Newsletter #1201

After the last minute drama of Sunday’s FA Cup game, the reserves and youth team were both in winning form this week, with wins over Blackburn Rovers and the Rags respectively.

Don brings us news on the wins this week, reaction to Sunday’s game and post-match interview. Match report on the reserves to follow, but tonight we have a neat twist on match watching from Andy who was Sky Sports Commentator for the day vs. Charlton.

Opinion continues on the renewals, standing and players plus the usual requests.

It appears that FA Cup Player of the Round vote has been hijacked by those cheeky scousers, so if you haven’t yet voted for Micah Richards then do so here: http://www.thefa.com/. The replay has now been confirmed as 14th March, 7.45pm and if we get through that we are likely to play on 20th March against either Bolton or WHU.

Finally, apologies for the delay in Thursday’s issue, especially to those with ticket requests, which proved unavoidable due to hospitalisation.

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

We Beat United… Again! It was a triumphant night at the COMS tonight as City marched through to the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup. The defeated team were wearing Red shirts and hail from Stretford, I believe. City were without inspirational captain Micah Richards who, after his first team heroics on Sunday, was rested. The only goal of the game came on 85 minutes, and was scored by Kelvin Etuhu. Team: Matthewson; Obeng, Logan, Williamson, Breen; Marshall, Williams, Johnson, Moore; Etuhu, Sturridge (C. Evans 66).

FA Cup Schedule Revealed: Who says TV rules the fixture list? City have confirmed that the FA Cup fifth-round replay against Aston Villa will be played on either March 14 or 15. The tie had originally been pencilled in for March 8, but with only two draws among the eight ties, the game will now be shown live on TV. And should City win, they have very little time to prepare for the Sixth Round. A home tie with either Bolton or West Ham awaits, with the game likely to be played on Monday March 20. In a move which fans surely hope doesn’t continue, the quarter-finals are scheduled to be played one-per night, from March 20 to 23. This apparently frees up time later in the season to aid England’s World Cup preparations, but also has the side affect of slicing the sixth round into bite-sized chunks for TV.

Inter-No-No: Earlier in the season, when results weren’t thrilling, SP threatened to take his players into the mid-summer hell they call the Intertoto Cup, in order to secure European football next season. Psycho has relented, however, and has decided not to inflict an early start to next term – City haven’t entered the competition. “Myself and the coaching staff sat down and talked about it, and credit here to the Chairman and the board because they were quite happy to leave it to me as a footballing decision,” he revealed this week. “We had to look at everything, like it would be an early start to pre-season, and if you went out in the early rounds of the Intertoto you could not have a ‘back- up’ pre-season, which would then blow your pre-season out of the water. The players would have to be back that little bit earlier, the size of our squad and the number of games we might have to play in the Intertoto meant that with all things considered we felt it would be too much of a strain on our playing squad, and quite honestly it could be detrimental to our league form.”

Plenty in Reserves: And still they win. Goals from the dynamic duo of Ishmael Miller and BWP ensured that the reserves secured yet another win this week, this time in a visit to Morecambe FC to play Blackburn Rovers. The game finished 2-1 in favour of the Blues, and saw a run out for the young full-backs Danny Mills and Ben Thatcher. He game was marred by an early injury to Danny’s son Matthew, who limped off before half-time (sorry Danny!). “I was pleased, especially because we have now got some lads back with a bit of fitness behind them. Danny, Ben and Willo have another game under the belt on what was not the best of pitches, but we played the conditions quite well. Bradley got a goal from a tap-in, which we have been asking him to do, Ishmael got another goal but unfortunately we picked up an injury from what was a poor late tackle. All in all, I’m pleased,” were the considered musings of coach Steve Wigley. A late tackle caught mills the Younger, who joined the Blues in the transfer window from Southampton, although the extent of the damage is not yet known. Wigley used the game to introduce triallist Tyrone Kirk. Wigley said: “Tyrone is someone we are having a look at for a few days, every now and then we have a triallist in. We’re always looking at players, whether they are from abroad or from England.” Team: Weaver, D. Mills, Thatcher, M. Mills (Ward 39), D’Laryea, Croft, Laird, Ireland (Grimes 80), Flood, Miller, Wright-Phillips (Kirk 61). Subs: Kirk, Schmeichel.

