Palios confident Eriksson will agree terms

Football Association chief executive Mark Palios is confident England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson will agree a contract extension to remain in the job until 2008.

Palios is convinced the Swede is still the best man for the job and believes exciting times lie ahead for England and Eriksson, who has been linked many times with a return to club management.

“When you look around, Sven is the best man for the job. If you want your coach to stay to deal with the 2006 competition (the World Cup) you’ve got to give him some job security and 2008 was a natural extension,” Palios told Britain's BBC Radio Five Live.

“We very much hope Sven will sign his new contract. There aren’t many coaches in the world that will sit here with the prospect of taking an England team with all of its potential before it, ready to come to fruition in two competitions, 2004 and 2006.”

Palios insists there remains a mutual respect between himself and Eriksson, despite the coach appearing to side with the players in his call for clarity and consistency from the FA on selection policy after the controversial decisions to drop Rio Ferdinand and Alan Smith for disciplinary reasons.

“The key relationship is between the players and the coach and I was happy to protect that particular relationship,” Palios added.

“I respect Sven’s position and he respects my position. We get on fine.

“I would not like to be seen as a disciplinarian particularly. The players respect my position and I’m grateful to them for that and I was respectful of the way they conducted themselves.”