Newsletter #1874

IT’S CHRISTMAS!

… and boy did it seem like Santa had arrived early on Saturday. Most of us there were entering the 93rd minute feeling rather frustrated after a niggling second half marred by some inconsistent refereeing, when up leaps Gareth Barry to secure a priceless 3 points. Made all the more important by the Swans securing a draw against the other lot the following day.

A vital Christmas period awaits us and sees us on our travels along the east coast for games at Sunderland and Norwich.

Some thought-provoking articles in this issue for you to digest after the Queen’s Speech and just to say from Merry Christmas to you all. Whether you are an active contributor or a relaxed reader it means a lot that you subscribe and looking forward to bringing you our unique inside-track on events in 2013.

Finally to say thank you and very best regards to Paul and Madeleine for your time, effort and support.

ARTICLE: NEW YEAR ADDITIONS

In response to the question posed by Patrick Knowles in today’s MCIVTA, I would just like to say that, if any of our rivals for the Premier League sign Falcao ahead of City, I think it will make the job of retaining the title that much harder.

We have already seen the effect that quality players like van Persie, Oscar and Hazard have had at their respective clubs. I don’t know the reasons why City were not able to catch any of these three, but I think Falcao should be able to fit in, regarding the fact that we already have several other South Americans in the team, who would help with language etc. I think his temperament would also have to be evaluated and compared with Mario.

ARTICLE: MOTD OPENING CREDITS

Before last season, I usually fast forward through the opening credits (if that’s the right word) of MOTD. However, I can’t resist hearing the satisfactory “clip/thud” of the ball hitting Paddy Kenny’s glove and then the back of the net – what a beautiful sound it is!

However, I digress from my request, which is can someone tell me the names of the City players within the ball on the match day programme at the start of the programme(!); I know some of them but not all.

Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year to all fellow Blues everywhere!

ARTICLE: ALBANIANS AND DUTCH TELEVISION

Racism? Unless I am very mistaken, Albania is a country and not a race.

Albanians may have been a tribe once upon a time but are no longer by any stretch of the imagination a group of common descent.

The different nations of the Balkan region and eastern Europe have over the course of history done terrible and cruel things to each other and have a deep-seated dislike and mistrust of each other. The supporters with the flags and Kolarov may have said unpleasant and insulting things to each other, may well have been disrespectful to each other but racist?

The English think the Irish are not very clever and the Scots are tight-fisted and both of them think and say that the English are arrogant know it alls. Is this racism?

I wonder what language the comments were made in? Albanian, Serbo-Croat or Geordie maybe?

The use of the word racism immediately puts a huge burden of guilt and importance on an incident that is not in the same league as the recent incidents in English and international football and does not warrant all this attention. You can almost hear all the press getting their anti-City pens out and getting their clichés out to condemn the rich playthings of the Sheikh.

On a more pleasant note, the Dutch television program Holland Sport broadcast a special program on the 13th of December called “Manchester City have the Cup”. They mean the championship but the programme starts with scenes of the trophy going out to a supporters’ club evening so that the fans can see the silverware in person.

In the programme he goes to Maine Road, talks to fans and interviews Paul Lake and others. Explaining why he made the programme, Wilfred de Jong says that he watched That Match and afterwards was so impressed by the emotion that was displayed by the fans that he wanted to talk to them about what it meant to them. The man kneeling on the pitch crying made a big impression.

It is of course in Dutch but he talks to the people in English and although at a half hour long it is not an in-depth programme it gives a nice impression of the City feeling.

This is the link: http://programma.vpro.nl/hollandsport/afleveringen/manchester-city-heeft-de-cup.html

ARTICLE: MARIO BALOTELLI

Roberto Mancini has just given Mario Balotelli another chance, just like he would for any other player, but now he has got to earn that opportunity.

In the past I have called Balotelli “Super Mario”, but of late because of his performances I have lost confidence in him, and even wanted him to leave City.

This week Mario Balotelli accepted the hefty fine set on him by MCFC; one could say that this has now cleaned the slate, so to speak, and Mario has a fresh start.

Now I feel that we all should give him another chance as his manager Mancini has done; his career depends on it.

Then I hope it will be not too long before I and other fans shall be calling him “Super Mario” again, but he will have to earn it!

In Mancini I trust!

ARTICLE: 11TH HOUR

Well, I was two minutes or so away from conceding the title and taking down all my Crimbo decorations. What with the 93rd minute events and the last ball of the T20, it was quite a dramatic 11th hour kind of day’s sport (sorry for mentioning the latter, Phil B. :-))

Do I see football through sky-blue tinted glasses? This is a question I’ve asked myself before but was made to do so once again this weekend.

