Sven cracks a break joke

Leicester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has joined the mid-winter break bandwagon, saying that England will struggle to win a major tournament unless the Premier League adopts a winter break.

With England due to play Holland in a friendly before the season has even started, Sven's comment is really funny.

Get this as well. He said: "It's more difficult for England than other countries to do well in a big tournament."

"You have to have a break. You need to give every Premier League player seven days to fly to wherever they want."

He added: "They can have sunshine, relax and then one week of preparation and then start again."

With all the foreign players in the Premier League, I'm not sure why this is a specific problem for England - probably because none of our players want to play abroad. With all the sun, breaks and lack of games in foreign places, why is that?

Before we think about a mid-winter break (when would that be, by the way?), let's think about a summer break. Many players had not long finished last season before they were whisked away on lucrative tours abroad. Why not spare them that and play half-a-dozen games at places like Bradford, Halifax and Hartlepool so the players don't get too tired?

Do me a favour, Sven.

Notts County have a chance while Sven stays

It's fascinating the position that Notts County have found themselves in. The apparent huge investment over the summer never really appeared, and the club is facing a winding-up petition from HMRC.

Yet the club managed to secure the signatures of a number of pretty good players, and, famously, of course, the signature of Sven-Goran Eriksson as director of football. Despite the turmoil, the disappearance of investors, Eriksson remains. This, surely, is the key to County's retaining a high profile and chances of future investment. If they can keep Sven they'll stay in the news.

Chief executive Peter Trembling took over the club, purchasing it for a nominal fee from previous owners Munto Finance only five months after the Middle Eastern consortium took over at Meadow Lane.

Currently the club is placed fifth in League Two. The playing record of Won 10, Drawn 7, Lost 5 is not particularly impressive, but a continuation of the form would give them a good chance of making the play-offs.

But what of the winding-up order?

Chief executive Peter Trembling is confident the club's tax bill will be covered "by the end of next week".

At the same time the club has apparently secured a six-figure sponsorship deal with Norwegian firm Ludo.

It seems Notts County are destined to stay in the news for a while yet - Sven willing.

Notts County up for sale

Notts County have been put up for sale by current owners Munto Finance, according to BBC Radio Nottingham, with several parties showing an interest.

It appears that one option involves a buyout which includes current direct of football Sven-Goran Eriksson and executive chairman Peter Trembling.

The club was brought into the nation’s focus when Munto bought the club in July, promising plenty of money to take the League Two club into the Championship within five years.

Eriksson reportedly wants to stay and is looking for a backer to help him finance the deal.

Munto’s promised millions saw a host of new players arrive at Meadow Lane in the summer – including an aborted capture of Sol Campbell – and the club is currently sitting in fourth place in League Two – seven points behind leaders Rochdale.

Ian McParland was sacked as manager after only two months, and was replaced by Hans Backe, Eriksson’s former assistant at Manchester City and Mexico.

How on earth did this happen?

As England approach their latest World Cup qualifier with Croatia, it brings back to mind the European qualifier of two years ago and England's 3-2 home defeat to the same nation. With Steve McClaren in charge.

How did we come to end up with this man in charge? For he unquestionably proved incapable of doing the job.

Following the era of Sven-Goran Eriksson, the clamour of the English press was for a return to an Englishman to take charge. McClaren had managed Middlesbrough and won the League Cup in 2004 and finished runners-up in the UEFA Cup in 2006. He was also assistant manager to Sir Alex Ferguson when Manchester United won the Treble in 1999. That was apparently enough. It reminded some of us of the appointment of Graham Taylor, who had only had minor successes with Watford.

However, the choices were few. Glenn Hoddle had been sacked and Kevin Keegan had resigned prior to Sven's appointment, but the dearth of English managers in the English league (and the situation is just as bad now) meant that McClaren's flimsy CV was sufficient to get him the job. (Note that the last England manager to win the English league was Howard Wilkinson with Leeds United in 1992.)

McClaren managed England between 1 August 2006 and 22 November 2007, and was dubbed 'The Wally with a Brolly', after he used an umbrella to protect himself from rain during his final game in charge.

Note to the English press: Be careful what you wish for!