THE NEXT TRYST IN TAWDRY TALE; Three Employees, Two Affairs and One Huge Problem at Soho Square. Now the Football Association Must Decide How to Clean Up the Mess on Their Doorstep. to Do So They Must Decide Which of the Threesome to Back - and Which to Sack. Paul Thomson Reports on the Possibilities

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Byline: PAUL THOMSON

What if the FA sack Eriksson?

THIS is the scenario favoured by those in the media who have never warmed to the idea of the England team being coached by - say it through gritted teeth - a foreigner.

Add to this the prurience governing much of the coverage and you have a powerful argument for removing Eriksson from the tabloid firing line.

As one senior Football Association board member put it: "This couldn't come at a worst time. Parliament is in recess and the tabloids are hungry for gossip. It's embarrassing that it should fall, once again, to the FA to provide it."

Yet, while there is alarm at Soho Square over the latest headlines, there is little appetite for sacking Eriksson over what is seen as essentially a personal matter.

The issue exercising the minds of the FA's 12-man executive board is the denial released last week. But even if it is …