Whilst trying to be unbiased I nevertheless thought Barry’s goal was right to stand and that the only clear penalty denied was when Yaya was wrenched off his feet.

Though Gareth did indeed climb all over Shorey, the defender cynically blocked his path and, whilst bending down, even stepped back into him slightly.

As for the two-in-one penalty shout, the handball was from closer quarters than one not given at the Arsenal match earlier, and Tabb and Rekik simply bumped into each other in equal measure.

Still, in saying and truly believing all of that, whilst it may be purely hypothetical, I wonder what I’d think if it were either the other way around or else these same events occurred at the Swamp.

Speaking of the theatre of pomposity and its resident bunch, what with our recent upsurge in last gasp winners, it has become fun to label us as winning “in Fergie-time”. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s a fun notion and I myself left The Etihad on a certain May 13th singing it in full voice, but let us not lose sight of what Fergie-time really is.

Whilst you have to tip your hat to United for not giving up until the final minute, it was never about that but about the goals scored way too often in those unaccountable minutes added on when they needed one but seemingly cut much shorter otherwise.

Anyhow, festive cheer to all.

AND FINALLY… ROBERTO MANCINI

Congratulations to Roberto Mancini on his third anniversary as the manager of City.

He has done so much in such a short time as the manager/coach of City.

FA Cup winners, FA Community Shield winners, Premier League Champions, and who can ever forget the United 1 City 6 game!

We still have the rest of this season to play in, which is proving to be another exciting one for all City fans!

May Roberto Mancini be the manager of City for many more seasons!

In Mancini I trust!

RESULTS AND TABLE

23 December 2012

Chelsea               8 - 0  Aston Villa           31,363
Swansea City          1 - 1  Manchester United     20,650

22 December 2012

Wigan Athletic        0 - 1  Arsenal               21,754
Manchester City       1 - 0  Reading               47,007
Newcastle United      1 - 0  Queens Park Rangers   50,180
Southampton           0 - 1  Sunderland            31,275
Tottenham Hotspur     0 - 0  Stoke City            35,702
West Bromwich Albion  2 - 1  Norwich City          25,799
West Ham United       1 - 2  Everton               35,005
Liverpool             4 - 0  Fulham                44,570

League table as at 24 December 2012

                    P  GD Pts
 1 Manchester Utd  18  19  43
 2 Manchester City 18  19  39
 3 Chelsea         17  19  32
 4 Arsenal         18  14  30
-----------------------------
 4 Everton         18   8  30
-----------------------------
 6 Tottenham H.    18   5  30
 7 West Brom A.    18   4  30
 8 Liverpool       18   4  25
 9 Stoke City      18   2  25
10 Norwich City    18  -7  25
11 Swansea City    18   4  24
12 West Ham Utd    18   0  23
13 Fulham          18  -5  20
14 Newcastle Utd   18  -6  20
15 Sunderland      18  -5  19
16 Aston Villa     18 -17  18
17 Southampton     17 -11  15
-----------------------------
18 Wigan Athletic  18 -15  15
19 QPR             18 -16  10
20 Reading         18 -16   9

MCIVTA FAQ [v1112.01]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

Articles (Philip Alcock)         : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org
News/rumour                      : news@mcivta.city-fan.org
Subscriptions (Madeleine Hawkins): subscriptions@mcivta.city-fan.org
Technical problems (Paul)        : paul@city-fan.org
FAQ (David Warburton)            : faq@mcivta.city-fan.org

[2] What are MCIVTA’s publishing deadlines?

Deadlines for issues are nominally 6pm, Monday and Thursday evenings by email. Unfortunately we cannot accept email attachments.

[3] MCIVTA Back Issues and Manchester City Supporters’ home page/Twitter

http://www.mcivta.com/ is the unofficial Manchester City Supporters’ home page. Created in 1994, it is the longest running of the Manchester City related web sites. Back issues of MCIVTA are also hosted on the site. You can also follow on www.twitter.com/mcivta to get the latest updates.

[4] What is the club’s official web site?

The official club web site can be found at http://www.mcfc.co.uk/ and the official club Twitter page at www.twitter.com/mcfc. The club also has a facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/mcfcofficial

[5] What supporters’ clubs are there?

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://www.bbc.co.uk/news/england/manchester/.

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

http://www.satfootball.com/ provides a listing of Premier League games being shown on UK domestic and foreign satellite channels. A useful site for North American viewers is http://msn.foxsports.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://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/Usenet

[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] Do any squad members have their own Twitter accounts?

A list of genuine player accounts is maintained at http://twitter.com/#!/MCFC/players

[12] Where can I find match statistics?

Statistics for the current season are available from the club site, but for a more in-depth historical 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.

Philip Alcock, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

Editor: