Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Eriksson in new City link

Typical eh.


After posting this morning regarding the suggestion we should consider pulling the plug on negotiations with Thaksin Shinawatra, I receive word stating that the BBC are about to break a story indicating negotiations are at an extremely advanced stage (with a bid I have been told likely in the next couple of days that is acceptable to Wardle and Makin) and that Sven-Goran Eriksson is lined up as the manager-elect, having already been interviewed by the Shinawatra group. A couple of hours later and the piece duly appears on the BBC site.

The Eriksson link is the interesting story of the day though, and in particular comments attributed to The Supporters Trust) that the general opinion of City fans is 70/30 against Eriksson taking charge. The comments have not been received too well judging by the initial response on their blog (or indeed this one) and message boards alike.

As ever with Eriksson their is a great deal of interest in him, and the story (and comments) was duly picked up in this country by most of the media outlets, but also world wide with the thread of the pieces being very anti-Eriksson.

Personally, if there is a chance of Eriksson I would be delighted to capture him. According to sources, Juande Ramos will not be leaving Sevilla at the end of the season - preferring to have next seasons Champions League on his CV whilst luminaries such as Hughes, Coleman and Jewell should undoubtedly be given a wide berth.

Eriksson has a fantastic club record, both at large and small sides, and his England record stands comparison with all of his peers. Undoubtedly his name would attract players of note to the club and he would be armed with financial muscle to compete for signings, yet he was never welcomed by the media and England fans alike, and of course with a potential owner who would be fair game for the press corps, they will be drooling over the prospect of getting stuck into Eriksson.

For me though he is the strongest and obvious candidate. Hopefully his denials (via his agent) today are merely lip service to the press and before too long he will be arriving at the club along with new ownership to at the very least put an end to the drawn out proceedings of the past six weeks.

Then the real saga can begin.

vote it up!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well said Danny, just hope the Trust publish a retraction as a boycott of the fledgling MCST would probably sink them.

Anonymous said...

Sven is not in the slightest bit interested in Manchester City, he is only interested in money. Can you imagine him being linked with us if we weren't being taken over? Perhaps his quote from 'Inside Sport' on 22nd May this year gives a clue. When asked about managing City he replied:

"No, I'm interested to have a good football team next season. There are other teams."

Clearly the Supporters Trust have made a bit of a faux pas with their statement, but the vitriol it has attracted is a bit over the top.

It is hardly comparable with, say, the mistake of being 8 weeks or so from the start of the season with half a team, no manager and still hoping for 'salvation' in the form of a takeover from a megalomaniac despot who has had most of his assets frozen and is liable to be arrested any moment.

Anonymous said...

Arse - he's made a bid

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/6221044.stm

Anonymous said...

While it seems trendy to dump on Eriksson because of the national team's disappointment under him, I'd like someone to point out a recent England manager who has had considerably more success. What matters to me is his track record at the club level, and that is truly impressive. With Ranieri off the table and Ramos and Hughes unlikely to leave their current employers, Eriksson is by far the most attractive candidate available. Any uneasiness with him is pure navel-gazing on the part of English football fans. Let's keep our perspective here.

Anonymous said...

This is all a rouse. We're stuck with some moron like Warnock or even worse yet Bryan Robson as manager. Based on the fact that Wardle and Ali have somehow convinced this Thai bloke to stay on do you really expect a manager of Sven's reputation to waste his time talking to us. We are sunk. We are City.

Anonymous said...

While Ranieri would have been my first choice, I wouldn't mind Sven. Talk of Ramos is still going on, but I don't think he can speak English. And at least Sven knows how we are supposed to play - even though he didn't achieve too much with our 'tired' internationals. OK - lets see how he can do with a team that's had a good rest and a full pre-season. Plus he should be able to attract a few good players in - as long as they aren't wastes of space like Fowler and McManaman. Come on Sven - entertain me!!

Kartik said...

Oh please let this happen. Otherwise 7:26pm's prediction of Neil Warnock may not be far off. I think Sven is the only truly capable manager left on the market assuming Ramos and Koeman are not availible. Actually I'd probably take Sven over both of them. Regardless of your opinion of the England situation (I happen to think he did alright, not great, but decently) he is a top class club manager, the likes this club hasn't had in a very very long time.

Anonymous said...

He is a con artist

He was with England.

After the World Cup we realised that we were paying over the odds for someone that had created an impression on a master strategist but was absolutely clueless

The again we are clueless and we will hire him for £2 million or more a year.

Maybe we should inaugarate the Steve Daley award for pissing money down the drain

Rob

Danny Pugsley said...

I accept that there is a contingent out there who are against Eriksson's appointment, yet no-one has come up with one realistic or impressive alternative.