Sven-Goran Eriksson has four games to save his job at Manchester City, starting at home this afternoon against Portsmouth and Harry Redknapp — one of the managers with whom he is being unfavourably compared. Eriksson needs his team to finish the season strongly, and even that might not be enough to spare him the indignity of dismissal after less than a year in charge.

The revelation in last week’s Sunday Times that City were thinking of replacing the former England coach after winning just three of their past 13 matches was confirmed on Tuesday by the club’s owner, Thaksin Shinawatra. Asked for his reaction to my story, Shinawatra told journalists during a business trip to Dubai: “I’m not happy with the performance of the club in the second half of the season. At the end of the season we will assess the club and the people involved.”

The former prime minister of Thailand would not verify, but neither did he deny, my report that Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Brazilian World Cup winner, will be first in line to replace Eriksson at Eastlands after taking Portugal to the finals of Euro 2008. Shinawatra has questioned why his expensively assembled team have been outshone not only by the Big Four but also by Everton, Portsmouth and Aston Villa, all of whom have been parsimonious in the transfer market by comparison.

He is unimpressed by City’s negative goal difference, and points to the fact that West Ham United, who finished below them a year ago, are constantly criticised for having had a bad season when they are only a couple of places behind City.

Eriksson’s plea that progress has been hampered by injuries, notably to Michael Johnson and Micah Richards, who had a knee operation in February, cuts no ice with an employer who knows that these things are to be expected in football, and that West Ham, for example, have been much harder hit by injuries than City.

It is my contention that, barring serious wrongdoing or misbehaviour, any manager should be given at least two seasons in which to prove his worth, and Eriksson, whose conduct has been impeccable since he arrived in Manchester, therefore should have a minimum of another 12 months to prove himself. Patience, however, flies out of the window when mega-rich foreign speculators walk through the boardroom door at a club, and Shinawatra is hardly alone in possessing an itchy trigger finger.

Newcastle sacked Sam Allardyce after just eight months, Sammy Lee went after just six at Bolton and Wigan’s Chris Hutchings lasted a mere 12 games at the JJB stadium. Each of these three men, and a good many more, were denied the £50m that Eriksson has been allowed to splash out on reinforcements — money that Shinawatra believes has not been spent altogether wisely. City’s absentee owner spoke in midweek of the need for better players, especially in midfield.

On the face of it, however, the team’s most pressing requirement is a prolific striker. No City player has scored more than seven goals in the Premier League this season — all bar one of Benjani’s 13 were for Portsmouth before his £4m transfer in January. Darius Vassell, who Eriksson was trying to offload last summer, has made 23 appearances, and his five goals are second only to Elano’s seven. City have managed just 39 goals in 34 league games — the same as relegation-threatened Birmingham.

For purposes of comparison, Aston Villa have scored 62 in their 34 games and Tottenham 63. It speaks volumes that Martin Petrov, a left-winger not a striker, is the City player who has had the most shots in total and the most on target, as well as the most “assists” and crosses, and if Benjani comes good next season, it is obvious that he will still need a more productive strike partner to work alongside than Vassell.

Of the midfielders Shinawatra has found wanting, probably the most disappointing has been Geovanni. The Brazilian, once of Barcelona and Benfica, announced himself in a blaze of glory with two goals in his first three games, including a memorable winner at home in the Manchester derby, but he has scored just one more since the middle of August.

After a bright start to the season, which kept alive the improbable dream of Champions League qualification until early in the new year, City’s slide started towards the end of January, when they could only draw with West Ham and bottom-of-the-table Derby and were also eliminated from the FA Cup in the fourth round by Sheffield United.

Defeats at home to Arsenal and Everton followed, and when they lost to Reading and Birmingham last month it was clear that Shinawatra was not a happy man.

The place in Europe that he had targeted in January was not in the Intertoto Cup. He made a hastily arranged visit from Thailand “to tighten loose nuts and bolts at the club”, as he put it at the time, and initiated an abortive move for Barcelona’s Ronaldinho, who was always destined for more attractive employment elsewhere. Eriksson’s tacit opposition to this fanciful notion did nothing for his relationship with the owner, who started making contingency plans for a change of management at Eastlands last week. Under the terms of his contract, the Swede, who received a £4m pay-off from England, will be further enriched by £1m in compensation if he is sacked.

He has expressed surprise at Shinawatra’s comments, and last Thursday he said: “When you live in football, you live with the rumours. I have a contract for two more seasons, and I am here to complete what I started. I can understand people not being happy with the second half of the season. I have not been happy with it either, but after winning at Sunderland last weekend I hope we are back on track.”

Readers may recall he was saying much the same thing shortly before the Football Association paid him off, and after the best part of 30 years in management Eriksson knows the score. He has not put down roots in Manchester, still preferring to occupy an expensive suite in a city-centre hotel, from where a driver ferries him to and from the training ground or stadium.

After Portsmouth today, City play Fulham at home next Saturday, then Liverpool and Middlesbrough, both away. Eriksson probably needs to finish in the top six if he is to keep his job, which means overtaking Pompey and Villa. With Shinawatra due at the City of Manchester stadium today, it would be a good time to start.

City’s odd couple: Sven v Thaksin

FASHION

Sven Only the finest Italian and Savile Row handmade suits will do. But, oh dear, those glasses ...
Thaksin Made in China. Of course

HEIGHT

Sven Nobody is sure how tall Sven is because his shoes come with a few extra inches built-in
Thaksin He’s a Thai, so of course he’s small, but it doesn’t stop a lot of people from looking up at him, or at least pretending they do

MONEY

Sven He should have been sacked without a penny by England after a series of misdeamours, but instead received a multimillion-pound payoff. Probably at least another £1m heading his way when he leaves City
Thaksin The billionaire former Thai prime minister insists his cash comes from honest toil. To be fair, he made a fortune in mobile phones

LOVE LIFE

Sven Where do you start? There’s Faria Alam and Ulrika Jonsson for starters. Then there was Nancy. What do they all see in the multi-millionaire football manager?
Thaksin Happily married to Potjaman

MOST LIKELY TO

Sven Deny he has any intention of leaving City or admit his job is at risk
Thaksin: Blame Sven for City’s alarming slump

LEAST LIKELY TO

Sven Walk away without a payoff, or up the aisle
Thaksin Admit he is wrong – about anything. Ever

SVEN’S SIGNINGS
Martin Petrov, £4.7m, Rolando Bianchi £8.8m, Vedran Corluka £8.7m, Elano £8m, Valeri Bojinov £5.8m, Felipe Caicedo £5.2m, Gelson Fernandes £3.8m, Benjani £3.9m, Javier Garrido £1.5m, Geovanni free

TV match
Man City v Portsmouth
Today, Sky Sports 1, 3.30pm, kick-off 4pm
Highlights MotD2, BBC1, 10.20pm