2007-07-07 05:55:17 -
LONDON (AP) - Sven-Goran Eriksson was appointed Manchester City manager on Friday after former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced he had gained effective control of the club to become its new chairman.
After coaching England, Eriksson now has almost as tough a job to lift City out of the shadow of neighbor Manchester United
and compete against the other title contenders in English soccer.
Last season, City, which has not won a major trophy since 1976 and last won the league championship in 1968, finished 14th after spending most of it hovering just above the relegation zone.
ĞI'm sure that in the future we will see Manchester City higher in the table,ğ Eriksson said. ĞIt's a club that's lived in the middle of the table, and maybe a little bit lower for a few years, so it's big challenge.
Eriksson is back in club management after five years in charge of England in which he was considered a flop, failing to get past the quarterfinal stage of two World Cups and a European Championship.
ĞDid I really do so badly with England?ğ he asked Friday. ĞI have never worked in the Premier League before so I don't know if I have (anything) to prove or not. I know what I have done in the past and I am looking forward to an exciting job and an exciting season.
ĞA lot has been written about me _ some fair, others maybe not fair _ but I will not read all of it. I am here trying to do a good job for Manchester City and I hope I will be judged on that, positively or negatively, if things are not going quite so well.
Thaksin, who is in exile in Britain after being ousted in a bloodless military coup in September, announced on the Plus Markets stock exchange that he had bought the requisite amount of shares needed to take control through his company UK Sports Investments Limited.
John Wardle, who sat beside Eriksson at the news conference at the City of Manchester Stadium, said he had stepped down to vice chairman to allow Thaksin to take his position.
Eriksson, who has been at City's training camp with the players for the past two days, has signed a three-year deal worth a reported 9 millions pounds (US$18 million, ¤13.3 million).
The Swede has had standout success at club level.
Among the 17 titles he collected, Eriksson helped Sweden's IFK Goteborg, Portugal's Benfica and Italy's Lazio capture domestic league and Cup doubles. He also guided Lazio to success in the European Cup Winners' Cup and a Super Cup victory over Champions League winner Manchester United.
The Premier League starts Aug. 11 and Eriksson will face United's Alex Ferguson when the two clubs meet at the City of Manchester Stadium a week later. His first game in charge, however, will be a preseason friendly at Doncaster on July 14.
Eriksson is likely to make major changes to City's squad. Sources close to Thaksin have said he will give Eriksson about 50 million pounds (US$100.8 million; ¤74 million) to spend in the transfer market.
City has already sold Joey Barton to Newcastle and Sylvain Distin to Portsmouth without making any major signings.
Man City becomes the eighth Premier League club to be owned by a foreigner.
The others are Russia's Roman Abramovich (Chelsea) and Alexandre Gaydamak (Portsmouth); American businessmen Malcolm Glazer (Manchester United), George Gillett Jr. and Tom Hicks (Liverpool) and Randy Lerner (Aston Villa); Iceland's Eggert Magnusson (West Ham); and Egypt's Mohamed al Fayed (Fulham).
Thaksin faces corruption charges in Thailand and has had his assets totaling US$2.3 billion (¤1.7 billion) seized there.
Thaksin and his wife, Pojamarn, are accused of wrongdoing in a land deal. The military council that overthrew Thaksin said it would not oppose his takeover of Man City.
Associated Press Writer Rob Harris contributed to this story from Manchester.
