Newsletter #1298

So, the transfer window closes and our new signings are revealed as Michael Ball and Djamel Abdoun. We have opinion on the signings, strikeforce and keeping progress tonight.

Don brings us news on more fixture changes, the reaction to Pearce and his on-off U21 affair, transfer movements and some ex Blues’ news.

We have plenty of opinion, which will provide more lively debate on season ticket renewals, attendances and the state of the good ship MCFC.

Meanwhile, that nice Mr Coppell visits on Saturday. I’m sure he’ll get a warm welcome from the fans 😉

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

Viva Las Eastlands! There’ll soon be a new way for City fans to fritter away their hard-earned cash. This week Manchester was chosen as the surprise location of Britain’s first Las Vegas-style super-casino, and it’ll be built on land next door to the good old COMS. The decision is a blow for Blackpool and London’s former Millennium Dome, which were the bookmakers’ favourites. The proposed site will also contain an entertainment complex with a range of facilities such as a multi-purpose arena, a swimming pool, an urban sports venue, restaurants, bars, a nightclub and a hotel. Stephen Crow, chairman of the independent Casino Advisory Panel, said Manchester had been chosen because of its “very thorough consultation” with the local community and “the way it dealt with questions of problem gambling. Manchester has a catchment area for a casino second only to that of London, and it is an area in need of regeneration at least as much as any of the others we observed,” he added. Councillor Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, said: “This is fantastic news for Manchester, and the region. Manchester has an unrivalled track record in the delivery of major regeneration schemes so we are confident we have the expertise to deliver a world-class venue, creating thousands of new jobs for local people.”

“I’m the New Coach”: Stuart Pearce found himself in one of the bigger football news stories this week, as he revealed that he’d been offered the coach’s job of England’s under-21 squad. The previous incumbent, Crystal Palace boss Peter Taylor, resigned from the U21 job on Thursday, and the day after SP gave the first inkling of what was going on behind the scenes. He said: “I’ve had a brief conversation with England at this stage and that’s as far as it is.” So could he juggle two jobs successfully? “Yes, I think so. I don’t think the word juggle comes into it. I listened to Peter Taylor on television last night in respect to his decision and the underlying current of what he was saying was he thought he could do both jobs but how it was perceived outside of his office was probably the reason he declined carrying on doing the job. The bottom line is I wouldn’t do anything that is detrimental to the job I do here but I believe anyone working with the Under 21s would have to gain a benefit At this stage I think until anything has been decided one way or another I think it’s folly to keep talking about it.” In announcing his resignation, Taylor cited the perception of a clash of interests with his rôle as Crystal Palace manager as one of the major reasons for his decision, although he was adamant that a manager could be a part-time England coach and have full-time responsibilities at a club. “It’s very possible to do the job on a part-time basis,” he told The Sun. “It didn’t get in the way of my job at Palace or before when I was at Hull. You’re talking about missing one or two days’ training, which doesn’t affect the team’s performance. People, unfortunately, think you are doing more than you are and the job gets in the way. But it doesn’t.”

“Oh No You’re Not”: After Sunday’s game with Southampton, Pearce was able to announce: “I have been offered the job and I have accepted it,” said Pearce. “Now, it is down to the club and the FA to both be comfortable with the situation. Hopefully they can finalise one or two things but I don’t see any reason why that should not be the case.” He said he would coach the team for two friendly matches this season, starting with Spain at Pride Park on February 6, as well as this summer’s European Under-21 Championships. This seemed to catch the club on the hop, because next day the following statement appeared on the club website. “The club has not given permission for our manager to be released for England duty. We recognise Stuart’s patriotism and enthusiasm to assist the Football Association and Manchester City in turn understands the FA’s desire to have him contributing to the Under 21s European Championship campaign. We will remain in dialogue with the FA and hope to reach a solution suitable to this club in the next few days.” Some newspapers were suggesting that City would only allow SP to the Under-21 side this summer, so the FA would use Newcastle coach Nigel Pearson for the two friendly matches in February and March.

