Hughes the man

While I was away on vacation, the Eriksson dismissal became official. Shinawatra said that the second half fall was simply too much for him to take, and while I think that's a bit reactionary - is it really the manager's fault, or was it to a large degree a lack of depth? - I guess he does have a point. Between the critical choke against Fulham and the 8-1 loss at Boro, City suffered the two worst possible ways to lose (a late collapse and a total blowout) down the end of a season in which they were in desperate need of points to stay alive in the European chase.

I still wouldn't have fired Eriksson, but you could certainly do worse as a replacement than Mark Hughes, who made Blackburn a fairly legitimate team (and one with which City routinely had trouble) in the last few years, including taking them to the UEFA Cup a couple of times, a task he's now handed with City. I'll also be interested to see what players are coming in - the rumors have Thaksin extremely interested in making Eastlands into Brazil North, but I'm not sure whether Ronaldinho is really the kind of player who'd fit in at City, having spent the last year or so looking fairly undisciplined and out of form at Barcelona. Jo, maybe more so. Something about Man City the last few years has sapped the life out of every striker they've brought in (even though the midfield has seemed talented), with the possible exception of Martin Petrov. Jo has been linked to Arsenal and AC Milan in the past, so, you know, he might actually be good. Of course, you never know what to expect from players playing in England for the first time, but at least Jo has been playing in Russia, where the weather is worse if anything.

One thing I do wonder about Hughes - his name has been mentioned as the leading favorite to replace Sir Alex Ferguson when the latter retires from United, something which could happen in the next few years or even sooner. What happens if United win the league again next year and Ferguson decides to walk away - and United approach Hughes? Four managers in four years for City? Not exactly the way to establish your club as a perennial top-six challenger.