Flood Fear: Many thanks to Ian Buckley, who brought this nasty tale to my attention. Poor Willo Flood – the story was in the M.E.N. this week: “CITY STAR’S NIGHTMARES AFTER TERROR RAID – Dan McMullan. Manchester City footballer Willo Flood has been left with “recurring nightmares” after a drug-crazed knifeman broke into his house and threatened to kill him, a court heard. The 21-year-old player is no longer able to live alone and has had counselling to try to recover from his terrifying ordeal… Manchester Crown Court heard how he was at his home in Wythenshawe in December, when burglar Paul Forden entered the house. Forden, 29, who was high on drugs, threatened him with a knife and spent 20 minutes frogmarching him around the house… Yesterday Forden, of Lownorth Road, Woodhouse Park, Wythenshawe, was jailed for eight years after he pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary. He also received a two-year sentence for an earlier, separate burglary which will run concurrently… William Baker, prosecuting, said: “Mr Flood was left feeling shocked, upset and unsafe in his own home and felt targeted. His character has changed from confident and carefree, he is nervous and has recurring nightmares about being stabbed in his own bed. He thinks it occurred because people think he has a lot of money but, as he says: `Not everyone is David Beckham’.”

Ex-Blues’ News

Curle Unfurled: Oh dear, Keith Curle’s managerial career took another step backwards this week, as League Two strugglers Chester City sacked “Oooh Curley Wurley” after their latest loss. His nine-month tenure ended after Chester were beaten 2-0 by Leyton Orient – their 11th defeat in 12 games. Chester’s miserable recent run of form has left them just four points above the drop zone. It’s a far cry from the beginning of December, when Chester were promotion play-off contenders and it was reported that Chester chairman Steve Vaughan was to offer manager Curle an improved contract. Curle’s contemporary at Maine Road, Nicky Summerbee this week continued his slide down the league ladder when he joined Conference side Tamworth. The Lambs had a slice of FA Cup glory this season, taking local rivals Stoke City to a replay in the Third Round. Tamworth are in need of a bit of League glory now, as they find themselves third from bottom in the Conference. Thirty four year old Summerbee has been a free agent since leaving Tranmere Rovers last November.

Mack Back Setback: Crystal Palace are sweating over the future of Jon Macken as the striker continues to struggle with a persistent back injury. The 28-year-old has had a tough time in South London since leaving City last summer and has only managed 13 appearances for the Eagles, bagging just two goals in the process. Apparently Jonny keeps breaking down with the problem and boss Iain Dowie admits the situation is becoming a big worry for all concerned at the club. “It’s becoming a grave concern for us,” Dowie said. “It’s happened four times this year, and Jon is understandably very down about it. It is a real problem.”

Buyten the Bullet: I’m grateful to my brother Andrew who sent me this pithy yet insightful email tonight. It recalls a player who graced the COMS for a brief shimmering moment, but who was lost due to the financial restraints of the latter KK years. This haiku poem of a UEFA Cup match report goes as follows:
Subject: Damn, he was good.
Hamburg 2 – 0 FC Thun L
D Van Buyten 1
D Van Buyten 32

Reactions and Comments

Micah’s Rescue Act: Micah Richards headed an injury-time equaliser in only his second senior game to earn Manchester City a deserved FA Cup replay against Aston Villa, who had led through Milan Baros. There were only seconds remaining when Richards powered home Joey Barton’s corner to cancel out Baros’ 72nd-minute goal for the home side. City had a host of chances (it looked like it should have been about 8-0 at half-time to your correspondent, but admittedly he had beer goggles on in a local hostelry) but they failed to take them and it looked like proving costly until Richards struck at the death. Micah was understandably ecstatic at the end. “It was brilliant just to be in the squad, I did not think I would be in the starting XI because it was a very important game,” he said. “I thought I did well, and then at the end I got the goal, and there’s nothing more I could ask for! I had a header cleared off the line in the first half, and as Joey crossed it in I just thought I had to get my head on it. Fortunately it came onto my head and it went into the back of the net, and it’s just incredible really! I ran into the fans, it was a great feeling. They were magnificent, you could hear our fans more than their fans at times. We had chance upon chance upon chance, but that’s football!”

