Thaksin Shinawatra is disappointed with Manchester's City's recent slump in form, and will consider manager Sven-Goran Eriksson's future in the summer.

"I'm not happy with the performance of the club in the second half of the season," he said. "We will look at it at the end of the season and assess the club and the people involved."

City's billionaire owner denied reports linking the club with a move for Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, but admitted wholesale changes were necessary to usher in success.

"We'll probably have to sell some players and buy some new ones," he said. "We need some defenders, midfielders...midfielders are the key. We have some good players but we need more."

Following an impressive start to the campaign, which saw City rise as high as second in the table, Eriksson's side have fallen outside the European qualification places and struggled to reproduce the flowing football that marked his arrival at the club.

If City remain in eighth position, however, the club will equal their best Premier League finish - achieved in the 2004/05 season.

Will Tidey / Eurosport