Newsletter #161

Most of you will no doubt now be aware that we have one new player at the club (Clough) and this will shortly be two (Frontzeck). The other newsworthy move has been Coton going to the Swamp. This has been a tadge controversial to say the least with some people (on GMR) being somewhat vocal in denouncing it. Time passes and the fog clears, it seems that Coton has not moved to Salford to keep the bench warm but has indeed moved to be the Rags’ number one whilst the Deranged Dane takes a well earned visit to hospital!

I personally am not too disappointed with this state of affairs; I discussed Clough with a few people over the weekend and have come round to the point of view that he may be a very good signing, someone intelligent to play with Kinky. Coton wanted away and I have to support Ball in sticking with Immel; I shut my eyes when he kicks but he is a supreme shot-stopper. Good news indeed is that Michael Frontzeck (pronounced ‘Mikhail’) will probably sign tomorrow. He is a classy international left back and we’ve badly needed someone like this for a long while.

I’m away for Thursday so my wife (Linda) will put MCIVTA together and send it out; apologies if you have to wait for a reply to personal mail.

Rob Watson has promised a match report for the next issue.

MATCH REPORT

MANCHESTER CITY vs. COVENTRY CITY, Saturday 20th January 1995

City 1 (0) vs. Coventry 1 (0)
Team: Immel, Brightwell, Summerbee, Symons, Curle, Flitcroft, Lomas (Phillips), Kinkladze, Brown, Rösler, Quinn.
Att: 25,710

I had to work Saturday morning and so left for the match a little later than usual. The GMR phone in started earlier to discuss the Coton/Clough moves and so we were entertained by City talk all the way to the ground. The consensus amongst most of the callers was that Coton had decided to move so that he could keep the Swamp bench warm instead of ours (serious error of judgement, Tony!). I don’t think there is much to choose between Immel and Coton but I think if a little patience had been shown it would only have been a matter of time before Immel’s kicking gave a goal away and TC would have been back in the team. C’est la vie.

There was no sign of our ‘Nige’ at the game, so I assume he was sorting out his affairs at Liverpool. AB did say that after himself and Franny had taken 3 hours to persuade him to come to City he eventually signed and it was agreed that he would report for training on Monday. The likely place for Clough to slot in will be behind the front two with Brown stepping down. This may leave us a bit short of bite in a defensive midfield situation.

Phillips was back on the bench after being mysteriously left out for the Tottenham game. Perhaps because of the extreme cold, Gordon Strachan spent the whole match jogging up and down the touchline shouting instructions. Judging by the way his team were playing I can only assume he was shouting things like “Get behind the ball!” and “Stick close to Kinky.” City did carve out some chances in the first half but Niall missed two sitters and Flipper’s banana shot didn’t even reach either dead ball line. At the other end Eike was seldom troubled. Steve Lomas seemed to injure his back just before half time and the interval saw him out on the pitch with Roy Bailey trying to run it off.

Lomas lasted about 5 minutes of the 2nd half before being replaced by Phillips. This gave us a fresh impetus and from the second of his runs he was tackled at the byline. The resulting throw saw Niall juggle with it on the edge of the box before executing an overhead kick for Uwe to head past the impressive Ogrizovic. Uwe’s desire to reveal his physique at every opportunity even included the removal of the black T-shirt normally resident after such high spirits. It took him an age to re-apparel himself but the ref. didn’t seem to mind. Niall missed a good chance to put us two up and then against the run of play Coventry scored. A cross in from the left saw Brightwell jumping with Dublin. A good header saw Eike leaping to his left and he just failed to get a hand to it. A couple of people near me reckoned Eike should have come out for the cross but I’m not sure. Ashley probably sits in the best vantage point to make an opinion on this. City still came forward and we had some more chances to take all 3 points. Brightwell hit a rasper for Ogrizovic to tip over. Niall had a header saved and Phillips hit one over the bar.

