FanHouse ManchesterCity

Do you consider yourself a dedicated sports fan? Does more than half your wardrobe consist of replica gear and T-shirts with your team name on them? Would you do travel across the country to see your team in a big game?

Ha! Manchester City fans scoff at your lack of dedication. They'll do far more than you would to see their beloved club play in a European match.

In fact, 12 Man City supporters found out that their club's opening round UEFA Cup tie would be played against EB/Streymur, a club based in the Faroe Islands, which are situated almost 200 miles north of Scotland. Alas, they couldn't afford airfare to the Faroe Islands, so they did the next best thing -- they hired a fishing trawler for a 26-hour trip across the Norwegian Sea.

That is dedication. It's also complete and total insanity. Show me one American sports fan that would hop on the Minnow to see their team play against a minnow.

With Man City, though, this sort of insanity begins at home. Club owner Thaksin Shinawatra, who almost certainly believes he's done nothing wrong in Thailand, couldn't sign Ronaldinho, so he's moving on to the next best thing -- feng shui.

What is it about Brazilian soccer superstars and their inability to control their appetites as they push 30?

First, Ronaldo got a million choruses of "Who Ate All the Pies" shouted at him. Now Ronaldinho, at the ripe old age of 28, puts on an oversized red T-shirt and ... well, around the midsection, that's pretty much how I would look in an oversized red T-shirt, and I sit in front of a computer all day. What isn't this man eating?

Amazingly, photos like this (and like this) somehow haven't deterred some Premier League clubs from their pursuit of Big Ronnie. The cynic in me looks at Manchester City's £19 million signing of Brazilian striker Jo from CSKA Moscow and wonders if owner Thaksin Shinawatra specifically targeted Jo to try and land Ronaldinho. Sure, Jo's 30 goals in 53 appearances for CSKA speak for themselves, but two Brazilians and a Benjani up front? Wouldn't Mark Hughes love that?

Chelsea is also in the running, in no small part because Luiz Felipe Scolari coached Ronaldinho to a World Cup with Brazil in 2002. Judging from this photo, though, whoever gets Big Ronnie will have a pretty tall task whipping him back into playing shape. If he gets any bigger, EA Sports will have no choice but to plump up his Mii.

Now that Sven-Goran Eriksson was finally put out of his misery today, leaving him free to find some fresh land to seed in the Mexican Football Federation's secretarial pool, Manchester City is looking for a new manager. Club owner Thaksin Shinawatra had been throwing around names like Portugal boss Luis Felipe Scolari and Brazilian great Zico, but when it came time to schedule an interview, Shinwatra's primary target became ... Mark Hughes.

Now, I'm not going to say the Blackburn Rovers boss is a bad target. Hughes has had that club in contention for UEFA Cup spots for the last three years, and anybody who nabs Roque Santa Cruz for a mere £3.5 million clearly knows what he's doing.

Still, the former Manchester United player seems like a big step sideways for Manchester City. He would move from one medium-sized club to another that may or may not give him more money to spend, and he would be just as far away from Champions League contention -- especially considering he'll probably have to start from scratch. Stalwart defenders Richard Dunne and Micah Richards are as good as gone this summer, and there's almost nothing up front.

Perhaps I'm underestimating Hughes. After all, some pundits think he'll be better than Sven at Man City. Still, I have my doubts that ol' Sparky will get Man City any closer to the promised land of the Champions League than Sven did.

As if his club's recent embarrassments in Asia weren't enough, Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra suddenly has to deal with the fact that he won't be the most important sports owner in his own house this summer.

City of Manchester Stadium is playing host to a Bon Jovi concert on June 22. This is apparently messing with Man City's plans to begin its unexpected UEFA Cup bid. Because Man City qualified for Europe through the UEFA Fair Play Table, it has to start in the first qualifying round, which begins on July 17. Club officials are saying there's no way they can lay down a worthwhile pitch between the end of the Bon Jovi concert and the first European match. The concert, however, takes priority.

Basically, the pitch would end up resembling that horrid turf used at Luzhniki Stadium for the Champions League Final, which was ... wait for it ... living on a prayer.

I apologize for typing that.

Man City is now looking for alternative venues for its first European match since 2003, and Old Trafford has already been ruled out. I'm sure Jon Bon Jovi would graciously offer the Philadelphia Soul's home field if it weren't too small.

(H/T: The Offside)

So Thaksin Shinawatra, deposed prime minister of Thailand and owner of Manchester City FC, brought in former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson to run his club. Shinawatra laid out a five-year plan with Eriksson, with the first year's goal being a top-ten finish in the Premier League -- a step up from the relegation battle the club was mired in last season.

Manchester City achieved that goal three weeks ago. The club also swept arch rival Manchester United. Eriksson clearly has the support of his players and the club's fans.

So why is Shinawatra firing Eriksson?

Seriously, what sort of idiot lays out a five-year plan where the first-year goals are met, then abandons the plan just because the team got pipped at home by another team fighting its way out of the drop zone? The Premier League season is a long haul, and these things happen. Did Shinawatra look at Man City's early success and just assume they would stay in the top four the whole way?

The League Managers Association has asked Shinawatra to reconsider sacking Eriksson, but at this point, if I were Sven, I'd walk away, because I could find better work elsewhere. Sven doesn't need this sort of grief from an owner who clearly has no clue how to run a successful club. No wonder Shinawatra got kicked out of Thailand.

As most English soccer fans know, the top four teams in the Premier League at the end of this season will qualify for the Champions League next season. Most of us expected the Big Four to claim those spots yet again this season. After today's matches, though, the race for that fourth spot suddenly looks wide open.

Liverpool salvaged only a 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough, while their rivals Everton notched a 1-0 win over Manchester City at Goodison Park. Meanwhile, Aston Villa took advantage of Reading's poor away form with a convincing 3-1 victory.

End result? Liverpool, Everton, Aston Villa and Man City are all tied at 39 point apiece. Liverpool only maintains its faint hold on fourth place because of goal differential (+21). They also have a game in hand against West Ham, but as their recent form suggests, that's not exactly a gimme.

Manchester City 0-0 Liverpool. Forget for a moment that Sven's men have dropped four points in two home matches to end the season. If not for Richard Dunne, things could have been much worse. The Man City defender stood tall on the backline against a relentless Liverpool attack, blanking the Reds and leaving them ten points off the pace for the Premier League title. Man City, meanwhile, remains only a point behind Liverpool for the fourth and final Champions League spot. If this team ever gets some offense, watch out.

Everton 1-4 Arsenal. The Gunners returned to the top of the table yesterday, thanks to two goals from Eduardo Da Silva early in the second half and a terrible miscommunication between Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard and defender Joseph Yobo, which led to a disturbingly easy Emmanuel Adebayor goal. Nicklas Bendter was sent off for Arsenal after two yellow cards, and Mikel Arteta got a straight red for an elbow to the face of Cesc Fabregas, which nearly sparked a brawl.

Derby County 1-2 Blackburn. Well what did you expect from Derby County? A happy ending? Roque Santa Cruz scored in the 39th minute -- one minute after a Derby penalty was blocked by Brad Freidel -- and David Bentley scored three minutes later to give the Rovers all three points. Derby's goal differential is now -35.

On Christmas Day, Santa Claus visited all the good kids who love Manchester City. Two later later, Santa Cruz left coal in their stockings.

Man City's nine-game home winning streak was snapped today when Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz headed in a controversial equalizer in the 84th minute, giving the Rovers a 2-2 draw and leaving Man City stuck in fifth place, one point behind Liverpool for a Champions League qualifying berth.

The controversy came because the line judge raised the offside flag as Santa Cruz scored the goal. However, it was soon determined that David Dunn was in an offside position, not Santa Cruz, and since Dunn did not touch David Bentley's cross before Santa Cruz scored, the goal stood.

Man City might not have been in that position had Rolando Bianchi converted an easy setup from Martin Petrov in front of the goal in the 21st minute. That miss must have made Sven-Goran Eriksson's hair even whiter than before. Nery Castillo can't get to Manchester soon enough for him.

The loss, however, sets up a huge showdown at City of Manchester Stadium on Sunday between Man City and Liverpool. That game may prove to be a Champions League six-pointer -- unless Chelsea, who just lost Frank Lampard for a month after already losing Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda and John Terry to injuries, slips behind both of them in January.

How unhappy was Nery Castillo at Shakhtar Donetsk? According to the Manchester City web site, the 23-year-old Mexican striker, who was the leading scorer for Olympiacos last season before transferring to the big Ukrainian club, paid for his one-year loan to Manchester City out of his own pocket. The loan fee was reported as being €5 million.

Shakhtar owner Rinat Akhmetov had been playing hardball with Sven-Goran Eriksson on the loan deal, but clearly, Castillo wanted out. He wasn't getting the playing time, especially in Champions League play, and he needed more first-team action after a summer in which he scored four goals for Mexico at Copa America. Putting him up front with Elano and Martin Petrov feeding him the ball should result in many more goals for Man City, who need more offense to stay in the hunt for a Champions League berth. Plus, Afonso Alves could join Castillo up front in January. That should worry Chelsea and Liverpool just a little.

Eriksson could have used Castillo and Alves in last night's Carling Cup match against Tottenham Hotspur. Despite playing with 10 men for 70 minutes, Spurs knocked off a full-strength Man City side, 2-0. It was Man City's first loss at home in any competition this season. Arsenal and Everton also advanced to the Carling Cup semifinals, and Chelsea and Liverpool square off today at Stamford Bridge to determine the fourth semifinalist.

UPDATE (12/20): Apparently, Man City has pulled out of the running for Alves, citing an inability to get a work permit for him. Sven is now reportedly pursuing Diego Milito of Real Zaragoza and possibly Nicolas Anelka of Bolton.

Finally even on games played, Chelsea finds themselves just six points back of Manchester United in the Premier League standings at the moment. United's lead had previously stretched as wide as 12.

It's not all together a terrible position to be in. Each team has 8 games left in Premiership competition, including a head-to-head clash on April 15th. The lead is nowhere near insurmountable, and Chelsea does have a tough schedule (games against Tottenham, Bolton, Everton and Arsenal left) and can afford no missteps.

United very nearly got some help from their neighbors, Manchester City, this evening ... and they'd have had a better chance at that if City wasn't such an embarrassment these days. While helping Chelsea get just six points back, they put themselves just six points out of the relegation zone, and Stuart Pearce is now facing questions about his long-term prospects as City's manager.