Eriksson: 'I thought Houllier business was over'

Sven-Goran Eriksson has admitted to being surprised at Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier resurrecting concern over the England coach’s summer meeting with Chelsea supremo Roman Abramovich.

Houllier was concerned over reports linking Chelsea with a move for Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard soon after Eriksson was photographed with Abramovich.

Eriksson thought he had cleared up the matter in a brief meeting with Houllier during the Amsterdam tournament in early August.

But Houllier has reactivated his own fears as the England squad met up to prepare for Saturday’s vital Euro 2004 qualifier in Turkey.

And he warned Eriksson against exerting his influence regarding the futures of Gerrard, who has still to sign a new deal, and Michael Owen – who has only 20 months of his current contract to run.

Eriksson said: “My view is that I saw Gerard Houllier during the Amsterdam tournament in August for the first time after the summer and we had a chat about it (his concerns). It took about two or three minutes and that was it.

“I thought everything was cleared up then, from me and from him. Now we are in October and chatting about it again. I thought it was dealt with in early August. But I have no further comment.”

Houllier said: “It was not good timing that Sven went to see Roman Abramovich and then two days later there were stories saying Chelsea wanted to sign Gerrard.

“He was pictured in all the newspapers going in to meet Abramovich and the next thing is that Chelsea are after Stevie. I was a bit upset about that and I got onto Sven to let him know.

“I phoned him and told him the timing was bad. He took the point and accepted what I said. We were told it was pure coincidence that one one event followed the other. It was not the best timing though.

“I was not happy about the speculation. I know my comments will be headlines but at the end of the day, I don’t care.”