Capello's resignation ‘surprised me'

London: Sven-Goran Eriksson sat in a London Park Lane hotel, contemplating the vacancies around town at Chelsea, England and possibly Tottenham Hotspur while admitting bemusement that Fabio Capello walked away from a job he himself loved so dearly.

Eriksson was "absolutely" surprised Fabio Capello resigned from England.

The Italian had refused to agree to the FA's demand that he strip John Terry of the armband as the defender fought racism accusations, claims he strongly denies.

"Capello's qualified in style for Euro 2012 and not to want to take part in the last piece of the work, I can't understand that.

"You won't lose in the Euros because of that [Terry losing armband]. England, if they don't take John Terry as captain, can take Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard as captain and they will do the job as well as Terry. I can't see the big, big issue. If the FA said you can't use Terry as a player, that's different.

"My surprise with England's last game was not Scott Parker being captain but that you had Gerrard on the pitch." Eriksson felt he should have been captain.

Eriksson misses England, saying he "would take" the job tomorrow.

"They should take me. I know all the players. There are some good players coming in but there are still good older players.

"Paul Scholes might come back again. Wayne Rooney's incredible, he has everything and he is still only 26. He is a mature footballer who controls his temperament more. He's England's match-winner.

Not perfect

"But it [the England job] will not happen because that would be considered by the press and the FA as going backwards.

"If Harry Redknapp takes it from the end of the season and goes into Euros it's not a perfect situation for him because of the short time. If he takes the job, it would be better he does it after the Euros in the two years up to the World Cup.

"Harry will take England but he will cry at the same time because he's not ready. Has Harry finished the job with Tottenham? It's the last step to take with Tottenham, fighting for the league, going far in the Champions League. That's very sad to leave behind.

"But England is too big to say ‘no' to. If you say ‘no' it will never come back. It's not about the pay. You remember Arrigo Sacchi? He was Atletico Madrid manager at the end of his career and then went to Real Madrid as consultant. I met him in Madrid once, and he said: ‘Sven, there is only one job I could think about otherwise I will never ever be a manager again.' ‘What job is that?' I asked him. ‘England manager,' Sacchi said. ‘I'd take that.'

"England is the motherland of the game. When you go to a big tournament you have 60 million people passionately in your back, pushing you. Fantastic. Italy is not the same. If the national team plays badly, it is ‘boo, boo'. Brazil is probably the same as England."

The Swede steered England to three quarter-finals at the World Cups in 2002 and 2006 and Euro 2004. "It was not that bad, those years I had England. We should've reached the final in 2004 and 2006."