Newsletter #458

I’m afraid that this issue continues where the last one left off, i.e., with plenty of negativity! The faithful 25,000 who turned up on Saturday, or rather less actually (IMHO, this number probably includes a goodly number of season ticket holders who weren’t actually there), were treated to a performance of quite stultifying ineptness. I really have no idea what the formation was, except that we appeared to have 2 right backs for 75 minutes and no midfield whatsoever, apart from Dickov that is, who looked simply woeful in that third of the field. Make no mistake, Bristol were quite awful, but we made their previously leaky defence look impregnable.

There was booing at half and at full time – a phenomenon which I must say is totally counterproductive. However, what the club don’t seem to realise, is that the fans are behaving like this because the team have managed to squander an almost infinite amount of patience and loyalty with seemingly endless dire performances. There is no point blaming the fans, that will only make them angrier; the only way to break the chain is to win some football games!

We have 2 match reports, a matchview and Peter’s news summary. There’s also an archive report from Steve Maclean, some York pub suggestions and loads of opinion – sorry JR/WD, but it’s all negative!

Lastly, another appeal for Why Blues, our current drought seems to be eerily reflective of a certain team’s home goalscoring record. How about predicting a win on Tuesday by sending in a Why Blue?

MATCH REPORT – ‘LIVE’ I

MANCHESTER CITY vs. BRISTOL ROVERS, Saturday 12th December 1998

Oh dear. Where do I start? Joe described this after the game as “possibly the worst performance of the season” – to be honest, I’m not sure it was any worse than any of the others we’ve seen recently, but it did confirm once again that we are bad and getting worse. Vaughan and Brown were both suspended for the game so we started off with Weaver, Edghill, Crooks, Wiekens, Morrison, Mason, Dickov, Pollock (capt.), Goater, Taylor and Russell. Allegedly. I didn’t spot Russell until half way through the second half (more about that later) but I believe it was him on the left in front of the Main Stand during the first half. I haven’t a clue what sort of a formation they were supposed to be playing in; sadly it soon became more than apparent that none of them knew either. Except for the fact that we’d obviously continued the trend of recent weeks in deciding that a midfield was a luxury we could do without.

City started attacking the North Stand and, predictably enough, had a good shot (from Taylor) tipped over the bar by the Rovers ‘keeper after about 5 minutes. The possession was all City for the first 20 minutes, as ever, someone else (Dickov?) had a volley that fizzed past the post and Rovers didn’t look threatening at all. They were big, dirty and very sly – why oh why is it that opposing teams can always win more wrong decisions from the referee than we can? Their number 11 in particular was having what used to be called a good battle (and now usually results in one of the offenders being sent off) with Wiekens, who must have been black and blue by the end of the game. I believe the referee was the one we had for the Halifax cup game earlier in the season – I don’t remember him making as many wrong decisions as this in that game. He let far too many bad challenges by the Brizzle players go unpunished – not that that is any excuse for the complete lack of commitment shown by anyone of our lot on the field.

Oh yawn yawn. The most exciting bit about the first half was trying to make out what the Rovers fans were singing – whatever it was, it wasn’t English – and why it sounded as if they were shouting “sh**head” at their centre half throughout the first half. Rovers had two shots on goal in the entire first half, neither of which were threatening and one of which should have been offside – given that, it’s surprising they didn’t score. Their best chance – or at least the one which nearly woke up half the crowd – came when Weaver elected to punch the ball about 40 feet in the air rather than catching it, despite the fact there were no Rovers players within about half a mile of him. This led to the customary abuse from large sections of the crowd, which at least meant Mason had a break. As none of his defenders berated him at all, and in fact wandered off rather sheepishly, I can only assume none of them had thought to tell him he had time to let it bounce and play ten minutes of head tennis with scary Andy Morrison before catching it. Poor lad.

Half time came and I very nearly lost my temper. How many times have people discussed in MCIVTA and elsewhere that booing off the team at half time is not the way to give them any confidence? I’d rather it didn’t happen at full time either, slag them off all you like but not during the game. It’s a vicious circle – we’re playing crap, people get fed up and get on the players’ backs, the players lose any confidence they had (and there’s not a lot of that floating round Maine Road this season as it is) and play worse. Aargh. If I ever do stop going to Maine Road it’ll be because of the crowd, not the team. We all know they’re not up to the job etc.; how is telling them all the time going to help? It doesn’t help when Donachie comes out and says “it’s all the fans’ fault” – yep, nice one Willie, guaranteed to change things round. Try winning a few games and then see how the fans react.

Joe has to take some of the blame for what’s happening regarding some of the players. Mason in his first few games looked a class above but the last four or five times I’ve seen him he’s been scared to go anywhere near the ball – no wonder given the reaction he gets if he does anything wrong. He was subbed for Jim Whitley and couldn’t get off the pitch quick enough. We’ve got lots of mediocre midfielders who could take Mason’s place without anyone even noticing (some of them would have to grow their hair a bit first though) so please Joe, give the kid a chance and let him have a few games in the reserves to get his confidence back.

Second half was much the same as the first. Goater was subbed for Allsopp and must have been extremely heartened to hear both City and Brizzul fans cheering his departure – I’d have taken the completely ineffectual Taylor off instead but there you go. I’d finally realised Russell was playing when our number 11 put in a terrible cross from the left and I thought “wish Russell was playing, he’d have done better with that – oh that is Russell…” Can’t blame him completely for his performance though, I think Frank Clark left his “Team selection and formation” text book behind for Joe to read. Why else ask a striker who once scored lots of goals in the centre of the attack to play at left wing back? I despair.

Pollock was booked after throwing the ball away (now now Jamie) when another free kick was given the wrong way. Morrison had already been booked in the first half and was the quietest I’ve seen him after that. One of their centre halves should have been punished for stamping on Dickov’s back during the first half and wasn’t – we were cheerfully laying bets on Dickov getting sent off for retaliation after that as it would have been a perfect accompaniment to the game. Their number 11 was booked at last after yet another foul on Wiekens – he didn’t do it again after that, oddly enough. Even the Brizzle Ruvvers fans were getting bored.

With twenty minutes to go Tiatto came on for Dickov and started running at the Rovers defence, who panicked, but we still didn’t look like scoring. There were several occasions when Taylor and A.N.Other Defender were running for the same ball and Taylor didn’t get there first for any of them. I’m still waiting to see what it is that’s so good about this lad’s game that made Royle buy him as there’s nothing obvious so far. I can’t remember them having any shots on goal and I can’t remember us having any good ones. Boring boring boring. Yet another drab nil nil draw, yet another chance lost to make up any ground on Stoke and yet another Saturday evening wondering why on earth we all bother.

Can’t wait until we play Stoke, we’ll show them who’s promotion material from this division – i.e. lots of teams but not us…

MATCH REPORT – ‘LIVE’ II

MANCHESTER CITY vs. BRISTOL ROVERS, Saturday 12th December 1998

You will find that this match report follows a slightly different format than my normal submissions. It is also shorter than normal. The reasons for this are not at all complicated.

Quite simply this performance was appalling. It doesn’t matter which way you look at or which way you analyse it, this was dreadful, and it’s just not worth the effort of writing about.

Once again there was a high turnout at Maine Road, a handful short of 25,000. There can be little doubt that these numbers will not continue if there are many more performances like this.

It’s difficult to know what to write and difficult to find the motivation to write anything at all after a performance this poor. Whilst we never really looked like losing we never looked like scoring – let alone winning.

On Saturday’s performance the team would struggle to win a Sunday league game or beat a second rate pub team. There was very little ball control/close control skills on show. Everything is just kick it and hope, the attacks (and I’m being kind describing them as that) were generally poor and predictable. We continue to have major problems in the final third and whilst it’s already looking like we can forget automatic promotion if we don’t address this issue at the front we can also kiss good-bye to a play off place.

I don’t think we have more than two or three games now to turn it round. The players were booed off the pitch at half time and then more loudly at full time; whilst I don’t contribute to that (because, as poor as they are, I can’t believe that players go onto the pitch intending to have a crap game), I have to say it’s easy to appreciate the frustrations of supporters who sit through this garbage and then vent their frustration.

Finally the rather bizarre fact remains that we have still lost only five games, which I think is the same as most of the teams in the top eight or nine.

I’m sorry this report is so poor and negative, but in reality it reflects Saturday’s performance.

MATCH VIEW

I was going to write a match report but after that performance there is not much to report on. I thought I had seen the lowest we could possibly go, but this really was the bottom of the barrel. The lack of imagination and flair in the side is beyond belief. It was the most dire performance of the season.