“Oh Yes I Am:” Pearce meanwhile was highlighting the benefits of such a dual rôle to both himself and City, while stressing the fact that he would not be involved with England after the summer. “For me, it’s a fantastic honour and to work with the best young talent in this country and watch some of the best young talent in Europe would be very beneficial to the club, now it’s really just in the hands of the board of directors to come to some form of agreement that they feel is acceptable. Everyone’s very open-minded. The board of directors here have been very, very supportive to me – I think this club is very promotional in that respect. Now what I’ve always said is that it’s their decision to make, asked whether I’d like to do it; yes, I would it’s a great honour. It’s now down to the FA and the board to organise something between them, I don’t think the time constraints are particularly heavy between now and the summer. But whatever decision they come to I’ll get on and support. The bottom line is, if anything were to happen, it would be working for the Under-21s until the summer – finished, no further than that,” he continued. “That tournament (European Under 21s Championship) would be the last time. The club, in the brief negotiations they’ve had so far, have made that quite clear and I understand that. They’re in discussions as to how much time in season would be acceptable for me to be away. Once they come to an agreement over that obviously I’ll be in place or I won’t be in place.” Today Psycho’s appointment was confirmed. He’ll take charge of the England Under-21 team for next week’s friendly against Spain and this summer’s European Under-21s Championship finals. FA officials reached a compromise with City to install Pearce in the job. To allay City’s fears that the Gaffer would be distracted at a key stage of the Premiership campaign, he will miss an under-21 friendly in March. Pearce will be assisted by Newcastle coach Nigel Pearson.

Televisual Feast? City will face Preston North End in the FA Cup Fifth Round. The game will be played on Sunday February 18th, kick off 1.10pm. The odd kick-off time gives away that the match will be shown live on BBC TV – surely the Beeb don’t think there’ll be a Cup upset, do they? Preston are managed by former Blue Paul Simpson, who’s relishing a reunion with his first club. “It’s a fantastic draw for us,” Simpson told Sky Sports News. “I have wonderful memories of my time at Manchester City. We hope we’ll get a full house and it’s a great game to look forward to. It will be a very tough game though – I went to watch them in the replay against Sheffield Wednesday and they’re a good side, they’re obviously a recognised Premiership side but it’s a great game for us to look forward to.” Stuart Pearce knows it will be no cakewalk. “They have extremely good home form, won 10, drawn four and only lost one this season, so that itself speaks volumes. It’s going to be a tough game with a fantastic atmosphere there. It’ll be a derby of sorts and their fans will be up for the game. In the fifth round of the cup you’re never going to get an easy game, no matter who you’ve pulled out of the hat.”

Fixtures Un-fixed: City fans face further fixture jiggery pokery, thanks to the success of a couple of Cockney clubs. You may have noticed that unlike nearly all the Premiership clubs, City didn’t play in midweek. This is because they were due to play Arsenal, but the Gunners were facing Tottenham (with Mido) in the League Cup semi-finals. City were due to travel to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday February 14, but that date will have to be rearranged due to Arsenal’s FA Cup commitments. The Gunners will now travel to the Reebok Stadium for a FA Cup Fourth-Round replay against Bolton on that date. No new date for our game has been arranged. Also, the Chelsea fixture has been postponed from the original date of Saturday February 24 and no new date has been set. This is because of Chelsea’s progression to the Carling Cup Final.

