Eriksson, Hughes, etc

I'm very conscious that I've stopped blogging just as City got interesting. I'm still thinking about a season review, but it's eminently put-offable.

• Sven had to go. His position was completely untenable. The players demonstrably didn't want to play for him anymore. I think on a personal level it was unfair to Sven to make him do the Far East tour, and that keeping him hanging around was maybe rather graceless, but that's a minor concern.

• Hughes is the best possible candidate. Of all the mentioned/plausible names (I go as far as Scolari and maybe Mancini but not as far as Mourinho), he was the best. His knowledge of the Premier League, his success in the transfer market, his motivational techniques, the fact that he's a born winner (2 Premier Leagues, 4 FA Cups, 2 League Cups and 2 Cup Winners' Cups as a player) make him extremely attractive.

• Hughes is the anti-Sven. Eriksson was cool, quiet and thoughtful. Our football was slow, measured, intelligent, focussing on ball retention above all. Hughes is loud, temperamental, maybe rather brash and plays quick, direct, 'British' football. This will have an inevitable knock on in terms of the playing staff: I can see him being a big fan of Petrov, Richards, Ball, Gelson, Dunne (if he stays), maybe even Vassell or Benjani. Less popular may be Ireland, Hamann, Elano, and maybe even Corluka. I'd like to think Corluka would have got a serious telling off for his costly mistakes, Fulham home and away in particular.

• The new regime: Hughes and Cook, seem very serious about new signings. Jo next week (why not now?), and who knows after that? I'd like Roque Santa Cruz, would really like Bentley and haven't actually thought about our signing Ronaldinho in a serious enough fashion to have a real opinion. But the Thaksin Daily Mail interview (what a triumph of PR!) seems to suggest there's going to be real movement.

• I'm no longer concerned that we'll go down, or go bankrupt, or go out of the UEFA Cup before it really starts any more. I'm a very long way away from making predictions for the 2008/09 season, but I have a sense that things will be ok.

• Happy and excited as I am by today's events, I can't quite shake off the sense that none of this should have happened.