SVEN-Goran Eriksson has signed a contract to be England's football coach until 2008 and we are all supposed to be grateful that the mess has been cleared up.

Perhaps we should. After all, Euro 2004 is just a few months away and off-field distractions need to be brushed aside.

But for all his protestations, the truth is that Eriksson was forced out into the open after being caught skulking about in the shadows, seeing what Chelsea had to offer.

Eriksson says he finds it hard to understand why there should have been such a fuss about his untimely, clandestine meeting with Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon. He insists he has every right to explore other opportunities.

That may be so, but it is bound to leave us with the impression of a man who is not fully committed to the task of leading England into Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup.

Had he been tempted by Roman Abramovich's additional riches, and broken his contract, he would have sparked national outrage. England fans would have condemned him for his disloyalty, and there would have been an additional backlash because Chelsea's current manager Claudio Ranieri is such a popular figure who deserves better than the wheeling and dealing which has been going on behind his back.

"I do not know why you are still asking," snapped Eriksson yesterday when repeatedly questioned by reporters about whether he will honour his newly-extended contract.

There are two reasons for asking the question more than once: no-one believes Sven-Goran Eriksson anymore; and no-one thinks football contracts are worth the paper on which they are written.

Just like when he was caught having a secret affair with Ulrika Jonsson, Eriksson has been forced to come clean and do the honourable thing - not because he wanted to but because he had to.

And once there has been deceit in a relationship, the trust can never be fully regained.