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[H]

Edit - Have deleted text of this post, due to reasons made obvious by the recent developments referred to in my later post...

[wasp]

Well, what a surprise. Does this mean Thaksin isn't a nice chap afterall? And after Petrusha had assured us it was ok to kill people and Tyrell was the baddy.Now we have the gutless performances since Xmas explained.Uncle Sven knew the score.

[Ged]

Tyrell is still the baddy and it's OK to kill people if you don't like them.
And if this is true, and Thaksin has spies at Anfield on Sunday, he might not like what they report.

As for the future, we're still stuck with Thaksin cos there are just as many people interested in buying us as there was last year. - None!!

[H]

I think it is now pretty clear to me that Tyrell has been briefing the media in the last few days in the hope of provoking a reaction from the fans. It was just too little too late. Thaksin has now left the country again for a few months and will presumably expect to have a new manager in place before his return. It is by no means clear whether he has lined up a replacement already but my guess is that he hasn't and the timing of Sven's sacking has been purely to do with the fact that we have no more home games left, combined with Thaksin's personal travel plans.

[BlueTherapy]

Toxin:  Sven, thank you for supporting my political campaign the past few months. I don't really have a use for you now I can return to Thailand, so as promised I'll put the cheque in the post.  I'm off on holiday tomorrow and wanted to do this face to face, so if you could just keep it underwraps until the end of the season that would be super.
Sven: Well erm yes of course, how big is the cheque?
Tyrrell (earwigging at door): quick, get the texts and emails going let's tell the fans and save ourselves Ali.

[petrusha]

Well, what a surprise. Does this mean Thaksin isn't a nice chap afterall? And after Petrusha had assured us it was ok to kill people and Tyrell was the baddy.Now we have the gutless performances since Xmas explained.Uncle Sven knew the score.

That's bollocks.  I never said anything of the kind.  If you're going to invent stuff like that, then I'm not going to show any respect in return to you - go fuck yourself, you c*nt.  The Internet will be a better place when you develop a degenerative finger disease and can no longer post.

I'm off to delete my account.  If for some reason I can't do it, then admin please do it for me.  I won't be back.

[wasp]

Oh dear, we do take ourselves seriously,lol. Still I suppose its been a stressful three days for everyone.Still , atleast if the worst thing I can look foreward to is degenerative finger decease the future is not that unpromising.Come on, P, don't be daft.

[H]

The surprising new development is that my mate and his firm have just been reappointed to advise Thaksin again on PR. Looks like he has finally realised that it is damage-limitation time and a big announcement is imminent which will require some serious PR assistance. Will let you know what I hear.

[BlueAnorak]

Well H:
- If its the sacking of Sven the horse bolted from the stable three weeks ago.
- If Micah is off to the rags. Dr T had better wear a bullet proof vest the next time he's in the UK and Micah should relocate to the Moon (or somewhere with South Affrican sytle security where the City nutters can't get to him). No amount of PR spin will help.

[sheron]

Today's Express is leading with a story that Shinawatra has/is about to transfer-list the whole squad. I've only saw the headline on Setanta's preview of the next days papers, so can't and wouldn't really like to vent my spleen just yet, but i'm guessing (if true, and these things do have to be taken with a pinch) it's in retaliation to their support for the manager. I don't even want to begin to imagine what the atmosphere must be like behind the scenes now, it can't go on. An early guess would be that it's a reaction to the result at Boro and the possible standoff between the board and the players about the summer trip. You'd hope that someone in such a position would have people around him screaming the obvious at him, but i expect he listens to nobody but himself. It would be such a shame to throw all this away now. We're two or three players off having a really top side, one that could perhaps cement a top six place, maybe more over the next few years, but we MUST keep our best players, and we MUST have harmony between senior figures at all levels of the football club. I can see how he might want to throw his weight around, if i can put my allegiances to one side for a minute i think i probably would had i invested so much money in a club, but lets have a bit of common and start conducting outselves with a bit of pride, eh? Even if Sven isn't in charge, which is a situation that i'm beginning to not be absolutely against after all that's happened, lets get the bloody house in order, top to bottom, stop all this nonsense, stop the waiting, stop the politics, either sack or get 100% behind the manager, get smiles back on the faces of key players and them hopefully signing new deals, and lets get prepared to move forward, as unorthodox a way as we're going about it. This is all bollocks, and the type of 'typical City' stuff that we (perhaps naively) thought we were now past.

[Ged]

Hold the front page:

Corrupt third-world dictator acts like a tyrant.

If listing the squad is true he'll need more than a bunch of spin doctors to maintain his popularity amongst the fans. He needs advisers not bullshit merchants.

[H]

Just wanted to add that the PR company has been appointed only until the end of July, so far, which implies that their job is purely to manage imminent announcements and not to take over the club's PR long-term. Of course there is nothing to stop the contract being extended or future short-term contracts to happen but those who are still going on about this being the long-term replacement for Tyrrell are way off the mark.

[wasp]

Do they sink to as low as posting on the boards, H, as some seem to think.

[H]

Do they sink to as low as posting on the boards, H, as some seem to think.

Reading yes, posting no.

[Ged]

Do they sink to as low as posting on the boards, H, as some seem to think.

Reading yes, posting no.

If they do read the boards why don't we know what's going on? On most boards the emphasis seems to have shifted from 'Save Sven' to 'WTFIGO' and a decent PR company would get that message to Thaksin. Unless they are only interested in feathering their own nest. It's supporters v parasites and the parasites are winning.

