My relationship with Thaksin is good - Eriksson
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Sven-Goran Eriksson yesterday claimed that his relationship with Manchester City's owner, Thaksin Shinawatra, is good despite an embarrassing 3-1 defeat to a Thailand Premier All-Stars team in Bangkok.
The City manager has remained tight-lipped on his dealings with the former Thai minister - and the club declined to reveal if the duo had met for discussions in Bangkok - but was happy to smile and describe their relationship as "good".
However, Thaksin's mood is likely to have been soured by the defeat to the All-Stars - a representative side who had been training together for only one week - after an elaborate effort to entice Thai fans to adopt his club. Thaksin opened a club store in Bangkok on Friday and reiterated his desire to turn City into a global brand but the 65,000-capacity Rajamangala Stadium was sparsely populated during the so-called "Super Match".
Eriksson, meanwhile, chose to focus on the news that City have qualified for the Uefa Cup as England's fair play representatives. "It was extremely good news for the club," he said. "For the club to attract new players it's easier when we're playing in Europe." However, he declined to reveal if the news had given him the opportunity to work on any transfers: "There's [still] a lot of time to talk about that."