Sven-Goran Eriksson yesterday claimed that his
relationship with Manchester City's owner, Thaksin Shinawatra, is
good despite an embarrassing 3-1 defeat to a Thailand Premier
All-Stars team in Bangkok.
The City manager has remained tight-lipped on his dealings with
the former Thai minister - and the club declined to reveal if the
duo had met for discussions in Bangkok - but was happy to smile and
describe their relationship as "good".
However, Thaksin's mood is likely to have been soured by the
defeat to the All-Stars - a representative side who had been
training together for only one week - after an elaborate effort to
entice Thai fans to adopt his club. Thaksin opened a club store in
Bangkok on Friday and reiterated his desire to turn City into a
global brand but the 65,000-capacity Rajamangala Stadium was
sparsely populated during the so-called "Super Match".
Eriksson, meanwhile, chose to focus on the news that City have
qualified for the Uefa Cup as England's fair play representatives.
"It was extremely good news for the club," he said. "For the club
to attract new players it's easier when we're playing in Europe."
However, he declined to reveal if the news had given him the
opportunity to work on any transfers: "There's [still] a lot of
time to talk about that."