LET'S all be clear, Sven-Goran Eriksson should be allowed to finish what he started at City only nine months ago.

But, by the same token, the Swede's first season should not be seen entirely through rose-tinted spectacles.

When, later this week, Thaksin Shinawatra sits down to explain to Eriksson why he has developed severe doubts about him being the right man for the Blues, it is understood from those close to him that he will pinpoint transfer dealings, tactics and second half of the season results as the main planks of his discontent.

The former Thai Prime Minister will voice his disquiet that many of the men Eriksson brought in have either not lived up to their price tag or fulfilled their promise in the way he expected.

It may not come as a great shock to a manager whose transfer dealings have also been a subject exercising the minds of those thousands of City fans who have so vocally supported the `Save our Sven' campaign.

While there in no argument that the Swede has brought respect, dignity and some wonderful football to City this season and in a fair world would not even be close to facing the axe - the season may be viewed a little differently if you are the man picking up the tab.

Questions, some of them painful and difficult, should be and must be asked in the same way as they are in all businesses during annual reviews. A dearth of goals and a tally of five wins in the last 18 games from the turn of the year is not the kind of record that earns managers a pay rise or a pat on the back from any chairman.

Soft defeats at relegated Reading and Birmingham, when a top six place yawned invitingly for the taking are known to have particularly irritated the Blues owner.

But the main focus of the review that will take place face to face in Thailand will be the alarming dip in form and the transfers starting with Italian striker Rolando Bianchi.

Costly

When he arrived at a cost of £9m Bianchi became the second most costly player in City history but he failed to adapt to the Premier League so spectacularly that he had to be loaned back to Serie A having started just seven games.

A wage of close to £60,000 per week hardly made that particular pill any easier to swallow for the chairman.

The form of Spanish full-back Javier Garrido has also been a concern and another high earner, Brazilian Geovanni, never managed to establish himself in the side.

In addition, Mexican international Nery Castillo has failed to make his mark during the first half of a year-long loan from Shakhtar Donetsk and there has been precious little evidence so far that the £5.2m spent on Ecuador's Felipe Caicedo has been money well used.

He didn't even receive a call from the bench during the 8-1 defeat at Middlesbrough when Benjani - a signing who has so far been given the benefit of the doubt by the supporters - had departed the scene injured.

Then there are the enigmas that are Brazil play-maker Elano and Bulgarian winger Martin Petrov both high class performers but dogged by inconsistency, there may well have to be answers as to why the Brazilian was played out of position so often.

On the other side of the coin, Eriksson will argue that he carried out instructions to the letter this season with a top ten place and that his young team needs time to mature together and that given the right additions - a holding midfielder, a right winger, and a another striker to name but three - they would be able to sustain a higher level of consistency next time around.

He could say with justification, too, that Gelson Fernandes has clearly improved over the season and that Vedran Corluka had been a big success until his form faded with Euro 2008 in sight.

Shinawatra may choose to counter with the fact that Richard Dunne, Joe Hart, Micah Richards and Michael Johnson who have all been critically acclaimed this season were already at Eastlands when Eriksson arrived and so were other regulars Michael Ball, Stevie Ireland and Darius Vassell.

Whatever the merits of each point of view; the one thing that cannot be contested is that while all this uncertainty abounds the Blues image is being harmed just at a time when it ought to be flourishing.

And the people who are suffering most are the fans who must try and preserve some optimism and pick some sense out of what appears to be a farcical situation.

Eriksson with all his knowledge, experience, calmness and respect is entitled to some loyalty whilst Shinawatra's drive, ambition and cash investment deserves a return.

Although something of an odd couple, they ought to be a perfect match. Is it too much to hope that they may yet be so?

What do you think? Have your say.