Newsletter #1673

Victory against Newcastle on Sunday, and a couple of other good results, see us sitting neatly in second position of the table. We have match reports and views tonight of the Newcastle and Juventus games thanks to Phil, Richard and Ernie.

We have a look at football Italian style and whether it’s what City need and there is also plenty of reaction to the open letter that appeared in the last edition of MCIVTA and the jury is out.

With another international break, our trip to Blackpool is thankfully a few days off as they bask in the glory of a great result against Liverpool.

MATCHVIEW I: MCFC 2 NUFC 1

Adam Johnson stepped off the bench to score the decisive winner that propelled City into 2nd place (and above United) in the table. Cutting inside two defenders, he unleashed a low drive just inside Krul’s right hand post that was worthy of winning any match. City won, though, without playing very well. In fact we lost our way in the first half after opening the scoring from a fortunate penalty award after our defence was slow to react to a Jonés Gutiérrez cross.

This was one of those very rare occasions when City enjoyed good fortune when it came to refereeing decisions. The visitors can legitimately claim that Mike Williamson’s challenge was outside the box but they cannot claim that there was no foul, as Tevez was clearly brought down by the Newcastle number 6 as he controlled Boateng’s superb angled ball. Indeed, as last man, Williamson should have been red-carded.

Newcastle themselves should have had a penalty when Lescott clearly brought down Ameobi, and they can justifiably feel hard done to. We’ve been there many, many times and it feels quite strange being on the other end of those decisions.

This was not the only controversy in the game. Hopefully Hatem Ben Arfa will recover as soon as possible from fracturing his fibula and tibia. There was clearly no malice in Nigel de Jong’s firm but fair tackle that won the ball, so it is rather disingenuous to say the least that a media Kangaroo Court are trying to hang Nigel for his tackle. There is no surprise here that elements of the media were always going to go after de Jong after the World Cup final, and no surprise at their taking another chance at a sanctimonious swipe at City. People like Darren Lewis (Daily Mirror) and Alan Brazil (Talksport) should hang their heads in shame. Lewis talked about there being the possibility of retrospective punishment as de Jong hadn’t been booked and Brazil tried to equate de Jong’s tackle (which got the ball) with Karl Henry’s massively wild, late challenge just the day before. These comments showed Lewis and Brazil for what they are as broadcasters, i.e. very poor.

With family commitments I was unable to get to this game so settled for watching it on ESPN, where more accurately and most tellingly, no one (the pundits were Kevin Keegan and Nicky Butt) would condemn de Jong, despite being given chances to do so by Ray Stubbs who seemed to be egging them on, just a tad. To Butt’s credit, he said that he wouldn’t want to see tackles like Nigel’s being taken out of the game. Quite. I am sorry that Ben Arfa has broken his leg but he was unfortunate. I love the way Nigel de Jong plays the game and he represents a dying art, which some are ridiculously trying to eradicate from the game.

Looking rather jaded after their efforts against Chelsea and Juventus, City didn’t play very well in the first half and it looked like we weren’t going to breach the Geordie back line until Johnson’s late bit of brilliance, but that is the sign of a quality team: the ability to win matches when not on top form. Despite not being on top form, Yaya Toure, Barry and Milner ploughed on in midfield.

Roberto Mancini was right to make the point to Adam Johnson that he needs to focus on his football after his recent £12,000 date with Jordan. It was good management and firm fatherly advice. Johnson has enormous talent and no one at City wants to see that go to waste. That said, surely it is time for Johnson to start more games, given his wonderful talent and match-winning qualities. It was a surprise that he didn’t start in this game after coming on against Juventus to score the equaliser. Hopefully he will start in the next game in the minefield that is Blackpool: another must-win game.

