If all those with evidence that Sven-Goran Eriksson is vain, indecisive and disloyal were stacked up one behind the other the line would stretch comfortably around the new Wembley stadium.

A hundred times 'they' might include, in no particular order, Ulrika, Faria and Nancy, the board of Blackburn Rovers who once believed they had Eriksson's agreement to manage the club, and all those disturbed by his cosy meetings with Chelsea's Roman Abramovich and Peter Kenyon.

They would be joined by a large section of England supporters perturbed by his inability to think on his feet during the course of a football match.

But now we know Eriksson is not just vain, indecisive and disloyal. He is not just a man who loves the smell of aircraft fuel and the rustle of green folding paper. He is also guilty of gross misjudgement.

There is no other way to dress up the news that he was taken in by the king of fake sheikhs in a newspaper sting during a trip to Dubai in which apparently he brought up the prospect of an Arab buying a club such as Aston Villa with him becoming manager and the star player, none other than England captain David Beckham.

Not forgetting, of course, £5million a year AFTER tax for himself.

His apologists, of course, scream entrapment. They say his trip to Dubai, which was about a possible consultancy role in the future for a football academy, was sanctioned by the Football Association.

They say much of the article was "sheer fantasy," just the product of "being free with people after a good dinner," and that Eriksson is "totally committed to England."

But the worst thing about the Swede's meeting with the fake sheikh was not the revelation that he was ready to leave England immediately after the World Cup. Most people in the know have suspected that for months and, anyway, Eriksson has as much right as any other employee to look after his future career.

No, the most deplorable aspect was his readiness to sing like a canary to someone he had known for a matter of hours about the players on whose trust he will depend totally in Germany next summer.

All it took was a good dinner, doubtless some soft music, and suddenly the menu was garnished with betrayal.

Betrayal of his captain Beckham, whom Eriksson reportedly claimed wanted to return to England from Real Madrid to play for a club in London but who could be persuaded by their special relationship to go to Aston Villa where replica shirts would walk off the shelves like never before.

"I'll phone Beckham. We have a relationship," Eriksson is reported to have said. "He'll come back tomorrow."

Betrayal, too, of Rio Ferdinand whom Eriksson revealed was "lazy," even if no-one could doubt the accuracy of the description.

Betrayal of Wayne Rooney, whose bad temper comes from his Liverpool roots, again not revelatory.

Betrayal, most seriously of all perhaps, of Michael Owen, whom Eriksson allegedly claimed only went to Newcastle for the money.

None of which we did not suspect but for the England manager to admit such detail to a stranger is at best recklessly indiscreet, at worst contemptible.

Let's not be taken in by the pitiful attempts at damage limitation by Eriksson's agent Athole Still. Still, who prattles in semantics about the difference between "discussions" and "negotiations," would have us believe that it was all just a bit of after-dinner bonhomie.

He even has the front to suggest that rather than trying to engineer an early release from his England position, Eriksson really wants to stay until 2010.

It was a pathetic attempt to try to put positive spin on a story which can only hurt England's chances of winning the World Cup.

No, Eriksson will not be sacked, although as one who has supported him in the past I believe this is the straw that should break the backing of the Football Association for a man who has shown the flakiest of principles while in office.

Despite the huge embarrassment to the FA it won't. One because there is no ready-made replacement and two because getting rid of Eriksson just five months from the World Cup would wreck England's best hopes of success for 40 years.

But Eriksson staying will be no picnic either. At England get-togethers the scrutiny on Eriksson's relationship with his players is bound to be closer than ever.

Beckham will be quizzed ad nauseum on his 'special relationship.' Owen, Ferdinand and Rooney, too, will be pumped for their reactions. It won't go away. It has the potential to be distracting and disruptive.

Players on the cusp of a World Cup adventure which could raise the spirits of an entire nation should be entitled to confide in their manager without fear that innermost hopes, fears and financial details might be conveyed to anyone who puts a tea-cloth around his head and pays for dinner.

"We have all been naive," said Still in what amounted to the nearest the Eriksson camp came to taking responsibility.

In truth, Eriksson has been worse, much worse than that.

He has betrayed the trust of the very people he is relying on to bring home the World Cup this summer.