Transfer News and Gossip

Ball’s to City: The January sales ended at midnight on Wednesday, and despite a huge amount of speculation, the Blues made only one signing this week – left-back Michael Ball, who has signed a 6-month contract. Although Ball was plagued by knee problems during an unhappy four-year stint at Rangers, he has been injury-free since his arrival in Holland two years ago. Ball’s arrival fills the left-back vacancy created by Ben Thatcher’s move to Charlton earlier this month. This meant that a prospective £2.5 million move for West Ham left-back Paul Konchesky came to nought. “It’s been a long time since I last played in the Premiership,” Ball told Sky Sports. “I had a good four years or so with Rangers and then over to Holland. So it’s nice to be back. To be in the best league in the world again is good. I needed to prove myself to City and fortunately enough they gave me the opportunity to train for a week. Obviously I’ve impressed enough to get a deal until the end of the season, which is what I wanted.”

Into the Arena: As was predicted when he left City, Claudio Reyna finally joined the New York Red Bulls this week. Reyna was lured home by former mentor Bruce Arena who is now head coach at the club and is exited by the challenge he faces in the new look MLS. Manager Arena said: “I am pleased that Claudio has agreed to sign with our club. Claudio is a proven player at the highest levels in the game and his experience and leadership skills will improve our team.” Reyna, 33, added: “I’m very excited to be coming back to play at home minutes from where I grew up. I look forward to playing for Bruce, who I have known for such a long time, and am excited about the whole opportunity.”

Isak’s Haze: There have been more expressions of discontent from Andreas Isaksson this week, as the Swedish international stopper is finding it hard being Nicky Weaver’s understudy. “I feel I am better than Weaver, it’s obvious that I feel that,” Isaksson told Swedish newspaper Expressen. “I still enjoy to train and it’s going well, but I would lie if I said it was not tough at times. There is no more I can do. The national team is not important right now. It’s here I am giving all my energy. If it continues like this, I will have to consider my situation at the end of the season.” There was some speculation that Isaksson might be leaving in January, but SP was having none of it. “Andreas is not leaving this club,” he said. “He is staying for the duration of his contract and, by that point, I am sure that he will have proved what quality I brought to the Premiership when I signed him. He is too good a goalkeeper not to. When he first came and joined us in the summer the training was a bit tougher than he was used to. But now the goalkeeping coach comes to me every day and says ‘he is ready’. He has been telling me that for two or three months. The only reason Andreas is not playing is Nicky’s form. I keep speaking with Andreas and tell him to be patient because his performances in training and reserve games have been outstanding.”

Mido-Life Crisis: On Friday, Stuart Pearce was very clear on his transfer targets. “We are very hopeful of getting a striker and we are certainly a lot closer than we were this time last week,” he said. “We are looking for something permanent and at this moment in time, we are looking for more than one.” Plenty of names were mentioned in the press – Middlesbrough’s Massimo Maccarone, and Chesterfield’s Caleb Folan to name just two. Maccarone’s agent revealed City had made an enquiry, while Folan signed for Wigan near deadline day. The main target, the tabloids agreed, was Spurs’ Egyptian forward Mido. There were rumours that SP was offering offer Sylvain Distin plus £3 million for Mido, or that John Wardle was digging into his own pocket to hand manager Stuart Pearce £3 million to land Spurs’ striker Mido. It was then reported that Spurs had agreed to the striker joining City, but not until the conclusion of Wednesday night’s Carling Cup semi-final. Mido came on a sub and scored a late equaliser, taking the game into extra time. The match finished just before 10.30, leaving just ninety minutes to the deadline – surely there wasn’t enough time for the deal to go through was there – well, no, there wasn’t, actually. Even talk of a late bid for Fulham’s Collins John proved to be fruitless. So City face the last few months of the season with the same strike force as they started the season. And the manager revealed today how close the Blues came to landing Mido. “The doctor was there waiting to do a medical, which tells you how advanced we thought it was,” said Pearce. “Then we get a call at 11.30 PM saying Spurs were pulling out. It was a bit of a bolt from the blue, that’s for sure.”

