Sven to get the sack

[Liam]

Eriksson to be sacked by Man City

By Simon Austin

Sven-Goran Eriksson has been told he will be sacked as Manchester City manager at the end of the season, BBC Sport understands.

City owner Thaksin Shinawatra told Eriksson he was "not the right man for the job" at a meeting on Sunday, a source close to the Swede said.

Eriksson informed the players at training on Monday that he would be dismissed, provoking an angry response.

The Swede, who has two years left on his contract, says he will not resign.

Shinawatra has been unhappy with City's results since the turn of the year.

The Thai was at the City of Manchester Stadium on Sunday to watch his team's 3-2 defeat by Fulham.

Afterwards, he held a meeting with Eriksson and told him he would be dismissed after their final two games of the season.

"Sven reacted calmly, as usual, but he was very surprised and disappointed," the source told BBC Sport.

"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."

Eriksson took over as City manager five weeks before the start of the season and the team occupied third spot in the Premiership in November.

However, their form has faltered badly since Christmas and they have won just four of their last 15 games.

Credit: BBC Sport

Criminal, really. The good thing in some ways though is that Sven hasn't damaged his club reputation really, and could still go anywhere else.

[Turbo Yannis]

What the fuck does the guy want? It's hardly as though they were going to win the league.

I see this is yet another time when a new owner comes in, fans cream themselves, owner gets far too sack-happy for too quickly and it all turns sour.

[stokeriño]

Abramovich seems positively patient and understanding in comparison...

[Liam]

I just find it a little weird as Shinawatra wanted Sven in the first place. They are something like 3 points off thier best Premier League finish, they've got players who will probably peform better for longer in thier second season once they've got used fully to the pace of the game, and he has also made use of some of the best youth players they have.

[stokeriño]

An additional bit from the BBC Sport article:

"The team has not been playing as well as it should have or getting the right results since Christmas," the source admitted.

"But overall, it has been a good season. Thaksin agreed a five-year plan with Sven in the summer and the target for the first year was to finish in the top 10."

They're in 9th! COME ON NOW! :@

[Adam]

What an utter joke, hope this comes back to bite Sinawatra in the ass. Sven's a good manager who has done a good job at Man City-look at the second half of their season this time to last. They didn't score a goal at home for MONTHS last season.

Hopefully Sven goes to another top flight club, probably in Italy again.

[IAceI]

Sven can't win no matter what. Poor guy. Plus if that's the owner's idea of business planning and the like, it's not going to be a job many people will want to jump into quickly.

If you're told you need a top half finish in the first season, and have a 5 year plan to reach a specific goal. And after the first season your in the top half like expected, and get told it's not good enough - it's not going to be the most wanted job in the world.

They got lucky in that Spurs have had a poor season by their expectations. But there probably just a notch below your Tier II teams like Everton, Pompey, Aston Villa and Blackburn (throw Spurs in there on a good day if they improve next season like they should). They just need a little bit more time to make that push and solidify themselves in that group. At the minute I'd say there lingering just a little below it.

Also they have a great youth system, just beat Sunderland youth 4-2 in the play offs I believe. But Thaksin has said he doesn't care about that and just wants to see the big star names in the team.

[METALMAN]

I thought the title said "Sven to get in the sack." I expect that might be happening also.

Also, Thaksin Shinananana or whatever must be mad if he thought City would be capable of challenging for the Champions League all season. They're good, but they're nowhere near that level yet.

[Clawson]

What in the fuck? I'm gonna go bang my head against a wall.

[Big Red Fury]

I love Sven as our manager but he's fallen victim to his own early successes. If you look at the initial 5 year plan, he's within what he was supposed to do but I think because of our shit hot start some view our current position as a disappointment. One things for sure, Ronaldinho won't really help us that much to where we'll be leaps and bounds better next year if we got him so I'm not sure what Thaksin thinks he's achieving with all of this.

[Liam]

Big Phil Scolari has been approached to replace him, according to the BBC.

[Blue Rosler]

I really hope that Man City's 'exodus' is true, since it's serve Thaksin right for undoing probably one of the best managerial moves made.

Elano and Martin Petrov only came to City due to Sven, and they are quality players. I read that now they want to leave. I doubt Micah Richards would have signed a new deal unless he thought Sven was taking the club places, so he'll probably jump to the nearest available club. Richard Dunne will use this as his excuse to escape, as probably will Michael Johnson.

For a first season in charge of a club, Sven did well to build a team that gelled and had young stars to build the future upon.

[METALMAN]

I get the feeling Sven might have done too well for his own good. Thaksin might have been happy with a top 10 if they were consistent all through the season. He might be disappointed that their form has tailed off after a great start so that their position seems a lot worse than it actually is to him. Not that I agree with him, but that may be his reasoning.

[Crybaby Bunting]

Hmm now Thaskin has denied reports that he's handing Scolari a contract and insists he might stick with Sven in the end

WTF?

[therockbox]

Waiting until the end of the season to try and stop the fans protesting at their last game.

[TheArsenal]

The problem is he'll look like an idiot either way now. If he sacks Sven then he's made a massive mistake. If he keeps him on he looks incompetant for the way he's handled the whole thing, and Sven will probably jump ship at the first opportunity he gets because, let's face it, he can hardly feel like his job is secure....

[IAceI]

I like the idea of Scolari being told to come work at a club with constantly changing ambitions in an environment where he'll get a camera shoved in his face every day.

He'll probably run for the hills.

[Crybaby Bunting]

Then again come to think of it, maybe 'Frank' is only doing this because Scolari has flat-out refused his offer of a contract?

Wouldn't surprise me, and considering it's not as if any other manager is big enough to go there who's better than Sven

[ONO]

Sven changed City from a boring side that couldn't pass the ball, to a team with the potential to have some fantastic players in the future, mixed with some European gems like Elano etc. I still think they're settling in and have no doubt they'll show their best next season, but unfortunately he won't be there to see it.

[9 to 5]

Two years is a long time in football. Who would have thought most of England and its fans would feel sorry for Sven in 2006?