[H]

Give them a chance, Ged. They have only been doing the job for a week and have certainly communicated everything they have found back to TS. There has been a marked increase in "good news" stories coming out of the club in the last week particularly the fast denial of the "squad for sale" story and the announcements by various players of their long-term commitment to the club regardless of who the manager is. The negative leaks also seem to have stopped in the last week. Ultimately the only thing a PR company can do is communicate to and from their client. It seems pretty clear to me that Thaksin is waiting for something, possibly just for Cook to start in his new job, before making any major announcements. The PR company have been brought in to make sure that, when something big is announced, it is done in the most professional and positive way.

For what it's worth, I suspect there will be a press conference on Tuesday or Wednesday to announce something. The squad, including Sven, will have only arrived back in England on Friday. I presume the players are now officially on holiday but the management and staff will probably return to work on Monday. They will need Monday to prepare for any press conference etc. so it would make sense to expect something to happen by Wednesday. That is a complete educated guess on my part without any inside knowledge!

I would also add that we are currently in a similar phase to a year ago, in that the fans are frustrated about the managerial situation but, in reality, if a club has to spend any period of the year with managerial uncertainty, the weeks between the end of the season and the opening of the transfer window are the least damaging time for that to happen. Of course it can cause problems with potential transfers but we don't really know whether those deals are already happening anyway. It is frustrating for us but most summers tend to be a frustrating time for football fans anyway!

[Ged]

Give them a chance, Ged.

No, cos I'm an impatient little git.

I would also add that we are currently in a similar phase to a year ago, in that the fans are frustrated about the managerial situation but, in reality, if a club has to spend any period of the year with managerial uncertainty, the weeks between the end of the season and the opening of the transfer window are the least damaging time for that to happen.

I think the delay in Thaksin reaching the required number of shares was generally accepted as the reason Sven wasn't announced any earlier. This time the owner and manager are already in place.
I accept your point about now being the least damaging time to be without a manager, but the credibility of the club is hardly enhanced by the confusion.

[H]

I accept your point about now being the least damaging time to be without a manager, but the credibility of the club is hardly enhanced by the confusion.

I agree but I do think we, as fans, tend to blow these issues out of proportion simply because it matters so much more to us. In reality nobody outside our own fans and a bunch of lazy journos, without any football to report on, is remotely bothered. Ultimately football clubs only acquire credibility and respect from the wider world by winning games and trophies or, at the very minimum, playing entertaining football on the pitch. The wider football-supporting public, outside Manchester, will have tired of the Thaksin/Sven stories within a couple of days of them first appearing and won't really bother reading or listening to anything about City until official announcements start appearing.

It would not surprise me if Sven has already gone off on holiday for a couple of weeks. regardless of whether he is staying or going. I suspect most of the football reporters have also chosen this time for their summer holidays, if they don't have kids at school, as it is traditionally the quietest time of year for football news. If he is leaving City (and I still believe he is), I suspect he already knows and may even have known for weeks. That would mean his commitments to the club ended when he got on the plane in Hong Kong. If that has happened, his financial settlement would still be conditional upon him keeping quiet until the club chooses to make the announcement. I am no PR expert but, if I were in Thaksin's shoes, having decided to sack Sven, I would want to announce his departure at the same time as announcing his replacement, together with any other restructuring of the club's management team and boardroom and probably a big-name signing. I think that announcement will come very soon but there could still be logical reasons or technicalities delaying it, which could simply be an issue of Thaksin wanting to attend the press conference himself and not having a space in his diary for a few more days.  On balance, at this time of year, it makes little difference whether a club has a "lame-duck" manager or no manager at all. When it comes to new signings, it seems clear that those issues are being handled by Pini Zahavi who is probably also involved with the managerial situation. Whilst Sven is undoubtedly an attraction for some players, the lure of cash, long-term ambition and the promise of a high-profile manager will still be sufficient for most players at this time. Zahavi will know precisely what is really going on and will be able to drop the appropriate hints to potential signings. In fact, some of the media leaks could easily be originating from the agents of potential signings and not always from the "inside" sources we are all assuming.

[Tragic]

Give them a chance, Ged.

No, cos I'm an impatient little git.

Seconded...he really is, you are, yep that's you that is

ctid

[wasp]

Just thought I'd be pathetic and childish and report thatBry is saying Monday 1st June, Garry Cooke will announce Sven's sacking. Hope that's not all but it will be a feckin start.

[H]

Just thought I'd be pathetic and childish and report thatBry is saying Monday 1st June, Garry Cooke will announce Sven's sacking. Hope that's not all but it will be a feckin start.

As it has already been announced that Cook starts his new job on the 1st, it doesn't take a genius to predict that he will be appearing at a Press Conference on that day!
If Thaksin is saving up his announcements to do together I suppose it would make sense for that to be the day it all happens.

[Tragic]

Might as well have a "bad news day" rather than the "bad news 2 months" approach we've preferred so far...much more professional, well done City.

ctid

[jds]

Can I be pathetic and childish and point out that the 1st is Sunday?

[Ged]

Can I be pathetic and childish and point out that the 1st is Sunday?

But as we can now be asked to watch on any day of the week, then surely our administrators can be asked to work on any day of the week.
Can't we drag it out so it gives us something to talk about during the excitement-free zone that is Wimbledon.

[jds]

Can I be pathetic and childish and point out that the 1st is Sunday?

But as we can now be asked to watch on any day of the week, then surely our administrators can be asked to work on any day of the week.
Can't we drag it out so it gives us something to talk about during the excitement-free zone that is Wimbledon.

The point was not that people didn't work Sunday.