BLACKBURN ROVERS or Lazio, or maybe even Sampdoria? That appears to be the three way choice facing Sampdoria coach Sven Goran Eriksson, the Serie A man of the moment whose side beat AC Milan 3-2 at the San Siro on Sunday to record their sixth win in seven outings and put themselves just two points behind league leaders Juventus.

The story so far: Readers will recall that last December Blackburn announced they had engaged Sven Eriksson for next season. Your correspondent spoke to Eriksson at the time and he confirmed that an agreement with Blackburn had been reached, adding, however, that he wished to make no further comment on his impending move to English soccer until he had seen out his contract with Sampdoria this season.

Last week, however, all those best laid Blackburn plans suddenly seemed less than iron cast when Italian media speculation suggested that Eriksson now wants out of the Blackburn contract in order to take over at Rome club Lazio. The speculation found root in the obvious fact that powerful Lazio are looking around for a coach for next season.

Last week, following a 2-1 home defeat by Bologna, Lazio sacked their Czech coach ZdenekZeman, replacing him with Dino Zoff, the 1982 World Cup winning captain and goalkeeping legend. Zoff, a former Lazio coach and until last week the upstairs manager, takes the job on a strictly short term basis, however, intending to see the club through to the end of this season and no further.

Lazio, in the meantime, have allegedly contacted Eriksson to offer him the job. Media reports claim that the Swede then contacted Blackburn in order to back out of his agreement, with the upshot being that Blackburn agreed to waive Eriksson's "contract" just as soon as a suitable replacement can be found.

Speaking on an Italian radio sports chat programme yesterday, Eriksson did nothing to dampen the speculation with a strangely qualified confirmation of the Blackburn deal, saying: "I'll be leaving Sampdoria at the end of the .... Two months ago, I signed for Blackburn and we announced that and nothing has changed since then. However, what exactly the future will hold, we'll see at the right time. I don't want to make any further comment on this .... You never know what will happen in life."

Hardly a totally convincing statement. One unexpected element in the Eriksson related speculation is a claim that family problems are at the root of his desire to back out of the Blackburn agreement. Eriksson is separated from his wife who lives with their daughter in Florence, where the latter is also a university student. The coach reportedly wishes to remain near to his daughter in order to help out during her studies.

Doubtless, this matter will resolve itself long before the end of this season. What is clear, however, is that at least two clubs - Blackburn and Lazio - now want Eriksson's services while a third, Sampdoria, might just decide that this is not the moment to part company with their coach.

In the meantime, it is worth underlining the alacrity with which Eriksson yesterday denied he was tired of coaching in the pressurised environment of Italian soccer, saying: "No, I'm very happy in Italy. There's pressure everywhere, just look at one of my old clubs, Benfica, who've just sacked their coach even though the side were second in the Portuguese table. No, there's pressure everywhere and I feel just fine in Italy."

Whatever about the longer term future, immediate prospects for Eriksson would appear rosy, given the remarkable form of Sampdoria, apparently the only side able to go the pace with Juventus. Since the coach announced his intended move to Blackburn, little has gone wrong with the side, picking up wins against Internazionale, Vicenza, Udinese, Cagliari, Perugia and Milan.

Despite the inevitable euphoria generated by the good Sampdoria run, Eriksson is typically cautious, declaring yesterday: "In August nobody expected us to be where we are now and it's obvious that everything is positive for us just at the moment .... let's hope it can last like this. But the championship title is a long way off. When both Juventus and Sampdoria are at full strength, then we can match them, particularly at the moment, but I think that Juventus have a much stronger overall squad than us."

Curiously, Eriksson argues that his side have been entirely undisturbed by a turbulent autumn when not only his own future but also that of captain Roberto Mancini (currently playing out of his skin) and French midfielder Christian Karembeu prompted consistent speculation. Mancini came close to moving to Inter at a time when Karembeu was involved in a three way tug of war between Sampdoria, Real Madrid and Barcelona.

In the end, both players stayed with Sampdoria with all of them making a pact to do their best for the club (and for themselves) from here to the end of the season. Obviously, that pact was made all the easier by the surprise quality of the men brought in to replace figures such as Dutchman Clarence Seedorf and striker Enrico Chiesa, both sold last summer.

"We found the right players during the summer," said Eriksson, "players who I confess I didn't think would be as good as they have turned out - Frenchman Pierre Laigle, Argentine Juan Veron and Vincenzo Montella."

Sampdoria may yet have further surprises up their sleeves this season, for friend and foe alike. So, too, may Sven Eriksson.