“Flippin’ Heck!” SP revealed he was disappointed his side did not win comfortably, let alone salvage a late draw. “It’s not anger, I’m frustrated we did not win 3-1 or 4-1,” said Pearce. “But I’m relieved we have got a second chance in this tie and I’m proud of the players. Credit to us, we were honest in our endeavour to get the goal, even though we had to wait until the last kick. If we’d have got our noses in front we’d have run out comfortable winners.” Micah’s exuberance got him into a spot of bother – first as Birmingham-born Richards was booked after celebrating with the Blues supporters and then as he blurted out an F-word when interviewed on television about his heroics. Cue Garth Crooks telling the lad off on telly, and a grovelling apology from Gary Lineker thereafter. But Pearce laughed off Richards’ behaviour: “I think Micah was born in Birmingham! A lot use that word. There was a fellow behind me using it all afternoon against me. That’s where that comes from! At 17, having got his first goal in big-time football, I’ll forgive him. I’ll have a quiet word next time I see him and say ‘next time you score, tone your language down’, but I’m delighted for him.” As for Richards’ goal celebrations, Pearce joked: “We hardly brought any supporters and I’m very surprised after scoring in the last minute that Micah decided to jump into the crowd! If I’d a yellow shirt on, I’d have been in there first myself!”

Meanwhile, at a Different Game… Losing the lead so late proved too much for Villa boss David O’Leary, who sent his assistant Roy Aitken to speak to the press afterwards. “The manager is so frustrated he can’t talk,” said the Scot. Clearly Mr. O’Leary was suffering from amnesia, he apparently failed to mention the pasting his team took in the first half. “I’m frustrated and angry,” continued Aitken. “We had the game in the bag. When we went ahead, I thought we were the ones who were more likely to score again,” fumed Aitken. “The first-half performance was well below par and it was something we spoke about at length during half-time. In the second half we were pleased with the way we responded but we have looked vulnerable at set plays all season. We have paid again. It’s something we have to keep working on because it has proved very costly. But we don’t think our chance has gone. We will look forward to the replay and our away form has generally been better than our home form this season. We had a disappointing result earlier in the season against Manchester City at their place but generally on our travels we have performed well.”

Squad News

Kasper Joins Casper: (Well, every other tabloid had a variation on that headline, so why the heck shouldn’t we?) Kasper Schmeichel has joined Bury on loan for a month. The 19-year-old ‘keeper impressed during a four-match stay at Darlington in January, when he only conceded one goal. He will join Chris Casper’s side, currently third from bottom of the second division but unbeaten in three games, and he will be looking to gain some more invaluable experience in the wake of his good showing in the north-east.

Youth Cultured: David James believes that City are building on solid foundations such is the proficiency of their youngsters. “From my time at West Ham, I have seen the likes of Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Jermain Defoe and Michael Carrick,” James told the Daily Express. “And at the moment, City’s youth set-up might be even better than that because we have a lot of players coming through who are producing good stuff. In some respects they are making life easier for Stuart Pearce because he doesn’t have to worry about spending millions of pounds on replacing talent.”

Joey Predicts: Ever modest Joey Barton is hoping to win his first call-up to the England squad this weekend. “I am happy to be mentioned as possibly making the England squad, but I am really concentrating on my game at City,” Barton told skysports.com. “I am like anyone else, I would love the chance to play for my country having played for the Under-21s. If it happens I would be delighted and it would be real bonus to make the squad.”

OPINION: MATCH STATS

“Oh Micah, you’re so fine, you score a goal in added time, hey Micah”

FA Cup 5th Round
Aston Villa 1 Manchester City 1
Villa Park
Sunday February 19th 2006, Kick-off 18:30
Attendance: 23,847

Team Changes: Jordan, Sibierski and Samaras replace Sommeil, Sinclair and Cole.
Line-up: James, Richards, Dunne, Distin, Jordan, Sibierski (Croft, 80), Barton, Musampa, Riera, Samaras, Vassell (B. Wright-Phillips, 83).
Unused subs: Weaver, Ireland, Sommeil.