The general feeling leaving the stadium was one of disappointment but although we didn’t get the win I thought we created enough chances to have won comfortably. Jimmy Wagg on GMR watched the game on his BBC monitor and thought City were awful. Believe me Jimmy, this was a vast improvement on the West Ham game.

Phillips is a great prospect. My only reservation is that I haven’t seen him use his right foot once yet. Once when he drifted into the centre he was given a pass which was asking to be thumped with his right foot. He adjusted to get it on his left and the chance was gone.

Ratings: Immel 6, Brightwell 6, Summerbee 6, Symons 7, Curle 7, Lomas 6, Kinkladze 6, Flitcroft 6, Brown 6, Quinn 6, Rösler 7. Sub: Phillips 7

I think City are ready for a bigger test at home. The players know they are edging nearer to becoming a better side but it will take a win against quality opposition to prove it.

MATCH VIEW I

A highly disappointing result from a match which was ours for the taking. A few points;

1. The starting midfield line up was able to cut through theirsalmost at will – some good passing but this was wasted at thestriker’s end. There was never enough (or rarely any) support arrivingfrom midfield and this placed quite a burden on Uwe and Quinn – whathappened a lot was that one of them would have the ball out wide(usually Rösler) and the other (usually Quinn) would wait in thebox, heavily marked and alone. So there were few real chances.
2. We could have been 2-0 up at half time; NQ got put through nicelytwice in quick succession but each time, with only the ‘keeper tobeat, he chipped over the bar. The first of these was a harder chancethan it looked I think but he looked completely gutted at not puttingthe second away.
3. We scored very soon after the introduction of a wide player – Uweimmediately looked happier and popped a header in after a corner wentout and came back again (I think). The winger was Martin Phillips,who looks pretty, sorry very, good. He replaced Lomas which was (Ithink) a mistake because Lomas, Flitcroft and Kinkladze had beendoing well. I think that Michael Brown (who might be a ball-winnerbut isn’t worth it because he gives it away so much) should have beentaken off instead but it’s possible that Lomas had taken a knock as hewas holding his sides.

Bearing this in mind, here’s a team which I think could paste Coventry on Saturday;

                         Immel
 Summerbee       Curle           Symons       Brightwell
                 Lomas           Flitcroft     Phillips
                       Kinkladze
               Quinn              Rösler

So, we’d have threats on both wings. This was how Rösler popped 23 or whatever away last season, maybe he could start now? Phillips didn’t look like a weak point at all but would have Brightwell in support if he did give it away; Kinkladze seems to be made for a free rôle behind the strikers and I reckon Flitcroft and Lomas could hold down midfield pretty solidly if they didn’t have to cope with Brown too.

Subs; Margetson, Kernaghan, Clough (if it works out) or Brown (as a last resort)

MATCH VIEW II

It was a bitterly cold day at Maine Road and there was no warmth emanating from the pitch to make it any easier. We outplayed Coventry for almost all of this game and should have won by four but… we didn’t! Lomas, Flitcroft and Brown ran the midfield and Kinky roved around but was largely anonymous. The first good chance was a cross in from Symons, brilliantly won and headed on by Rösler to an unmarked Quinn, he really had all the time in the world but attempted a difficult volley into row 20 of the North Stand. Barely a couple of minutes later Quinn was presented with a golden chance as a defender miskicked and left him one on one with Ogrizovic who hared out as if to say “lob me please”, Quinn did and got a creditable row 10 in the North Stand. This was a woeful miss and would have been taken by almost any striker in the football league (all the divisions).

The second half saw Lomas off due to side strain (looked like it) replaced by Phillips. Phillips looks a good player and with the width he provided, Coventry looked very vulnerable. He crossed over to Quinn at the near post who deftly tossed the ball up and over his head for Uwe to head home. Various other chances were spurned until eleven minutes later when a cross from the Coventry left found Dublin marked by the less than towering Brightwell and he headed home beautifully (Brightwell couldn’t really be blamed as it’s a tall order to mark Dublin). We couldn’t believe it, or rather, we could! City attacked constantly and had more chances including a piledriver from Brightwell turned over the bar, a point blank header from Quinn saved and lastly, with two minutes to go another golden opportunity for Quinn. After a Rösler header (I think) the ball came out to Quinn who from an reasonable angle 3 yards out had only to rifle a shot in, instead he tapped it allowing the defender to intercept when the goalie was stranded.

