Sven's Fired

[CiaranM]

We don?t need no Frank Sinatra

We don?t need no coach control,

No Thai sarcasm in the boardroom

Toxin leave our Sven alone

Hey! Toxin, leave our Sven alone

All in all you?re just another prick in the hall

All in all you?re just another prick in the hall

We don?t need no Phil Scolari, we don?t need no Mourinho,

We don?t need no Frank Sinatra.

Toxin, leave our Sven alone

btw Frank Sinatra is Wank Toxin .... same same but different !!

[dannyboy]

Bizarrely now, a spokesman for Scolari has just said they have had no approach from anyone today at City....... :shock:

[dannyboy]

ROLL OVER AND LAUGH MY FCUKING ASS OFF!

Square-head has just been on the radio and said he hasn't decided yet whether he is going to sack Sven or not.

I think, reading between the lines, he has approached Big Phil and has been told no and with all the pressure in the UK as well, he is just trying to save face.

What a prick!

*Update*

Now he is having a review at the end of the season.

[zeusbheld]

who knows. maybe he''ll learn something and improve his grade in "plays well with others from an F to a D double minus...

a dose of cold water in the face from scolari won't hurt. well, it'll hurt him, but who cares about that, he's earned it and might learn from it. *might*.

[CiaranM]

who knows. maybe he''ll learn something and improve his grade in "plays well with others from an F to a D double minus...

a dose of cold water in the face from scolari won't hurt. well, it'll hurt him, but who cares about that, he's earned it and might learn from it. *might*.

that i very very very much doubt .... he's probably sitting wondering WTF is wrong with these damm farangs .... they won't do what i tell them !!!!

[Khun_Sam]

as i said, i'm not convinced most fans were not unhappy, i'm convinced we don't know what most fans felt. however, one thing is clear, for sure: not too many fans complained vocally enough to be heard widely. so ultimately i'd agree you're right, in the sense that they tacitly accepted the Thaksic Avenger.

as for their sad fate...

can't be karma, or Chelski fans woulda been in deep doodoo.

I'm not convinced that I have not misunderstood this sentence incorrectly.

[dannyboy]

This is from the Sun Newspaper UK today.

SVEN GORAN ERIKSSON has confirmed he is in discussions to join Benfica.

The Manchester City boss faces the axe after failing to impress owner Thaksin Shinawatra.

The former England manager met with Benfica?s president Luis Felipe Vieira and director of football Rui Costa last night and could now switch to the Portuguese giants.

Eriksson said: ?I?ve had a meeting with the Benfica people.

"I?m considering the offer and it could be a step forward in my career. Let?s see what happens.?

Meanwhile, City are leading the race to sign Barcelona's £8million-rated ace Giovani dos Santos.

The player's father Zizinho said: "Other English clubs have demanded information about Giovani but the main chance is City."

Looks like a summer move to Portugal is on the cards.....

[zeusbheld]

well, Giovanni dos Santos has consistently been hot **** in Football Manager 2008, so maybe they scouted well... and, he's young. maybe they can also pick up Bojan?

nah. i actually cheer for citeh but... i'd like to see a miserable year just to spite toxin.

BOW MUTHERFUCKER

[CiaranM]

here's one to cheer u up Marty ..... unfortunately it was 40 years ago, but i couldn't find anything more recent !!

It is, as Sky keeps reminding us, the "most amazing weekend ever" since, well, the last time it told us that. But aside from the hype, this is not actually the first time two clubs have gone into the final weekend of the league season level on points at the top of the table and so evenly matched you would struggle to get a cigarette paper between them. And Manchester United supporters of a certain generation - or, at least, those who have chosen not to airbrush it from the club's history - could be forgiven for feeling an unnerving sense of deja vu.

