Sven-Göran Eriksson is a laughing stock this morning, embarrassed by his own cupidity and stupidity after being caught in an elaborate “sting” on a yacht in Dubai by the News of the World, who hoaxed him into agreeing to break his contract and quit England for Aston Villa after the World Cup.

Eriksson, mercenary by nature, is no stranger to disloyalty, having been caught discussing the possibility of taking charge at Chelsea with their chief executive, Peter Kenyon, before Jose Mourinho got the job, and the Football Association are becoming inured to his indiscretions.

Their initial reaction was to make light of the news when I broke it to them late last night, but while they are determined to ride out yet another media storm of their coach’s making, one FA councillor said: “It would have been very different had this come after Belfast (where England lost 1-0 to Northern Ireland in a World Cup qualifier in September).

“He’ll get away with it now because we’re so close to the World Cup.”

The latest exposé of the Swede’s unprincipled behaviour shows him to be greedy and gullible in equal measure, and his agent, Athole Still, is no less culpable. Caught in the same trap, he was lured into saying that Michael Owen was open to offers. It is Still’s client, however, who comes out of the silly pretence with egg on his face and yet another stain on his reputation.

Suggesting that a total stranger buy Villa and install him as manager on £5m a year was not only disloyal, it was incredibly naive, given the identity of the mystery “sheikh” with whom he was dealing.

It was also deeply unethical and especially unfair to David O’Leary, under pressure as manager at Villa Park, who is entitled to be outraged by the prospect of the England coach touting for his job. The League Managers’ Association have a code of conduct outlawing such behaviour, and will be indignant about its blatant disregard.

The “sting” was perpetrated by Mazher Mahmood who, in the guise of a mega-rich Arab, has caught so many victims in much the same way that any high profile public figure with a grain of sense would see him coming a mile off. Instead, Eriksson fell for the bait hook, line and sinker.

The News of the World, of course, have had a field day with their story, which occupies the first seven pages of today’s paper. The banner headline on the front: “Sven’s Dirty Deals — £15m to quit England and he’ll tap up Becks”, is every tabloid editor’s dream. Inside, Eriksson is unbelievably indiscreet about his best players — not only David Beckham, but Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand. He says Owen is “not really happy” at Newcastle, “but they paid more than Real Madrid did”.

Moving on to Rooney, the England coach will have done his relationship with his best player the sort of harm that could prove to be irreparable by criticising his parents. Asked by Mahmood: “What’s Rooney like”, he replied: “It is his temper. He’s coming from a poor family, very rough.”

Turning to Rio Ferdinand, Eriksson said he had dropped him at the start of the season “because he was not in good shape”, adding that “he can be lazy sometimes”.

Rio’s brother, West Ham United’s centre-half Anton Ferdinand, “might be even better”, Eriksson thought. “Now that’s one you could buy for Aston Villa”, he said.

Most “sensationally” of all, in the News of the World’s eyes, he offered to “tap up” Beckham and bring him back from Real Madrid to captain Villa. “I’ll phone Beckham,” he said. “Aston Villa will sell more shirts in one week than they did for the last 10 years.”

The “tapping up” of players is strictly against FA rules, but Eriksson carried on blithely. “I know for sure he (Beckham wants to come back to England”, said Eriksson. “If it’s a London club he will come back tomorrow, and it’s up to me to convince him that Birmingham is the right place to be.”

Asked why Beckham would want to leave Real, Eriksson said: “Because this is his third season, never winning anything. If you buy the club and the first signing is David Beckham, he will finish his career with Aston Villa.”

Warming to his theme, the England coach said he would get his assistant, Tord Grip, to set up the deal, but that he would phone Beckham first. The FA will choke over their muesli at the thought of this ludicrously well-paid management team moonlighting as head-hunters for the Villans. An assertion that he would also like to take the FA’s director of communications, Adrian Bevington, with him to Villa Park, is another revelation that will wound his loyal employers.

Eriksson has two years left on a very lucrative contract, and while one can hardly appeal to a Swede’s sense of patriotic responsibilty to England, it is tempting to ask how much more than the FA’s £4.2m a year he feels he needs. This latest example of his venal character will be far more damaging than his dalliances with Ulrika Jonsson and Faria Alam. It will not cost him his job now, but it will not be forgotten by those who matter, least of all in the England dressing room, and will certainly not be forgiven if the team falls short of expectations at the World Cup.

They may profess to be sanguine about it all, but when FA executives discuss the matter in a series of breakfast phone calls today, it will be against a worrying backdrop.

The News of the World promises “Even More Astonishing Revelations Next Week”. On the positive side, at least Eriksson’s employers know where they stand. There has been much talk at Soho Square about the coach continuing after the World Cup, but all that can now be forgotten. He has made his intentions plain, and England should start looking for his successor.

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