Eriksson leaves Leicester after poor start

SVEN-GORAN Eriksson has left his post as Leicester manager following the club’s mediocre start to the season.

Much was expected of the Foxes after an outlay of more than £10 million on transfer fees alone in the summer, but they have struggled for consistency this term.

Although they are only five points adrift of the automatic promotion places in the npower Championship, a 3-0 defeat at home to lowly Millwall on Saturday left Leicester in 13th place. That was the final straw for the club’s Thailand-based owners Asia Football Investments, who held a meeting this afternoon to discuss ending the Swede’s one-year stay at the King Power Stadium.

And Eriksson’s departure was confirmed in a statement on Leicester’s official website, www.lcfc.com, last night.

“Leicester City Football Club has confirmed today that, by mutual agreement, Sven-Goran Eriksson has ceased to be the first team manager, with immediate effect,” it read. “First-team coach Derek Fazackerley has also left the club. The club and its board of directors would like to thank Sven and Derek for the contribution they have made to Leicester City during their 13 months at King Power Stadium.”

Leicester were in the relegation places when Eriksson, having just finished a stint with the Ivory Coast national team, replaced Paulo Sousa as manager in October 2010.

He guided them to a respectable tenth place last season and among his summer acquisitions was defender Matt Mills, who was signed from Reading for a fee that could rise to £5.5million. The Foxes were heavily tipped for promotion this season, but a record of just five wins from 13 league games led to Eriksson’s demise. Leicester have now turned their attention to find a successor for the Swede.

“Academy director Jon Rudkin and coach Mike Stowell will jointly assume the role of acting manager of the first team, with assistance from development coach Steve Beaglehole,” the statement added. “The process of recruiting a new permanent manager will begin in the coming days.” Martin O’Neill, who managed Leicester for five years and led them to the Premier League as well as two League Cup triumphs, has emerged as the early favourite to succeed Eriksson.