Eriksson issues warning over intrusions by the media

Sven-Goran Eriksson says he will resign as England coach if the speculation over his private life becomes too much to handle.

The Swede came under intense scrutiny before the World Cup in June over revelations of an affair, and he said of intrusions into his private life: "It's a price you have to pay if you want to stay in this country and if you want to stay in football. I accept it, but the day I don't accept it I will leave, change country. That type of press is more difficult in England than it is in Italy, Portugal or Sweden."

According to reports, Brian Kidd is set to be named as the Swede's new assistant coach.

Steve McClaren stood down at the start of November and Eriksson has been searching for a replacement since and is believed to want Kidd. Eriksson canvassed the opinion of his senior players at a recent get-together, and Kidd was given the thumbs-up.

Kidd is currently on the coaching staff at Leeds United, but forged his reputation during his time at Manchester United, when he played a key role in the development of players such as David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs. And he was given the seal of approval by Manchester United and Leeds players when asked by Eriksson.

Terry Venables could walk away from Leeds with a severance payment of £1m if his side are beaten at Bolton tonight. Several sources claimed yesterday that the fomer England manager has been negotiating a pay-off with the board, with another meeting scheduled for tomorrow.

Venables is believed to have get-out clauses in his contract worth £3m but would settle for £1m if he was asked to leave now – which would put the price of his failure at £200,000 a month.

The Leicester manager Micky Adams was anticipating a new dawn yesterday after the club announced that Gary Lineker's consortium had had their bid accepted.

Adams' men destroyed Millwall 4-1 at the Walkers Stadium on Saturday, with their former player completely overshadowed on his return to the club which sacked him earlier this season. The Foxes ran riot with goals from James Scowcroft, Matt Elliott and Paul Dickov.

"I knew about it on Friday night but I forgot to mention it to the players," Adams said about the takeover. "I'm delighted. It's important because the air of uncertainty will hopefully now be lifted."

Lineker's 26-man consortium have raised around £5m to help pay off Leicester's debts and are now the preferred bidders. The former Foxes and England striker hopes to have his old club out of administration by the end of January.

"It's a good day and we are all thrilled to be able to help," he said.

The Premier League is set to sign a lucrative new deal to broadcast matches. League representatives have held discussions with Sky about repeating the £1.1bn three-year deal they signed in 2000.

Despite the slump in the value of broadcast sports rights, Sky are reportedly willing to at least match the current contract, which runs out next year. The deal would come as a major boost at a time when many Premiership clubs find themselves in serious debt.

Many lower league clubs have suffered following the collapse of ITV Digital which left them out of pocket, while revenues have also fallen dramatically in Italy, Germany and Spain.

A report also claimed that Sky offered to extend the current deal by another two years several months ago at the same price plus inflation. However, the league advised that the European Commission would rule it unlawful.

Clubs are also expected to be given more leeway with regards to showing more games on their own websites and other TV channels, and sooner after the final whistle.