To sum up, we should have buried them but we didn’t. I think Clough will play instead of Brown who looks to be a good player but is only 18 and needs to learn a lot about going forward. I’m beginning to wonder whether Ball wants Quinn and Rösler up front and whether they will be with us next season.

NEWS – TRANSFERS

Tony Coton has only to pass a medical before he is free to join United. He’ll be on the same wages as he was at City and has sorted out the contractual details with the Blues. When interviewed, Coton claimed to “have his reasons” for swapping one bench for another but didn’t elaborate.

The money looks set to go to Liverpool, who have agreed to sell Nigel Clough to City for over a million pounds. Clough met Ball and Lee at a secret location earlier today (Friday) to discuss terms, which have now been agreed.

City are still said to have “two irons in the fire” regarding the problematic left back spot. The current incumbent of the number 3 shirt, Ronnie Ekelund, has now returned to Barcelona following his loan period.

More details of the Georgian striker City are said to be tracking have come to light: he’s called Chota Arvedladze and, like Gio, is only 22.

NEWS – FRONTZECK

City are set to sign another German, this time to fill the troublesome left-back position. The man in question is Michael Frontzeck, currently playing for Borussia Mönchengladbach and he’s expected to cost City around £350k. He’s 30 years old and has played for Stuttgart and the German national side with Eike Immel in the past. In fact, it was Immel that recommended him. He flies in for talks tonight (Monday).

NEWS – CLOUGH IN, COTON OUT

This weekend’s papers reported that Clough signed for £1.5m and has agreed to take a wage cut into the bargain. Paul Hince probably has the best connection with the club and his article stated that the deal was for £1m. Meanwhile, the Coton deal went through and this was for £500k. And, meanwhile… teletext reports that City will sign Frontzeck tomorrow for £350k.

RUMOUR – SCHMEICHEL

I heard two rumours about Schmeichel – one was in the News of the World before xmas – that he is to be banned for a while due to his connections with the dodgy football agent (i think it’s the one who knew George Graham).

The other rumour I heard is that he may need operations soon for his shoulder or elbow or something. If either of these is true (probably the second is more likely) then Coton is a bargain!

LAKE – A PERSONAL MESSAGE

The Saturday match magazine continued a personal message from Paul Lake to all City fans. I thought it worth reproducing here as it’s certainly of interest to everyone:

To All City Fans

As most of you are aware, on Friday 5th January I reluctantly announced my retirement from football after a long struggle against injury. Since that day I have been touched and overwhelmed by all the letters and messages of goodwill that I have received fron City supporters and I would like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. the support that you have given me over the last five years has been amazing, and it is encouragement like this which has made my decision to retire even harder to bear. The fact that I have never once felt lik the ‘forgotten man’ of City is a testament to the faith and patience shown by fans, as well as various players and managers who have supported me all along the way.

I’d like to also extend a very special thank-you to Tudor and Steve Thomas who have sponsored me over the years and have both been a great source of strength.

I think it’s important for me to briefly explain what events led to my decision to retire. First of all, I need to stress that it was never a case of ‘knowing all along’ that the injury would eventually defeat me. Despite the numerous operations and a succession of setbacks I was always geared up for a return to the game, and until very recently the possibility was always there. However, whilst training over the Christmas period my knee began to swell badly and became incredibly painful. I went to hospital to have it checked out, and the X-ray revealed alarming results. I was shocked to be informed that my shinbone was bending to such an extent that I’d have to undego a serious operation to rectify it, and I was effectively told by the surgeon there and then that it would be in my best interests to quit football.