Goal times: (72) 0-1 Baras; (94) 1-1 Richards.
Bookings: Dunne (30), Barton (80), Richards (95), Musampa (95).
Sent off: None.
Referee: G. Poll.

Stats point: Villa’s goal was the 400th that City have conceded in all 306 F.A. Cup matches.

OPINION: SKY SPORTS FANZONE EXPERIENCE

So, what do you want to be when you grow up son? A train driver? A vet? A teacher? A famous footballer? As much as I would love to have run out for City in a number 7 shirt on Saturdays, the truth was my footballing skills were never as good as my desire or love for the game. Now, a football commentator has an appeal though. Trouble was though, my school careers advisers was unable to accept that there was even such a job as a “Football commentator”. “Hmm, that’s not coming up on my list. Why don’t you consider a job in teaching? Good salary”

So my dream never came true. I was destined to be a teacher (amongst other careers), until that is Sunday 12th February 2006.

For those of you who don’t know, whenever Sky show a live Premiership match, they have this thing, at the press of a red button called “Fanzone”, where you can listen to the fans of both teams “commentating” on the match.

At the beginning of the season I contacted Sky, providing my details, who my favourite player was (Colin Bell and Bert Trautmann), favourite ever City match (the play-off final against Gillingham) and why I wanted to commentate on Fanzone. The months passed by, and I had almost forgotten about this, until I got a call on the 9th Feb. “Hi, this is Martin from Sky Sports. Are you still interested in commentating on a Manchester City match?” Is the Pope Catholic? So, a quick “interview” took place, and to cut a long story short I was offered the chance of commentating on the City vs. Charlton match, which I immediately agreed to.

So, I spent the next few days researching as much info as I could on past City vs. Charlton matches. I didn’t want to appear amateur or unprofessional, and I figured a few back up notes might come in useful.

The big day came. I slept very little the night before. Bit like an excited child on Christmas Eve. I left my house at 10am and set off for Manchester airport, half expecting to bump into the odd City fan that would be thinking, “He’s going the wrong way, the match is at Eastlands, not The Valley”. Ah, little did they know that I was off to the Sky Sports studios for my 15 minutes of fame (well, 90 actually). Nice flight. Only 45 minutes. Business class as well. I was then picked up at Heathrow by my driver and transported over to the studios where I was met Martin (a West Ham fan) who briefed me on the do’s and don’ts of Fanzone commentating. No swearing. Celebrate every goal like it’s the most important goal ever in City’s history. Great, no swearing, how do I manage that? I think I was 4 years old when I started effing and blinding at the referee. How do I get over-excited against Charlton Athletic? Oh god, I’m going to die, live, on national TV, in front of millions. So, the excited 12 year old was now turning into a jibbering, nervous wreck.

Twenty minutes to go before kick off. I’ve just met Luke (the Charlton fan); we discuss the mediocrities of City and Charlton. I mention a few numbers like 5-2 or 5-1. A bit more banter takes place, before we are whisked off into our little booth, complete with monitors and John Motson microphones. Martin explains a few more things, like whenever the red button/light is on this means we are on air. Press this for this, that for that etc. Then suddenly, a voice comes over the headphones, “Two minutes gentlemen”. Oh my god, two minutes, what am I doing here? Be calm Andy, you’ll be fine, just pretend you’re in the pub with your mate. Oh my god, there’s no pool table or beer! “Twenty seconds gentleman. Ten, nine, eight…”

“Hello, good afternoon, and welcome to The City of Manchester Stadium, where today, the mighty Blues of Manchester take on Charlton Athletic. My name is Andy Wedge and this is my co-commentator Luke Kerr.”

And that was it. Nerves gone. This is a going to be a doddle. Except very little happened in the first half; Dunney’s goal apart. So we just chatted about how many points you would get in Scrabble for Radostin Kishishev or why Joey Barton thinks he’s the next Zinedine Zidane. Managed to get a dig in about the letter that was sent to City season ticket holders, banning them from their usual seats due to a liking of standing up at football. Whatever next? Manchester City Council banning swimming in public baths?

