Fans couldn’t keep Sven in job at City

A PETITION signed by thousands of fans was not enough to save Sven-Goran Eriksson’s job as City manager as he left the club on this day in 2008.

The Swede had signed a three-year contract in July 2007, days after Thai businessman Thaksin Shinawatra bought the Blues.

After investing in Elano, Martin Petrov, Vedran Corluka and Javier Garrido, City started the season impressively, and victory over United in the third game of the campaign put them top of the table.

They stayed in the top six for the rest of 2007, but Eriksson’s side then began to slip down the table - despite a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford seeing them complete a first league double over United since the 1969-70 season.

Before the season was over, Shinawatra announced Eriksson would be replaced in the summer due to what he called ‘an avalanche of poor results’ but the decision brought protests from City fans.

The Blues travelled to Middlesbrough on the final day of the season, with fans hanging ‘SOS - Save our Sven’ flags, but the day ended in an 8-1 defeat after Richard Dunne was sent off just 15 minutes in.

Many claimed City’s players were effectively on strike in protest against Eriksson’s exit but the result was never going to help his cause as the Blues finished ninth.

Three weeks later, Eriksson’s exit was confirmed, with the Swede named the new coach of the Mexico national team just 24 hours later as City turned to Mark Hughes. Before the summer was out, Shinawatra would be gone too as he sold the club to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.