The Ghost Of Gibbi (29/04/2008)

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Is Sven is sacked, I will wish I could repeatedly post the dreaded C-word, but I won't post it - not even once - because I have too much respect for the fantastic mods around here, who shouldn't have to clear up after me... I'll be absolutely furious. It's a travesty they're even talking about it, we've had a great season to be fair!

Luftwaffles (29/04/2008)

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The time frame we are looking at is roughly five months. City have been slipping since November, and Eriksson has done very little to remedy that, bar the unproductive signing of Benjani, based on that same short-termism - a two-month spell of good form after two disappointing years at Portsmouth does not make him a top signing, especially when his old club promptly snap up a proven, readily available player like Defoe to replace him.
They were buoyed early on by exciting and promising new signings but eventually the manager's inability to produce ideas or alternatives let them down. OK, Thaksin might have an itchy trigger finger but Sven did little to suggest he could get the club winning again. He had signed a first team but once a couple of players got injured or lost form, he found himself without back-ups and reverted to the same negative tactics he was reviled for during his time with the national team. A miserable defeat like the one against Fulham at the weekend just highlights how complacent the team have become after that promising start, and even the players themselves have voiced some disillusionment with Eriksson's management.
I'm sorry, but although it cannot be good for the club to be in a constant state of uncertainty about the future, I cannot honestly say that this particular decision, to get rid of Eriksson, is a bad one. A harsh one, maybe, but still an understandable one. Had he not already made his shortcomings obvious with England, then he might have been given more time. But the various reasons for his failure with the national team are well-known, and I think they showed many signs of having surfaced at City, too.

And it is hardly a surprising decision. He had been under pressure for a while, and had done little to ease the situation. Perhaps, too, it is in City's best interests to bring in a new manager before the summer rather than waiting and possibly having to reshuffle in the middle of the season, which is always risky.