Peter Corrigan: Sven masters art of friendly disagreements

Enacting a scene that is as old as the modern game itself, Sven Goran Eriksson was not to be found far from his telephone last night after he announced his squad for the friendly against Australia at Upton Park on Wednesday. Club managers would have been searching to see if any of their players were in the squad and then ringing him to withdraw them. Reasons would have ranged from problems in the knee, groin or hamstring area to variations on the theme: "Please excuse Johnny from playing next week, his boots are at the menders."

Their words would have echoed down through the years, twanging the eardrums of England managers long gone plus those of Scotland, Wales and both Irelands, whose experiences would have been even more frustrating.

Whatever side of the club v country controversy you find yourself on, you will not be spared the tedium of repeat after repeat of the same script until someone discovers an acceptable answer to the question: "Whose players are they, anyway?" Much depends, of course, on when you ask it. If the country is enjoying major success then the players clad in national colours belong exclusively to the flag they represent. If, on the other hand, the team are performing in a manner more likely to sour the nation's spleen than swell its chest, the clubs find it far easier to claim parenthood.

Gauging, quite correctly, that England are currently occupying the latter phase, Eriksson has identified another route out of the dilemma – don't ask the question at all.

His team have been out of sight and largely out of mind for the past four months since they gained a thoroughly unconvincing draw against the might of Macedonia last October, and if you were to ask for a show of hands from all those who have missed them the result would resemble not so much a large forest as a sparse copse. The brutal truth is that when England are not in conquering vein they have proved more of an embarrassment than an inspiration – and this has been the case more often than not in the past 30 years – and the last thing the nation needs is a friendly match to remind them of this regrettable fact.

Contrast this with neighbouring Wales, where enthusiasm for their friendly with Bosnia at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium has been buzzing for weeks. Wales may well suffer from the withdrawal symptom over the next day or two, but their emergence from a long time in the shadows and the rare, if not the only, chance their players have of playing in a major championship might cut the absentees to a minimum.

England's return to the international scene, however, comes at a very inconvenient time; just when the Premiership is becoming compellingly interesting and the FA Cup is taking fascinating shape. English football is not in noticeable need of a diversion.

While Eriksson pleads that four months is a long time to stew after a bad performance and that they need this oppor-tunity to erase the memory, he recognises that he is not the most welcome intruder at the moment. So he arrives, if not bearing gifts, armed with a few promising ideas that prove at least that his brain has not been idle in his forced absence from the action.

It is possible for a man to achieve a reputation as a wily old fox just by saying nothing and looking shrewd. And there have been times during his reign when Sven's natural imperturbability has come in very handy for him.

But the way he has approached England's reappearance reveals a genuine touch of creative cunning. He is well aware that the Premiership clubs have the FA in the grip patented by Vinnie Jones, and that criticism of past friendlies has centred on his use of 20 players or more. He will use that number at least on Wednesday, but by pre-announcing his intention of fielding a team of the brightest young hopes in the second half, he makes non-cooperation difficult.

He admits it is a nonsense that Man-chester United and Arsenal are in action today and then meet in the FA Cup on Saturday lunchtime. With vital matches only three days either side of an England friendly it is natural they would be wary of exposing their stars to the attentions of some jolly swagman, but if it's only for 45 minutes they ought not to object.

Eriksson's one insistence amid all his conciliation is that, injured or not, the chosen squad players should at least turn up. No one can complain at that and neither should they ignore the fact that he is seeking a long-lasting solution to the problem. As a former club manager himself he realises that this tug of war will continue ad nauseam until an answer is found. His suggestion is that all internationals should take place in a five-week period at the end of the season.

This would give international managers a guaranteed and concentrated time with their players with any club complications removed. This already occurs, in effect, during World Cup and European Championship years and would establish a regular pattern with benefits all round.

He has put his revolutionary notion to Fifa and had it promptly rejected, but that shouldn't put him off. Fifa wouldn't recognise a good idea if it ran up their trouser leg. Yet they desperately need to find a way out of an impasse that threatens the game's stability throughout the world. Only last week the G14 Group, who represent Europe's leading clubs, warned they would not release players for meaningless friendlies unless some sensible agreement is reached with Fifa.

Brazil are about to play a friendly in China that would take players from many top clubs – Arsenal will lose Gilberto Silva – just so that Brazil can earn a few quid. There is no footballing justification for the fixture.

Fifa themselves have recognised the problem, otherwise why is Michel Platini working on a feasibility study into creating a season that would embrace the world and allow sensible partitioning for club and international requirements?

Rugby union has already travelled down that road. The Six Nations' Championship is now compressed into a seven-week period that interrupts the club season and should do away with rows about availability. Eriksson might not have solved England's problems yet, but I hope the FA support the proper consideration of his idea. It does, however, raise the question of what a manager would do for the other 10 months of the year. He could always be hired out as a consultant to struggling Premiership clubs.

Morris: a major figure

Trevor Morris, who died last week at the age of 82, was a football administrator the like of whom has sadly slipped from sight. His playing career began at Ipswich Town but ended when he broke his leg playing for Cardiff City in 1942.

He joined the RAF and flew bombers, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross. Rejoining Cardiff City as assistant secretary he eventually became manager before moving into the same job at Swansea Town, whom he took to the FA Cup semi-finals in 1964. He then switched to Newport County to complete his record of managing all three South Wales clubs. In 1970, he became secretary of the Welsh Football Association, a position he held with great distinction for 12 years. Would that present administrators had his ability to limit the damage-potential of amateur committeemen while keeping professional influences at bay.

Back in the days when British football still had influence abroad, he served on several Uefa committees and was solely responsible for introducing legislation allowing a player to qualify as an international by virtue of his father's place of birth. One of the first players to benefit was Bob Wilson, the former Arsenal goalkeeper, who played for Scotland.

Many smaller countries have blessed that breakthrough rule, a legacy of a man who gave all he had to the game.