21 January 2024 , 06:00
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I hope the outpouring of love for Sven-Goran Eriksson will be a huge comfort to him in his battle against cancer.
Everyone will have an opinion on whether Sven should have achieved more with the so-called Golden Generation during his six years as England manager.
But what we can all be sure of is that he will always have the respect of the nation if the deluge of good wishes we have all witnessed in the days since he revealed that he is involved in the biggest fight of his life is anything to go by. What I didn't know is that Sven's a Liverpool fan. Apparently, he inherited his passion for my old club from his dad.
When he revealed that it was always his ambition to manage the Reds and I was asked on my social media account if there was any possibility of him taking charge of the Legends' team for the game against Ajax in March, I gave the game away by replying that a call had already been made.
It has - and I am sure Sir Kenny Dalglish will be only too willing to hand over the reins to Sven when we meet the Dutch giants. As with all the best-laid plans, there might be a problem or two.
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It all depends, of course, on whether Sven is well enough to travel to Merseyside to take his place in the Anfield dugout. He has also mentioned how he hopes to watch England play Brazil in a showpiece friendly at Wembley - scheduled for the same day.
Hopefully, a solution can be found to make sure Sven can attend both games as the kick-off times are a few hours apart. But again, it has to be stressed, that his health will always come first.
Both games will be sell-outs. And while I might be a little biased, I don’t think there is another stadium in the game that honours former players and managers better than Anfield.
Robbie Fowler would like to see Sven-Goran Eriksson in the Anfield dugout (Getty Images)I won 11 of my 26 England caps under Mr Eriksson. I still think it should have been even more - I would say that - but at least I got to play for my country at the World Cup.
I always found Sven to be a friendly, charming man to play for. He is someone who disarmed his players with a smile rather than seek out a confrontation. A typical Liverpool fan, to be fair!
It struck me this week how ironic it is that Sven was raised as a Red by his father given he was lined up to become manager of Manchester United when Sir Alex Ferguson announced his intention to retire in 2002, just as the Swede’s contract with England was coming to an end.
A Liverpool supporter in charge of their club’s biggest rivals? I’m not sure how well that would have gone down at Old Trafford! In the end, Sir Alex changed his mind and remained as United manager for another 11 years, while Sven continued as England boss until after another dose of quarter-final disappointment at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. I am sure we all wish him well in his challenge against that wicked disease.