COULD Sven be the next manager of Newcastle? It seems about as likely as Alan Shearer being the next manager of England (he is quoted at 66-1), but the Swede might appeal to Freddy Shepherd as the fellow victim of a newspaper sting.

The difference was that Shepherd had some pretty shocking things to say, while Eriksson merely stated what we all knew already. The Premier League and the News of the World make worthy bedfellows - for one to dupe the England manager into condemning the other seems as pointless as it is hypocritical.

The only man found guilty of financial irregularity in the Premiership cesspit has been George Graham and he was nailed by the Inland Revenue. So we shouldn't expect too much from the forthcoming inquiry, although the club chairmen must have something to fear if they are as incensed as reported by Sven's comments.

Do the Freddy Shepherds of this world, with their contempt for the average fan, really think that we observe them as whiter than white? Do they think we admire their judgement as they lurch along on their ego trips?

The average Newcastle fan knew fine well that Graeme Souness was not the man to succeed Sir Bobby Robson and I suggested at the time that he must have been brought in as a stopgap until Shearer was ready to take the reins. Unfortunately that day seems little closer, so Shepherd is trapped in a mire of his own making.

If he were to give Sven a call he would deserve our admiration for his audacity. But if the philandering Swede knows what Shepherd had to say about the Tyneside ladies during his newspaper sting it would be a very brief call indeed.

HOW far down the betting for the next England manager do we have to read before it becomes a joke?

Stuart Pearce at 12-1 perhaps? Although he might do the job eventually, in managerial terms he's barely out of nappies. Or Bryan Robson at 20-1? Despite the miracle he worked in keeping West Brom up last season, they are not pulling up any trees and even lost at home to Sunderland.

The last four incumbents all make the list, with Glenn Hoddle coming in at 40-1. Now that really is a joke as he's no nearer now to sorting out Wolves than when he started - they have drawn 28 of their 59 games under him.

I'm afraid I can't see Steve McClaren doing the job as, like Robson before him, he has been unable to sustain his progress with Middlesbrough. This should have been a big season for him, but it is turning into a disaster.

The team of the season are Wigan, even to the extent that they have reflated impressively after their bubble appeared to have burst. If it's too much to expect the FA to appoint someone from such a footballing backwater they should be reminded that Alf Ramsey didn't do too badly when plucked from Ipswich.

ALL I know of Paul Jewell is that he is manager of Wigan. All I knew of Troy Cooley was that he was an unsung Australian cricketer who played as a club pro in the Tyneside Senior League and went on to become the highly-regarded England bowling coach.

Now that Cooley has been lured back to Australia, Allan Donald has applied to succeed him. But, as with Jewell and Cooley, sport is increasingly teaching us that it's not the best performers who make the best coaches.

While Donald was a great fast bowler, there is no reason to believe that he would be any better than Darren Gough at developing England's pacemen. England apparently want someone on board before they go to India next month, but Cooley will be a hard act to follow and it would be foolish to rush an appointment.

ONE good reason for taking my holidays in January is that nothing much happens then. I returned to find that the axe was still hanging over Graeme Souness and Jonny Wilkinson still wasn't playing for Newcastle Falcons.

He was said to have a chance of his latest comeback on New Year's Day and the delay can only add fuel to those pessimists who claim he will never be the same again. The silence surrounding his slow recovery from a hernia operation is either bad news or a reflection of the club's frustration with repeated requests for bulletins.

Sadly, he's not the only one who's hardly played since the World Cup as prop Paul Vickery is back on the treatment table he has occupied for most of the last two years.

But sport is littered with people who have disproved their epitaphs, the more determined among them spurred by the fact that they have been written off. I hope Jonny does play for England again, but he will probably have to wait for Charlie Hodgson to be injured.

STAR of the week must be the flamboyant young Cypriot tennis player Marcos Baghdatis, whose disposal of Andy Roddick and David Nalbandian to reach the Australian Open final proved that style can still triumph over power.

Published: 27/01/06