Middlesbrough boss Southgate admits surprise that City manager Eriksson could be facing final match

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Former England manager Eriksson is facing the sack at the end of his first season with City as owner Thaksin Shinawatra looks to make major and shock changes at the club.

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Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate has expressed surprise that Sven Goran Eriksson could be on his way out of Manchester City

Southgate, who played under the Swede for England, knows he will not face the same pressures from Boro owner Steve Gibson and has nothing but sympathy for the plight facing Eriksson who has taken City to ninth after their battle against the drop last season.

Southgate said: "Every club has a chairman and an owner and they make decisions on what goes on I am very fortunate I have a chairman who looks at the bigger picture and the long-term.

"No one would question the job Sven has done this season and I think everyone in the game is surprised he is under pressure.

"This is going to be the slight problem with foreign ownership. There is no way of knowing how any individual who buys a club will respond to the history of the club or what their idea of success is going to be.

"I think everyone in football would say Sven has done a fantastic job there in his first season and you would expect him to go on and build with the investment they are going to make.

"I am very fortunate I think the chairman would make that decision if he thought things were not right behind the scenes. We don't know what things are going on behind the scenes at Manchester City but Sven is an extremely successful and experienced club manager and you would imagine they would find it difficult to find someone better."