Ex-Blues’ News

This Charming Man: Former City and Rangers goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus has opted to join ex-team-mate Claudio Reyna in the USA. The 36-year-old penned a short-term deal with AZ Alkmaar on December 4 but has now opted to move stateside and join former City colleague Reyna at the New York Red Bulls. Waterreus played ten seasons at PSV Eindhoven and established himself as the Dutch number one before moving to Manchester for just one season. He then made the switch north of the border to Glasgow (slagging City off as he headed North of the Border) and was part of the squad that reached the knock-out stage of the Champions League for the first time in their history. However, he failed to agree a new deal at Ibrox in the summer of 2006 and left under a cloud after bad-mouthing the Scottish giants in a Dutch newspaper.

Reactions and Comments

Above Par Performance: City avoided an FA Cup shock on Sunday as they came from a goal down to comfortably beat Southampton 3-1 in their fourth round tie. The Championship side went ahead against Stuart Pearce’s Premiership performers when Kenwyne Jones struck after 23 minutes, but goals from Darius Vassell and Joey Barton ensured City were on top at half-time. On-loan PSV Eindhoven winger DaMarcus Beasley then guaranteed that City’s name would be in the hat for the last 16 by walking the ball into the back of the net after 70 minutes. SP thought that “We were well worth our victory. The players really showed that they wanted to go through. That is just one defeat in eight games now, which is pleasing for me and is credit to the players. We’d be delighted if we got a home tie next and we might have a couple of new faces in our side by then too. It was a tough tie and I knew it was going to be. They’ve got all the credentials of getting into the Premier League. I thought we came out of the traps brilliantly and showed a good tempo to what we were doing.” City went behind after 23 minutes, but as he admits, his team had just passed up the chance to take the lead themselves: “Sod’s law in the game sees us have a gilt-edged chance to take the lead at one end and from that they then go up the other end and score. We were disappointed with the goal, but I think over 90 minutes we deserved to win the game, credit to the players for that. They showed real tenacity in what they were trying to achieve and with one defeat in eight games we have to keep building on that. Last weekend we had too many players below par. Today, we had too many players above par, not to win the game. We have to keep delivering that week in, week out.” Southampton manager George Burley was philosophical in defeat. “We gave it our best shot and worked our socks off but overall City deserved to win the tie,” he said. “Their goals came at a bad time for us. We had started badly and got our noses in front but conceded quite soon afterwards and right on half-time. We had chances but I could not ask from any more from my players.”

No Sinning Against the Saints: Joey Barton gave another storming performance, but a little bit of the old JB peeped out as he celebrated scoring in front of the angry Southampton fans. SP said: “It was just exuberance, really. I’ve been impressed by his maturity off the pitch this season as well as on it.” But Pearce believes Barton is worth a place in England coach McClaren’s squad when the national team take on Spain at Old Trafford in nine days. “He is still a long way from being the complete article but he learns day by day,” said Pearce. “I don’t see too many reasons why he won’t get the England call. I’ll be very proud if he does – I know what it means to him. His form has been outstanding and who knows what lies ahead for him if he keeps putting in performances like that?”

Squad News

No Further Comment Required: “Sunday Mirror – Manchester City officials were astonished that striker Bernardo Corradi came off even worse than ‘keeper Nicky Weaver – recently back from a four-year injury hell – in fitness tests.” Quoted verbatim from the BBC’s Ceefax.

No More Loan-ly Nights: Colchester manager Geraint Williams explained this week why he took City’s Matthew Mills on loan. He told the club’s official website: “We have had him watched and he is a defender who likes to get stuck in and do the job a defender should do. I spoke to him on the phone last week and he is really hungry to get down here and play football. He said to me we had some big games coming up and it impressed me he had made the effort to find out a bit about us. He has been in the first team for Manchester City and played for them against Wigan in October so he is a good player to get on board.” Mills made his début for the U’s on Tuesday, playing an hour in Colchester’s 1-0 defeat of high flying Preston. Elsewhere, Kelvin Etuhu scored his second goal in three games as Rochdale stuffed MK Dons 5-0, Marc Laird came on as a sub as Northampton lost 3-2 at home to Oldham, Joe Hart completed his month’s loan at Tranmere by keeping goal at Gillingham (a 2-0 defeat), and Kasper Schmeichel and Falkirk went down 2-0 to Kilmarnock.