On Sunday, Sir Alex Ferguson's players will go to Wigan Athletic hoping to see off Chelsea in a title race which, more than anything, has become a feat of endurance. It is the first time for 40 years that the leading sides have been separated by nothing more than a simple formula with 90 minutes to play. Then, as now, United were one of the clubs involved, with a European Cup final also on the horizon, although then they were still a semi-final second leg away. But the similarities do not end there. In 1968 Sir Matt Busby was missing his star striker, Denis Law, through injury; now Ferguson is fretting about Wayne Rooney. It was to be a chastening experience - and, again, the last match of the domestic season fell on May 11.

"The situation was clear," recalled Wilf McGuinness, one of Sir Matt Busby's trainers of the time. "We had to win and hope that we got a better result than Manchester City, who were playing at Newcastle. We had a home match against Sunderland, who weren't doing well in the league, and it was expected that we would win. We expected to win and our supporters certainly expected it. So what happened next was, in football terms, a catastrophe for us - a really big shock."

United, Chelsea will be encouraged to remember, could not hold their nerve, going down 2-1 after what the Guardian, under the headline Anticlimax at Old Trafford, described as "a lot of inept, uninspired play" against a side who finished the season in 15th position, only four points clear of the relegation zone. "The hallmark of a truly great side is its ability to rise to the supreme test," the newspaper observed. "Sunderland should have been taken by the scruff of the neck and given a severe drubbing for having the misfortune to face United on such a crucial occasion."

At the same time City - "from the dark continent of Moss Side" - were on their way to a 4-3 victory at St James' Park. "That meant we finished the league as runners-up on 56 points, with City two points ahead and champions," said the then United midfielder Paddy Crerand, before recalling how Busby "was gracious in defeat and went straight to the television studios after the game to offer his congratulations to Joe Mercer in a live television link-up".

The 63,000 who had been shoehorned into Old Trafford also reacted with dignity. "Disappointment and chagrin there must have been," wrote James Holland, the Guardian correspondent of the time, "but the United supporters still had the good grace and enough breath and spirit left to give a rousing cheer when the result came through that City had won 4-3 and were the new champions, which meant, of course, the trophy would still be in Manchester for at least another 12 months."

On the pitch, things were not so cordial. George Best, the scorer of United's goal, is described as being involved in "a fierce and bitter duel with [Len] Ashurst and sadly tarnished his new distinction of becoming Footballer of the Year." Crerand, the type of man who would have Glory Glory Man United as his ringtone and whose character can be summed up by the title of autobiography Never Turn the Other Cheek, was "a most fortunate man that the referee did not see the kick he aimed at Ashurst".

Alex Stepney, United's goalkeeper at the time, remembers City being "in superlative form" and taking an "invasion force of 20,000 people up the Great North Road". Yet it is typical of City's luck that they should win the league in the same year that United trumped everyone by winning the European Cup. "After the Sunderland defeat," Crerard remembered. "I said to the

lads in the changing room, 'Well, that's it. City have won the title. Now we've got to win the European Cup. It's the biggest prize of the lot - and, anyway, it's all that is left'."

[beej]

Square head vs Rupert Murdoch!!!

[CiaranM]

from the guardian !!

When Manchester City were about to be sold to Thaksin Shinawatra last summer the men in charge of City rejected any concerns about whether his really was the safest pair of hands for the self-styled true Manchester club. A cursory Google search could have told them of the long-standing allegations of human rights abuses, including the killing without trial of people suspected of drugs offences, while Thaksin was the prime minister of Thailand, and of other authoritarian aspects of his rule.

He had, though, been consistently popular with a majority of Thais, including the rural poor, until he was overthrown by a military coup in 2006 and corruption proceedings were instigated against him. The military government froze £900m of his assets before the City deal was done, leading one of the club's advisers to say that, although enough money was certainly there for Thaksin to buy the club, it was uncertain how much he would have to invest once he had control.

