Another Taxi for Sven?
It appears that Sven Goran Eriksson will be out of a job once again when the season winds up next weekend. And this time, you can't really fault the Swede. He's taken on a Citeh side that was facing relegation under Psycho last season and made them a solid top ten side that has played some, albeit erratic, attractive football. No, it seems as if Sven's fate has come down to the whimsical sensibilities of Manchester's favorite human rights violator Thaksin Shinawatra.Anyone else feel a bit sorry for Sven?
posted by gatorbob @ 8:47 PM
6 Comments:
Not really. I just don't believe that it's about footballing success for my one of my least favorite Swedes. It's all about the lucre for Sven and he'll cash in pretty handily if that Thai gangster sacks him.
Sure you can fault the FA for doing his deal, but I believe that his severance with the England job works out to him effectively being on the FA's payroll even now. That's criminal.
And he's been at Citeh for less than a year. I can't believe that he has less than a 4 year contract so I won't cry for him or them. He's set and some other mugs with too much money and ambition will hire him again... maybe somewhere with better weather.
Fair enough, any sympathy for the luckless Citeh fans?
Masses of sympathy for them. I'd love for Citeh to be in the position that Pompey and Aston Villa are in, challenging for the UEFA cup entries.
But how they managed to pick up Elano and Petrov who would slot into a Red Shirt with White Sleeves very-nicely-thanks-very-much, is a complete mystery. If I had a wish list for Arsene, those two and Micah Richards would be items 1, 2, and 3.
I don't think it's a complete mystery. Sven was never much of a national manager - although his record with England is quite a bit better than most - because he's not a big tournament guy. But he's not a bad club manager and he was well on his way to building a decent side. That was mainly through his connections. I'd even heard that Ronaldinho was considering a move to the Eastlands. Now that could have been catastrophe given what's happened to him at Barca but do you really think that the likes of Petrov and Elano would be knocking on Citeh's door if they still had Stuart Pearce at the helm? Don't think so.
No you're right that without Sven, Elano and Petrov, and a number of others probably wouldn't have given Citeh a second look.
I just think that a guy as seamy as Sven is doesn't deserve much sympathy. And while I do have some sympathy for Citeh fans having to watch their fortunes crumble, they knew what was likely when not one, but two guys showed up at the club who really are bad news.
It's a bit of a quandary, though, isn't it? Because if you're a fan of a middling to struggling side, your choices are either to watch your club continue tread water in the lower reaches or pray for some fake sheikh, yakuza thug or Russian kneecapper to come in and save the day.
After the Sven era comes to a close, Shinawatra will no doubt bring in a plodder like Steve McClaren who will only be able to attract the likes of Leroy Lita to the club. Tough one.
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