Sven-Goran Eriksson reveals how his Manchester City players wanted to go on strike

Sven-Goran Eriksson has revealed how Manchester City players wanted to go on strike before their historic 8-1 loss to Middlesbrough in 2008 in protest against the club’s then-owner Thaksin Shinawatra. 

Richard Dunne – who was the Manchester City captain at the time – approached Eriksson earlier in the week and said the players wanted to make a statement against Thaksin’s ruthlessness nature and approach to the club. 

Eriksson said they had to play the fixture and blamed the relationship between Sinawatra and the players for the heavy result – which would ultimately cost him his job.

Speaking on Paramount+’s new documentary Fever Pitch, Eriksson said: ‘Two days before, Dunne – the captain – came into my office and said we will not play that game as a protest against Shinawatra. I said that you know we have to go and we have to play.’

Manchester City lost that game 8-1 and Eriksson said it was because ‘nobody wanted to play’ the fixture in the first place. 

Eriksson – who said they had to play – blamed the relationship between Sinawatra and the players for the result. He said their loss was down the fact the players didn’t want to be there

Eriksson said it was ‘heart-breaking’ to hear the fans chanting his name after their 8-1 loss

He told the docu-series: ‘We played awful football because nobody wanted to play that game. We lost 8-1 and the players were still signing Sven-Goran Eriksson. That was heart-breaking.’

When asked about the game, Shinawatra – former Thai prime minister and owner of Manchester City – said: ‘I heard it was 8-1 and that was my last straw, broken.’

He also spoke about how Sinawatra took him and the Manchester City coaching staff to a karaoke bar in Thailand before sacking him because of a ‘gut feeling’. 

Shinawatra took the Manchester City squad on a trip to Thailand and sacked Eriksson there

The former England manager said: ‘After the season, he decided we should go to Thailand. All the players protested by they all went. The last evening on that tour, Shinawatra invited the whole staff to a karaoke club. 

‘During the late hours there, he took the microphone and went to the coaches table and started to sign should I stay or should I go. I couldn’t believe it. I was wondering whether I was dreaming. 

‘The day after, he wanted to have breakfast with me before we left. He told me that I would be sacked. I asked why and he said I don’t know. 

‘I asked him three times and he said I don’t know. He said it was a feeling in his stomach. That was the second time I was sacked in England. That hurt.’

The Premier League’s coming-of-age story, is available exclusively on Paramount+ from May 7.