Back him, don't sack him: Why Sven MUST stay at Manchester City

Sven-Goran Eriksson to be sacked from Manchester City? I thought April Fools Day was over a month ago.

On what basis should Eriksson be relieved of his job? Here is a man who had his reputation tarnished while he was England manager for not matching absurd expectations, a man who took England’s so called “Golden Generation” to three consecutive major tournament quarter finals, twice losing to the lucky dip that is penalties and once to a fluky goal by a goofy Brazilian.

England can only dream of getting to a major tournament nowadays let alone getting past the quarter-finals. His reputation was unfairly tarnished and nobody would touch him for a year, that is until Manchester City, fresh from a takeover by former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Installed on July 6, Eriksson had a month to add to a squad that had finished 14th the previous season, had not scored a single league goal at home since January and had lost two of their best players in Sylvain Distin and Joey Barton.
 
A mammoth task was at hand but he wasted no time in bringing in Elano, Martin Petrov, Vedran Corluka, Rolando Bianchi, Gelson Fernandes, Javier Garrido, Valeri Bojinov and Geovanni, all relatively unknown in this country and the media already in their element claiming Eriksson knew nothing about these players.
 
It was a real surprise to see City top of the table after three games, having beaten fierce rivals Manchester United at home. Not only were they top but they were there having played some breathtaking football.
 
Sven had got his side playing some fantastic football with star players Elano and Martin Petrov at the heart of everything City did, a revitalised veteran Dietmar Hamann and 20-year-old-rookie keeper Joe Hart (who should be in the England squad if the likes of Robert Green and Chris Kirkland are in there).
 
Eastlands was buzzing and the good form and football continued until Christmas when City were fourth. Everyone who has an ounce of footballing knowledge knew that they could not keep it up going into the second half of the season.
 
Results have suffered and have been poor in comparison to their form in the first half of the season but not as bad as people make out. A derby win at Old Trafford and home wins against Spurs and Portsmouth have been the highlight of a second half of the season blighted by injuries to Micah Richards, Valeri Bojinov, Richard Dunne, Nedum Onouha and Michael Johnson.
 
The home defeat by Fulham was just typical of their season, first half fantastic, second half not so good. Then came the stories that Shinawatra was ready to relieve Eriksson of his duties. This is the same Shinawatra who, when he first came to the club, set a three-year plan of a top-10 finish first year, top six second year and to qualify for the Champions League the year after.
 
Eriksson has achieved that first “target” with ease, which brings me to the question: Has Eriksson been a victim of his earlier success?
 
It is obvious that Shinawatra knows little about football and has more than likely wondered why City have fallen from fourth to ninth in the space of four months.
 
With money to spend and with Eriksson in charge of spending it, Manchester City were in for an exciting summer, but it seems they have shot themselves in the foot once again.
 
The only thing they needed this summer was stability and consistency. Shinawatra has to know the limits. Unless you can give your manager £300m to spend on players you will not get anywhere near the Champions League.
 
You cannot expect to spend £40m on a team that finished four points off relegation the season before and expect the best results straight away.

With Eriksson at the helm and with the backing of Dr Shinawatra’s money, Manchester City were a club who had the ability to squash the top four and make it the top five, only Jose Mourinho would be the man, apart from Eriksson, who could achieve that he is too big for them.

Eriksson is a real nice guy who, even under the most intense times with England, always came out with class and his dignity intact and he does not deserved to be treated like this again.

Manchester City and Shinawatra need to realise how lucky they are to have someone of Sven’s abilities managing their side.

Mark my words, they will miss him more than he will miss them.