As you know, the second half was considerably more entertaining. So we actually had a game to commentate on. I won’t give you a match report; you’ll have read that elsewhere. I managed to embarrass myself with a solo rendition of “Blue Moon” at the final whistle though. The shame.

What can I say about the day? I was exceptionally well looked after. What an experience. I met Lou Macari (I know, I know, an ex-Red, I even shook his hand. I was nervous). But a new John Motson, or Andy Gray wasn’t born on Sunday 12th Feb 2006, but an excited 12 year old had the day of his life. “Thank you very much I’ve been Andy Wedge. Blue Moon”.

OPINION: RENEWALS

A few thoughts on the “Should I or shouldn’t I renew my season ticket?” debate:

Me and my wife are another two that will not be renewing our season tickets after this season. To be honest, the biggest reason is that we can’t really afford it, after recently having a baby and the Mrs now working part time. We don’t like the level of control television has over kick off times and have written two letters to John Wardle complaining about the 11.15am Sunday kick off (Everton) and neither letter has been replied to. The decision not to renew has been made much easier by seeing how easy it is to get tickets for league games now. In recent seasons you had to have either a season ticket or a citycard plus and have been to pretty much every home game in the current season to be able to get tickets for the derby, but I kept checking the website before the recent home derby and as the loyalty point criteria reduced, it still wasn’t selling out. Just a few days before the derby, there were still tickets available to access card holders with no loyalty points! In other words, we shouldn’t have any difficulty getting tickets for virtually any home game if we want to next season, without any loyalty points.

I then rang the club to ask whether all our hard earned season ticket and away game loyalty points would be transferred to a citycard if we got one instead next season, but the answer is no! You lose all the points you have stored up apparently. I then suggested that that means a citycard holder who went to a few home games in the previous season would therefore have a higher loyalty point status than a season ticket holder with years worth of points (you get a 100 points for each year you renew) and was told that every year, citycard and accesscard holders points balance goes back to zero. If that’s the case, I’m in the same boat as anyone else next season, so with all the empty seats we see at home games, I should be able to get tickets for any game and there’s little incentive to renew (apart from the fact that away tickets will be virtually impossible to get without the loyalty points you get with a season ticket).

On the standing up at games issue, I don’t think anyone has made reference to Tony Blair’s recent appearance on Football Focus (weekly footy programme on BBC1). He was asked if there was any chance of standing returning to football games and his answer was something like “that’s not going to happen.” If the prime minister is so black and white about it, unfortunately I can’t see the legislation that prevents standing currently, being changed in the near future. The other question that he answered in an uncharacteristically clear way was “If England win the world cup this year, can we have a national bank holiday?” Unfortunately, his answer was a simple “No”.

OPINION: PSYCHO FOR GEICO?

To our American readers: I assume many of you have seen the ads for Geico Insurance that feature their gecko mascot trying to recruit other reptiles into promoting the company. Am I the only one who thinks he sounds exactly like Pearce? Give a listen next time one of the spots comes on and try not to giggle as you picture him suddenly launching into talk about formations and the England job…

OPINION: CRAFT CROFTY

Just a thought on Sunday’s game. I think Lee Croft deserves just as much credit as Micah for saving the game. Croft chased down a lost cause and managed to win the corner that resulted in Micah’s goal. Until then it was looking like a typical game that we all became used to under Keegan, only this time the team showed their character after going a goal down and never gave up.

The dream lives on.

OPINION: BIG SAM

I wonder if anyone else is already having some doubts about our expensive new signing? Granted that I have only seen him the once (the Villa game) but I was not impressed. He seemed lacking in touch, slow, not able to hold the ball and not even that good in the air, considering his height. A ‘raw talent’ or another famous waste of money? I would be interested in other people’s views.

OPINION: POINTS OF BLUE MEETING

The meeting notes in the last edition mentioned the “standing” issue:

The comment about two rows being cleared to allow access for stewards is utter rubbish. The two rows in front of us and in Block 118 at the Charlton game had been criss-crossed with red/white barrier tape, so access was not possible and could have resulted in a trip and fall had stewards attempted access.

