SVEN Goran Eriksson remains a potential candidate for the vacant manager's job at Ewood Park, as we revealed some time ago, writes Peter White.

But don't hold your breath.

A report this morning that a delegation from the Blackburn Rovers board flew to Genoa yesterday to finalise a deal with the Sampdoria coach and his club is a non-starter in more ways than one.

Rovers chairman Robert Coar, a key man in any managerial negotiations, was certainly going nowhere.

He was in Blackburn yesterday and, last night, was sitting just in front of me watching the reserve team play Sheffield Wednesday in a Pontin's League game at Deepdale!

Eriksson, whose contract with Sampdoria runs out next summer, has already stated that he expects to fulfil his term of office with the Italian club.

Though he is believed to be interested in the possibility of working in England at some stage and I understand agents have been promoting his name in various parts of Europe. He is also the sort of man who would fit the bill for Rovers.

The Swede, who speaks good English, has an impressive track recod, having worked and won trophies with top European clubs such as Sampdoria, Benfica and Roma.

Rovers, as Lancashire Evening Telegraph readers will know, have been taking an intense interest in Serie A with the search for a replacement for Ray Harford now in its second month.

After former England coach Terry Venables - now in charge of Australia's World Cup bid - made it clear he was not interested in the job, they targeted Inter Milan coach Roy Hodgson as a possible candidate.

But Hodgson has proved too valuable for the Italians to lose.

They responded to Rovers' interest by starting talks on a new contract for the exiled Englishman.

Eriksson is a name that cannot be discounted, and, with Ruud Gullit and Arsene Wenger now in charge of Chelsea and Arsenal respectively, there seems to be a growing trend for Premier League clubs to look for a continental influence at the top. It can certainly be an advantage, especially when it comes to trawling the European market for new players.

Coaches like Eriksson who have worked in more than one country are more likely to know where to look for bargains from abroad, and his reputation would give him the clout to persuade already established top-line star players to come here.

But I do not believe there is anything imminent on the managerial front and I would be very surprised if Tony Parkes is not in charge when Rovers play Southampton at Ewood on Saturday.

Parkes is doing his usual excellent job as caretaker-boss and the club have the comfort of knowing things can safely be left in his hands while they scour Europe for a successor to Harford.

As they have already discovered, it isn't going to be easy.

Rovers must have pots of transfer cash available for the new man, but their present League position could be off-putting to any candidates.

They also have the problem of the "chairman's charter"if they look in this country.

Premier League clubs have agreed not to poach each other's managers during the season.

Graham Fenton faces another lay-off after suffering a recurrence of his hamstring problems during last night's reserve game against Sheffield Wednesday.

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