As Daruis Henderson completed his hat trick against Leicester on Saturday, Sven-Goran Eriksson displayed a look that England fans became a custom to during his tenture as England boss. Sven knew as the ball left Henderson’s head that he’d be out of a job on Monday morning and at around 6pm the news broke that Eriksson had indeed left his position as the Foxes’ manager.

Now that he is free, will Sven manage in England again? Is his already damaged reputation beyond repair, and will Fabio Capello take note and not go anywhere near an English league club after Euro 2012?

Leicester languish in 13th after Saturday’s home defeat to Millwall and the warning signs have been coming after an inconsistent start to what was supposed to be a “title winning season”. There was so much promise ahead of the Championship season, bringing in seasoned Premier League players and convincing Jermaine Beckford to part with Everton and settle at the King Power Stadium. There was an air of optimism built up across the back pages in the close season.

Instead, it seemed that for every good result they gained, including the impressive home win against Derby, there was a dismal performance lurking right around and that ultimately cost Sven his job. He’s gone waltzing off.

Sven leaves shortly after another former England manager resigned from his management position in the Championship. Both Leicester and Nottingham Forest had been talked up because of their new managers experience with the national team, even more so as Steve McClaren took over from Eriksson.

Manchester City’s then owner Thaksin Shinawatra believed Sven was the man to lead the city revolution and Eriksson quickly obliged and spent big in order to bring success to Eastlands. An impressive start saw him pick up the Manager of the Month award and was the first City Manager in 37 years to do the double over Manchester United. Shinawatra angered fan’s by stating that Eriksson would only be in charge for one season and sure enough the next summer Sven was off with a handsome parting cheque.

Has England ruined Sven? There is little doubt that before he took over as the England boss, he had a very impressive managerial CV. It attracted the people in charge at the FA to employ his services. Lazio fans will tell you he is their most successful manager of all time, but don’t ask the Notts County fans what they think of him. That ill-fated tenture at Meadow Lane had many fans wondering if the Swede would ever return to Britain after such controversial events at County. With his reputation tarnished by this and the North Korea no-show (Sven couldn’t contact anyone to actually confirm he got the job) he took the Ivory Coast national side to the World Cup, however they failed to progress out of their group and Sven swiftly departed.

Again new owners saw Sven as the man to lead a revolution and he was installed as Leicester City manager. With the club in the relegation zone, a great start and the inspired loan signing of Yakubu saw Leicester march to seventh in the league table; however just at the vital moment their form dipped and they finished in tenth. There were many positives to take from his start and many looked forward to his first full season in charge.

Sven was given a handsome budget to propel Leicester into the Premier League and the side was the subject of much scrutiny. They reacted badly to it.

Some suggest Sven simply can’t motivate players and this was evident during his time as the national coach but is it demanding owners or Sven’s inability to bring stability to a club that see’s him leave his third English league club after a very brief spell? Whatever the reason for Sven’s less than impressive time in England, it seems unlikely that he will be given the opportunity to manager here again.

Leicester was an opportunity for Sven to show those who had doubted him previously that he does understand the English game but unfortunately, he’s yet to prove those people wrong. Does this also serve as a warning to Fabio Capello that maybe he should never return to England?

With two former England managers at the mercy of the Championship you would forgive him for not returning from Poland and/or Ukraine next July.

Photo courtesy of cvrcak1.