Abdoun Me Best: Djamel Abdoun made his first team début over the weekend, albeit the last few minutes in the Cup win against Southampton. “I enjoyed it, and I have also really enjoyed my time at the club since I arrived,” says Djamel. “Working with the coaches has been a pleasure, they have made training very enjoyable. It was great to get the chance to make my first appearance for City, and I hope to continue getting better in the future. Everybody has been very welcoming since I arrived, and I like being in Manchester. I hope I can continue to progress with the club. The City fans were great to me on Sunday, they are good supporters and it was a great atmosphere. They were perfect and I hope I get the chance to show them more of what I can do.”

OPINION: SEASON TICKET PRICES AND RENEWALS

So, the MCFC season ticket renewal post has arrived. Credit goes to the club for encouraging the next generation to the club next season, with under 16s paying just £95 (£5 per Premiership game). However, prices at £199 for 16-17 year olds (£10.47 a game), and £299 for 18-21 year olds (£15.74), are not exactly going to have “kids” queuing around the stadium in my opinion. The £299 is only £51 cheaper than an adult ticket in the North and South Stand. Given that most under 16s will be accompanied by an adult, the £5 per match becomes less attractive if parents are still paying the same.

Most importantly, there has been no incentive to the bread and butter fans, the working adults like myself, to renew for next season, especially in light of the increased revenue for next season, falling attendances, and the “dross” we have had to put up with this season. What will it take for football to wake up to the fact that Premiership football is a commodity in decline?

I really feel for the likes of John Wardle who has literally kept this club afloat with their own money. The jury is definitely out though on others in high places, as investment continues to elude the club. The only good news is that there will be an official “singing area” in block 111 next to the away section, and I would imagine this will be heavily oversubscribed.

Whilst the adult prices generally work out at either £350 (£18.42) for the ends, or £460 (£24.21) for the sides, when you look at the “matchday” prices there is much to be said for picking and choosing your matches. Assuming that the “categories” average out at “B” over the season, I calculate you could still see fourteen or fifteen matches without being out of pocket, even if inconvenienced by having to buy your tickets on a match-by-match basis. By having the money in your bank account, perhaps the extra interest earned may pay for another match! In other words, you might only have to “pick” three or four home matches to miss throughout a season. What a struggle that would be, eh? Take your pick out of matches against the like of Watford, Sheffield United, Fulham, Middlesbrough, Reading, Portsmouth, Wigan (need I go on?), or the teams likely to come up. Or you may want to miss those Monday night games that you can only get to if you live locally or the Saturday tea-time kick-offs that ruin a whole day? Next season will see even more live football, so with five live matches this season each weekend (involving ten teams), there is a 50% chance City will be live on TV any weekend. Put another way, nineteen of City’s Premiership matches could be live on TV, which you can watch in the pub for free (and the others probably available on t’Internet). The law of averages says nine or ten will be at home, and assuming that you would want to go to watch all the other home games live (probably a wrong assumption because these will probably be against some of the teams listed above), if you paid full whack for these nine matches, that would still only cost you £234 behind the goals or £279 along the sides.

The club had a major opportunity to speak out on behalf of the fans, by slashing adult season ticket prices and balancing that against the increased TV money next season. I hope I am wrong but I don’t see any reason why there won’t be a recorded attendance of less than 30,000 next season. One would hope that the club see this as a real possibility, and feel they can still thrive at such a low level of support. I still feel it was a worth a gamble charging adults £250-£300 and juniors/concessions £100, but we will see.

