SAM Allardyce today locks horns with the man he almost replaced, claiming that Sven-Goran Eriksson has been wrongly derided as a failed England manager.

Eriksson's managerial resurrection has been one of the stories of the Premier League season so far, with the Manchester City boss guiding his side to third place in the table despite only being appointed in July.

City's early-season form has silenced the critics who scoffed at Eriksson's return to management following his acrimonious departure from the national side.

The Swede was forced out of the England job last summer in the wake of an unsuccessful World Cup campaign, with most supporters glad to see the back of a manager who had become synonymous with failure.

Allardyce views his record rather differently, however, pointing to an impressive qualifying record and appearances in the quarter-finals of three successive major tournaments as evidence of his ability.

And as he prepares to inflict a first home defeat on the fledgling City boss in today's lunchtime kick-off, the Newcastle manager has insisted that Eriksson's rapid renaissance should not be seen as a surprise.

"When you look back at his time in charge of England, a lot of people say he failed," said Allardyce, who is expected to pair Mark Viduka with Obafemi Martins this afternoon in the absence of both Shola Ameobi and Michael Owen. "But he didn't really fail, did he?

"When you actually look at the three quarter-finals, with all of the penalties and refereeing decisions that went on, he didn't do badly.

"The refereeing decision to disallow a last-minute goal in Portugal (in the quarter-final of Euro 2004) for something that was never a foul can hardly be his fault. And he couldn't exactly do much when England got knocked out in Germany because they lost on penalties again.

"A lot of what is said about him being a failure as England coach is not true because there is such a thin dividing line and most of it was out of his control.

"He was never guilty of the wrong selection or choosing the wrong team. It came down to a penalty miss or a disallowed goal, but that was enough to have him branded a failure. Those are the pressures you are under with the top job in England."

Steve McClaren has quickly discovered as much since replacing Eriksson, of course, with a defeat in Croatia and a draw in Israel enough to place his job in jeopardy.

McClaren and Allardyce were part of a three-man shortlist that also included West Ham boss Alan Curbishley during the Football Association's final round of interviewing in the search for Eriksson's successor.

The former Bolton boss was many people's favourite to take the post, and is understood to have been deeply unhappy at the FA's decision to overlook his credentials in favour of McClaren.

Given his rival's subsequent suffering at the hands of a voracious media, though, surely his failure to land the job was actually a blessing in disguise?

"It might put you off a bit, but you'd certainly still do it," countered Allardyce, who could yet find himself re-applying for the post if McClaren fails to guide England to next year's European Championships in Austria and Switzerland. "We take the job knowing what's going to come.

"Sven got a lot of stick, but I don't think that was anything to do with him being Swedish. It's the same for all England managers. It happened to Sir Bobby (Robson) and Graham (Taylor). They also stitched up Glenn Hoddle over his religious beliefs, so it's nothing new.

"If you don't want to take the criticism, don't take the job. I don't think the situation will ever get better, although it would help if it wasn't so personal all the time."

Ironically, given his Manchester City side's start to the season, much of the criticism aimed at Eriksson during his international tenure centred around a perceived lack of motivational skills and a tactical inflexibility. That image is having to be hastily redrawn after he signed eight new players within a fortnight yet still managed to blend them into a motivated and flexible unit.