None of this baggage deterred the club's directors or John Wardle and David Makin, the two major shareholders who had, between them, loaned £19.2m to shore City up after previously sanctioning Kevin Keegan's spending spree. Last June they recommended the club be sold for £21.6m to Thaksin, who would repay Wardle and Makin £17.5m of their loans. The price valued City shares at 40p each, significantly more than their market value at the time but a substantial loss for many City shareholders; in a rights issue back in 1999, with City only just promoted from the third tier, shareholders were asked to invest by buying more shares at 90p.

Last year, although back in the Premier League, City had made an £11m loss and owed £68m; they had in December 2006 borrowed £10m against the 2007-08 TV money, season ticket sales were down after a grim season under Stuart Pearce, and so the club were sold for 1/40th of the £800m the Glazer family paid for Manchester United.

Most City fans demonstrated that they had no interest at all in Thaksin's background or record in Thailand and there was little opposition to the sale. City's hierarchy reckoned accurately that the fans cared only about seeing the team play better football, and they were won over in three extraordinary weeks which saw Sven-Goran Eriksson appointed as the manager and a dizzying round of signings, orchestrated by the agent Jerome Anderson, including Martin Petrov, Vedran Corluka, Rolando Bianchi, Gelson Fernandes, Javier Garrido, Valeri Bojinov and the Brazilian international Elano who, in particular, lit up City's remarkably sunny start to the season.

Thaksin laid on a free Thai buffet and entertainment in front of Manchester Town Hall and 9,000 City fans were estimated to have accepted that hospitality. At the time, the first two Thaksin Shinawatra clips on YouTube were of the man himself attempting to sing Blue Moon at that jamboree and footage of anti-Thaksin demonstrations in Bangkok from just before the military coup.

For City fans, rivalry with United surpasses most worldly concerns and Eriksson's and Thaksin's places in the crowd's affections were secured by February's second league victory over United, the first double over United for 38 years. The City supporters, kept behind after the 2-1 victory at Old Trafford, found themselves alone in the stadium with Thaksin Shinawatra's family in the directors' box and got up an ecstatic chorus of: "There's only one Frank Sinatra"- the nickname the fans gave him because the names sound similar.

In modern times, of course, City are cursed to be outdone, so the season they beat United twice ended with United crowned Premier League champions and preparing for the Champions League final while City were losing 8-1 at Middlesbrough and fans calling for Eriksson to be spared were running into trouble with the Riverside stewards.

Supporters who did not care to familiarise themselves with Thaksin's nature are now shocked, horrified, that he has been a little authoritarian in his treatment of their football manager. For those seeking an explanation as to why his discussions with Eriksson at Manchester's Radisson Edwardian Hotel last month apparently turned so final, the answer appears simply that he expected City to be doing better.

One adviser close to Thaksin said the owner had not responded well to Eriksson, a stronger character than he appears publicly, robustly defending his performance. Others advised Thaksin that overall, despite a drop in form since January, City had shown great improvement for a team without a huge squad and with key players, including Micah Richards, out injured. Yet nobody was able to influence Thaksin, who was said to have been incandescent with fury after watching City squander a 2-0 lead against Fulham three weeks ago and lose 3-2. Thaksin is understood to have repeated, with disbelief, that the odds against Fulham doing that were 400-1.

In Thailand it was a feature of Thaksin's political regime that he demanded high performance from his senior staff, called for rapid improvements and regularly sacked ministers after short periods in office. One source at City said Thaksin genuinely wanted the club to succeed and the Thai directors he appointed were serious and keen to learn - the club is proud that its community programme has continued to grow in strength - but that he knew too little about football and believed a manager could be similarly dispensed with and a replacement quickly found.

Thaksin has not attended all City matches himself, having been busy fighting off the two corruption charges eventually laid against him and helping the PPP, the political party comprising many former members of his dissolved Thai Rak Thai party, to win the Thai elections. His ownership of City, in a nation hooked on televised Premier League matches, has been a priceless vehicle for buffing his public image and it is apt that the final meetings at which Eriksson is due to learn his fate are expected to take place during City's tour of Thailand, rather than in Manchester.

