Odds on championship: 1,750-1. Odds on relegation: 9-2
Manager: Sven-Goran Eriksson (since July). Odds on first out the job: 25-1
Last season: 14th, 42 points; FA Cup sixth round; Carling Cup second round
In: Sven-Goran Eriksson; Roland Bianchi (Reggina, £8.8m); Geovanni (Cruzeiro, free); Martin Petrov (Atletico Madrid, £4.7m); Gelson Fernandes (Sion, £4.2m); Elano (Shakhtar Donetsk, £8m); Javier Garrido (Real Sociedad, £1.5m); Vedran Corluka (Dinamo Zagreb, undisc.).
Out: Stuart Pearce; Joey Barton (Newcastle, £5.8m); Sylvain Distin (Portsmouth, free); Stephen Jordan (Burnley, free); Nicky Weaver (Charlton, free); Trevor Sinclair, Hatem Trabelsi (both released)
There were any number of teams who performed so badly that they could not have complained had they been relegated in May. But the most extraordinary record in football last season was Manchester City failing to score a goal at home after New Year's Day and still staying up. A letter-writer to When Saturday Comes magazine said that as far as City were concerned, the term "deep-lying striker" referred to the CVs of Bernardo Corradi and Giorgios Samaras.
Unfortunately, another suspect CV has landed in the Eastlands in-tray - and it belongs to the club's new owner. Thaksin Shinawatra's lawyers point out that nothing has been proved, but in the event that it was, what next? And the accusations of human-rights abuses are.....
Read the full article here
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment