FanHouse Svengoraneriksson

The man in this picture is not Sven Goran Eriksson. He is Derek Williams, a celebrity impersonator who was worried he'd be out of work after Eriksson was sacked by Manchester City. Then Sven took the Mexico job, and voila! New rubes to foil!

That's exactly what Williams did when he showed up at Estadio Universitario in Mexico City on Wednesday, a hot model on each arm, and started talking tactics with Pumas de la UNAM boss Ricardo Ferreti -- and both Ferreti and the Mexican media bought it.

"All of a sudden he appears with two girls and it looked very strange indeed," said José Angel Parra, who writes for El Universal. "We'd heard that over there [in Britain] he'd been involved in some scandals so we didn't know what to think."

Ferreti, who didn't realize that wasn't Eriksson until he left, said later that he "liked the joke." The Mexican Football Federation? Not so much. They released a humorless statement warning clubs "not to let yourselves be surprised by this individual." Then again, some folks in Mexico aren't too keen on the real Sven being there, either. Maybe they're afraid he'll be too busy romancing their secretaries to coach the national team.

Sven-Goran Eriksson has been named the new manager of the Mexican national team. What better way to celebrate than with a song?


The former England and Manchester City manager replaces Hugo Sanchez, who was sacked after failing to get the Tricolores U-23s to the Olympics. Manchester City has already appointed former Blackburn Rovers boss Mark Hughes as their new manager.

I'm eager to see Bob Bradley's reaction to this hiring, actually. Bob and Sven look like they could play quite a chess match against each other.

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.

Would Sven-Goran Eriksson trade a run at the UEFA Cup for a run at the Gold Cup?

Apparently, that's what the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación is hoping. According to The Guardian, Mexico has approached Eriksson about managing its national team.

Mexico fired Hugo Sanchez last March after he failed to lead the Mexican U-23 team to the Olympics and is reportedly chasing after a high-profile European manager to replace Sanchez. Eriksson tops Mexico's wish list in part because he brought Mexican national Nery Castillo to Man City last January.

I have my doubts that the successful Swede, who has won league titles in Italy and Portugal, would leave Europe to manage a national team in CONCACAF. Yes, he would have an easy road to the World Cup in 2010, but that might not be enough of a challenge for him. Plus, we don't know if the secretarial pool in Mexico would be to his liking.

Eriksson is also linked to Chelsea and might be waiting to see what happens to Avram Grant before making his final decision. Man City fans, meanwhile, are continuing to campaign to save Sven from getting sacked. They even have an online petition. Good luck getting Thaksin Shinawatra to notice that, guys.

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.