A recent poll showed the over 90% of Manchester City fans were opposed to Thaksin Shinawatra's putative decision to sack Sven-Goran Eriksson. The Swede has a groundswell of support among City fans but their opinions won't count for much.

What we are talking about here is business. The owner thinks that someone else can do the job better- and contrary to some opinion, there will be many takers for the job. How many other occupations are there where you can walk away with a £2.5 million pay off for 9 months work?

Fans always look at football with a certain amount of sentimentality but those at the top- owners, administrators and professionals- have very little, if any. Sven may well be a little unhappy to leave but he's one of the modern breed of managers who wander Europe doing a job, pick up big rewards and either move on or get sacked.

The sack is part of the role. It doesn't mean the same as the sack to you or me. They know another big job will come up and the boot doesn't lessen their reputation among their peers. Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger are not in any way typical of their profession.

Another big name will take the City job; they won't be put off by Sven's firing. The new man will get a massive pay packet and a lot of cash to spend and if it goes wrong he'll trouser a wad of cash. The players support Sven to the hilt until he goes then go mad to impress the new boss. They have to, as they are under contract to the club not the coach.

Only the fans have an actual allegiance to the club. Many believe Eriksson;'s removal would be against natural justice but they are hardly going to stop going to Eastlands and become Bury fans just because of a Swedish boss with a nice line in understatement.

Once he goes the focus moves to whether the new man can do better. Eriksson meanwhile takes a little sabbatical and moves smoothly into another hot seat with another £2m plus in his bank account.

Thaksin Shinawatra will get heat from the City fans if City slide or don't improve but to be frank, compared to the sticjk he gets in other matters, a bit of abuse from football fans- who still shell out at the gate anyway- is hardly likely to bother him.

So don't get too upset for Sven. The man himself isn't getting too uptight about it as he knows this is just football- or at least football in the early 21st Century. City fans yearn to be back among the big hitters and this sort of naked powerplay is what being in the elite is all about. It's a sign of how far they have come but whether that's a good thing is another matter.