24,995 had turned up to a cold, overcast Maine Road. City kicked off towards the North Stand and started well for 5 minutes. This came to a head when Taylor looped his header over the bar. After that, chance after chance went begging. It was the most boring game I have seen. As the minutes slowly ticked by, the realisation that it was going to be 0-0 sank in. City had no idea of how to break down a 10-man defence. No-one can cross a ball that will test the ‘keeper rather than give him an easy catch. The Bristol players tried every trick they knew to win free kicks and the referee let them do it. With ten minutes left to play of the first half I went for a pint (apparently Bristol missed an open goal… shame – really might have hit home with the players that they are s**t).

Second half was just as bad and I wished I had taken a book to read. Apparently some fans had tried to storm the press box to attack a journo who hates City. Behind me in the North Stand a steward decided he took a dislike to a City fan and tried to eject him from the ground. This proved more interesting than the game; in the end the fan stayed put (only after the intervention of the police). The game ended 0-0 to a chorus of boos. Bristol fans cheered like mad and who’s to blame them, it was a good result for them.

Sitting in the pub later with a few friends we came up with a plan to put thing right:

1. Pay the players £250 a week and give them £2,500 win bonus.They might start to take notice and try and win a few games. Pluseveryone gets paid the same, a one tier pay structure.
2. Buy a couple of decent wingers who know how to cross the ball. This,combined with Bishop in midfield would give us the options we sodesperately need (either put the ball out wide or go through the centre).
3. Sack Goater, Taylor and all the other crap strikers we’ve got and getsome 18-year-old genius in who can score (just go to any Sunday leaguegames to find any).
4. Sack Bernstein (I have stuck by him in the past but we need someonewith more money to invest).

or…

Close the club and save us any further embarrassment.

NEWS SUMMARY

City take foot off Gas

At the end of last week I developed a nasty eye infection and as a result spent most of the weekend sitting in a darkened room feeling as if I was being poked in the eye with a knitting needle. I mention this only because, if all the reports I’ve heard about the goalless draw with Bristol Rovers can be believed, most of the 25,000 crowd would gladly have swapped places with me. Saturday saw City produce what JR regarded as their worst performance of the season, failing to overcome opponents whose nine previous away fixtures this season had yielded no wins, four points and five goals. Surely such opposition ought to be delighted to be leaving Maine Road with a point? Not a bit of it. If you want a measure of how low we’ve sunk, it’s probably the fact that the Rovers’ captain, while admitting his team came for a draw, was expressing disappointment that they hadn’t won – in his view, all three points were there for the taking.

Joe insists that after one defeat in eight games (rather conveniently, he includes the FA Cup ties against lower league opponents but disregards the Mansfield match), City are hard to beat and are within striking distance of the leaders. I feel the fourteen point gap between us and second place is already starting to look more than imposing – we need a run of almost record-breaking form to make up the difference unless Stoke or Fulham’s form collapses. And sixteen points from the last fourteen games isn’t the sort of return even to get us in the play-offs, Joe. Don’t try and talk up results, just try to improve them.

Angry fans confront Mirror man

In fact, the main news from Saturday’s match didn’t come on the field. A group of City fans tried to confront a Daily Mirror reporter whose account of last Tuesday night’s proceedings against Mansfield had failed to meet with their approval. I have to say that almost nothing in that sad excuse for a newspaper ever meets with my approval and from what I gather, the offending story was just another dig at City from a laughably United-biased publication. As a result of the commotion, a number of press men had spent half time locked in the City press room for their own safety. Needless to say, the Mirror web site carries four separate accounts and makes great play of the “City thugs”. I don’t know why anyone bothered remonstrating with the bloke. Let the paper speak for itself – a quick read shows most of the journalists possess roughly the same degree of professional aptitude as the City players.

