Chaos at Man City

Today we start with the circus that is Manchester City. The BBC are reporting that if Thaksin Shinawatra completes his takeover of City, then he will appoint Sven-Goran Eriksson as the new manager, but Sky Sports are telling us that more of his assets have been frozen, about 300 million pound's worth of assets. As i've said before, it's just a big mess up there, and one that doesn't look as if it will be sorted out quickly. Shinawatra's bid is now looking like an absolute mess, but City realistically need the investment if they want to attract a top manager and new players. So, what to do? Well, first things first, they need to sort out the bid from Thaksin. This obviously sounds a lot easier then it actually is, but if they choose to carry on with the bid and then he pulls out in a few weeks time, they're going to be in a very weak position. Thaksin is in a bad position, his accounts are being investigated and his assets are being frozen, there's even the possibility of him being arrested by the Thai government for corruption, which means that he's very concerned with his public image at the moment. If he doesn't have enough to buy City, he's not going to admit it for a while, which means that City are going to suffer because of this political situation. If they stop the buy-out now, they can re-consider their position and then move on in the search for a new manager. They may not have as much money as with Shinawatra, but they'll be able to sort their club out, put a stop to any unrest, and start building their team for the season ahead. Unfortunately, this does not seem likely, and I feel that City may be staring at relegation this season.

Transfer news today, Wigan may have placed a 5 million bid for Jason Koumas, with Everton and Reading also sniffing around the player. As I've mentioned before, it's important that he plays in the right position and Wigan may be the best bet as they might build a team around him, but we shall wait and see. As with all transfer rumours, no sooner has one come out then it's being refuted. Lyon have come out and stated that there has been no contact with Chelsea over Malouda. It isn't a huge deal, he's already said he wants to go, and Chelsea and Liverpool are still favourites to make the signing. Liverpool may be in for Torres, which'll be a great signing, but most of the big teams in Europe willl also be interested so any possible talks will take a while to compete. Also, West Ham are in the chase of Benni McCarthy who has had a great first season in the Premiership. Can't see why he would move to West Ham this season, they're pretty much in the same place as Blackburn so he might as well stay there, have another good season and hope one of the big boys comes in for him next summer.

Finally, bit of Championship news, Southampton's Chris Baird is still looking for an exit with Fulham favourites for the signing. I mention this because the Saints are my tip to go up to the Premiership this season and I'd like to see them retain their best players. Mind you, they were my tip last season as well, anyway, definitely worth a flutter! And on that note, I bid you goodbye.