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Man City players said in revolt against Thaksin


waerth

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He has left his ..... son and one of his daughters in charge of the club ....... :grin:

 

 

The British media reported on Friday that a mass revolt among players over Thaksin Shinawatra's decision to sack the manager, Sven Goran Eriksson means that Manchester City may also lose their captain Richard Dunne.

 

"Dunne is arguably closer to Eriksson than any player in the City squad," reported The Independent newspaper. "The Irishman is known to have led attempts for players to sign a letter of protest threatening to boycott City's imminent end-of-season tour" that includes a match in Thailand.

 

Eriksson persuaded Dunne and others that, flattered though he was by their gesture, this was not an appropriate course of action to take, claimed the newspaper report. "The tour will go ahead. But the future of one of the club's most consistent players now looks in severe jeopardy because he may find the prospect of lining Thaksin's pockets too unpalatable to go on."

 

The article, one of several attacking Thaksin for threats to fire Eriksson, said that "other clubs may try to capitalise" in his case.

 

"As things stand, the departure of Dunne, who has just a year left to run on his current contract, is considered more likely than that of other players at the club, with reports already linking Michael Johnson with Arsenal and Micah Richards with Manchester United. But a wider exodus is quite possible," said the story. It continued:.

 

City were looking every bit a crisis club last night and will invite direct comparisons with the sinking ship Liverpool have become under foreign ownership by this morning cancelling Eriksson's usual weekly press briefing.

 

The club's reason is they do not want "a repeat of Rafa Benitez, with the manager fielding questions about the owner". Liverpool cancelled a Benitez press conference on 11 April after co-owner Tom Hicks had launched a verbal onslaught at chief executive Rick Parry.

 

Eriksson's agent Athole Still has not ruled out a move to Benfica. "The door is not closed for Benfica," Still told the Portuguese newspaper O Jogo. "The question of money is important. He is unlikely to continue, but it is still not 100 per cent certain that he will leave Manchester City."

 

The indignation of some players towards Thaksin was compounded when they learnt that video messages, recorded before Eriksson was told on Sunday that he was to be sacked, have been used by the Thai billionaire to promote the forthcoming club tour of the Far East and the new Manchester City superstore he is opening on the ground floor of his own office complex in Bangkok.

 

Joe Hart and Darius Vassell are among those whose video messages, played at a tour launch press conference on Tuesday, said how much they were looking forward to arriving in the Thai capital for a match against a Thai all-stars side on 14 May. That is not the feeling now and Thaksin, who enjoyed taking Daniel Sturridge and Casper Schmeichel with him on his return to Thailand after exile, may find players less compliant in the future.

 

The tour launch revealed what a farce Thaksin's ownership of the club has degenerated into. Thaksin left his son Panthongtae and daughter Pintongta, both installed by him as City board members, to field questions and when, inevitably, asked if Eriksson would lead the tour, Panthongtae froze, mumbled a "yes" then looked desperately to his sister for support. Both left the launch steadfastly refusing to answer questions by the foreign journalists who were in pursuit.

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<< Thaksin is in hot water at City, although the former prime minister has not yet come out to confirm or deny the reports.

 

He is now unpopular among City supporters who have been venting their anger at the way Eriksson has been treated.

 

"In a nutshell, I'm absolutely disgusted. The way they are treating Sven is beyond belief and this can't be based on football reasons," one fan told the Manchester Evening News.

 

"Perhaps Shinawatra thinks he can buy instant success but that just doesn't happen," said another.

 

The fans have reason for their frustration as Eriksson has turned City from a relegation contender into a top 10 side in the Premier League.

 

For the first time in three decades, City beat Manchester United twice in the league this season.

 

A successful businessman and politician, Thaksin, who bought City for 85 million, always wants instant success in everything.

 

But bringing success to a football club of City's calibre is not as easy as making a bowl of instant noodles - it takes time. >>

 

 

 

Bangkok Post

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<<

 

Man City players moot boycotting Thai tour

Team angered by Thaksin decision to sack manager

 

 

 

Thaksin Shinawatra's decision to fire Sven-Goran Eriksson is threatening to lead to a dressing-room mutiny at Manchester City after it transpired that the players had offered to boycott the club's end-of-season promotional tour to Thailand in support of their beleaguered manager.

 

A delegation of senior players - led, it is understood, by the captain Richard Dunne - approached Eriksson earlier this week and offered to put their names to a public statement expressing strong misgivings about Thaksin's ruthlessness and accusing the former prime minister of Thailand of making a grave mistake.

 

As a Manchester Evening News poll reported that 97% of City's fans were against Thaksin's treatment of Eriksson, it has also become apparent that Dunne is so aggrieved by the current chaos that he is thinking of leaving the club this summer and that the backlash extends to the boardroom, where the chief executive, Alistair Mackintosh, and deputy chairman, John Wardle, both sympathise with the former England head coach.

 

While Mackintosh and Wardle reluctantly accept that they are powerless to prevent Thaksin from changing his mind, the mood among the players is so rebellious that they have held a lengthy meeting to discuss ways of offering a public show of support for Eriksson. >>

 

 

The Nation

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A successful businessman and politician, Thaksin, who bought City for 85 million, always wants instant success in everything.

 

But bringing success to a football club of City's calibre is not as easy as making a bowl of instant noodles - it takes time. >>

 

 

Interesting ... :)

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I don't really know what he got for 85 Million, the stadium is not called Eastlands (that is the name of the district of Manchester it is in) but is actualy called the City of Manchester Stadium it was built in 2002 for the Commonwealth Games and City moved in 2003 on a 250 year Lease, they rent the ground off Manchester City Council, biggest council house in Manchester.

 

Coming from Manchester myself but being a United fan I find this quite hilarious, when Thaksin bought them last year I warned my relatives from the Blue side of the family that it would all end in tears. The only good thing is that Micha Richards may now be tempted to cross over to United in order wo win some medals in his career.

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