Donachie and Royle slam fans

Even before the press box incident, the City fans were making more news than the team. Willie Donachie weighed in with a blast at the negative attitude of some supporters, and was bitterly upset with the abuse he and some team members suffered during the Cup tie at Darlington. JR, meanwhile, expressed disappointment at critics, presumably including a number of fans, writing off promotion hopes so early in the season. Both Joe and Willie feel that people aren’t prepared enough to look at the positive side of life at Maine Road. I guess I’d be bracketed in the group of what’s usually called the “doom and gloom merchants”, to which I’d reply only that I’d love to be more positive – and I would be if they and the players would provide me with something to be more positive about. I don’t for one minute condone abusing the management or players during games – to my mind, criticism should be voiced in forums like this one or Blue View, fanzines or radio phone-ins and should always attempt to be constructive. However, Joe and Willie seem not only to take issue with the form of criticism but with the fact it’s being voiced at all.

What they have to realise is that this club is now in a position which is beyond our worst nightmares. As fans, we’re not asking for the earth – we just want a team capable of a better return than four wins from eleven home games in what’s really the old Division Three. Surely the two of them could have foreseen when they accepted jobs at Maine Road that if we were in our current position after ten months of their stewardship, fans might be a little disappointed? I wouldn’t expect fulsome praise for my professional failures so why should they? With respect, publicly slating fans who turn up in remarkable numbers isn’t the best means of quelling criticism. Putting out a team which can win the odd game might be a better way.

Robbery at the Platt Lane Complex

Bristol Rovers weren’t the only ones taking a share of the spoils from City over the weekend. There was also a robbery at the Platt Lane complex by a gang armed with baseball bats. They stole money and personal items, leaving the staff locked up. We all know the old joke about the robbery from the City trophy room, but it probably says something when there really is a theft from club premises and the robbers want the money and personal items of the staff.

A disturbing rumour

The Platt Lane incident wasn’t be remotely as criminal as JR’s actions will be if he concludes a transfer which is currently being rumoured. You see, he’s apparently been spotted at Billingham, venue for Middlesbrough reserve games, and his target is said to be none other than former Manchester United player Clayton Blackmore. I’ll try to be restrained here – Blackmore isn’t the first name which would come to my mind to add the attacking width we’re currently lacking. As Joe is always keen to remind us, a dearth of transfer activity can all change with a single phone call, so let’s just pray he can’t get through to Bryan Robson.

Scarborough Flair

We have at least managed to set up an outgoing deal to trim our still-inflated squad, albeit on a temporary basis. Chris Greenacre has apparently completed his loan move to Scarborough and was in their side against Halifax at the weekend, being substituted in the 86th minute of a 1-0 win. However, it seems there’s little prospect of the deal being made permanent – I’m told that Scarborough’s financial plight makes City look positively affluent.

Juniors – more of the same

Judging the current juniors on results, it doesn’t sound like too many will even make it as far as Greenacre, a striker who’s been at the club for five years and has the princely tally of one first-team goal to his name. On Saturday, the under-19s and under-17s both lost their derby fixtures against their United counterparts, going down 1-0 and 4-0 respectively.

Darlington replay – preview

Given he’s had around fifty minutes of first-team action all season, we shouldn’t feel Greenacre’s absence too much in Tuesday’s FA Cup second round replay at home to Darlington. Anyone who saw the initial Cup fixture on Sky or in the flesh will have a far better idea of what we’re up against than I do, so I won’t bother with too much of a preview. Darlington have, to the best of my knowledge, visited Maine Road once before – for a game in the old Second Division in the twenties. We gave them a seven goal hiding, which is a feat I’d doubt we’ll match on Tuesday night. In line with Joe and Willie’s wish for some positive thinking, I won’t be critical if we fail to run up a cricket score this time (well, at least not unless it’s one which reflects the runs added for the last seven wickets of an England innings, anyway). However, I can assure you the MCIVTA 459 news summary won’t feature much in the way of positive comment if Darlington actually knock us out.

ARCHIVE MATCH REPORT – SPURS 1983

The first archive report, a couple of months ago, featured a Spurs vs. Man City game from 1979. Looking through the cuttings for another suitable game to feature, I stumbled across this one, by coincidence also against Spurs. So taking that as a sign from above, I’ll look for Spurs games for any future Archive reports that I submit (till I run out). I’m sure I don’t have to spell out some of the obvious ones that come to mind, even from a couple of years ago, e.g. the 5-2, the 2-4, etc! Should be fun digging through those. Anyway, here goes:

February 5th 1983 – Man City 2 Spurs 2

One of the advantages that Manchester City still hold over their Old Trafford rivals is that at Maine Road you can never be sure what is going to happen next. This eccentricity has manifested itself in several ways over the years – in the dabbling with tactical plans that tended to bring horrendous defeat, the belief that football is really a game of Monopoly, volcanic eruptions in the boardroom and of course, managerial musical chairs.

