• Eriksson expected to accept director of football position
• Ian McParland would remain as County manager

So Sven-Goran Eriksson was thinking of Meadow Lane when his agent revealed a couple of months ago that the Swede “would love to work in England again”. Anyone predicting such a return before yesterday’s remarkable developments would have risked being carted off to the nearest psychiatric ward but put a consortium from the Middle East and Eriksson’s name in the same sentence and you start to believe that anything is possible.

This time, however, the investors offering to line Eriksson’s pocket are not fake sheikhs seeking to bring down the England manager but Notts County board members intent on pulling off one of the more staggering football appointments in recent times.

Eriksson is expected to be unveiled as the League Two club’s director of football on Wednesday following talks which presumably did not dwell too much on the 61-year-old’s knowledge of County’s promotion rivals next season.

Quite what was going through Ian McParland’s mind when he learned of the bid to lure Eriksson is anyone’s guess, though the current Notts County manager has been assured that his job is safe despite the imminent arrival of someone who spent five years in charge of England. That period should have prepared Eriksson for most things but there could still be a few shocks in store if he makes his way around the League Two circuit next season.

Whether he will be required to negotiate those kind of trips remains to be seen, with his involvement at one of the world’s oldest football clubs likely to be more advisory than hands-on. Either way those close to Munto Finance, the ambitious Middle-East backed consortium that took control at Meadow Lane last week with plans to establish the club in the Championship within five years, say Eriksson will not be here today and gone tomorrow.

Eriksson does have experience of working at a lower level before when he started out on his managerial career with Degerfors in Sweden but 30 years have since passed and the majority of those have been spent at some of the most glamorous clubs in Europe such as Benfica, Roma and Lazio. Portsmouth seemed likely to be the next port of call after he was sacked by Mexico in April but instead Eriksson has checked in at a club that finished 87th on the football ladder in May.

His financial package will be the subject of much conjecture but it is thought to be strongly linked to the club’s progress, although it would be naive to believe that there is not a hefty basic wage. Eriksson, after all, does not work for pennies, even if he has received three seven-figure pay-offs in as many years, and there were suggestions last night, albeit unconfirmed, that he might pick up as much as £40,000 a week at Meadow Lane.

What a turnaround from 5½ years ago when County, mired in financial trouble, narrowly escaped the threat of expulsion from the Football League. There have been more tough times since, including the last five seasons finishing in the bottom half of League Two, but the loyal supporters that have remained faithful to the club that will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2012 can be forgiven for waking up with a smile this morning.

“We have a vision of success now,” said Glenn Rolley, the chairman of the supporters’ trust. “We stand in the shadow of our neighbours. Appointing Sven will reverberate around the football world. I can only compare it to when Notts County signed Tommy Lawton from Chelsea in the late ’40s.

“He was England’s No 1 centre-forward. This is comparable. I’ve been a supporter for 45 years and this is proud day. It’s quite romantic really.”