A tribute to Sven-Göran Eriksson - a legend of the game who helped Leicester realise their potential
Leicester fans were saddened to learn of Sven's passing on Monday. At 76, we'd known our former manager was unwell but that doesn’t make the news any easier. The Fosse Way wanted to pay our respects to a great man.
There are countless outpourings of grief and posts paying tribute to both the man that Sven was, as well as his football career. It’s clear that he left a mark on every club and country he worked with. The tributes range from current players, former players, clubs, fellow managers and a lot of journalists.
Perhaps some of the best words came from Sven himself. Having known this was coming, he'd had time to reflect and process and summarised it all with grace and carefully chosen words.
For those who want to know more and hear directly from Sven, a documentary was released earlier this week on Prime Video showing just what sort of character he had. His legacy will be marked by winning 18 trophies during a career that saw him manage 18 clubs and 4 national teams.
Sven's time at Leicester City may have been brief in the grand passing of time, but he left a mark. While we can't match the eloquence of messages and tributes from those who knew him personally, it's right to pay our own tribute.
There was something about the fact that we even got Sven-Göran Eriksson as manager of Leicester City that still feels a bit surreal. At the point of hiring the Swede, we were in the relegation zone of the Championship.
The buzz around the appointment still stands out as a memory. People turning up early to the King Power to get a glimpse, excitement palpable in the air for his first home game. The club gave out Sven masks to help mark his arrival.
We’d had to wait a couple of weeks for it, his appointment came just ahead of an international break. A time the club used to jet off for a week long tour of Thailand and so Sven’s first looks at the squad were abroad in some friendlies.
That first league game was a 1-1 draw against Hull, already heightened emotionally by the return of Nigel Pearson, who’d got Hull sitting top. But it didn't really feel like the football or the result was the main event. It was about welcoming Sven and imagining the what if of him managing the club.
There was a sense of anticipation, of what it represented as our ambition as a club. A real statement of intent from our owners about what they felt we could achieve and how we'd go about it. Sven portrayed that ambition given his career and trophy achievements. He spoke passionately and inspired hope and belief.
“Lately, the club has had some difficulties and suddenly you see some light at the end of the tunnel. It awakens the dreams and hopes of many people, whether you are a manager, a fan or you work at the club. It is always exciting to work in a project like this.”
The turnaround was impressive. Not just in the results but in our style of play. After a very poor, shaky start under Paulo Sousa, Sven was able to stabilise a side who'd been conceding for fun and sought to put his own mark on the team. His spell as manager marked a change in our transfers, and the calibre of player we looked to bring in.
Sven was able to channel some much needed confidence and lent us status, credibility to attract players who otherwise may have turned away from us. Whereas we'd previously relied on unearthing gems from the lower leagues, younger players, Sven wanted to add experience and a pedigree. Arguably he helped us secure players who could have been peddling their trade in the Premier League.
Having signed Kyle Naughton on loan within days of joining Leicester, he set about identifying what we needed. Darius Vassell was brought in on a free later that month alongside other loans, Greg Cunningham and Curtis Davies. In his first transfer window, January 2011, we brought in Sol Bamba and a goalkeeper in Ricardo permanently. Our loan business was eye-catching, Ben Mee, Patrick Van Aanholt and notably, Yakubu.
There were even rumours later that Sven had tried to tempt David Beckham. It was a crazy time to be a Leicester fan. That was the kind of ambition he had and belief in what we were doing. No wonder the board had wanted him.
We'd started to outgrown some of the squad who'd done us proud previously, the likes of Michael Morrison and Matty Fryatt. But what Sven was doing with those who did keep their spots, Andy King, Paul Gallagher and Steve Howard, was imparting his advice and experience. They improved from this and the level of their new team mates.
Add in the new squad additions and we enjoyed some very memorable performances in the first season. Forcing an FA Cup replay at Manchester City, a 2-0 home win over Derby. It was a mixed bag of results as Sven changed our style and adapted to our new squad. Under Sven that season we finished 10th. It was clear he’d try bigger things in 2011/12.
Any manager who secured the services of Kasper Schmeichel deserves a legendary status. We got the chance to see what more investment and the Sven touch could do in June and July 2012. Schmeichel wasn’t the only notable addition. In came David Nugent, Jermaine Beckford, Sean St. Ledger, Matt Mills and Lee Peltier. We spent big, by our standards, and added a lot of new faces.
Schmeichel credits Sven with a lot and we will forever be grateful for him helping us get Kasper. A club legend, one of the greatest of all time. Seeing players like him pay tribute is touching and difficult to read.
Sven’s second season wasn’t such a fairy tale. Perhaps it was the sheer number of new recruits, but we’d put ourselves under pressure to therefore make the play-offs or get promoted, a heavy wage bill now weighing us down. We weren’t awful, but we weren’t in the top half of the table as October passed. A 3-0 defeat to Millwall sealed Eriksson’s fate and after just over a year in charge, the club made the call with the Foxes sat 13th in the table. It was a mutual agreement and Sven recently looked back on it as being the right decision, such was his classy nature.
A lot had changed in a year but not quite what the club had wanted in terms of end product. Our owners had backed him heavily financially and perhaps it was a case of too much, too soon for where we'd been compared to where we needed to go. But he helped lay some foundations in style and personnel that allowed us to progress.
If Pearson and Shakespeare’s efforts were invaluable to what Claudio achieved, then what Sven did helped pave the path for what Pearson did again in his second spell.
News of Sven's cancer diagnosis came to light in January and he took the chance to do a farewell tour of sorts to his former sides. While we didn't get the chance to have him back at the King Power, we still paid tribute. Union FS had a banner for him at the Ipswich game in April and most fans expressed sadness at the news, some chants of Sven-Göran Eriksson ringing out.
Sven believed in our project, maybe before most of the fans did or had even dared to dream of what was to come. While most of us only got the chance to know him through seeing him on the touchline and his press conferences, he came across incredibly well.
“I think they have everything here: the stadium, the training ground and the fans. We had 20,000 against Scunthorpe, when bottom of the league, that’s very good. There is everything to be a Premier League club. It’s only the table which doesn’t look very good.”
We can only echo the praise and kind words of others, he seemed like a true gentleman. Respectful, generous with his time and giving time to all, regardless of their role. Players and staff alike spoke highly of him.
Rest in peace, Sven. You helped out fanbase believe in a project that eventually saw us lift trophies we couldn't have dreamed of. Hopefully there'll be time to arrange some fitting tributes at one of our home games this week to honour the great man.
