United never considered Eriksson for the hot seat

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has often been linked with a return to club management in the future, but the Swede was never in the frame...

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has often been linked with a return to club management in the future, but the Swede was never in the frame for the top job at Manchester United, according to the English champions.

United denied reports on Sunday that Eriksson had been ready to resign after the World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan in May and June and replace Alex Ferguson as manager at Old Trafford.

Saturday’s Daily Mail newspaper, quoting extracts from a new biography on Ferguson, said Eriksson was set to agree to become United boss before Ferguson changed his plans in February to retire at the end of the season. But United chief executive Peter Kenyon, asked if he could state categorically that United had never offered Eriksson the job, told BBC Radio on Sunday: “Absolutely…let’s get rid of this speculation. “Sven has done a tremendous job and got England to the World Cup finals, and I know he is committed to moving them on into the Europeans (championship in 2004).

“There was huge speculation as you would expect once Alex said he was going to retire. But we want to get all this speculation behind us.” Eriksson said in March he was not considering a return to Italian side Lazio which he guided to the Serie A title in 2000, but did not rule out such a move in the future.

(Reuters)