THE Sven story is manna from heaven for the tabloid newspapers and their millions of readers who love juicy tittle-tattle.

"Svensational" and "Suedehearts" and a score of other puns have been written about the England football manager picking TV glamour girl Ulrika Jonsson.

It is also a marriage made in heaven for the country's red-blooded males. Sven has earned a place in their hearts for his cool-headed mastery of football, as has the former weathergirl for her blonde hair and "warm frontal systems".

The story also appeals to our stereotyped view of the Swedish. We've long believed that they lustily enjoy bouncing around in the open air outside their log huts, and there really is little more satisfying than having your irrational national prejudices confirmed.

However, without wishing to be pompous or pious, the story is more than a light-hearted romp.

When Kevin Keegan resigned as England manager, the country had to accept its footballing talent was so thinly spread that only a foreign coach was good enough to take charge of the national team. Sven Goran Eriksson is, though, a very private person and the danger is that he will be driven out of the job by the publicity - and we can't afford to lose him.

But Eriksson's integrity has been part of his success. English football has had a rotten season with its hugely paid stars drinking and fighting in the streets. Eriksson, though, has selected clean cut players to represent the nation, and has chosen his captains David Beckham and Michael Owen because they are the perfect pin-ups.

However, his integrity has now slipped a notch as it doesn't appear that he has been entirely fair with his partner, Nancy Dell'Olio.

There are bound to be dressing room titters over headlines like "Can Sven ignore the saucy redhead" - a story about whether Manchester United's ginger-haired Paul Scholes could be overlooked. And so his respect will slip a little, too. One of his predecessors, Glenn Hoddle, lost the job when he lost all respect for using a faith-healer to select the team.

Finally, for the 50 per cent of the population that has absolutely no interest in football, the story is very, very bad news.

They were astounded when Beckham's second metatarsal hogged the headlines. Now they find the news dominated by an unmarried man having an affair with an unmarried woman.

But this is how it is going to be until the end of the World Cup late in June, every twitch of every muscle over-reported and over-analysed. They will be hoping that England get knocked out early and the football frenzy subsides so that real news can make the news.