Sven Goran Eriksson c/d

However, he gave me Munich, he gave me Sapporo, for which I am truly grateful.

But still, if you asked any England fan who'd just seen us crash to the Germans in Keegans last game - "would you be happy with beating Germany 5-1, beating Argentina in a World Cup game and then going out to Brazil in the Quarters?", what do you think the answer would be?

One friend of mine likens his disappointment with Eriksson to that of his disappointment with the Blair government. I tell him to look at the results in both cases! But inside I know my friend has a point.

IN THE NAME OF GOD, GO!

(Obv the answer to this is to win a major tournament and as far as I can see Euro2002 is the only real opportunity we'll have to do that and even that depends on Italy and France fucking up probably).

(x-post - D'oh!)

i like sven for all the reasons listed above

Also the repeated doubts cast over his loyalty and commitment strike me as a very thinly veiled "See? We told you we can't trust these foreigners managing our national team!"

If he did leave - no change really. Still no English candidate, as since he took over, there's been no change at a big club. Although there are good English managers out there, none have been tested at the highest levels and so the problem still remains. Until one of the big clubs take a chance on an English manager, I can't see the FA trying someone from outside the charmed circle.

Look at Scotty Parker - mjoving to Chelsea as it'll improve his international chances. The same is true of managers. But those big clubs are even more unlikely to take a punt on someone who has the air of the untried, as they don't have a patriotic notion informing their managerial chocies.

Interesting that Steve Mclaren may well be in the unusual position of his next job being most likely to be either as manager of England's biggest club (still seems the logical successor to Ferguson but who knows really) or as the England manager itself.

Steve McLaren to England at this point in his career is mentalism... see how he does at Manyoo or wherever first, if they'll have him.

Surely part of the problem with Engerland over the past decade or so is that Hoddle, Keegan, Venables, Taylor were all untried at the top level. Boyler OTM I think.

Yesterday Garth crooks said that Svenm had been flirting with other employees. I think, and hope, he meant to say employers. Who knows. I have an image of him perched on the end of a secretary's desk in Soho Square saying 'Yes, you type in a beautiful way, for sure'.

My thesis will be born out because some hack will push the cause of Venables again. I betcha.

The real issue with any successor (assuming here that people are with me in the view that he'll not be with England for long) is that international football is still having a battle with the clubs; twas ever thus. But which manager would become an international manager without part of it seeming to be a pre-retirement winding down? Most people who want to achieve things want to do it in club football. The interesting thing for me is the viability of international football in the modern age. It garners the highest ratings by a long long way, yet is perennially in some form of crisis, and is beseiged by powerful forces within and without the game. It endures though, in the same way those who prophecise the end of the nation-state turn out to be somewhat premature. The issue isn't an all of nothing one, but what the nation-state turns into; the same questions need to asked of international football.

The rest of the time Leeds were mid-table or pushing for a UEFA place at best, and lets not forget the Sunderland debacle. Technical Overlord = we want to shuffle you quietly to the sidelines without you throwing too much of a strop about it.

Also - Leeds under Wilkinson - went from winning the League to almost relegated the next season. Worst defence of the title ever.

I think Wilko got lucky - he took a team that 2 years earlier had been in Division 2 and got a great blend of players - the old and wise and the young and hungry - to play a great season. It was the last old-style title win in my book, and arguably, Manyoo choked as much as they won it. It's often the case that teams choke, and that doesn't take away the fact that they were there with the points on the board.

looks like Svenm has got his Midwinter break wish in exchange for pledging alleigance - I have no problem with the idea myself. Plus with FIFA pushing for more frequent World Cups, the Confed Cup and for countries to take the friendlies more seriously it seems that international football is as healthy as ever really, despite the rise of the Superclub undermining the international cause.

Actually, yes. Agreement sucks ass.

Conversely, I think he has a great understanding of English football. Apart from Michael Ricketts, natch. But even then, the guy was in form, so why not?

There is not a single English manager who could step into his shoes at present.

Presenter: "What is your point?"

Spurs Caller: "YID ARMY, YID ARMY"

And that was one of the more eloquent ones.

(And of course I don't want England to win)

lol he'll be too busy in the actual tournament shagging the german ladies innit. won't be watching any games.

(oh yeah)

But then, Boyle perhaps, or indeed presumably, knows football today better than I do.

Really, I don't get it - I don't think I see what has happened.

I have not followed the bung revelations.

Why doesn't Tord Grip take over? Presumably he's not a rampant shagger, and the team will play the same brand of exciting football.

In that world cup England only managed to beat one team in normal time — a 1-0 squeeze past Egypt in the first round. We drew 1-1 with the Republic, got a goalless draw with Holland, beat Belgium 1-0 with a 118th minute wondergoal by Platt, were getting caned by Cameroon until a soft penalty got us a late equaliser leading to a 3-2 extra time win, then lost to the Germans on penalties.

