SVEN: I'M FINISHED

[Lemmy]

Huge mistake. The players semm to like Sven, and he can´t perform miracles in his first season. It takes some time for all the players that he bought to gel. Shinawatra is screwing himself deep

[Mighty T.A.L.]

[Lemmy]

Manchester City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson may have received "indirect" contact from Benfica and would not rule out a return to his former club, according to agent Athole Still.

The Swede's long-term future at Eastlands is in severe doubt, with reports suggesting he will be sacked after the final two fixtures of the season.

Eriksson has enjoyed an encouraging first campaign, but appears to have failed to impress owner Thaksin Shinawatra, who bought the club last year.

The situation has prompted reports in Portugal to claim Eriksson is the man Benfica want to replace Jose Antonio Camacho, who left earlier this year.

Eriksson won three league titles and took Benfica to both the European Cup and UEFA Cup finals during his previous stints, which were between 1982 and 1984 and from 1989-1992

Sven Leaves Benfica Door Open - Yahoo! Eurosport UK

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Thaksin Shinawatra has offered Luiz Felipe Scolari £3.2million a year to be manager of Manchester City. The offer is conditional on Scolari giving his answer before he leads Portugal in the European Championship next month.

The terms are an increase of £700,000 a year on the £2.5m Sven Goran Eriksson has been paid for his one season at the club — another slap in the face for the current City manager.

With Eriksson due to be relieved of his duties in the days following Sunday's final Barclays Premier League game at Middlesbrough, despite overwhelming fans' protests at the decision, Thaksin wants his No 1 target Scolari, who guided Brazil to World Cup victory in 2002, in place as soon as possible.

The offer was made to Scolari's representatives by go-betweens acting for City's owner at the weekend. Currently in his native Thailand, Thaksin has left the early stages of the negotiations to his aide Tawesuk Jack Srisumrid and the high-profile football agents Kia Joorabchian and Pini Zihavi.

Last night, sources in Portugal suggested that Scolari, 59, was mulling over the offer but is said to have doubts about uprooting his family.

His two sons are being educated in Portugal and he may be unwilling to move them.

He is also aware a full-time club job would give him little time for the lucrative seminars and speaking engagements he is committed to in Africa and South America.

Thaksin was said to be 'hopeful but less than certain' he will get his man. However, Scolari is known to be unimpressed with the way Eriksson has been treated. He is also concerned about any likely transfer budget.

Although Thaksin is understood to have made vague promises about funds, his £800m fortune is still frozen in Thailand and it is not yet known if and when his assets will be released.

Disgruntled fans have already made their feelings known, protesting outside the stadium and with an overwhelming display of support for Eriksson as his team lost 1-0 at Liverpool on Sunday.

It has emerged some fans have gone further by contacting City to ask for next term's season ticket money back, reserving the right to purchase until they see who the next manager is.

The Daily Mail

[Lemmy]

Thaksin Shinawatra has offered Luiz Felipe Scolari £3.25m a year to manage Manchester City and, in a move which has echoes of the Football Association's approach to the Brazilian ahead of the 2006 World Cup, he wants an answer before Scolari leads Portugal into the European Championship next month.


The approach to Scolari came, via a Brazilian agent, from Srisumrid Jack Taweesuk, City's executive director, whose attempts to lure the Portugal national manager are understood to have included a promise that money will be available to Scolari to buy "the players that he wants".

Though some in Portugal doubt the 59-year-old's willingness to trade his immense personal following in the country for Sven Goran Eriksson's job in Manchester, the sums of money on offer do seem to be attractive to him. The noises from Portugal last week were that Scolari was reluctant to remove his two sons, Fabricio and Leonardo, from further education in Lisbon and that the proximity of Spain's La Liga was therefore more of an attraction to him. But there was a suggestion from sources close to Scolari yesterday that Leonardo, his eldest son and a law student, could benefit from studying in Britain. Fabricio, it is thought, would stay with Scolari's wife in Lisbon if he took the job.

Scolari offered £3.2m to replace Eriksson - Premier League, Football - The Independent

[Lemmy]

Sven-Goran Eriksson is contemplating turning down an offer from his old club Benfica because he believes bigger and better opportunities will come his way.

The Manchester City manager feels he has been effectively handed his notice by club owner Thaksin Shinawatra and met with Benfica's president Luis Felipe Vieira on Wednesday night.

Although the Swede is still pondering the offer on the table from Benfica, the club he has managed twice before, it is understood he and his advisers believe his experience and the job he has done at City mean other offers are sure to follow.

The prospect of transforming Benfica into a power to match their main Portuguese rivals Porto would not be an easy one - they are currently 20 points behind them in the domestic league and do not have the same financial clout.

Benfica have attempted to persuade Eriksson that a new era is around the corner with Rui Costa, the veteran midfielder who played under Eriksson, appointed to become the club's director of football after he hangs up his boots next week.

Rui Costa was also at the meeting in Manchester with Vieira, and Eriksson is giving serious thought to their proposition.

Eriksson said: "I've had a meeting with the Benfica people. I'm considering the offer and it could be a step forward in my career. Let's see what happens."

Thaksin has spoken openly of other possible City managers even though he insisted he had yet to decide to stick with Eriksson or approach Jose Mourinho or Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Thaksin said: "There will be an evaluation at the end of the season of what needs to be changed, what needs to be added to the success of the club."

Asked about the managerial position, he added: "We have not decided yet. All of them - Sven, Scolari, Mourinho - they are all great coaches, great managers. We will discuss all of this at the end of the season."

However, Benfica have alternatives should they not go for Eriksson.

Speculation in Portugal this afternoon suggests Carlos Queiroz, currently under contract as Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant at Old Trafford, is also interesting the two-time European Cup winners.

Sven Could Reject Benfica - Yahoo! Eurosport UK

[Lemmy]

Sven-Goran Eriksson is still planning to lead Manchester City on their tour of Thailand and Hong Kong this week, his assistant Tord Grip told BBC Sport.

Owner Thaksin Shinawatra has already indicated to Eriksson that he will not be in charge of the club next season.

And after City's 8-1 defeat by Middlesbrough on Sunday, Eriksson said he wanted his future resolved quickly.

But Grip told BBC Sport: "Sven has not heard any more. He will go to Thailand on Tuesday and meet Dr Thaksin there."

Eriksson will take City's first-team squad and some members of the FA Youth Cup winning side to Asia on a 10-day post-season tour.

They will arrive in Thailand on Wednesday and their first match will be against a Thai League All-Star XI on Saturday 17 May

The squad will then head to Hong Kong to take on a South China Invitational XI on 22 May.

BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Man City | Eriksson set to lead City on tour