Now that John Bond has gone, John Benson and Tony Book hold the reins of a chariot that continues to veer wildly from side to side but still manages to remain upright – just. Saturday’s match with Tottenham was another example that the old habits die hard. At the end of a first half of stunning mediocrity, a banner in the crowd proclaiming that “Swales Must Go” had been unfurled. At the end of a second half of riveting excitement and four goals it had been quietly rolled up again.

Whoever does take over from Bond – be it Jimmy Frizell, Tommy Docherty or Benson and Book – will have some useful material to work on. In the end this was a better result for City than it was for Tottenham. They lost the ubiquitous skills of Ardiles early in the game, yet by the 76th minute were leading, fortuitously but decisively it seemed, through a penalty by Brooke and an opportunist goal by Gibson.

This was hard on City, who had produced a number of promising passes in the second half, only to see everything evaporate in the dismal finishing of Cross, but naïvely Tottenham insisted on leaving gaps at the heart of their defence, and this encouraged City to keep trying. Their optimism and determinism were rewarded with a penalty from Tueart and an equaliser, to his obvious relief, from Cross nine minutes from time.

Manchester City:
Corrigan, Ranson, McDonald, Reid, Bond, Caton, Tueart, Reeves, Cross, Hartford, Bodak.

Tottenham:
Clemence, Hughton, Lacy, Roberts, Villa, Perryman, Ardiles, Mabbutt, Gibson, Brooke, Crooks.

YORK CITY- RECOMMENDED PUBS

I’m quite looking forward to next Saturday’s visit to Bootham Crescent. The game will probably be crap and we may well lose if we play as badly as we have been doing lately, but York must be the best trip in the country if you are an away supporter. There are loads of good pubs – far too many to mention here – but if you’re going, turn left out of the station and follow the road as it turns right, passing under the City wall. Lendal Bridge is 200 yards in front of you and the best pub in York (The Maltings) is to the right of the bridge near the traffic lights.

To get to the ground, cross the bridge, turn left at the lights (past the Theatre Royal), and left at the next lights. There is another good pub behind the Theatre Royal called The Hole In The Wall, but the ones nearer to the ground I would avoid. I know a few Blues are making a weekend of it, so if you want anything to do after the game, the York Brewery is well worth a visit and they do tours every hour (2 minutes walk from the station). If anyone is planning on driving to the game, re-consider and go on the train as you probably won’t get parked anyway.

CITY MUSEUM

Re: the exchange about the City museum in the last newsletter…

Seems to me that City already have a museum, open to the public, where people can go to revisit the memories and glories of the past and where – as in all museums – the future has no place. It’s called Maine Road.

We could even keep the crest over the front entrance, MCFC – The Museum of City’s Fabulous Century (give or take a few decades). And yes, we could keep the grass cut and have plastic replicas of the best 11 of the past 100 years – and Joe Mercer and Big Mal on the touchline.

The curators would obviously need input… anyone want to pick the team? Best ask your dads and grandads – and mums and grandmas, of course.

USED TO BE BLUE, USED TO BE BAD!

I know this happens again and again and just depresses everyone even more but more examples of ex-Blues doing well have to be mentioned and moaned about.

Miraculously Uwe is a European Cup super-star, even bloody Mikhail Kavelashvili is playing UEFA cup football and may have scored against Bordeaux in the last round. And a certain Michael Hughes who has orchestrated Wimbledon victories over Chelsea and Liverpool in recent weeks is surely going to be the tormentor-in-chief against us (he was good for us too but the point is that he’s gone), supposing we overcome the might of Darlington.

Truth is, it really will never end.

