LONDON - Senior figures at Manchester City have publicly rounded on the club's former owner, Thai ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, in comments reported by Britain's Guardian newspaper Saturday.

Garry Cook, the club's executive chairman, said he "deeply regretted my failure to do proper research on Thaksin", while manager Mark Hughes admitted he made "too many assumptions" before joining from Blackburn Rovers last year.

It is three years since Thaksin, who is now living in exile to avoid a jail term for corruption, was toppled by the military in Thailand and had US$2.2 billion (S$3.11 billion) of funds frozen soon afterwards.

Hughes, Cook and others including midfielder Stephen Ireland said a lack of cash under Thaksin meant Manchester City was well short of having the resources needed to make the club big hitters in the Premiership.

"I made too many assumptions," Hughes told the Guardian. "I assumed that people and facilities would be top quality and it was patently obvious they weren't."

Cook admitted that the atmosphere at Eastlands was like a "lion's den".

"Thaksin's money was locked away," he said. "We got into a position where we couldn't pay the players and (ex-chairman) John Wardle was asked to lend the club two million pounds (2.2 million euros, 3.3 million dollars)."

Ireland added: "It was mad that somebody like that... could own our football club".

Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the club's current chairman, said the situation the new owner, Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, inherited was "simply unacceptable" and forced quick action to make basic improvements to, for example, the club's gym.