The past couple of weeks have been like a blur to me, a mixture of regret and resignation as I finally come to terms with the fact that my playing days are over. However, it’s not all doom and gloom; I’m remaining optimistic for the future and am already planning to get myself involved in football on the medical side of things. The Chairman has also kindly allowed me a testimonial game sometime this year which will be the ideal occasion for me to thank you all en masse.

Although things may not have worked out as planned, I will still look back on my career at City with affection and will try to remember the good times I spent at Maine Rd rather than all the operations and rehabilitation. I was a proud Manchester Ciy fan even before I started playing for the Club, and that’s something that will never change. Even though I am no longer with City, I will still look forward to cheering on the lads in blue for many years to come.

Kind regards to you all,
Paul Lake

SUN APOLOGISE

The English newspaper ‘The Sun’ has published an apology for their ‘Swales Returns’ article. Apparently, it was all made up with no factual basis; no change there then!

“In an aricle published on November 16 1995, entitled ‘Swales Eyes City Return’, statements were made about a contract entered into by Mr Francis Lee, chairman of Manchester City Football Club plc, for the purchase of shares in the club.”

“We acknowledge the statements relating to the terms of the contract and the amounts involved were incorrect, and there is no contractual arrangment for Mr Swales to return to the club in any capacity.”

“We further accept there is no basis for suggesting Mr Lee and his company will not meet any obligations they may have as and when they arise. We apologise to Mr Lee for any embarassment caused.”

The bad English is all theirs!

KINKY IS SHITE!

I read with some amusement Ken’s comments in MCIVTA 160 about the bloke behind him at the Leicester game criticising Gio’s passing. I think I must be due for a trip to Vision Express myself because I too thought that the maestro’s passing was somewhat below his usual astonishingly high standard. In fact, just after he had made a fool of Leicester’s left back by standing virtually motionless with the ball at his feet, as if to “dare” the defender to try to get the ball and then just jinking past him, he passed the ball straight to another Leicester defender and I shouted out “Kinkladze, you’re useless!” I assure you that this was in jest; it was after he’d scored his wonder goal and I just wanted to see the look on people’s faces around me. I still think his passing was below his usual standard though, which should be treated as a compliment, not a criticism.

WONDERWALL DEVELOPMENTS

After reading several versions of Wonderwall, I decided to write one of my own. So here goes…

Today is Saturday gonna watch City play for you,
By now we should’ve somehow scored a goal and let in two
I don’t believe that anybody thinks that we’ll go down, because we won’t
And all the routes we take to goal are winding
Thank God we’ve got Kinky what a finding
There are many cups and leagues that we would like to win but we don’t know how

And maybe
Someone will come along and save us
And after all
We’ve got Alan Ball (?)

And when we start the half again hear the Kippax sing Blue Moon
Praise be to the Georgian Kinky for the success he’ll bring soon
I don’t believe that anybody doesn’t play wide men, apart from Ball
And when we play we all know that we’re blinding
But when we don’t you’ll always here us singing
Cos we’ll support you ever more no matter where we are ’cause you’re our team

I said maybe
We’re gonna win the F.A.Cup
Bu only if we
Can beat Coventry

Keep supporting the Blues, wherever you are. From Scott at Loughborough University, but heart in Manchester.

VIEW FROM KIPPAX STREET

Howdy Folks!

Well another year, another few points for the Blues. A good, well deserved win against the mighty Leicester brought joy to my heart, but after the dismal display againt Coventry, (especially Quinn!) our chances for next Saturday’s cup game look seriously shakey!!!! A sad moment for us all occured recently with the retirement of Lakey. I’ll always remember the game against (Villa was it?) where he collapsed in the centre circle and almost swallowed his tongue! News is he has been offered a permanant job at the Acadamy, firstly as a Youth Development Officer, until he is fully trained to be a Physio.

News at the moment from my end of town could be interesting to some of you folks.

Coton Move to the Rags

Apparently, Bally managed to get a ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’ with the Rags that City were to get first refusal on any sell-on of Coton, and also it was agreed that if we required a ‘keeper on loan then we could have him (provided he was not cup tied etc.).

Cloughie move

Why! Where the hell is he going to play? OK, he is a good player with good vision and insight, but for bollocks sake, is Bally going to drop Kinky or Flitcroft? I don’t think so, and Cloughie, from my knowledge isn’t exactly a winger? So why? Rumours have it that Ray Parlour is on the Transfer list at the Gooners, so why not use him on the wing, and… most importantly, if Reidy wanted Coton at Sunderland, why didn’t Bally offer a swap for their speedy little winger (can’t remember his name). I’m sure that kid would have jumped at the chance of Premier Footie and we could then have offloaded Beagrie to Wolves who have shown recent interest, or Birmingham City, who want to buy anybody at the moment. Cloughie definitely seems a strange move though; I can see him replacing Ekelund, but are we going to play a million pound player on the subs’ bench every game? Sort it out!

Footie

Is there a Blues’ Internet team? I’m thinking of getting one going if there is enough interest and there isn’t one already. If you are interested mail me direct… plus any ideas for sponsors, name etc. (this is in reply to MCIVTA 153).

Left Back

We have a well publicised problem here, so why isn’t Bally using that Albanian, Algerian whatever he is fellow? I’ve seen him play in the reserves, and OK he’s no Stuart Pearce (who is?) but he’s a damn sight more competant than Michael Brown (no disrespect to the lad) and he is as fast as the proverbial bullet!

Oasis

Apparently Liam and Noel told Kit Symons and Keith Curle that if they got relegated to the second Division, they would buy the club! The kind of advice we don’t really want there fellas!

Well I’m off down the Uni bar now, so laters to every Rita, Sue and Bob too out there…

OPINION – COTON JOINS THE FORCES OF EVIL

I was just thinking about this last night. One … does Fungusface know something about the fat Dane that we don’t? i.e. has he got a persistent injury, or is he starting to mumble – as I believe he did in the close season – about moving on to a club where he might win European honours? Or has he sussed (some time after the rest of the country), that Pilkington is, in the voice of the terraces, a ‘dodgy keeper’.

I digress however. I can’t remember the last City player to move to the Rags. Anyone else know what the score is on this?

Coventry – twice in 8 days. Bah :-((

Wyn Davies 1972, I think.

OPINION – THE COTON MOVE

Tony Coton is going to United, both teletexts reported this morning. Why? I thought he was demanding first team football? Just as people were starting to get to like AB, as well. I can imagine the Maine Road Derby now; Schmeichel starts, but lets in two soft ones in the first half-hour after banging his head on the post… TC comes on for him, his first touch is a Gordon Banks Diving Impossiblity… United, inspired by this, raise their game… and win 6-2. Alan Ball is found strangled in loo roll, last person to see him was allegedly Chairman Lee…

On a lighter note, the woman in charge of running the Junior Blues has been fired (this was in the News of the World last week) for appearing with her kit off in Razzle. Allegedly, Franny sent his son out to get a copy of the offending publication when he heard rumours around the club (“Nip out and get us a copy of Razzle, son” – not something I ever heard in my youth but there you go). The photos were apparently several years old and the lady in question claimed that she had no regrets.

Not sure about the veracity of the latter as the person who was running the Junior Blues walked out on the club in November and they’ve only just managed to sort out the problems he left behind.

OPINION – COTON I

Well, Ashley, et al – I can’t believe it myself! From Blue to Red overnight! As you all know, I came to this mailing list and began following the Blues from my association with TC and his family. While I will continue to follow his career – something strange has happened. I’m beginning to identify what it must be like to live and die with City year in and out. While I feel that a part (a big part) of “why” I have followed City the last 3 years has moved on, I know that the City pages and my Email account will still get the majority of my Internet attention. I’ll be here reading everything I can get my hands on to follow the lads’ efforts Go City!