OPINION – MANSFIELD GAME

Wright, Jeff Whitley, Tiatto, Fenton, Rimmer, Vaughan, Brown, Pollock, Madge, Taylor & Heaney.
Subs were: Bailey, Jim Whitley & Crooks.
(thanks to Carol Darvill and other for the team)

Look at the team: all barring Rimmer, Bailey and Heaney have played this season of which most have been fairly regular at some stage. Rimmer is the only one (and Bailey the sub.) who haven’t played first team football before, so maybe they can be excused, as for the others…

It really is a indictment of the current side that allows them to get beaten by Mansfield the same team who lost to Southport on the previous Saturday. Does this prove that City really are a dog sh**e team? If they (players) can summon no pride or commitment for any sort of game, then they can all f*** off (sorry folks, but I’m feeling really p****d off, it’s an insult to the fans, this result just proves how low they’ve sunk, what prospects do we really have?), along with our glorious leader JR and the rest of the board. They insisted that “we” shouldn’t even be in this competition, eerrrmmm sorry, what gives them the divine right to be excluded, we’re a s**t team, in a s**t league, going nowhere, let’s lose this misconception of being a mighty team!

This competition, no matter how many of us don’t like it, is there to provide 2/3 Division teams a chance of getting to Wembley and earn a little more income. City should have gone out with the attitude of win at all costs, the trophy (and day trip to Wembley) should have been there for the taking. But no, the team rolls over and dies!

So not only are we struggling in Division 2 (Division 3 in old money), out of the League and Autoglass cups, we played in front of 3,000, whereas the following night we had to endure the scum, playing in the European Cup against Bayern Munich, in front of a capacity crowd, with millions watching on the TV and to cap it all they qualify for the quarter finals and are installed as 3rd favourites for the trophy. Just how much further do we have to slip? If ever you wanted to see the gulf of difference between the teams, then all it took was 24 hours! Just how much more do we have to endure? It’s about time the club realised how far we’ve sunk and really got their act together to get City back on the up! If not 3/4/5k attendances may be the norm rather than the exception! It’s a bleak future…

OPINION – DUTCH

Once again. I’m going to fill this space with my Dutch opinions, ’cause as I never ever have seen them play (only in that brilliant cup match against Man. Utd., the time when wonderboy Kinkladze played probably one of his best matches ever…). But apart from that I don’t have any idea why it is going so desperately wrong with Man. City. Is it the players (who are the worst players in the squad anyway?) or is it the coach Royle, who according to all the mails in the MCIVTA, nobody seems to like and wants to get rid of?

And who is going to change all of this? Are supposed to get a new coach in? Try to get Wim Janssen (the one who made Celtic champions) or get Roy Evans perhaps? Or do we have to get new players in? Midfielders? But I do think we need strikers and I don’t think that Gareth Taylor is going to mean a big deal to us.

So I would like to start some sort of a poll to see what’s the opinion of the readers on what players should be brought in and gotten rid off. So if you all send me your top3 to be MC-players and your Top 3 never to be a City-player-again, I can make a list and send it back to MCIVTA.

OPINION – WORST TEAM EVER

Re: Mansfield et al.

It’s about time that Royle/Chris Bird etc. realised that we are not just guesting in this Division and having a laugh for a season… this is our level.

Mansfield were out on the pitch, training as a team 45 minutes before kick off. They took it seriously. Where were we? What does Royle mean when he says that it is a competition we can do without… surely it was our only chance of reaching Wembley in the forseeable future or has he put a wedge on us in the Axa-sponsored FA Cup at 500-1… it’s time for him to go, it’s time for City to realise that we are a Second Division team with Third Division players. How embarrassing would it be if we got promoted this season?

I have watched City since 1961 and this is the worst team in living memory. Remember when we used to sit in the pub compiling our worst City XI of all time, laughing about Gordon Davies/Barry Silkman etc.? Well look no further, this is it. We the fans are taken for granted, nothing willl change while we are still prepared to watch this s*** week after week. I can guarantee that next season when we are still in this division there will be no more than 14,000 average at home games.

OPINION – CITY’S DEMISE

I thoroughly echo the sentiments of Paul Cooper and Simon Fink in MCIVTA 457.

Where will it all end? Probably Division 3! When will Joe Royle see what the majority of City fans are seeing week in, week out – a very poor team with no hope of promotion and no pride in their blue shirts. Can anyone tell me why he persists with Tony Vaughan (can’t play football) and Gary Mason (too lightweight)? Why doesn’t he play Paul Dickov in midfield from the start? He’ll run and harrass and add a bit more bite. Why persist with long balls from the back?

After supporting City for 40 years, my patience is wearing very thin indeed!

OPINION – BORING

Boring:

B is for Boring, Bloody awful.
O is for Obviously not Top 2 material, Off their game, Out of touch.
R is for Right Royle F*** Up, Rubbish.
I is for Incapable, Inept.
N is for No balls, Nil-Nil again, No bloody wingers
G is for Gutless, Garbage.

