'Unsackable' Eriksson determined to stay on

Sven Goran Eriksson's legal team have advised him that there is "no way" whatsoever the Football Association can sack him over his affair with the FA secretary Faria Alam without paying substantial, and potentially ruinous, compensation.

Sven Goran Eriksson's legal team have advised him that there is "no way" whatsoever the Football Association can sack him over his affair with the FA secretary Faria Alam without paying substantial, and potentially ruinous, compensation.

The England coach is also adamant he wants to keep his job and knows that the FA would struggle to afford to pay the £14m he would be due if it removed him. At the same time he believes the fall-out from the affair has not fatally damaged his future.

"We've been told there is no way they can sack him," said a source close to Eriksson. "And he is not prepared to lose the job he wants to do over this." Despite the pressure from within the FA Eriksson is convinced that the furore over his - and FA chief executive Mark Palios's - affair with the secretary "cannot be what anyone wanted".

"All he wants is to get this out of the way," the source said. "Sven is heartily sick of this because it has grown out of all proportion. What was effectively an inter-office event should not have been dignified by legal letters being sent."

Eriksson's camp maintain that he was not asked directly whether he was having an affair with Alam and it appears the independent inquiry set up by the FA will struggle to find conclusive proof. The source confirmed that Eriksson did have a conversation with the FA's executive director David Davies - who was, confusingly, also Alam's boss - but added "this has all become far too big and has gone on from simply who said what to David Davies. Indeed once that first legal letter was sent it went too far."

Despite the pressure for him to go - and the willingness to sack him from within the FA and its board which will meet over the crisis next Thursday - Eriksson does not believe there is an agenda "to get him". "But if that is the case," said the source "then anyone who did that will get exactly what they deserve."

Eriksson's camp agree that whoever authorised the sending of solicitors' letters to newspapers warning legal action if they reported the affair "should be examining his motives". "If we are looking at it in the most pejorative terms then someone may well have been out to get him [Eriksson]," the source said.

Eriksson's bullish stance appears to be well-founded. His statement on Thursday that he had never "categorically confirmed or denied" to the FA that he had had an affair with Alam sent shockwaves through Soho Square. It was an unexpected move that insiders say might yet cause a re-assessment by key figures involved in the saga. Instead of working on the assumption that Eriksson is a lame duck and inevitably on his way out, the notion of a "dream scenario" of no one being found guilty of wrongdoing is being discussed. Incredibly, figures on both sides are privately voicing hopes that the inquiry could yet conclude the scandal was based on a misunderstanding.

This would only be likely if the unnamed lawyer conducting the inquiry accepts that Eriksson said something he believed non-committal, in good faith, while the FA - specifically Davies, in all probability - interpreted it, in good faith, differently.

However, that would smack of a whitewash.

The incident has opened a can of worms by bringing into the public domain a major rift on the 12-man FA board about Eriksson's suitability as coach. If those seeking his head are shown an independent report concluding that he is not guilty of lying then they are likely to turn their wrath on someone else - Palios, FA chairman Geoff Thompson, Davies or director of communications Colin Gibson.

Davies, just returned from a holiday, said he was "delighted" the inquiry was taking place. "The quicker we get the matter resolved the better and then everyone gets back to doing what they're there for," he said. "Sven and I regret very much we are dealing with this incident."

Eriksson's assistant Tord Grip said he was convinced "it will be sorted out and there will not be a problem". However, he also said that if the FA wanted to get rid of Eriksson "they must go out and tell him and be very straight and say, 'OK, you should not be here any longer'."

* The Liverpool and England striker Michael Owen said he is hoping to reach agreement on a new contract before the start of the season. Owen, who has one year left on his current deal, said: "We've been speaking for a long time but not since the new manager took charge. No one, including myself, wants this to drag on into the season and hopefully it will all be concluded soon."