Sven Goran Eriksson
Sven Goran Eriksson was England manager from 2001 to 2006, leading them to 3 major quarter-finals and managing to lose all 3 of them when they had a decent chance of winning them.
That may be a damning criticism of Eriksson, but he was a solid manager who knew the value of match-winners. He might have lacked a bit in terms of strategic innovation or man-management, but after seeing what McClaren managed in the year after him, Eriksson wasn’t that bad after all.
Football fork – January 2007 – Liverpool bought by the DIC group
About ten years ago Nick Hancock co-wrote a book called What Didn’t Happen Next, which was an amusing look at the butterfly effect in football and those little changes which might have rewritten the annals of football. What if Southgate had scored his penalty at Euro 1996? What if Gordon Banks hadn’t had food poisoning…
The Biggest Losers of 2008 – Real Madrid, Avram Grant, Juande Ramos, Arsenal and Mike Ashley
While football success and failure is usually measured season to season, from August to May, the end of an year gives an opportunity to look back on the calender twelve months and see who we think has been worthy of appearing in this column. Here’s a look at the teams and people who deserve to…
Manchester City: Frantically weaving a larger basket case
Even Thaksin Shinawatra’s ego wouldn’t go so far as to proclaim himself the Messiah, yet for a brief period he was held in such regard at Eastlands. His takeover of the club last summer, coupled with a supposedly huge cash injection and the installation of Sven-Goran Eriksson as coach led many City fans to start…
Shinawatra ends the chaos at Manchester City
After Manchester City’s catastrophic 8-1 reverse at Middlesbrough on the final day of the 2007-8 season, Sven Goran-Eriksson, and a substantial proportion of the club’s supporters, wanted a quick decision on the Swede’s future. Eriksson’s declaration that a decision should be made within hours of that match was the clearest indication that he wanted to…
Should Mark Hughes accept the Manchester City offer?
When they finally pulled the trigger, it came as a relief – finally things could move forward at Eastlands and the preparations for next season could begin. The new manager might even be able to keep Dunne onside, although that depends a lot on who the new manager is and for how long Shinawatra would…
Manchester City qualify for UEFA Cup – will Thaksin change his mind?
Manchester City have qualified to play in the UEFA Cup next season through the Premier League’s fair play table. The Premier League came top of UEFA’s fair play table (I guess fewer fouls are given in England than anywhere else?) and although Manchester City were 6th in the Premier League fair play table, the 5…
Manchester City fans – why do you not understand me?
Looking through the Soccerlens postbag this week we found a letter from a man much in the news at the moment. He has written for our help as he feels he is simply misunderstood: Dear Soccerlens, I have been reading your website for some time in an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the…
Can Eriksson take Manchester City to the Champions League?
It be foolhardy to suggest that Thaksin Shinawatra knows more than the average football fan. He might know how to make money, and avoid going to jail, but in terms of pure footballing knowledge he would be more Macca than Rafa, if you catch my drift. But the Manchester City owner does not consider Mr…
Can Sunderland beat Manchester City?
Roy Keane insists that Sunderland haven’t yet secured their Premier League future. A fourth consecutive win for the Black Cats at home to Manchester City on Saturday will all but see the north-east club safe.
Manchester City gunning for Europe, Chelsea gunning for Respect
Manchester City manager Sven Goran Eriksson still believes that Manchester City can make it into Europe this season. I’m not going to argue with him (or other Manchester City fans) but I’d just point at their recent run in the league and ask – why are you trying to pretend you’re Keegan (we’re going to…
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