Ratings:
Hart: Good handling throughout 7
Boateng: The thinking man’s full back. Some clever angled balls caught Newcastle’s square back line out, especially when winning the penalty. Exposed for Newcastle’s goal though 6
Toure: Slow to respond when the ball broke for the visitor’s equaliser 6
Kompany: Unable to clear decisively when we conceded but in mitigation was at full stretch. Another solid effort. Tried to galvanise the attack with some powerful, thrusting runs into midfield 7
Lescott: Looks clumsy going forward and was very lucky not to give away a penalty. What was he thinking about? 5
Milner: An admirable character and just the sort that is needed to win things: Even when things are not going his way, he keeps going 6
Silva: looking very much the part: highly intelligent passes and tenacity 7
De Jong: Consistency personified 7
Yaya Toure: Some clever touches 6
Barry Looked ponderous at times but still managed to play some lovely passes. Should have scored when put through 6
Tevez: Didn’t look happy ploughing a lone furrow with little service, but as ever gave his all 7
Subs:
Adebayor: A better effort level 6
Johnson: A brilliant cameo. Surely he has earned the right to start? 8
Vieira: Too late to mark n/a

Refwatch:
Martin Atkinson: Two mistakes went in our favour should earn him a ten, but in all truth 4
Best Oppo: Gutiérrez: The Elastic man was a handful 8

MATCHVIEW II: MCFC 2 NUFC 1

Newcastle played a tough game, and in all fairness deserved a penalty when Lescott fouled a Newcastle player in the box; it was a let off for City. City did deserve the win, but only just for Newcastle put up a fight to try to get a result.

After only 4 minutes play Newcastle lost Hatem Ben Arfa who has a suspected broken leg after a strong challenge from the Tiger (de Jong); there was nothing sinister about it.

City took the lead from a fierce penalty kick taken by Carlos Tevez, but it was only about 5 minutes later that Newcastle got the equalizer to make it 1-1.

After the break the game became a bit scrappy as Newcastle tried very hard to disrupt City from playing football. Mancini brought Johnson off the bench who almost right away scored with a low drive to give City the win.

Joey Barton did not get as many jeers as from the last time he returned to play against his old club; at least he appears that he has started to be a good boy.

At the end of the day although the game was not an exciting one, the game was won by City, and it takes them up to second in the Premier League. I think that it is fair to say that in the future there will be more similar games by teams playing the same tactics as Newcastle did today, not pretty to watch, whatever it takes to win!

With City playing twice a week now Euro and Premier League, I am thinking has Roberto got to have training sessions twice a day? I know that fitness is a priority, and feel sure that Roberto knows what he is doing; there will always be players eager to do any training that will help them to be better players but with some players it is not about being lazy, it is just about keeping their energy for the games. In some games City look a little fatigue; we need faster counter attacks.

Come on you Blues!

MATCH REPORT I: MCFC 1 JFC 1

Look at that. Read it again. Manchester City. Juventus. I don’t know about you, but up until very recently, I had never thought Manchester City would be playing Juventus in competitive football. Yet here we are, on the 30th September 2010, hosting them in UEFA’s Europa Cup.

Ok, so it’s not the UEFA Champions’ League. And sure, Juve aren’t what they once were. But if the Europa League group stages can possibly throw up a glamour tie, this is as close as it’s going to get.

So it was with some excitement that I set off for the City of Manchester Stadium this evening. Unfortunately, I left feeling a little underwhelmed.

If I’m completely honest, I fell into the trap of thinking if Fulham beat Juve 4-1 last season, tonight would not pose too much of a problem for City. A silly way of thinking, but that’s what happened.

When Iaquinta hit a long range shot past Joe Hart in the tenth minute it came as a shock to the system. The game hadn’t exactly sparked into life but from nowhere Juve were ahead. Disappointing.

Even more disappointing though was City’s response. Did they up the tempo, looking to get back on level terms? Well, there was plenty of effort but little end product. City barely created a chance until Tevez cut into the box on 19 minutes and hit the ball wide. It wasn’t gilt edged, but it was a chance. Meanwhile, at the back City had a mad ten minutes or so. When Juventus attacked City lost shape and balls from deep defence were being left by everybody and ending up with the Juventus strikers. If we’re to achieve anything this season we need to be switched on for 90 minutes and at least make things difficult for our opponents. At times tonight, we did not make it difficult for Juventus at all.