OPINION – COTON II

“I need first team football”

“It’s a step on the ladder to management”

“I’m joining a team that’s going somewhere”

The only possible comment on those quotes is “Bollocks!”

Unless Taggart Knows that FIFA’s number 1 is due for a long rest, Tony Coton has as much chance of being United’s regular first team ‘keeper as I have.

To regain his rightful place at Maine Road all Coton needed to do was have a little patience. A more feasible explanation for Coton’s admittance to the Judas Club is that he’s just a money grubbing bastard like so many other players.

Why do City continue to sell cheap and then pay over the odds to bring in new players?

Coventry

Can anyone remember a decent match between City and Coventry at Maine Road? I’d rather watch eleven parking cones than the crap displayed by the visitors on Saturday. As for City – they’d probably struggle to beat the parking cones too. The parking cones probably have more pace and better football brains.

OPINION – TRANSFERS I

So we’ve sold Coton and signed Clough. Here are my thoughts.

The Coton deal makes no sense. We have sold our best ‘keeper to our most hated rivals for a bargain-bucket fee. There must still be about 5 years’ top flight play left in TC, and there are rumours that Schmeichel is about to have an operation, so why have we done the R*gs a favour?

Clough – my initial reaction was that he is a bad buy, being slow, out of form and not a ‘natural striker’. On reflection though, a Clough/Rösler combination might not be so bad. Clearly Rösler and Quinn don’t hit it off, so perhaps Clough can do a similar job to Beardsley or Barmby (or even Walsh), being as much a provider as a finisher. Then again, why did we sell Walsh?

OPINION -TRANSFERS II

According to a brief report in The People newspaper on Sunday (I didn’t buy it for the free Pamela Anderson poster honest!!) the reason why Tony Coton moved to the Swamp was that there are concerns that the current Danish git in goal has both ankle and elbow injuries that may require surgery, with the result that TC would subsequently get games for the first team. Whether this is true or not I don’t know, but personally I think TC should have given the City fans as explanation for the move, because at the moment it looks as if he prefers a bench at the Swamp to a bench at Maine Road. Surely 5 years of support from the City faithful meant we deserved an explanation?

Also in The People was a quote from Kit (Buy of the Season) Symons that at the recent Oasis gig Liam Gallagher said that he wished City would go down so he could buy them! Surely not Liam! I mean Premiership status for City is even more important than my Oasis records! By the way what ever happened to the formation of an Internet Man. City football team? I for one are prepared to help set it up, so I can run off a few pints of Boddingtons. If anyone out there knows anything about it then let me know.

Roger, see Gareth’s note above

BOOK REVIEW – THE PRIDE OF MANCHESTER

TITLE         "THE PRIDE OF MANCHESTER"
              "A history of the Manchester derby matches"
AUTHORS       Steve Cawley and Gary James
PUBLISHER     ACL and Polar Publishing
              2 Uxbridge Road
              Leicester
              LE4 7ST
              Tel: 01533.610800
ISBN NUMBER   0-9514862-1-7
PRICE         £21.95
PAGES         352

I suppose as Santa has taken the trouble to get me this book for Christmas then I ought to take the trouble to review it. First, the good news – 50 per cent of the book is about Manchester City. The bad news is that the other 50 per cent is about the Rags.

The book is written by a Rag, Steve Cawley    Booooooooooooo
and a Blue, Gary James                        Hoooooraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

The book describes every derby match from the first encounter in 1891 to 1991. There may have been a reprint since my edition to cover the last few years – I don’t know.

There’s a foreword by Sir Matt Busby and Joe Mercer.

Each derby match shows the teamsheet, division, venue, attendance, photographs of teams and players, background article, match verdict and league position statistics. There are also lots of newspaper cuttings, cartoons, copies from programmes and separate sections of photographs.

