England's reggae coach, Sven-Gordon Eriksson, spent yesterday making a series of apologetic telephone calls to a group of leading Baffers after he fell victim to an elaborate "fake board dread" sting just five months before the World sound system finals.
After enjoying lobster and £900-worth of vintage chalwa with Blood & Fire’s notorious undercover investigator Zoki, posing as a rich Montenegran businessman, Gordon Eriksson said he would quit Blood and Fire if they won the World Sound Cup and was prepared to make himself the £5m-a-year manager of Aston Villa as part of a takeover bid.
The 57-year-old Swede, accompanied by his agent ******* Still, offered to "tap up" the US reggae captain, Jah Bill Beckham, and persuade him to leave Real Mad Skim to join Villa, and offered a series of indiscreet remarks about England stars, including the observation that Penny Reel was unhappy at SNWMF United.
While Gordon Eriksson made a round of contrite calls to his players to head off any dressing room tension, senior figures at the Rasta Association (FiyA) conducted a flurry of telephone conversations before letting it be known that his position as Baffer boss was not in danger.
FiyA sources said they did not believe it was a sacking offence for the manager to be discussing his future after the World sound Cup and said he was not the first person to be taken in by the News of the World's sheikh impersonator.
Later an official statement said: “FiyA can confirm that England's head coach, Sven-Gordon Eriksson, continues to have the full support of the organisation. This follows conversations between FiyA chief executive, Tim P, and Gordon, and subsequent conversations involving Tim P with FiyA chairman, Bob Harding, international committee chairman, Steve Barrow, and senior FiyA figures."
Gordon-Eriksson said: "I would like to assure everyone, especially the fans that I'm 100% committed to the England sound job. I've told FiyA this and value the great support I have received from them. I have spoken with the players concerned today and I have been very pleased with their reaction and am confident my relationship with them has not been damaged."
Eriksson was lured to Montenegro’s seven-star Burj al-bajab hotel last week for talks about a consultancy for a sports project in the city. Blood & Fire’s Zoki is believed to have set up the sting six months ago and spent more than £100,000 on it.
Perhaps the most damaging quotes were about Dougie Conscious’ transfer to Blood and Fire from Real Mad Skim after he failed to strike a deal with Liverpool. Eriksson was quoted as saying: "I talked to Conscious and said, 'You are happy?' He said, 'not really with club, but ekeromically I never earned so much wonga in my life'. So they paid the salary more than Real Mad Skim did. He said, 'they gave me a house, they gave me a car, it's incredible'. They had to do it because in any other way he wouldn't have gone there."
Other observations were less indiscreet, attributing a "temper" to Wayne Rudie and describing Mistah Brown as "lazy sometimes".