The next chance came on 33 minutes. A ball into the box was nodded onto the post by Gareth Barry. Sadly, Adebayor could not react fast enough to get the rebound in.

Not to worry, there were now positive signs. We upped our game and on 37 minutes Yaya Toure slipped an exquisite ball through the Juve defence for Adam Johnson. Alex Manninger in the Juve goal came for it, but Johnson’s first touch made him look foolish. His second found the net. 1-1. Time to push on and threaten the Italians.

And what of the second half? There is little to say. There was a heart-in-mouth moment when Del Piero’s free-kick came down off the bar and bounced onto the line in the closing stages. Dedryck Boyata made a second half appearance and looked just as assured at right-back as he did against Chelsea. Vincent Kompany continued to look excellent at centre-back and fully deserved his man of the match award.

Slightly more disappointing was the performance of Manu Adebayor. Handed a start and the chance to impress, he failed to take it. The less said the better to be honest, but I can’t imagine he’s done his chances of starting a Premier League game soon any good.

All in all, an unsatisfactory point to be honest. It’s not a bad point, it just doesn’t feel like much right now. Winning your home games is important if you want to progress in this tournament. The October tie against Lech Poznan, who won tonight, is now a very big game.

MATCH REPORT II: MCFC 1 JFC 1

City fought back from a goal down to earn a hard earned draw against a transitional Juventus side on a crisp autumn evening.

City made a slow start and it was twenty minutes before we found any real rhythm. By that time Juventus had scored with a powerful 30 yard drive by Iaquinta who had been given too much room by Jerome Boateng to unleash his shot from outside the right hand angle of the box.

Whilst this was far from the Juventus vintage of Baggio, Vialli, Ravanelli and Co., not to mention other great teams, they proved to be a tough nut to crack. It’s a fact rather than a cliché that top Italian teams are well drilled defensively and are masters of defending narrow leads, so we feared the worst. Juventus had a (cliché alert) compact ‘two banks of four’, which denied City space for much of the time.

Juventus were not averse to sticking the boot in either. Adam Johnson was the victim of a cynical kick in the very first minute, which slowed him up for while. Thankfully he ran it off and got into the game as City had chances: Vieira had a goal-bound header cleared off the line, Tevez fired over from Johnson’s cross and the winger also blazed over as it looked like a night of frustration loomed for us.

City upped the tempo and Adebayor hit the post from Tevez’s searching cross, with Johnson’s attempt on the rebound blocked. City were building up a head of steam and our persistence was rewarded in the 36th minute, when Yaya Toure advanced in midfield and played a lovely defence splitting pass, which Johnson ran onto to finish expertly, for his first goal at Eastlands.

Johnson and Tevez continued to be the main threats for City after the break but Juventus had a very tight defence on the night that defied us. There was barely a gap in their back four and midfield four and City could not break it down. It didn’t help that Adebayor was having a stinker, with his worst moment being a bad headed miss after a pinpoint Tevez cross. He compounded this after a fine driving run by Yaya Toure played him in, and, doing his best baby giraffe impersonation, the ball got trapped between his spindly legs as he struggled to keep his balance. Ade really has to do much better and try harder to turn it round.

Tevez dropped into midfield to try to make the play and Silva was brought on in an attempt to unlock the door but it was to no avail. If anything Juventus finished stronger and Del Piero struck the bar after Kolo Toure gave away a silly free kick on the edge of the box.

The uninitiated will criticise City fans for the 35,212 crowd being small with a famous club like Juventus being in town, but they overlook certain facts. Juventus were never going to fill the away end, and their following of around 750 was decent enough. It is still the early in the competition, we are still only in the group phase and this is not a great Juventus side. Furthermore, we live in uncertain times with many people’s jobs at risk as the government over-zealously makes cuts left, right and centre. The question is: is it too much to ask a sports journalist to see the bigger picture?

