Post by Natty on Aug 12, 2008 8:58:24 GMT -1
MARK HUGHES is ready to quit as the Manchester City crisis spirals out of control.
The furious Eastlands boss feels his authority has been undermined after the club tried to force through the sales of Stephen Ireland to Sunderland and Vedran Corluka to Tottenham.
With owner Thaksin Shinawatra facing corruption charges, the club appears to be on the brink of ruin.
A City source said: “This is not the dream package sold to Mark.
“The club is falling apart and nobody knows how much longer Shinawatra will hang around.
“It feels as though we’re in meltdown and all Mark is trying to do is hang on to everything for the sake of the club.
“But if it carries on — and players are sold without his consent — he won’t stand any more. He’ll just walk.”
Hughes hit the roof after Saturday’s friendly with AC Milan and tore into City’s chief operating officer Paul Aldridge, who was involved in an attempted £8million move to sell Ireland.
The insider added: “Some harsh words were exchanged and Mark left everyone in no doubt how he felt.”
Hughes reckons the club have failed to deliver on assurances he was given before he left Blackburn.
Shinawatra promised him big money to spend when he persuaded him to replace sacked boss Sven Goran Eriksson.
The club record was broken with the £19m purchase of Jo but Shinawatra faces financial ruin and is desperate to recoup cash after £800m of his assets were frozen in Thailand.
He was due to face corruption charges in a Bangkok court yesterday but instead flew to London from the Olympics in Beijing.
The former Thai PM may even be forced to stand down at City. If he is convicted in his absence, he would fail the Premier League’s Fit and Proper Person rule.
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said: “We have to establish where it leaves him in terms of the legal process in Thailand.”
The furious Eastlands boss feels his authority has been undermined after the club tried to force through the sales of Stephen Ireland to Sunderland and Vedran Corluka to Tottenham.
With owner Thaksin Shinawatra facing corruption charges, the club appears to be on the brink of ruin.
A City source said: “This is not the dream package sold to Mark.
“The club is falling apart and nobody knows how much longer Shinawatra will hang around.
“It feels as though we’re in meltdown and all Mark is trying to do is hang on to everything for the sake of the club.
“But if it carries on — and players are sold without his consent — he won’t stand any more. He’ll just walk.”
Hughes hit the roof after Saturday’s friendly with AC Milan and tore into City’s chief operating officer Paul Aldridge, who was involved in an attempted £8million move to sell Ireland.
The insider added: “Some harsh words were exchanged and Mark left everyone in no doubt how he felt.”
Hughes reckons the club have failed to deliver on assurances he was given before he left Blackburn.
Shinawatra promised him big money to spend when he persuaded him to replace sacked boss Sven Goran Eriksson.
The club record was broken with the £19m purchase of Jo but Shinawatra faces financial ruin and is desperate to recoup cash after £800m of his assets were frozen in Thailand.
He was due to face corruption charges in a Bangkok court yesterday but instead flew to London from the Olympics in Beijing.
The former Thai PM may even be forced to stand down at City. If he is convicted in his absence, he would fail the Premier League’s Fit and Proper Person rule.
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said: “We have to establish where it leaves him in terms of the legal process in Thailand.”
Forever without exception. x