Thaksin is understood to have told his advisers that Jose Mourinho heads his list of wanted managers; it is not known whether they ventured to quote him odds on the "Special One" choosing City. As for the World Cup winner Luiz Felipe Scolari, he may treat City's as a welcome first approach as he ponders his next move after managing Portugal in the forthcoming European Championship.

Away from Thai politics and business where his writ ran near absolutely, Thaksin will find that, in the wider world of football, managers talk, and gaining a reputation as a sacker of Eriksson may not bode well for tempting a replacement. Nor is it clear whether any new manager will have money to spend.

Thaksin has not proved to be the Roman Abramovich-style exotic sugar daddy City fans hoped for when they embraced "Frank" as their club's owner, with few questions asked. His end-of-season review is expected to include appointing an executive chairman, reportedly Garry Cook from Nike, above the chief executive, Alistair Mackintosh, with a brief to make City a global "brand". Cook's first task is likely to be more basic: searching the world for a manager.

Hidden costs

Thaksin Shinawatra's reign at Manchester City began in a blaze of signings (seven, including Rolando Bianchi, Javier Garrido, Martin Petrov and Elano, left) with a headline value of £50.6m, but the deals are understood to have been structured to be payable in instalments, so it is not clear how much money Thaksin himself has put into the club. The £21.6m to buy the shares was paid, and the £19.2m previously owed to John Wardle and David Makin is now owed to Thaksin's company, UK Sports Investments Ltd. However, until City's next accounts are published in January 2009, there need be no public declaration of the club's finances, including whether Thaksin has put money in himself. Last December he told reporters in Hong Kong that running City had been 'very expensive' and said he was going to work on securitisation, a form of borrowing money against future ticket and TV income.

[Loburt]

Why am I not surprised by this?

I suspect Thaksin's display of temper stems from another one his traits: From what a couple of people who knew him before he was fabulously wealthy and after have said, Thaksin never likes to use his own money for anything. (This stems from him having gone bankrupt a few times) He might be willing to if it brings him a good fast return, but he would prefer not to.

[dannyboy]

How Thaksin turned from saviour to sinner in a single season.

Fans who failed to question the Thai owner's past are now shocked to see how authoritarian he can be

This an article from today's guardian..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/may/14/manchestercity?gusrc=rss&feed=footbal

[zeusbheld]

the picture from that article is a classic, pretty much says all that needs be said about the Toxic Avenger:

[dannyboy]

It seems the Mexicans now like the Swede......

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/may/15/manchestercity.premierleague

I wonder what kind of reception he got from Thaksin in Bangers? I can't see him paying Sven up his full contract if he sacks him.

Don't be surprised if Sven commits suicide over the next few days by jumping from his hotel window or shooting himself twice in the head...... :shock:

[dannyboy]

The news is going from bad to worse for city!

I just heard on BBC radio,Thaksin has put the WHOLE squad up for sale.

Since the age of a small boy in the UK I have been a football fan and I can honestly say, I have NEVER seen a situation like this. This man is seriously unhinged and has just proven he knows fcuk-all about football and how to deal with foreigners. What self respecting player or manager is going to go near city while this man is the owner?

This to me seems like a knee-jerk reaction because the best players backed Sven and threatened to leave and he has lost face.

One piece of advice square-head,this aint Thailand!

You think you had rough treatment now, you aint seen nothing yet.....

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/44612/Firing-squad

Also from today's Express, the story in all it's glory.

[zeusbheld]

has there been a more shocking meltdown in the history of football? i doubt it.

this is bizarro even for toxin.

[zeusbheld]

not seeing "toxin will sell all players" in other news feeds, and the official City site issued a snippy denial:

http://www.mcfc.co.uk/default.sps?pagegid={DBD12D53-8346-431D-A04F-5D0F8664DE80}&newsid=4618893]denial.

i suspect the report is a mere rumor. although given toxie's personality, it's not implausible.