Plus we crashed out of Euro 88 early doors, and lost to the eventual winners of Mexico 86 in the quarter finals.

And yet there are still some people saying we should get Robson back as manager because he was so much better than Sven could ever manage. It's absurd.

Also, in the 86 World Cup, after a shaky start Lineker went on a goalscoring spree and we only got knocked out (again by the eventual winners) because of the most blatant bit of cheating in the whole history of cheating.

Little did Vicious Cop (about 8 posts up) know that Wenger's master plan was groom Walcott for the 2006 World Cup, as opposed to 2010 and beyond.

-- Onimo (gerry.wat...), September 8th, 2005

I've changed my mind.

Oh, he's classic, at least for today anyway.

Immense

hee hee hee where's matt dc

Immense

Massive.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/7370698.stm

crazy

At least he's not to be tortured

great news for Newcastle

He's great at making huge amounts of money for doing nothing - get fired here and he still gets paid off the £5m for the last two years of his contract?

He'll be quids in, for sure.

It's an absolutely potty decision. Blues fans have been really pleased with the progress under Sven, despite the poor second half of the season. He talks sense, the football was good when he got it right. Now there's a danger Thakin's City are going to turn into Hearts.

Dreadful.

great news for Chelsea

OH FFS

Man City are now Hearts as Daniel says.

who is going to get the city job? who'd take it?

It's all set up for Martin Jol innit

There's a rumour going round work (at least among those who give a toss about football!) that it's going to be Luis Felipe Scolari, Sven's nemesis.

Cruel

McClaren then?

Mourinho to Barca, Rijkaard to City, Ronaldinho to Newcastle. Eriksson may get whatever club just squeezes out of relegation from the Prem.

Eriksson for the Hammers

Oooh good one.

Is Sven's reputation so shot that an Italian club wouldn't take a punt on him now?

No no, he'd be welcome back in Italy like a shot, I reckons

Eriksson would work wonders with Dave Kitson.

But who can pay him enough? (xp)

McClaren then?

DON'T give them ideas like that. They might be reading.

Thaksin only posts on crutisborad

No no, he'd be welcome back in Italy like a shot, I reckons

-- Tom D., Tuesday, 29 April 2008 13:25 (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

F'real. There's gonna be a vacant seat on the Milan bench assuming they don't get their Champs League qualification this year...

Tell you what though, just like Randy Lerner has won plaudits by showing his love for and understanding of AVFC traditions, Shinawatra shows a similar love for a venerable old City tradition by getting rid of a half-decent club manager for no real reason at all.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7373404.stm

Jay-Z in

Say what you want about Shinawatra, I'm sure he'll take all this criticism squarely on the chin.

http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/75961861.jpg

"Critics say I'm money, cash, hoes/ I'm from Chiang Mia stupid, what type of facts are those?"

"Yes... fingernails... yep... then soles of the feet? Oh you think electrodes on the testicles will be more effective on Gallagher?"

Shinawatra bankrolled eight summer signings at a cost of more than £46m shortly after buying the club....It seems certain that any new manager will have a considerable amount of money to spend in the summer. Shinawatra has hundreds of millions of pounds worth of assets in Thailand frozen as he awaits trial on corruption charges later this year. Yet his former lawyer, Noppadom Pattama, who is now Thailand's foreign minister, told BBC Sport that he expected these assets to be "unfrozen in the near future".

It's been repeatedly alleged in a Man Utd fanzine that Thaksin hasn't actually put any money into City yet - that the transfers were all done on the never-never on the understanding that his assets would be unfrozen at some point.

if you havin' girl problems i feel bad for you Sun Jihai

Purchase of Manchester City Football Club

While Prime Minister, Thaksin offered to buy Fulham F.C. from owner Mohamed al-Fayed. After Fayed rebuffed his offer for the club, Thaksin unsuccessfully bid to buy Liverpool.[155]

On June 21, 2007 Thaksin Shinawatra lodged, and had accepted, an £81.6 million bid for Manchester City F.C. On 6 July he completed purchase of the required 75%[156] of the club's shares to take the company off the Stock Exchange and became Chairman of the club. Sven-Göran Eriksson was appointed the new club manager.[157]

He has caused controversy by apparently sacking Eriksson after only a season, despite the fact that Manchester City had not left the top half of the premiership all season.

Manchester City supporters have nicknamed him Frank, after the singer Frank Sinatra.

In short, Thaskin Shinawatra emobdies everything that is wrong with modern day football.

Somebody start a "Soulja Boy For City Manager" Facebook group.

well, Leicester's Thai owners obviously think Dud:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3891235/Leicester-sack-boss-Sven-Goran-Eriksson.html

still the eighth highest earning manager in the world according to france football