Manchester City's billionaire owner Thaksin Shinawatra is changing the club's crest… to remind him of home in Thailand.
It means City's golden eagle could be replaced by an elephant or even a mythical half-bird half-human garuda, which are both national symbols in Thailand. A crest with a pouting Ladyboy holding a large football between his/her legs has been officially ruled out.
"No one can believe that a chairman can just come in and change our badge," said a Man City source. "What about the club's tradition? The fans aren't going to like this one bit. Just because somebody owns the club does not give them the right to come in and change everything."
Fans of the sky blues have already expressed concerns about their crazy chairman. Rumours persist that Shinawatra has used his financial clout to manipulate staff within the club.
Ex player and part time misogynist Rodney Marsh told our sports correspondent : "In all my years in football I have never met a character like Thaksin. Only last week Micah Richards and Michael Johnson, supposedly City's two great hopes for the future were summoned to the Chairman's office. They were asked to strip to the waist whilst Shinawatra took photographs of the two in various poses. He said it was for publicity shots for the team but I can't see a market for two young, semi naked footballers feeding each other grapes."
More worringly perhaps Jack Cartwright, an ex academy player at the City of Manchester Stadium, claims that the City chairman offered him a professional contract only on the understanding that he walk Thakin's dogs three times a day, prepare his wife's dinner at 6 o'clock every evening and be available for any odd jobs he may need doing around his Cheshire mansion.
"As far as I am concerned Shinawatra wasn't interested in my footballing ability. I was just seen as a general dog's body. When I asked when and where I could train he told me that he would get a football for his back garden. I don't usually swear but that guy is one dodgy pile of shite"
As well as football, his favourite activities include golf and karaoke, performing with Sarunrat Visutthithada, known as Lydia, queen of Thai R&B.
The club source added: "Who knows what the badge will be in the end, but if it's reflecting Shinawatra it could be a Thai man dressed in suspenders and singing karaoke. It's ridiculous. We haven't had a pervert dancing around at this club since David Pleat brought his Luton team here back in 1983. He wore biege as well. The fucker."
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