OPINION: THE BIG DEBATE I

With regards to the standing issue at Eastlands, why don’t we all just do what the club want us to do for one game against Sunderland? By that, I mean why don’t the fans who normally get behind the team in the traditional way just remain seated and stay silent for the entire 90 minutes? And when City score, just remain in your seat and applaud politely!

After all, we’re playing bottom of the league in the most unattractive fixture of the entire season and it’s scheduled for a 1:30 kick-off on a Sunday to suit the TV cameras, so I would imagine the attendance/atmosphere will be pretty poor anyway.

Therefore, I think this would be an ideal opportunity for everyone to make a point and give the club a taste of what the future might hold if they allow the authorities to get their way. And seeing as though it’s only Sunderland, perhaps we shouldn’t be too worried about the negative effect of such a protest on the result.

If the Mackems do somehow manage to register only their second win of the campaign, then surely this sends out an even bigger message to those at the club who must start taking notice.

Just try to imagine a football match without a single chant of support from the home fans. The silence would be eerie and, in respect of making the point, it would also be quite deafening.

Meanwhile, to the boys at Bluewatch, I think the idea of placing a banner on the seats that have been made unavailable in the South Stand is a cracking one. As for the message, I think it should play on the irony that our manager cannot sit down for two seconds because he’s probably the most passionate gaffer in the Premiership.

How about: “Can you sit down, Stuart? We don’t have a choice.”

OPINION: THE BIG DEBATE

The club stand to lose out on a load of Season Ticket revenue, attendances will be significantly down next year and the ‘atmosphere’ will be even worse unless there is a volte-face regarding ‘persistent standing’. It is high time that we seek the club and the police’s approval for designated standing areas, probably in the block next to the away fans. Those in that block that don’t want to sit down will have to move to the nearest available area. I know this will not please some sitting in the standing area but there is a divergence of thought on sitting/standing so a compromise has to be thrashed out.

This is going to require some work on the part of the club in terms of police liasion, but they have a duty to keep their fans happy, and the ticket office is also obliged to do its job. Upon approval, they should seek new applications for the designated area and offer the chance to move for those who want to stand there.

Home fans standing up is not a crime and it is safe where there are measures (such as allocated seat positions!) to avoid congestion and overcrowding. The club need to look at the welter of support for this and act.

OPINION: DELOITTE’S VIEW

Here’s the extract from the report on “Richest Clubs” from Deloitte’s about City:

17. Manchester City €90.1m (£60.9m)
Position 03/04: 16
Revenue 03/04: €93.5m (£61.9m)
Following their first appearance last year, Manchester City consolidate their place in the Deloitte Football Money League in 2004/05, despite revenue falling by €3.4m to €90.1m (£60.9m). The club experienced an improvement in on-pitch performance in 2004/05, finishing eighth in the Premiership, although there was no participation in Europe and disappointment in the domestic cup competitions.

City received €29.6m (£20.0m) from domestic broadcasting contracts as a result of its eighth placed finish, with broadcasting income totalling €38.7m (£26.1m) representing 43% of total revenue. The club continues to benefit from large attendances at the City of Manchester Stadium – average Premiership attendance was over 45,000 – which contributed to matchday revenues of €22.3m (£15.1m), whilst the club negotiated a two-year extension to its shirt sponsorship deal with Thomas Cook worth a reported €4.4m (£3m).

With a new stadium and improved domestic league performance, the challenge for City is to sustain this improvement with qualification for European competition and prolonged runs in domestic cup competitions to generate further revenue growth.

OPINION: OPEN LETTER FROM DON

Dear Alistair,
Cc: John Wardle, Paul Tyrell, Stuart Pearce

As a lifelong City fan, it pains me to say this, but I no longer have the buzz about City, and for this reason, like many other fans, will not be renewing my season ticket.

I started to realise that ordinary fans are of no concern to the club when I started to receive letters from Paul Tyrell telling me what I could and couldn’t do.

