Few could fail to have noticed the explosion of activity in the Manchester football world with the takeover of Manchester City by former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra. It has spawned a furious number of acquisitions most notably set off by the UK media fall guy Swen Goran Ericsson.
Having audaciously ruined English football - a fact universally held by baying tabloid hacks - he is now procuring almost a complete new squad, built around two or three of the exciting young players that City enjoy a rich history in producing, and sadly selling, before they fulfill their potential. It is dramatic and seemingly unprecedented, the number of players arriving and makes for a fascinating time ahead. I will take immense personal joy in Swen's success, since to my keen eye, he has done nothing wrong to deserve the shoddy treatment by the English media. We shall see.
Perhaps the most surprising thing in all of this is the liberal attitude shown to Thaksin Shinawatra's ownership approach. People who follow these things say he has a tawdry track record in Human Rights back in Thailand. click here for a brief outline of the issues they have unearthed. Having read this I was struck by how difficult it must be to run a country. He appears to have run a country unafraid of using difficult solutions to solve difficult problems. I'm sure he is the envy of many western leaders having the ability to use drastic measures to solve drug evil or unwanted opposition.
Is it true? The eternal question. The Premier League approach would appear to be ignore the whole thing and hope it goes away. City fans I suspect will take an equally liberal view. After Swales and Lee, I'm sure they sense a leader capable of matching their wildest dreams. In 1996 I worked for some time with the previous main shareholders in their penultimate venture JD Sports. I know from personal experience that they too will have seen little in Mr Thaksin's CV that would be incompatible with due fitness to take the reins at Man City.
Happy Days
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