City transfer representative Pairoj Piempongsant said he had met with Ronaldinho's brother and agent Roberto de Assis Moreira in Bangkok last week, adding that a decision will be made over Sven-Goran Eriksson's future in the next fortnight.

"I presented [Moreira] with a vision why we strongly believe in his potential, that he is the best player of the world," he told newspaper Thansettakij.

"There are several clubs, all bigger than Man City, that have approached him, [but] there isn't anything left for him to win.

"He is like a teenager who gets bored with something quickly and always looks for new challenges."

The former World Player of the Year won back-to-back Liga titles with Barça in 2004-05 and 2005-06, plus the Champions League in the latter season. He also won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002.


However, his star has fallen in Catalonia, with the Blaugrana ready to offload him as they build for the future with new coach Pep Guardiola.


Pairoj, adviser to City owner and former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, added that Eriksson's future will soon be resolved with Mexico keen to install him as national team boss.

"The negotiations must be complete by June 15, which include the team manager," he said.

Eriksson took over at Eastlands last summer in a blaze of success, winning the first 10 home matches after the mundane nature of the end of the previous season under Stuart Pearce.


A woeful end to the last campaign, culminating in an 8-1 hammering at the hands of Middlesbrough, saw them finish ninth after they looked likely to win a European place.


They were awarded a place in the UEFA Cup post-season due to their position in the fair-play league.


Jonathan Symcox

Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard gave a rare display of emotion after his side's 3-2 loss to Real Mallorca on Sunday, admitting he was upset that his last match at the Nou Camp had ended in defeat.


Barca surrendered a two-goal lead and ended up slumping to their third defeat in four league games when La Liga leading scorer Dani Guiza struck his 26th goal of the season for the islanders four minutes into stoppage time.


The defeat, which followed Barca's 4-1 thrashing by arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Wednesday, sparked angry protests from the home fans who jeered the players and called for club president Joan Laporta's resignation.

"It was a very sad night,"

the Dutchman said.

"We expected this sort of reaction, but as coach I'm sad that we had to play in an atmosphere like that.

"I didn't expect the end of the season to be so difficult. It hasn't been easy and we haven't been able to change the dynamics of the team. It is very difficult to play when things are like that."

The defeat came just three days after the club announced that Rijkaard would not complete the remaining year on his contract and would be replaced by former captain Pep Guardiola as coach at the end of the season.


Rijkaard, who has been largely exempt from the recent criticism and has been praised for the way he has conducted himself during his five years as Barca coach, was cheered by fans every time he got out of the dugout during Sunday's match.


Sporting director Txiki Begiristain said the fans' reaction was a measure of their respect for the Dutchman who steered the club to back-to-back league titles and victory in the Champions League in his first three seasons at the Nou Camp.

"The people who came to the match paid tribute to a good and successful coach and also to his behaviour and the respect he has shown for the club,"

Reuters

Has Barcelona's season fallen apart completely as they drop two more places to seventh.

European Power Rankings


1 (1) Manchester United - 23.95


2 (3) Arsenal - 20.92


3 (2) Chelsea - 20.77


4 (4) Internazionale - 20.46


5 (5) Sevilla - 20.24


6 (7) Liverpool - 20.00


7 (5) Barcelona - 19.90


8 (9) Roma - 19.45


9 (6) Porto - 19.10


10 (11) Everton - 18.55


11 (10) Fenerbahce - 18.17


12 (12) Real Madrid - 17.96


13 (13) Milan - 16.99


14 (17) Werder Bremen - 16.84


15 (14) Olympiacos - 16.83


16 (16) Bayern Munich - 16.81


17 (15) Hamburg - 16.15


18 (16) Lyon - 16.12


19 (19) Fiorentina - 15.66


20 (20) Rangers - 15.56

Link: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/09052008/3/barcelona-members-request-censure-motion-against-board.html

The crisis at Barcelona over its poor season deepened Friday as two club members launched a censure motion against the management of the Spanish club that seeks the ouster of is president, Joan Laporta, and his board of directors.


Oriol Giralt Gili and Christian Castellvi Clement delivered a written warning to the board informing them that they had begun the process to request a censure motion, essentially a vote of no confidence, against the board, the club said on its website.


The move comes one day after Laporta announced that reserve team coach Pep Guardiola, a former player, will take over from Frank Rijkaard at the end of the season, the club's second without any silverware.


Barcelona were eliminated in the Champions League semi-final by Manchester United and trail Real Madrid in the Spanish league by 17 points in third place with two games remaining after losing 4-1 to the new champions on Wednesday.


The defeat means the Catalan side will miss out on automatic qualification for the Champions League since they will not be able to finish any higher than third in the Spanish league which has just two rounds remaining.


"More than ever, a censure motion is necessary," Gili told reporters as he went into Barcelona's headquarters, the Internet edition of El Mundo reported.


Barcelona's club statutes allow for a motion of censure to be officially put in place if five percent of the club's members who qualify as voters -- adults who have been members for more than one year -- sign a petition.


The club has roughly 117,000 members with voting rights, meaning the petition will need to gather the signatures of around 6,000 members.

Barcelona in 3rd Place