He told me I couldn’t write directly to yourself, chairman or manager, that I couldn’t ask people to get things signed for our charity work from Carrington.

In fact, I am still appalled that we were charged £50 for a signed shirt, even though the money raised from this went straight to the Youth Academy. The policy of stopping players and officials attending branch meetings really ‘put the knife in’ and meant for the first time in ten years, our branch was not in a position to do a fundraiser for Henshaws for the Blind children’s Christmas party.

I know that the chairman, manager and yourself really try to help the fans, but it might be the case that I am from a different generation of fans, who want to enjoy themselves at a game – and not just sit down like a robot.

Although facilities are a million miles better than they were years ago, I expected better from a state of the art, brand new stadium.

I have thought of once again attending Points of Blue meetings but I feel that 99% of what they request is only paid lip service to.

Although I have a season ticket for this season, I have opted to see a few of the games at the pub and must say, it is a much better experience at times. I will continue supporting City, and continue attending home and away games, but now it will be at my choosing.

I also look forward to the pre-season tours and a good run in Europe, as I am quite confident that the team will finish in a strong position.

Next season though I refuse to pay for a City card so it will be difficult to attend some games, but that is the policy which you have decided to go along with, and that is why it makes it increasingly difficult for some fans to attend some games, and why others just give up trying.

Hope to see you in Cardiff, and really hope that the club get in tune with ordinary fans before a drift away from the club becomes an exodus.

All the best for the rest of the season,

P.S. If you could get me a signed Richard Dunne match shirt, I will donate £250 to Henshaws for the Blind.

REQUEST: LIVERPOOL TICKETS WANTED

1 or 2 tickets wanted for Liverpool away this Sunday. Can meet at ground on matchday, collect in or around Manchester area or pay for postage. Please call 07973 777969 or email.

REQUEST: PORTSMOUTH TICKETS AVAILABLE

I have two tickets for Portsmouth away on 11th March They are £30 each. Please call 07944 775022 or email.

REQUEST: BRISTOL BLUES VIEWING

Are there any Bristol based Blues out there who would like to get together to watch the cup game between City and Villa?

REQUEST: SYDNEY BLUES VIEWING

I am currently in New Zealand as part of a round-the-world trip – it usually involves staying up at all hours to watch any live games that are occasionally broadcast on Sky out here!

From March 8th though I am heading to Sydney so am very keen to know if the Villa replay will be shown live in Ozzie, and if so can anyone recommend a Sydney bar that might be showing it given that it will be six in the morning?

THANKS: NEW YORK BLUES

Can I send a quick note to say a big thank you to Donny and gang in New York for making me feel welcome for the Villa game in Nevada Smiths pub. I feel sorry for the 4 fans who were flying back on the day and had to leave 10 minutes from the end.

REQUEST: PLAY-OFF DVD

I wrote to Sky Sports to ask when they would release the 1999 Play-Off final between Man City and Gillingham, the reply was go to http://www.fremantlehomeentertainment.com as they own the marketing rights; the more us Blues write in the better. I was told this company is demand-led so get writing.

REQUEST: FANS’ VOTE

Vote for Gareth Hayes, a true Blue at http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/sport/fotm_vote.shtml

REQUEST: KIT FOR AFRICA

Friends of ours have recently returned from holiday in The Gambia where they visited a school and got talking to the headmaster and some of the children. They have come back inspired by what they saw – children who walk 3 hours to get to the school and who have very little of the things that our youngsters take for granted. They are planning to try to help this school and one of the ways they could do this is by sending football kit – the children have a single ball with which to play and no special strips. The school colour is blue and having myself responded to a similar appeal a year or two ago – I thought I’d now ask MCIVTA readers for help. If you have any outgrown children’s kits (shirts specifically – suitable for up to age 11) that you are willing to donate to these children – please could you let me know. I think any kit would be welcome, but specifically blue ones; it’d be lovely to parcel up 11 shirts.

