The Italian reaction

Injuries have affected Lazio in recent weeks

BBC Sport Online's Saj Chowdhury speaks to journalist Marco Cherubini of newspaper Il Giornale about the reaction in Italy to Sven Goran Eriksson's departure.

Sven Goran Eriksson's premature start to his England managerial reign has been met with mixed reaction in Italy.

His Serie A club Lazio, with whom he won the Scudetto last year, experienced a run of bad results following the announcement late last year that their Swedish boss was to become the England national team manager.

Il Giornale's Marco Cherubini, who has interviewed Eriksson on several occasions believes that it was about time the Swede left for English shores.

Zoff to take charge

"Many people in Lazio love Eriksson. He won a lot of trophies with the club but recently results went against them," said Cherubini.

"The situation on and off the field with the players was becoming more and more strained.

"Eriksson has been unlucky with injuries. Claudio Lopez, Juan Veron and Alessandro Nesta were missing from the 2-1 defeat against Lazio last weekend and I think that was the final nail in the coffin.

"The fans will be unhappy and I know that Eriksson would have loved to have signed off with a 'ciao' - but it wasn't to be."

Cherubini added that the Rome club wasted no time in finding a replacement for the Swede.

"Former Italy coach Dino Zoff has agreed to a two-year contract with Lazio and is ready to train the team for their next match against Udinese on Sunday," he said.

England see sense

"The likes of Marcelo Lippi and Alberto Zaccheroni are still in contention, but for the moment it looks like Zoff."

Despite Eriksson's relatively poor performance this season in charge of the Serie A side, Cherubini believes this will have no negative effect on his new team.

"I know Eriksson very well. I think he is a very good choice for the England national side," he added.

"Five years will be enough time for Eriksson to sort out the England team.

"It is about time your country adopted this approach and I'm sure it this period will see England become successful on the world stage."