Can Man City live with all the problems surrounding former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra? And is Sven Goran-Erikssson the right man to run the team?
'The question is, with a record like this, frozen assets, and an arrest warrant currently active against him in Thailand, should Manchester City or the government close the door on this man?'
On the day former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra finally launched his £81.6m takeover of Manchester City, Liverpool fans can look back and heave a huge sigh of relief that it’s not their club.
And the rest of football, not least Manchester City fans, are left wondering whether this is the kind of man they want involved in running an English football club.
Thaksin Shinawatra is a contentious character, who set alarm bells ringing as soon as he first started bidding for the Reds back in May 2004. His political record is controversial, to say the least, with charges of corruption, human-rights abuses, treason and hostility towards the free press just some of the charges levelled against him. All this despite some success in improving the lives of Thailand’s poor.
The question is, with a record like that, frozen assets and an arrest warrant currently active against him in Thailand, should Manchester City or the government close the door on this man? In the wake of Lord Stevens' report on transfer corruption, and the general willingness to clean up this side of the game, having a club owner who is tainted with that very same brush is surely massively undesirable.
Not only that, but Shinawatra's premature contract offer to Sven-Goran Eriksson suggests he seems to want a very hands-on role at the club, one which experience shows is a bad thing. Vladimir Romanov, anyone? It’s obvious the current Manchester City board don’t want Eriksson, otherwise they could have moved weeks ago to fill their vacancy. They wanted Claudio Ranieri or Juande Ramos of Sevilla, both far better choices than the Swede.
There is no doubting the former England boss’s club record in the 1990s is excellent, but the way he coached the national side shows he is stuck in a time warp in terms of tactics and understanding, which is a bad thing for Manchester City. I don’t see how the defensive and tactically naive Swede would raise the Blues above their current mid-table obscurity.
I’m not saying foreign investment is a bad thing for English football per se. Randy Lerner at Aston Villa has been good so far, as have George Gillett and Tom Hicks at Liverpool, securing major players new contracts, improving the plans for their new stadium and looking to provide Rafa Benitez with a large transfer fund. Roman Abramovich is a complex character, yes, but with time he seems to be developing a more measured approach to life at Chelsea.
Even the most controversial buy-out of all, that of Malcolm Glazer, seems to have strengthened Manchester United. Just look at their new Premiership trophy. It is a long way from the end of the world that was predicted by fans at the time.
I know Manchester City and their fans crave success after years of mediocrity (not to mention their various trips up and down the English leagues). But to depend on Thaksin Shinawatra to bring it seems short-sighted at best, and downright negligent at worst.
City are a great club, with a fantastic ground, amazing fans and huge potential. They just need to hang on for the right man.Would the unsavoury Thai and out-of-date Swede be a good mix for Manchester City? Post your comments or, better still, write your own article for Sportingo.