There is also a statistics section showing won, drawn, lost, most player appearances. Joe Corrigan gets the nod for the Blues here, 26 derby appearances. The Red winner is Bobby someone, play at the Valley, 27 appearances. Derby managers are also shown with played, won, drawn, lost. There’s some derby memories by players various.

Large A4 size book. An awful lot of reading for, it has to be said, an awful lot of money. A reduction was obtained for mine as it was for a City fan. I jest, the reduction was because it was a little dog-eared. Mine came from W..HSmith. Well that’s where Santa got it from. He has to buy some of the presents you know. He just hasn’t the time to make everything himself. After believing in City, Santa’s a breeze.

RESULTS

F.A.Cup 3rd Round Replays

Tuesday, January 16 1996

BLACKBURN ROVERS        0-1     IPSWICH TOWN  (After extra time)
OLDHAM ATHLETIC         P-P     BARNSLEY
OXFORD UNITED           1-0     MILLWALL
PORT VALE               4-3     CRYSTAL PALACE  (After extra time)
SHREWSBURY TOWN         2-1     FULHAM
SUNDERLAND              1-2     MANCHESTER UNITED

Wednesday, January 17 1996

MANCHESTER CITY         5-0     LEICESTER CITY
NEWCASTLE UNITED        2-2     CHELSEA (Chelsea win 4-2 on penalties)
NOTTINGHAM FOREST       2-0     STOKE CITY
SHEFFIELD UNITED        1-0     ARSENAL
STOCKPORT COUNTY        2-3     EVERTON
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR       5-1     HEREFORD UNITED
WIMBLEDON               1-0     WATFORD
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 2-1     BIRMINGHAM CITY

Premier League

Saturday, January 20 1996

ARSENAL               1-2    EVERTON                38,275
BLACKBURN ROVERS      3-0    SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY    24,732
CHELSEA               1-0    NOTTINGHAM FOREST      24,482
LIVERPOOL             5-0    LEEDS UNITED           40,254
MANCHESTER CITY       1-1    COVENTRY CITY          25,710
NEWCASTLE UNITED      2-1    BOLTON WANDERERS       36,543
SOUTHAMPTON           2-1    MIDDLESBROUGH          15,151
WIMBLEDON             2-1    QUEENS PARK RANGERS     9,123

Sunday, January 21 1996

ASTON VILLA           2-1    TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR      35,666

Sun 21 Jan

Team                Played   Won Drawn Lost  For  Against   Points
Newcastle United      23     17    3    3     45    19        54
Liverpool             23     12    6    5     46    21        42
Manchester United     23     12    6    5     41    27        42
Tottenham Hotspur     24     11    8    5     33    24        41
Aston Villa           22     11    6    5     29    16        39
Blackburn Rovers      24     11    5    8     37    26        38
Arsenal               24     10    7    7     32    24        37
Nottingham Forest     23      9   10    4     33    32        37
Everton               24     10    6    8     35    26        36
Chelsea               24      9    9    6     25    25        36
Leeds United          23     10    5    8     30    32        35
Middlesbrough         24      9    6    9     26    26        33
Sheffield Wednesday   23      6    8    9     33    36        26
Wimbledon             24      6    6   12     33    46        24
West Ham United       21      6    5   10     22    32        23
Southampton           23      5    8   10     22    33        23
Coventry City         23      4    8   11     29    45        20
Manchester City       23      5    5   13     13    33        20
Queens Park Rangers   24      5    3   16     18    36        18
Bolton Wanderers      24      3    4   17     23    46        13

WWW MANCHESTER CITY SUPPORTERS’ HOME PAGE:
http://www.uit.no/mancity/

MCIVTA ADDRESSES:
Contributions: mcivta@tollbar.u-net.com
Subscriptions: Adam.Houghton@sheffield.ac.uk

Thanks to Jeremy, John, Roly, Paul, The Mole, Ken, Bill, Roger (x2), Rob, David & Scott.

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.

Editor: