CITY striker Robbie Fowler has branded England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson a "long-ball merchant" with a vastly overinflated reputation.

The Blues strker, who has not regularly featured for England since Eriksson took over the national job, launches an attack on the Swede's abilities in his new book.

And Fowler, who has 26 caps for England, believes England made a mistake in appointing him over Terry Venables.

"Sven Goran Eriksson has, for me, a reputation vasly inflated beyond his actual achievements," he writes in his book - which is being serialised by the Mail On Sunday.

"He was a safe pair of hands after Kevin Keegan but he wasn't the first choice of the players.

"The FA took the unpredecented step of asking some of the senior players who they thought should be the next manager. Almost to a man, everyone who was asked came up with the name that I would have offered - Terry Venables."

Fowler, currently injured, blasted Eriksson for his lack of passion and said that his style of play meant he would never fit into the England team under the Swede's management - whereas pacy forwards, including new teammate Darius Vassell, would.

"He played me a few times and against Greece I even felt the team was set up to accommodate my talent," he claims.

"For the large part, though, he was a long-ball merchant. He wanted pace up front, no matter what the standard was.

"Darius Vassell won far more caps under Eriksson than I could ever have dreamed of and that's becasue the manager was obsessed with lumping early long balls for quick fellas up front.

"It's the modern disease and, for me, its the preserve of a bankrupt coach."

And he warned that England had no chance of success under Eriksson's guidance.

"To me, though, he's not a particularly good manager, he's a half-decent coach who has got himself a massive reputation," he writes.

"England are an organised team and there won't be any slip-ups in qualifying. Get to the finals, though, and when we come up against a proper team, that won't be enough - and that's a shame given the talent we have available."

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