RESULTS

22 February 2006

Newcastle United      0 - 0  Charlton Athletic     50,451

19 February 2006

Tottenham Hotspur     2 - 2  Wigan Athletic        35,676

League table to 22 February 2006 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Chelsea         26 12  1  0 31  7  9  2  2 21  9 21  3  2  52  16  36  66
 2 Manchester Utd  26  8  3  1 25  8  8  3  3 27 19 16  6  4  52  27  25  54
 3 Liverpool       26 10  2  1 19  5  5  4  4 13 12 15  6  5  32  17  15  51
 4 Tottenham H.    27  8  5  1 22 10  4  5  4 15 14 12 10  5  37  24  13  46
 5 Arsenal         26  9  2  2 30  8  3  3  7  9 13 12  5  9  39  21  18  41
 6 West Ham United 26  7  1  5 22 16  5  4  4 17 18 12  5  9  39  34   5  41
 7 Blackburn R.    26  8  2  2 21 13  4  2  8 12 18 12  4 10  33  31   2  40
 8 Wigan Athletic  27  6  2  6 17 17  6  2  5 15 17 12  4 11  32  34  -2  40
 9 Bolton Wndrs    24  6  4  1 14  5  4  5  4 16 18 10  9  5  30  23   7  39
10 Manchester City 26  8  2  4 22 12  3  2  7 14 18 11  4 11  36  30   6  37
11 Everton         26  6  1  6 11 15  5  2  6  8 17 11  3 12  19  32 -13  36
12 Charlton Ath.   26  5  2  6 15 16  5  2  6 17 21 10  4 12  32  37  -5  34
13 Newcastle Utd   26  5  5  2 12  9  4  1  9 12 20  9  6 11  24  29  -5  33
14 Fulham          26  9  2  2 25 13  0  3 10 11 24  9  5 12  36  37  -1  32
15 Aston Villa     26  3  4  6 14 17  4  5  4 18 18  7  9 10  32  35  -3  30
16 Middlesbrough   25  4  5  5 20 24  3  2  6 13 20  7  7 11  33  44 -11  28
17 West Brom A.    26  6  1  6 19 15  1  4  8  5 23  7  5 14  24  38 -14  26
18 Birmingham City 25  3  2  7 14 16  2  3  8  7 21  5  5 15  21  37 -16  20
19 Portsmouth      26  2  5  6  8 16  2  1 10 10 29  4  6 16  18  45 -27  18
20 Sunderland      26  0  4 10  9 27  2  0 10  9 21  2  4 20  18  48 -30  10

MCIVTA FAQ [v0506.02]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

Articles (Heidi Pickup)          : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org
News/rumour (Don Barrie)         : 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 bu email. Unfortunately we cannot accept email attachments.

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

http://www.uit.no/mancity/ 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.

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

The official club web site can be found at http://www.mcfc.co.uk/

[5] What supporters’ clubs are there?

Manchester City FC recognises three supporters’ clubs: The “Official Supporters Club” (http://www.mcfcosc.com/); the “Centenary Supporters’ Association” (http://www.reddishblues.com/CSAWebsite/CSA.htm) and “The International Supporters’ Club”.

[6] Where can I find out about the fans’ committee?

The Fans’ Committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. The Fans’ Committee has been relaunched as “Points of Blue”. It has appeared on the club website as a minor entry under “Fans Zone”.

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

The GMR pre and post match phone-in is available on the web at http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/gmr/sport_intro.shtml.

Live match commentaries and archives of games, reports and interviews can be found at http://mcfc.videoloungetv.com/do/preLogin?clubSiteCode=MCFC&CMP=AFC-003.

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

http://www.satfootball.com/pl.html provides a listing of Premiership games being shown on UK domestic and foreign satellite channels. Useful sites for North American viewers are http://www.foxsportsworld.com/named/FSW/Index/Soccer, http://www.soccertv.com/, and http://www.livesoccertv.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.uit.no/mancity/players/

[11] Can I buy shares in the club?

Yes you can: Shares in Manchester City PLC are traded on OFEX. The latest prices can be on found the OFEX web site http://www.ofex.com/ (registration required) or in the business section of the Manchester Evening News.

[12] 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/.

[13] Where can I find a list of City-related websites?

Try Wookie’s Lair: http://www.wookieslair.com/modules.php?name=Web_Links

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: