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THE most relieved people on hearing the news that former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had finally completed his takeover of Manchester City was probably all the officials at the English FA.
It meant that the embarrassment of paying Sven-Goran Eriksson an obscene amount of money for doing nothing was finally over. However, one man’s relief is another’s problem and it is not guaranteed by any means that the Swede will be successful with his new club.
Following an uninspiring playing career, Eriksson moved into management in 1979 with IFK Gothenburg and for the next five years both in Sweden and in Portugal won league championships and domestic cups. This raised his profile enough to be appointed by Italian giants Roma.
Apart from a three-year stint back at Benfica, Eriksson spent from 1984 to 2001 in Serie A at a time when this was considered the best league in the world.
His first three years at Roma only resulted in one domestic cup triumph and the next two years at Fiorentina yielded no trophies.
This last period was particularly disappointing given the fact that he had at his disposal the worlds ‘best’ player in Roberto Baggio.
A return to Benfica and one championship soon followed in order to restore his reputation.
That accomplished, he was back in Italy and a five-year period with Sampdoria began. This was a very quiet period and while plaudits were achieved for the style of play his team played, only one Italian cup was the result. Even more concerning was that his team only managed top half finishes in the Scudetto, and this was with a good Sampdoria side.
It was at this point that he first came to real attention in England as he accepted the post of manager of Blackburn Rovers in 1997 only to renege on the contract and take up the post of Lazio manager.
He inherited a great side with players such as Veron, Neved, Nesta, Mancini, Inzhagi, Salas and Vieri at his disposal. After three years of cup and European wins he finally won the Italian League to justify his appointment.
The English FA then offered him the post of England manager to him and he was due to take over at the end of 2001. However, performances of his Lazio side were so bad they let him go three months early and England had its first foreign coach in place.
His England record is well documented and can be summed up as professional in terms of qualification to tournaments but lacklustre and uninspired once there with the World Cup in Germany being his final curtain. Since then nothing, he has been technically unemployed but has been paid by the English FA until this appointment.
Manchester City, meanwhile, have been in the chorus line for some time now and it is only the oldest and most faithful fans who can remember their team being the leaders of the pack.
The League Cup was the club’s last trophy in 1976 and you have to go further back in time for the FA Cup and Championship, 1969 and 1968 respectively.
This is a very poor record given the amount of money spent on players by high-profile managers over the years. Excitement for City fans has centred more on relegation and promotion than challenging for titles.
So the question on every fan’s lips is will it be different this time, and the answer to that is – very doubtful. The fact that there are still issues surrounding where Shinawatra got his money from to Eriksson’s lifestyle outside football means this will not be a smooth journey.
Eriksson himself, only two months ago, when asked about his future and links with Manchester City said he would not consider it as he wanted to come back to a “big club”.
A definite snub if ever there was one. He was probably waiting for a call from Real Madrid who everyone knew was planning to remove Capello at the end of the season. Sadly for the Swede the call never came, and nor did it from any of the other big clubs in Europe.
City, on the other hand, were courting Claudio Raneri, who for reasons unknown decided not to join the club, and was appointed boss by Juventus. This left City and Eriksson with no options, and no matter how much of a brave face they put on this, they were never each other’s first choice.
Everyone has a sell by date and Eriksson has reached his … while City fans still believe they are one of the big boys … when in reality they are no such thing.
Self denial and delusion are not happy bedfellows to achieving success and while this will not result in a happy ending for the two of them they may well deserve each other.
By Patrick Cummings
patrick.cummings@blueyonder.co.uk
