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.