Ratings:
Hart: Should have done better for Juventus’ goal 6
Boateng: Allowed Iaquinta too much space for Juve’s goal but improved on that and showed elegance and intelligence on the ball 7
Kolo Toure: Another sound display from the Ivorian 8
Kompany: Consistent, classy superb reader of the game: 8
Zabaleta: Struggled against Krasic’s pace but stuck to it before injury ruled him out 6
Johnson: Showed character to overcome a nasty kick and play his natural game 7
Barry: Not quite as much zip as on Saturday and his touch let him down sometimes, but he never hides and keeps contributing positively 6
Yaya Toure; lovely defence-splitting ball created Johnson’s opener. One powerful run in the second half in which he accelerated impressively and set up Adebayor deserved another goal 7
Tevez: Another captain’s performance in a deeper rôle, which included a superb tackle when he dropped back to help our left back 7
Adebayor: Out of touch and lacking confidence, which would normally a cause for some empathy. However, it’s all very well moaning about not being in the team, but you’ve got to take your chances. It would help if showed a bit more willing 4
Subs:
Boyata: Another decent performance out of position at right back 7
Silva: Too late to mark
Milner: too late to mark

Best Oppo: Chiellini: reads the game superbly 8
Refwatch:
Eduardo Gonzalez (Spain): Truly excellent. Punished Krasic’s diving in no uncertain terms and was wise to other tricks 9

OPINION: ITALIAN STYLE

Having just watched the match against Newcastle, I must admit we were fortunate to win the game but, most of us will take a “played poorly, but still won”.

What really bugs me, is that we have a large squad at our disposal, and most of the lesser teams in the Premier League raise their game immensely when they play us, take WBA and now Newcastle, and we just have to be prepared for it. On more than one occasion, I have not agreed with Mancini’s starting eleven; we are not set up to score more than one or two goals. Mancini has us set up exactly like an Italian team, keep it tight at the back first and foremost. It works, but is not my cup of tea. We have a very, very exciting and popular player in Adam Johnson, but he picks a “workmanlike” player instead. I play a decent level of hockey, and it’s the fast, tricky wingers that all teams hate to play against, because these type of players “make things happen”! Milner is a workhorse, but not a winger, Silva has much more ability than him (he is an Arsenal type of player), and yet Johnson is on the bench?

We depend so much on Tevez; he is like a Duracell battery, and if (hopefully never), he gets injured, our front line is going to be a lot, lot poorer! Adebayor is just not on his game, and I doubt if he will ever get there, Santa Cruz and Jo are of a similar ilk, so we don’t have much quality in reserve (just work out how much we have spent on “average” strikers). We also really need a quality left back to play, and soon; I thought Zabaleta (for a right back) had a very good game there against Chelsea but I am not convinced with the injury-prone Lescott. Just compare the left backs at Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs and Man Ure!

In my opinion, Yaya Toure is best suited as a holding midfielder but we have de Jong and Barry too, we are crying out for an attacking midfielder, someone who makes things happen, who is able to thread through balls to the striker or strikers, and score goals from midfield. We have no one – why? Spurs have 2 players, Modric and van der Vaart! Özil went on the cheap to Real Madrid, and they have more than one player in his position. The last quality player who did this for us was Ali Benarbia, what a little genius he was. Maybe David Silva could play there? The other thing I have noticed is that a lot of our players are useless when shooting from distance; I wonder if they practice?

I want us to display the ruthless streak of Chelsea, who hammer the weaker sides, not just beat them 1-0 or 2-1.

I must not complain too much, as we are in a very good position right now, it’s just that we have spent so much on players, it’s almost a given we should be there or thereabouts.

Come on City… stay in the top two as long as possible!

OPINION: OPEN LETTER I IN MCIVTA 1672

I’m sure you’ll get a big response to Terry’s letter. I was going to respond point-by-point myself until I got to this part:

“Then against Blackburn, why did Mancini allow Joe Hart to race half-way up City’s half of the pitch, miss the ball and gift a goal to Blackburn. This was utterly unbelievable but it shows Mancini has NO control over the players.”

At this point I realized Terry’s letter was either a bad attempt at humour or there is no possibility of reasoning with the man.

