Of All the Football Clubs in All the World, Sven Had to Walk into Notts County's

Sven-Goran Eriksson's long, strange trip took a turn for the downright bizarre this week. Eriksson, affectionately known as just Sven by the British tabloids, was unveiled as Director of Football at Notts County of League Two, three divisions below England's top flight.

And it certainly isn't what you would expect to see next on a resume that includes Lazio, the English national team, Manchester City, and Mexico. But Sven has been out of work since he was unceremoniously fired from the Tricolores job and the itch must have been getting to him. Or something.

More likely, the mysterious Munto Finance consortium out of the Middle East made him an offer he couldn't refuse. The financial details of his five-year deal to work alongside manager Ian McParland have not been made public, but the British papers are reporting that Sven has been made a shareholder in the club. It seems he'll be making his own incentives package. And anyway, at least this offer seems to be real. Not like that time he was duped by a "Fake Sheikh" who turned out to be a News of the World reporter in disguise.

But for what Notts County lacks in pedigree — their most recent title was the third division championship in 1998 — they more than make up for in ambition. During his first news conference with the club, Sven said he believed the club could be in the Premier League in five years. Now, not that it can't be done (Fulham went from the fourth tier to the Premier League between 1996 and 2001), but Notts County is a club that finished sixth from bottom in League Two last year.

Still, things can change quickly in the wild, wacky world of lower division football and there's no reason Sven and Notts County shouldn't be able to succeed quickly. Sure, he probably doesn't know anything of the players at that level, but that's why he has McParland with him. And a little money can go a long way in League Two — especially when you've got one of these Middle Eastern consortia behind you.

At the very least, it will be one of this season's most intriguing experiments. And you can already bet that there will be more Notts County headlines around the major papers this season than in the last 10 years combined.