Excuses? Well, Joe/Willie, frankly we’ve heard them all for 21 matches now, same old same-o, they don’t wash any more.

Blamin’ the fans for booing, cheap way of deflecting attention from their inept decisions being (1) moaning about Hignett’s price then paying almost the same for a Goater clone instead; (2) still no f*****g wingers* … we all spotted the bleeding obvious problem weeks ago; (3) transfer listing Murt… unbelievable.

* I wonder how Joe would have felt if he, Brian Kidd and Mike Channon had have played up front in the 70’s without Tueart and Barnes on the flanks? He too then would have had to learn to use his feet!

And Willie should know more than most what a left back is! Surely he can’t spot one in our current squad?

Latest quote from Joe: There’s still half a season yet.

Frightening thought after what we’ve already been thru isn’t it?

Show us some guts (and I don’t mean Pollock’s waistline either).

OPINION – THOSE CITY FANS WE CALL THE BOARD

It seems to me that it is about time that nice chairman of ours and his City-mad mates who call themselves the board are showing all the ambition of lemmings come the cliff-diving championships. They are quite willing to see more and more of better players go, only to be replaced with more and more mediocrity. After following the Nick Leeson book of financial dealing (buy high and sell cheap) for so long, we now find ourselves in the position that little if any funds are available to buy the quality we need to get out of this godforsaken league. But do our beloved board change the habit of a lifetime and stump up any of their own funds to turn our fortunes around? No they disappear, no more calling local radio stations crying about our downfall, just good old anonymity.

As the club lurches from one disaster to the next, they watch in silence, each as culpable as the next, but none willing to do anything about it. Soon we will be coming to season ticket money time, this then followed by the launch of the new home shirt, and after relying on the crowd turning up no matter what, they may soon find that many are no longer willing to do that. Once this happens the only thing they will do is sell what few decent players we have left, and again replace these with more dross. This spiral could end up killing our beloved club. So what do I expect them to do? Well as I have already said, I believe the only way that this situation can be turned around is by the board between them stumping up the funds, without it being at the cost of our better players. If the board are not prepared to do this for the club they profess to love, then they should sell up to someone who is prepared to do so. I do not for one moment think any of them will do this, as after all there have been rumours over the last few years of takeovers going to the wall due to the board being unwilling to sell their shares. This can only be down to either their egos or their willingness to ride on someone else’s coat-tails to the promised land that is flotation.

We as fans (and our love for the club) are taken advantage of time and time again, but it is time for these so called millionaires to either put up or get out. I believe at the end of the day that we may have to force them out, and the only way to do this is to get a list of all the board members’ businesses and black them. One major shareholder would be susceptible to this now, this being Greenall’s. Greenall’s are currently under pressure from their own shareholders due to the downturn in their profits and I am sure that blacking of their pubs and hotels would put pressure on them to sell up.

I believe this action must start now before it is too late for our beloved club. The ball is in the board’s half, but if they do not put funds up soon, I think we will find another season in this division will destroy us, and we may end up worse next season.

OFFER – STOKE TICKETS

Stoke tickets – Centenary Suite

I have two spare tickets for the Centenary Suite for the Stoke game, Monday 28th December. Usual package (if you’ve been before), 3 course carvery, bar (not free), programme and seats on the third tier of the Kippax, plus a parking space in the Kippax car park.

Face value £65 each, don’t worry about the VAT, I’ve already paid it.

You’ll have to share our table I’m afraid and put up with the bad language, shouting etc. (that’s the wives!). There’s 3 of us together with our better halves. The missing 4th couple will be away, hence the spares.

BLUE HUMOUR

What does CITY stand for?

Championship In Three Years.