I will respond to just one of the other inanities raised:

“In came the pre-arranged and pre-contracted Mancini. Who the hell is he most asked! What has this messiah done?”

If you asked that then that just proves how ignorant you are regarding world football. For starters try 3 scudettos (one with a record number of points), 4 Italian cups and 2 Italian supercups, all by the age of 45. Get back to me when you’ve worked out how many trophies Mark Hughes has won.

Terry, if you really are a City fan (and I actually think you might be a Rag wind-up merchant) it might be a good idea to educate yourself about the man who manages the team. You’ve had almost a year now. You might start with Martin Samuel’s recent piece in the Daily Mail (linked in a previous MCIVTA). For your ease here it is again: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1314670/Roberto-Mancini-Interview-I-came-Manchester-City-win–weather.html

All the best with trying not to sound like an idiot. Let me know how that goes.

OPINION: OPEN LETTER II IN MCIVTA 1672

I would like to thank Sheikh Mansour for changing so many things at MCFC on and off the pitch. I thank Etihad airlines for being a good sponsor for City; I have not flown by Etihad as of yet, but Terry’s comments (MCIVTA 1672) will not stop me from flying Etihad when the appropriate time comes along.

We have lived in the shadows of the Evil Empire for so many years that they have a big head start on City, and it is only through Sheikh Mansour that we have this opportunity to overtake them.

We must be patient for it takes some time for teams to gel; with serious injuries it does not help. Manchester United have had Ferguson as their manager for so many years, he has built a dynasty, but it took him time to do that, whilst some City supporters kept wanting to change managers so many times, and keep putting us back. We have had some very good managers but also some bad ones over the years, but the constant change of managers has hurt the club big time, whilst United backed Ferguson even though his first years were not his best.

Now we have Terry (last edition of McV) wanting to change the manager again; he is entitled to his views.

I back Roberto Mancini 100%; give him some time, he has already shown us some skills such as the game versus Chelsea, and giving some Academy players a chance; he has had to cope with several injuries.

I have been a City supporter and fan since I was 10 years old (I am now 75). I used to have a scrapbook filled from newspaper cuttings; how things have changed because of the Internet and TV.

City need stability; we have the right backing with Garry Cook always trying to improve things off the field. We have the right manager and coaching staff but we still need some changes to some players in the squad, it takes time to build but we can see the changes that have started.

In Roberto I trust. Come on you Blues!

OPINION: OPEN LETTER III IN MCIVTA 1672

I’ve been subscribing for years to MCIVTA, always enjoying the contributions, opinions and anecdotes. I welcome the fact you publish all and sundry regardless of viewpoint or ‘history’, old and new fans alike.

Finally I’m moved to throw my hat in, break my duck… by Terry Griffiths! No not the welsh wizard of the green baize but the man of many voices who contributed to MCIVTA 1672, I say many voices when actually I mean impersonations of cows and awful mock ‘Italian’ accents that good old Joe Dolce would have been proud of. I have just watched City, without being at their best, with a number of international players injured or just coming back from injury, dominate 2 teams with a solid domestic and European pedigree. Under Mancini we have moved forward again.

Terry harks back to the Sven era as some kind of golden age. I’m wondering if he’s thinking of that Swedish DJ that was a one hit wonder? Can’t mean Eriksson? No. Once teams had found out that Elano, in the words of Corporal Jones “didn’t like it up ‘im” (I paraphrase) that was the end of that, we were lucky to survive! Mark Hughes? We liked his no nonsense approach, yes there was no sense. Players all out of position, playing for home draws against bottom 3 clubs and didn’t one S. Ireland once blame him, before blaming everyone else, including Jimmy Carter (ex-US president) and Rocky and Bullwinkle for his loss of form?

I love what Sheikh Mansour and Bobby Mancini have done with our club, I love watching de Jong, Kompany, Silva, Toure Yaya, Zab, Johnno, Carlitos… oh and what a début last night from Jerome Boateng by the way!

