[h=1]Sven tells Leicester stars: I'd have sacked me too[/h]Published
22:30 24/10/11 By John Percy
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...just-hours-before-sacking-article819918.html#http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...just-hours-before-sacking-article819918.html#
Sven Goran Eriksson has been sacked from his £1million-a-year job as Leicester manager – just hours after admitting he was amazed to still be in charge.
Eriksson has paid the price for the big-spending club's dismal start to the season, and former Foxes manager Martin O’Neill has already emerged as the leading contender to replace him.
Former England coach Eriksson had called an emergency meeting with his entire Leicester squad on Monday morning and claimed
he would have sacked the manager responsible for Saturday's dismal 3-0 home defeat to Millwall if he was the club's owner.
Shortly afterwards, the 63-year-old was given the grim news by the club’s Thai owners.
However, Eriksson is set for the latest golden handshake of his career - this time for around £1million as he has 12 months remaining on his current deal.
O’Neill is the No. 1 choice to succeed the Swede.
The former Leicester and Aston Villa manager was initially approached last year,
before the appointment of Eriksson.
The Ulsterman worked with Foxes’ football director Andrew Neville during his glittering five-year spell, where he won two League Cups, and will be offered the chance to make a sensational return.
Billy Davies could be a realistic alternative if O’Neill, who is understood to be in favour of a Premier League job, proves out of reach.
Davies, who was sacked by Nottingham Forest in June, is available and has admirers in the corridors of power at the King Power Stadium because of his experience in the Championship.
Eriksson will walk away with his pockets full but his reputation tarnished after failing to fulfil the vast expectations of chairman Aiyawatt Raksriaksorn.
Leicester coughed up a stunning £12m this summer in an attempt to build a squad capable of reaching the Premier League but Eriksson managed only five wins from 13 Championship games.
Eriksson took drastic steps to ease the tension after the Millwall defeat by calling his players into a clear-the-air meeting.
There, he admitted he was surprised to still be in charge, made the squad sit through a video nasty of Saturday’s shocking performance and then asked them all the squad to write down what they thought was going wrong.
Within hours, he was dismissed from his post, with his assistant Derek Fazackerley also leaving the club.
It means Eriksson will leave his third job in England, after his spells with the Three Lions and Manchester City.
Bizarrely, he has already been installed as one of the favourites to replace struggling Blackburn boss Steve Kean.
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