Sven Goran Eriksson to be Sacked by Man City
April 30, 2008 by CLDsport
According to recent news reports, Sven Goran Eriksson is to be sacked by Man City owner Thaksin Shinawatra at the end of the season following a run of differing form since Christmas. Eriksson was called in for a meeting following City’s defeat to Fulham on Saturday and was told that he would be replaced after the clubs two remaining fixtures against Middlesbrough and Liverpool respectively.
A source told BBC Sport that: “Sven reacted calmly, as usual, but he was very surprised and disappointed. He doesn’t want to leave the club and will not resign. He loves working with the players and his work at Manchester City has only just begun.”
Tord Grip (Eriksson’s assistant) told a Swedish newspaper that they were expected to leave City at the end of the season.
Sven was appointed as manager of Manchester City 5 weeks before the season opener and started strongly with City sitting in 3rd place in the Premiership in November.
However, since Christmas the team has faltered on more than one occasion and are now sitting in 9th place having only taken maximum points from 4 of their last 15 fixtures.
While this may be disappointing, is this really a reason to sack Eriksson? At CLDsport we think not - in fact we’d go as far to say that it’s a crazy decision made by the former political leader and Thai billionaire.
A football club should be run with integrity and - more importantly - stability. How can a football club remain stable if a manager is sacked after only 1 season in charge? Obviously, if City were fighting relegation and having a bad season overall, then the decision may have been justified. But, the truth is, City have had a good season.
The report on the BBC Sport website states that Eriksson and Shinawatra had a 5 year plan at City. The goal for this season was to finish in the top 10. So, goal completed! So, what is the basis for firing Eriksson now?
There have been mumblings that some are unhappy with the way in which the Swede has spent the £46million Shinawatra made available for new signings. But the fact still remains that City are in 9th place and should be looking to build on that next season.
Instead, it seems, they will be starting from scratch and looking for a new manager. Is this not a step back rather than in the right direction?
If you look at the top teams in the Premiership, Chelsea are the only club to have a manager that has only recently been installed. All other top teams have a manager who has been given the time and resources to build his own team and build momentum. These foreign investors all seem to want instant success. Football doesn’t work this way - and it’s time they realised this.
Every manager has his own style of play and must be given time to install this in his squad - through the transfer market and training sessions. To sack a manager after such a short period of time seems ridiculous. Surely there is no possible way that Shinawatra can gauge Erikssons results so soon? Even if he can, surely those results ARE good enough to see him remain at City to build on this seasons success?
On a sidenote, BBC Sport also reports that the League Managers Association (LMA) has urged Shinawatra to reconsider the impending sacking of the former England manager.
LMA chief executive said: “Success for Manchester City is getting into the top 10, Sven has done that. We implore Dr Shinawatra to rethink his strategy and to keep Sven.”
Can Eriksson recover from this? Will he ever coach in England again? Voice your opinions - especially Man City fans as CLDsport would love to hear what you think of the situation.
[...] looks to be on his way out of Eastlands this summer - despite owner Shinawatra saying on Wednesday that he would wait until [...]