Manchester City's manager Sven Goran Eriksson may be out of a job next season. - AP

MANCHESTER, England (AP)

Sven-Goran Eriksson will take Manchester City on a post-season tour of Thailand tomorrow, not knowing whether he will come back with his job.

The former England coach had already been in trouble with Thai owner, Thaksin Shinawatra, before Sunday's crushing 8-1 loss at Middlesborough because City had slipped to ninth place and out of a top-five finish for a place in next season's UEFA Cup.

"Sven has not heard anymore," City assistant coach Tord Grip told the BBC yesterday. "He will go to Thailand on Tuesday and meet Dr Thaksin there."

Eriksson could be gone after completing only one year of a three-year contract when he meets Thaksin in Bangkok. But he could still take charge of games against a Thai League All-Star team on Saturday and a match in Hong Kong on May 22.

"I'm delighted that Sven is taking a strong squad to Thailand and Hong Kong," City chief executive Alistair Mackintosh said yesterday.

Facing mounting hostility from fans, City stopped handling Thaksin's media relations yesterday, outsourcing it to one of Britain's largest public relations companies, Bell Pottinger.

One thing in Eriksson's favour is that the club still has a chance to play in European football's second-tier competition through the Fair Play leagues operated by UEFA and the Premier League.

UEFA awarded England a fourth UEFA Cup spot because they finished at the top of its Fair Play league and City are in the best position in the Premier League rankings apart from the clubs that have already qualified for European competition.

Of the teams above City in the rankings, Tottenham and Everton are already in the UEFA Cup and Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal are in the Champions League.

The rankings are decided on team discipline on the field, positive play, respect towards referees and opponents and the behaviour of club officials. The Premier League said yesterday that, with the statistics from the final two rounds of games still to be calculated, City are in the best position.

On Sunday, City had defender Richard Dunne sent off after only 15 minutes for a professional foul during their embarrassing loss at Middlesbrough and some of the visiting fans clashed with police at the end of the game.

"It started badly with Benjani injured after just a couple of minutes," Eriksson said. "Then a penalty and red card to our captain so it was a really bad start to the day even though we were in the game until they scored to make it 3-0. After that, we didn't have the mental strength to come back.

"It is bad for everyone. Bad for the fans, for us, our image, the club as a whole."