Guardian also reports that Sven has an offer from a much bigger club and will reject mexico and benfica. seeing as Guardian are the gents who brought us "toxie sells all the players," i'm not sold that these reports are reliable.

notable that a certain Laudrup boy who has has relatively massive success with lowly Getafe is available...

[dannyboy]

It looks like the BBC and The Guardian have steered me a bum lead!

The very first place I heard this yesterday was on the BBC radio news.... :shock:

Now we get this from the Beeb.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/7404822.stm

Usually, if you hear something reported by the BBC regarding football in the UK , it's true. I will have to buy some new bullshit-deflectors.....

To be fair though, it's the kind of thing that nut-job would do!

and City in Europe next season, a EUFA cup spot secured via the fair play league.

[zeusbheld]

It looks like the BBC and The Guardian have steered me a bum lead!

The very first place I heard this yesterday was on the BBC radio news.... :shock:

Now we get this from the Beeb.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/7404822.stm

Usually, if you hear something reported by the BBC regarding football in the UK , it's true. I will have to buy some new bullshit-deflectors.....

To be fair though, it's the kind of thing that nut-job would do!

and City in Europe next season, a EUFA cup spot secured via the fair play league.

well you just posted a news story, i'ts their bad not yours.

usually BBC's pretty solid but as far as i could tell it never made their website, so they must have dropped the story pretty quickly.

just guessing, i'd say the story didn't just come out of the blue--that either toxie made some hot-headed dig at the squad while throwing a tantrum, or planted by city fans who are part of the belated backlash against the toxic one.

and yeah i have NO problem believing that he COULD do it.

[Loburt]

The original report was also in the Telegraph.

If the BBC and the Telegraph and the other paper you cited were reporting it, then - true or not - someone from the club was saying it.

Either Thaksin blew a gasket and there was some truth to the story, and now he realizes what a blunder it was and is trying to deny it.

Or, none of the journalists got a second source to corroborate what the first person was "leaking" to them.

That would be inexcusable in a newsroom - although it happens. But in newspaper sports departments it doesn't surprise me. Still, it shouldn't be that way.

[dannyboy]

The original report was also in the Telegraph.

If the BBC and the Telegraph and the other paper you cited were reporting it, then - true or not - someone from the club was saying it.

Either Thaksin blew a gasket and there was some truth to the story, and now he realizes what a blunder it was and is trying to deny it.

Or, none of the journalists got a second source to corroborate what the first person was "leaking" to them.

That would be inexcusable in a newsroom - although it happens. But in newspaper sports departments it doesn't surprise me. Still, it shouldn't be that way..

I'm a bit disappointed by the Guardian for writing this up and not checking properly. They are not UK tabloid gutter press and usually leave stuff like that to the Sun/Star/Mirror/Sport.

and the BBC should know better ....

[zeusbheld]

i suspect a genuine schism in the club; and that some (possibly minor) club official(s) are making an effort to undermine toxie because of the Sven business.

possibly some sloppy reporting as Loburt described... but there may possibly be more to it, even without the toxic avenger actually SAYING it.

obviously there are morale problems at CIty, as an 8-1 finale at middlesborough signals.

[Loburt]

With so many news organizations reporting it, I'll bet there was at least an element of truth to the story.

The fact that Thaksin wants to sue doesn't mean much. He filed lawsuits in Thailand for tens of millions of dollars against people for saying things about him that were true.

[zeusbheld]

With so many news organizations reporting it, I'll bet there was at least an element of truth to the story.

The fact that Thaksin wants to sue doesn't mean much. He filed lawsuits in Thailand for tens of millions of dollars against people for saying things about him that were true.

yeah toxie suing means nothing.

but the fact that so many news organizations did NOT report it would seem to indicate it's not a serious plan on his part. apparently his madness only goes so far... for now.