seeing out his contract at Lazio, with the FA "hopeful" of reaching an agreement with the Italian champions for the Swede to take charge in three World Cup qualifiers in March in June.

But one Lazio official said it was "probably wishful thinking" to expect Eriksson to stay until June 30th, and there is strong speculation that the club's president Sergio Cragnotti will now not hesitate to dismiss the 52-year-old at the slightest slip in the Champions League or Serie A.

However, players' union chief Gordon Taylor does not believe Eriksson will ever take up the post.

Despite the Swede signing a five-year contract Taylor reckons Eriksson will not even take up the reins - as happened when he had been expected to become Blackburn manager in 1996.

"I will stand to be corrected on this, but I don't think he is going to start," he said. "I live near Blackburn Rovers and they had him under contract, and then he did not become their manager."

Taylor's preferred choice for the job was Terry Venables.