O’Neill? Do us a favour Terry, take your chocolate orange and… break it neatly into segments and savour them whilst watching the best team in the land, in all the world. It is only natural (shrug of shoulders).

OPINION: OPEN LETTER IV IN MCIVTA 1672

With reference to Terry Griffiths’ article in MCIVTA 1672, I just want to say you should be old enough to remember all the dross we have had to put up with over the past watching City. I hardly ever write in but I feel the need to. I hate getting on the back of previous players/managers as it’s easy to criticise but this is my personal opinion on notes from your letter.

I totally disagree with most of your article, especially comments like Mancini has no tactical awareness. On his first game managing City you could see systems, wingers changing places which Hughes would never do. Our defence has been as good as I have ever seen under Mancini with Kompany and Toure, the only time I can remember it being as organised was with Curley and Vonkey. He is also absolutely spot on with the winning mentality of players, which is improving but won’t be done overnight.

I do agree with you that at times under Eriksson we played some amazing football that was very pleasing on the eye but can you say that the players he purchased were any good, would they get in the side now? Players like Bianchi, Geovanni, Fernandez, Garrido, Caicedo, Elano (good but when it suited him), Corluka, Benjani. Sven in the second half of the season lost the team, yes injuries played a part and that drubbing at Boro I will never forget.

If you look at the players Mancini has attracted to our club: Boateng, Yaya Toure, Silva, Balotelli, Kolarov they are by far leaps ahead of any purchases by Eriksson and Hughes.

This season we have kept the ball much better, drawn with Spuds away, beaten Liverpool, Chelsea at home convincingly, we’re in the top 4 and only conceded 2 goals in the Premier League.

We can go far with the side we have and let’s not forget that we have injuries to Balotelli, Kolarov and Boateng has only just come back and looked a cracking player last night when I was at COMS.

For crying out loud fill your glass up by 50% and get behind the team as it’s our time now. This is the best time in my life as a City fan and I’m as proud as punch (my first season ticket was in the year the great Paul Lake retired). I shouldn’t be surprised what come out of people’s mouths, well pens; some people just love a moan! And before you say it, yes I’m moaning but like Bobby I’m trying to install a winning mentality in some moaning fans!

Oh while I’m here on stage thanks to MCIVTA and Phil Banerjee – I enjoy your articles!

OPINION: OPEN LETTER V IN MCIVTA 1672

Come on, own up. Which of you jokers out there wrote that Terry Griffiths letter?

It almost had me fooled for a moment. But then, like one of those old Monty Python sketches that went on just a little too long and got just a little bit too stupid, it started being boring, borderline racist even, and stopped being funny. Perhaps too much fine wine was taken. Nice try though!

OPINION: OPEN LETTER VI IN MCIVTA 1672

Snookered?

Could Terry Griffiths have a point? I watched the Juventus game and was very disappointed; we are not a team – some of the players are very good and some are just players. Why did Adebayor get to stay on the field for so long? He is a typical Mark Hughes style player not very good and can be made to look better; our current style of play is not for him.

Take the Blackburn game: everyone knows what Big Sam’s team will do so why did our Manager not have a plan to get around it? When a team pack their defence, why not wait with the ball in your own half until they come forward then hit them on the counter attack?

Not sure if Mancini has what it takes and if we aren’t careful the Arabs might be off.

RESULTS

3 October 2010

Manchester City       2 - 1  Newcastle United      46,067
Liverpool             1 - 2  Blackpool             43,156
Chelsea               2 - 0  Arsenal               41,828

2 October 2010

Wigan Athletic        2 - 0  Wolverhampton Wndrs   14,042
Stoke City            1 - 0  Blackburn Rovers      25,515
Sunderland            0 - 0  Manchester United     41,709
West Bromwich Albion  1 - 1  Bolton Wanderers      22,846
West Ham United       1 - 1  Fulham                34,589
Birmingham City       0 - 2  Everton               23,138
Tottenham Hotspur     2 - 1  Aston Villa           35,871