RESULTS

Second Division Results
Saturday, December 12 1998

Blackpool                 0-0  Wycombe Wanderers      2,990
Bournemouth               2-1  York City              4,863
Robinson (62)                  Cresswell (8)
Fletcher, S (74)
Fulham                    4-0  Burnley                9,983
Morgan (26, 37)
Hayles (58)
Peschisolido (73)
Lincoln City              0-0  Colchester United      4,513
Macclesfield Town         2-2  Luton Town             2,905
Sorvel (36)                    Douglas (3)
Tomlinson (46)                 Gray (90)
Manchester City           0-0  Bristol Rovers        24,976
Millwall                  1-1  Reading                6,058
Neill (33)                     Sarr (67)
Northampton Town          1-0  Chesterfield           5,282
Howey (71)
Notts County              2-3  Preston North End      5,096
Jones (og 55)                  Gregan (50)
Richardson (64)                Cartwright (52)
                               Harris (90)
Oldham Athletic           0-2  Walsall                4,195
                               Otta (4)
                               Rammell (33)
Stoke City                0-0  Gillingham            17,233
Wigan Athletic            1-1  Wrexham                3,440
Lee (70)                       Connolly (72)

Second Division Table
Up to and including Saturday, December 12 1998 (4:59pm)

                              HOME            AWAY
                         P  W  D  L  F  A   W  D  L  F  A   Pts   GS
Stoke City              21  7  2  1 15  5   7  0  4 15 10    44   30
Fulham                  20  7  2  1 21  8   6  1  3 11  8    42   32
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Walsall                 21  7  2  2 17 10   6  1  3 15 14    42   32
Preston North End       20  5  3  2 23 11   5  4  1 14 10    37   37
Gillingham              21  7  2  2 19  8   1  8  1 10 10    34   29
Chesterfield            20  9  0  1 18  4   0  5  5  3 10    32   21
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Bournemouth             19  6  3  0 20  6   2  3  5 11 15    30   31
Luton Town              19  5  2  1 10  3   3  4  4 16 18    30   26
MANCHESTER CITY         21  4  5  2 13  8   3  4  3 11 11    30   24
Reading                 20  4  5  1 14  9   4  1  5 10 17    30   24
Wigan Athletic          21  5  3  3 16  7   3  2  5 11 14    29   27
Millwall                21  4  6  1 13  8   3  2  5  7 14    29   20
Blackpool               21  4  4  3 15 12   3  3  4 10 13    28   25
Wrexham                 21  6  3  3 15 12   0  4  5  6 16    25   21
Colchester United       20  3  3  3  6  9   3  4  4 13 14    25   19
York City               21  3  5  2 14 12   3  1  7 12 24    24   26
Bristol Rovers          21  5  4  2 19 13   0  5  5  5 12    24   24
Burnley                 21  5  3  2 11  9   1  2  8 11 25    23   22
Notts County            20  3  2  5 13 15   2  4  4 10 13    21   23
Northampton Town        21  2  6  2 11 11   2  3  6  8 12    21   19
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Macclesfield Town       21  2  4  4  9 11   2  4  5 10 17    20   19
Oldham Athletic         21  3  2  6 11 17   1  3  6  8 17    17   19
Wycombe Wanderers       21  3  2  6 12 12   0  5  5  4 14    16   16
Lincoln City            21  2  2  6 13 18   1  2  8  7 20    13   20

Second Division Top Scorers
Up to and including Saturday, December 12 1998

                                     FA   Lge
                                Lge  Cup  Cup  Euro   Other  Total
Stein (Bournemouth)             10    1    5     0      0     16
Cresswell (York)                11    3    0     0      0     14
Payton (Burnley)                11    2    1     0      0     14
Asaba (Gillingham)              10    0    1     0      1     12
Horsfield (Fulham)               9    2    1     0      0     12
Hayles (Fulham)                 10    0    1     0      0     11
Rammell (Walsall)               10    0    1     0      0     11
Barlow (Wigan)                   8    1    1     0      1     11
GOATER (MAN CITY)                8    1    2     0      0     11
Gray (Luton)                     6    2    3     0      0     11
Williams (Reading)               9    0    0     0      0      9
Shaw (Millwall)                  7    0    1     0      1      9
Aldridge (Blackpool)             6    1    2     0      0      9
Cureton (Bristol Rovers)         6    1    1     0      1      9
Davis (Luton)                    5    2    2     0      0      9

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

MCIVTA ADDRESSES:
Contributions: Ashley – mcivta@tollbar.u-net.com
News & Rumours: Peter – brophpe@moscow.whitecase.com
Subscriptions & Club Questions: Steve – sbolton@buxtonrd.u-net.com
Technical Problems: Paul – paul@city-fan.org

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.

Ashley Birch, mcivta@tollbar.u-net.com

Editor: