Man city hammering an anti-thaksin ploy?

The fact that Manchester United won the English premier league over the weekend was not the talk of the town because most people already expected it ... hmmm.

But as the dust on the field settled, talk and speculation swirled around and over the extremely disappointing end for Manchester City. In spite of its good start (City beat United this season), Manchester City finished the season with the embarrassing hammering, losing 8-1 to Middlesbrough.

While most football fans were fixated with the two games that would determine which team would win the league title: Chelsea vs Bolton and Wigan vs Manchester United, Manchester City suffered an unexpected humiliating result.

Apparently, the players were affected by the conflict between City's owner Thaksin Shinawatra and its manager Sven-Goran Eriksson. Manchester City was on the verge of qualifying for Europe, but an early sending off of its captain Richard Dunne made it uncertain if City would gain entry to the UEFA Cup via the fair-play league. The announcement was due to be announced last night.

For those who watched the game on TV, the Thai commentators made some interesting remarks. Most linked the humiliating performance to the uncertainty over Eriksson's future with the club. Middlesbrough was not known to be a prolific goal scorers. But the team scored six goals in 32 stunning second-half minutes.

City fans were vocal in their opposition to Thaksin's plan to remove Eriksson. There were banners calling for Thaksin to rethink his decision. For example, one read: "Save our Sven". But the fans' efforts are not likely to help Eriksson, especially when City finished the season with such a humiliating loss on Sunday.

Local webboards are full of comments about the game. One of them said in a tongue-in-cheek remark that: "I am sure Man City fans will be indebted to Dunne's red card (and the possibility of not taking part in the UEFA Cup) and that they seemed to enjoy the defeat - are you suggesting they threw the game?"

Some Thai sports commentators teased, saying that the loss was meant as a protest against Thaksin' plan to sack Eriksson. As the team is scheduled to come to Thailand this weekend, City fans can only hope that the players play in the full spirit of the game.

The other big news locally is on the political scene, especially about Chai Chidchob, father of Thaksin's loyalist Newin Chidchob. Many articles in local newspapers predicted that Chai would be likely to face a bumpy road throughout his term as House Speaker, because even some coalition party members take the view that he was not the right choice.

Thai Rath said in one column that, "Drag in the elder Chidchob to be the fat target."

In its editorial leader, Thai Rath questioned Prime Minister's Office Minister Jakrapob Penkair's announcement that the Public Relations Department would ban state-run media from reporting news relating to coups, both directly and indirectly. It said coup-related news would lead to disciplinary punishment. He said that this sort of news would create divisions in society.

Such announcements conjure up a similar image of the repressive regime of a neighbouring country. We don't have to name which one.

Thai Rath warned that the move by Jakrapob conjured up the image of a repressive regime. It said the decision would turn the state-run media into the "Jakrapob network". In fact, the requirement is not necessary because the criminal code article 116 prohibits anyone from supporting a coup.

Thai Rath said the government should instead abide by the law by warning politicians, especially those from the government side, not to play the role of shepherd boy by leaking rumours about a coup.

It summed up that the ban on state-run media would not be effective in preventing a coup. Politicians instead should work for the benefit of the people instead of creating an unstable political condition such as their stubbornness in amending the Constitution without listening to the public.