League table to 03 October 2010 inclusive

                              HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Chelsea          7  4  0  0 14  0  2  0  1  9  2  6  0  1  23   2  21  18
 2 Manchester City  7  3  1  0  7  2  1  1  1  2  1  4  2  1   9   3   6  14
 3 Manchester Utd   7  3  0  0  9  2  0  4  0  7  7  3  4  0  16   9   7  13
 4 Arsenal          7  2  0  1 12  4  1  2  1  4  5  3  2  2  16   9   7  11
 5 Tottenham H.     7  2  1  1  5  3  1  1  1  3  3  3  2  2   8   6   2  11
 6 West Brom A.     7  2  2  0  6  3  1  0  2  3  9  3  2  2   9  12  -3  11
 7 Stoke City       7  2  1  1  5  4  1  0  2  3  5  3  1  3   8   9  -1  10
 8 Aston Villa      7  2  1  0  5  1  1  0  3  4 11  3  1  3   9  12  -3  10
 9 Blackpool        7  0  1  1  3  4  3  0  2  8 11  3  1  3  11  15  -4  10
10 Fulham           7  1  2  0  4  3  0  4  0  4  4  1  6  0   8   7   1   9
11 Sunderland       7  1  3  0  4  3  0  2  1  3  4  1  5  1   7   7   0   8
12 Bolton Wndrs     7  0  3  0  4  4  1  2  1  6  7  1  5  1  10  11  -1   8
13 Blackburn R.     7  1  1  1  3  3  1  1  2  4  5  2  2  3   7   8  -1   8
14 Wigan Athletic   7  1  1  3  3 13  1  1  0  1  0  2  2  3   4  13  -9   8
15 Newcastle Utd    7  1  0  2  7  4  1  1  2  3  6  2  1  4  10  10   0   7
16 Birmingham City  7  1  2  1  2  3  0  2  1  5  7  1  4  2   7  10  -3   7
17 Everton          7  0  2  1  4  5  1  1  2  2  2  1  3  3   6   7  -1   6
18 Liverpool        7  1  2  1  5  5  0  1  2  2  6  1  3  3   7  11  -4   6
19 Wolves           7  1  1  1  4  4  0  1  3  3  8  1  2  4   7  12  -5   5
20 West Ham United  7  1  1  2  4  7  0  1  2  1  7  1  2  4   5  14  -9   5

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The Official Supporters’ Club and the Centenary Supporters’ Association have merged to become the Manchester City Supporters’ Club (http://www.mcfcsupportersclub.com/). The club also recognise the Manchester City Disabled Supporters’ Association (http://www.mcdsa.co.uk/).

[6] Where can I find out about Points of Blue?

The committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. Points of Blue appears on the club website under the “Fans” heading (http://www.mcfc.co.uk/Fans).

[7] What match day broadcasts are available on the web?

Live match commentary can be found on the club website. The Radio Manchester pre- and post-match phone-in is available on the web at http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/manchester/hi/tv_and_radio/.

[8] Where can I find out if City are live on satellite TV?

http://www.satfootball.com/pl.html provides a listing of Premier League games being shown on UK domestic and foreign satellite channels. Useful sites for North American viewers are http://msn.foxsports.com/, http://www.soccertv.com/.

[9] Do we have a Usenet newsgroup?

Yes we do: uk.sport.football.clubs.man-city is our home on usenet. If you are not familiar with usenet, a basic explanation is available here: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,289893,sid9_gci213262,00.html

[10] Do any squad members have their own web pages?

There are a number available and direct links can be found at http://www.mcivta.com/players/

[11] Where can I find match statistics?

Statistics for the current season are available from the club site, but for a more in-depth analysis try http://www.mcfcstats.com/.

DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in MCIVTA are entirely those of the subscribersand there is no intention to represent these opinions as being thoseof Manchester City Football Club, nor of any of the companies anduniversities by whom the subscribers are employed. It is not inany way whatsoever connected to the club or any other relatedorganisation and is simply a group of supporters using this mediumas a means of disseminating news and exchanging opinions.

Heidi Pickup, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

Editor: