"Anticipation has a habit to set you up for disappointment..."

It could, of course, only happen to Manchester bloody City. Our long suffering supporters are used to the element of farce that comes following the club; as far as I'm aware we're still the only team to get knocked out of the F.A. Cup by a balloon, for instance. But the events of the last 24 hours, where it has transpired that Sven Goran Eriksson's position as manager has become untenable, are extremely difficult to comprehend or accept. This represents a major balls up, even by City's standards.

Under Eriksson's leadership, City fans had started to truly believe that we were on the verge of something special for the first time in over thirty years. He gave us hope, sob. I concede that our aspirations only amounted to, say, a top six finish or, god forbid, the League Cup but that's what decades of crushing disappointments and mediocrity do to you.

When Thaksin Shinawatra (I refuse to give him his full title of Dr; that'll teach him, eh?) initially took over at City he was heralded as a messiah, the man to lead us into a new era of unparalleled success at Eastlands. We conveniently ignored his background. Electoral fraud? Who cares. Human rights abuses "of the worst kind" (alleged by Human Rights Watch, backed by Amnesty International)? Pah. What about our human rights, huh? Football fans are notoriously fickle when it comes to these things.

Christ, we even gave him the jovial nickname "Frank". As in Sinatra, geddit? Ha ha bloody ha. Well, no one is laughing now. Quite the opposite in fact. To say the natives are getting restless would be a gross understatement. City fans are so livid that they're signing online petitions in their, um, hundreds, because obviously megalomaniacs like Thaksin are prone to making decisions based on internet forums.

His decision to sack Sven, if indeed that transpires, defies all logic of course. At the beginning of the season a three year plan was outlined, with the objective for this season a top ten finish, which was been comfortably achieved. The six points taken from United were just an additional bonus, albeit a very welcome one. To then shift the goal posts considerably, at a time when the manager has the full support of both the fans and the players, beggars belief. Just typing these words is making me bash my keyboard with such ferocity that there's a very real danger the bones in my hands will disintegrate into a fine powder and I won't be able to finish thi...

It all looked so promising; an exciting blend of academy graduates (such as Micah Richards, Michael Johnson, Steven Ireland and Nedum Onuoha) complemented by talented foreign imports like Martin Petrov, Elano and Vedran Corluka. There was a real belief that we were building for the future. We were looking forward to next season with high expectation, and suddenly we find ourselves rudderless once more, lacking direction and effectively back to square one. All on a whim of an egotistical, despot leader. Argh. To make matters worse we don't even have a military junta to hand to overthrow him. Come back Franny Lee, all is forgiven...

Ric Turner
www.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk

Comments

[Owen]

I wish City fans would stop complaining, you sold your soul to a very dodgy individual, what did you expect? You can't back out now.

[mike]

City fans and former managers such as Peter Reid have all sounded off against Thaksin over rumours that he will replace Sven with Jose or Scolari. Without Thaksin's $$$$ City would be fighting relegation. Maybe he'll sell and buy a club where fans appreciate what he did. If I was a Vity fan, I would be happy to have a new face as Sven got it wrong spending $$$$ but achieving relatively little.

[shawn takasato]

Before anybody refers to Thaksin again as "Doctor" Shinawatra please bear this in mind: His PhD dissertation from May 1979 is titled "An Analysis of the Relationship between the Criminal Justice Educational Process and the Attitude of the Students toward the Rule of Law." His conclusions? "There was a significant linear relationship between the criminal justice educational process and student attitudes toward the rule of law." And also, "there was a significant positive relationship between the number of hours in criminal justice completed and student attitudes toward the rule of law." Basically, he spent three years in school to discover that the more one studies criminal justice, the better one's regard for the rule of law. What a genius!
Shame on Sam Houston State for granting a doctorate for such a facile piece of work.

[Micky (Manchester United Fan)]

There should be a rule where any loaded 'foreigner' (non british) who buys a Premier League Club should not be able to sack their manager within 3 transfer windows of their arrival, especially if they have been seen to be as scandal ridden as the piece of garbage who runs city now.

Sure owners really want to 'own' their clubs, but not ignorant fools like the idiot who is running city (i refuse to use his name) who most likely have no clue about football (Hicks and the Glazers are probably the same).

I am just glad the Glazers haven't taken over to a point where it affects footballing matters like Abramovich, Hicks and that Thai City git. Heck, he isn't even 'City' (which is probably a compliment to the blue side of Manchester).

This is football's biggest farce. Italian clubs just corrupt their league results, ours get corrupted by greedy businessmen who put our clubs in to debt.

I should probably be happy my two most hated rivals are struggling in the boardroom, but not when it affects the overall landscape of the game. It's just not on. Especially when it's caused by megalomaniacs with balance books.

[Lance Poll]

He doesn't know football, he doesn't know our culture, he's obviously ruthless, so confirming the accusations against him; therefore he's also obviously not smart with a strong self-destructive streak. It's very unlikely that he'll ever get the City fans on board again and so his underlying motive of trying to rehabilitate himself will flounder. We will soon find out that he's doesn't have as much money as he says. Let's hope he has enough for a one-way back to Thailand where they don't want him either.

[Brian]

Well Thaksin has proven his ruthless in domains far more serious than football, so this shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

[paul]

So sorry,

Sven has performed a miracle already at city. With no time at all he bought in key players and has done as well as anyone could have.

The problem, Thaksin Shinawatra. I live in Thailand and have read a lot on Thaksin. He basically robbed the Thai economy of 1 billion dollars. Firstly got a monopoly on mobile phones using his contacts (cronies) then reaped all the benefits, then sold the company to Singapore. Oh and as primeminster changed the law on tax just before the sale so he didn't pay any.

This is why the Thai's ousted him in a military coup and this is why Sven is getting the chop. O.K. he'll get a pay off but he was looking to do things at city (rival Man U) and I think he could have.

What now, who's going to want to manage a club with Thaksin in charge?

[Ian Tinn]

Hey, Ric, this is a disaster.

Until now, my club (Newcastle United) has won the Daftest Director of the Decade award for five of the last six decades. Usually unchallenged.

Now we have some serious competition!

Mind you, I think we're still ahead. Appoint a new manager then sell the club a day later - that takes some beating.

[Oli (Manchester United Fan)]

Football is our cultural heritage and a way for many of us to share opinion, memories and emotion. When I was little, my dad used to take me and my brother to watch United and Alty where the talk was of football. If I’m lucky enough to have a couple of boys, will the talk instead be about rich greedy men from far away places?

Football used to set an example to the young and impressionable and it still does……

I hope the City fans make their voices heard, not just to Shinawatra, but to the authorities that be, about where they're taking OUR game.

[john]

As I lifelong RED I hope you will allow this intrusion which is not to gloat but to offer sympathy to all Blues. Sven and those at Badlands deserve better. As has been commented elsewhere Blues had no say in whether he took over as he did, but they like us REDS have been badly let down by the money grubbers at the FA and the Premier League. They are the ones who are accountable for allowing the foreign invasion. Even if they didn't believe the human rights and civil rights abuses perpetrated by Toxin in Thailand surely they could have scratched their thatches to remember that this life long City fan had been about to buy the RED scousers only a few years earlier. One has to wonder if there were some brown paper envelopes filled with Thai Baht being passed around between the money grubbers. Their definition of "fit and proper" clearly bears no relationship to mine and I dare say to most Blues. The words "dereliction of duty" spring to mind and in other circles that would result in heavy penalties if not incarceration. But incarceration would be too good a fate for the money grubbers.

p.s. not many people realise to this day that Toxin was not going to use his own ill gotten gains to buy the scousers - he was going to set up another National Lottery in Thailand and the money that generated was going to pay for his dream.

I still want to know, hopefully before it's too late...if the Thai Government manages to sequester all of Toxin's assets, does that mean the City players will become Civil Servants....employees of the Thai Government????

[seth taylor]

Excellent response from Andrew Dolan...
BTW: I am a UTD fan!

[mark Jackson]

Lest we all forget- Thanksin stumped up a considerable amount of money to buy the club which he did legally - He OWNS the club and can do whatever he wants with it. When you have the money to do the same buy the club and run it your way -until then.......

[Andrew Dolan]

I resent the implication that City fans had any choice in accepting Shinawatra as owner of the club. The Premier League confirmed he was "100% Clean" to Sven Goran Eriksson and he has been allowed to buy the club. Why is it that City fans are expected to take the moral high ground over the rest of the seedy, corrupt, commercial football world?

Support of a football club is a social and cultural aspect of British life. Asking City fans to stop supporting their club is not the same as asking people to buy free range eggs for ethical reasons. It's a way for us to spend time with family and friends around a single cause, and it's an identity people are proud of.

Human rights abuses and corruption have been endemic in Thailand throughout the twentieth century. If Shinawatra hadn't been extremely dodgy he'd have been a modern day miracle.

Instead of setting up City fans to be mocked maybe you should represent the fact that many city fans have predicted such antics from Thaksin since his arrival at the club. The imminent sacking of Sven is far from surprising. Ric, this disappointing article charactrises City fans as simple minded, credulous fools in the same way that blanket media coverage prior to the Manchester derby suggested we were all thugs who'd ruin the minute's silence in memory of those who died in the Munich air disaster.

[Thad W]

Good article. This really is farcical. I have been a "sceptic" about Thaksin all along but very much appreciated Sven and what he brought to the club, as well as much of the football. In fact, the best argument for giving Thaksin a chance is that he brought in Sven. Now, the club looks like it's going to implode--who is going to want to work for this man, either as a manager or a player? Like I said, I've been a sceptic, but I thought Thaksin would be a little more clever than this. Some of the other reports indicating that he wants control over transfers and team selection are even more disturbing. Or perhaps it's that he can't tolerate someone having more influence, power, and reputation than himself. If that's the case, forget about getting Mourinho or anyone else of that calibre.