For all these reasons and more (see future article for a way you can help reverse the current trends and so bring football back to the fans), my adult son and I will not be renewing our season tickets next season, after a mere ten consecutive seasons for me. I am living proof that going to live football matches is a habit, and once you get out of the habit, you risk stop going completely. After not missing a home or away game for nearly seven years, I shocked myself and all those who know me by missing an away game at Palace because of the £35 ticket price. Now, I honestly cannot remember which my last away match was as I haven’t been to a single “away” this season so far (though I am desperate to go to Preston as I have worked 400 yards from the ground for the past ten years). I have also missed a couple of home games this season due to holidays, something that wouldn’t have happened before, even when we were in Division Three. Next season I may do eight home games. I don’t really know.

Rather than just letting my financial commitment with the club fizzle away, I intend to return my voided application to Alistair Macintosh at the end of February.

Am I the only one out there that feels this disenchanted? I would like to canvass opinion from the other City fans who read MCIVTA (and their family, friends and colleagues). Whatever your intention for next season, I would like to hear from you at the email given below. Please feel free to paste this article onto an email, and send to all your City mates. The more responses I get, so much the better. I will compile all replies into one document (no email addresses included), and send it to all the email respondents, along with some facts and figures that I will also publish on MCIVTA at the end of February.

So, drop me a short email, pasting the answers to the following questions onto a new email:

1. Your name
2. Your age and gender
3. Where you live
4. Are you a season ticket holder and if so, for how long?
5. Where you usually sit in the stadium
6. What you intend to do next year; put either “RENEWING SEASON TICKET”,”GIVING UP SEASON TICKET”, “NEW SEASON TICKET APPLICANT”, or detailanything else
7. Tell me briefly why you are taking this course of action next season
8. Finally, what do you think is wrong with football at the moment (please be concise!)?

[You’ve raised a number of concerns there Steve, which we hear echoed all too often around the stands, pubs, message boards, supporters’ groups etc. The very reasons given (together with the stealthy yet incredulous advancement in “real price” renewal date to 9th March) mean many of us will no longer renew – Ed]

OPINION: ATTENDANCES

Some weeks ago there was an article in MCIVTA by Paul Tyrell, in which he stated that the average attendance in the mid-fiftes when I was a regular at Maine Road didn’t reach 40,000. I couldn’t believe that, but on consulting the record books I find that he was right. But that only tells half the story. There was an astonishing variation in the numbers attending home games. In season 54-55 we had less than 14,000 for a game against Leicester City, but over 60,000 when we played Sunderland. In season 55-56 fewer than 15,000 came along to watch us play Luton Town, but over 63,000 were there when we took on Blackpool. I think I can explain these discrepancies.

Many supporters obviously went along to a match only if the opposition looked attractive. The game against Sunderland occurred just two weeks after one of City’s best ever performances – a semi-final defeat of Sunderland’s million-pound team. That team included Len Shackleton who probably added about 10,000 to the gate.

The Blackpool of the mid-fifties were one of the most attractive teams around, and included both Matthews and Mortensen. We hadn’t forgotten their performance in the ’53 Cup final, and it was said that Matthews could double the gate at any match he played (Blackpool often came in for criticism for keeping it quiet if the great man wasn’t going to appear).

Things have changed these days. With the exception of Henry, there are very few players who could be said to increase the attendance at away grounds (I suppose some might mention United players, but I’m too biased to admit to that). On top of that, there is a change in the behaviour of football crowds. In his excellent Why Blue, Steve Higginbottom writes that we wanted Matthews to play well, but not too well, and that’s perfectly true. Nowadays, very few opposing players can expect to be applauded at away grounds – sneers and catcalls are the order of the day. I’ve even heard Henry booed from the kick-off, which is a sad reflection on modern attitudes. We did applaud Matthews, Finney and Shackleton and regarded them as entertainers and to watch them as a privilege. They rarely let us down. The fact that they wouldn’t dream of diving or feigning injury goes without saying. If, for any reason, they weren’t playing against City, we were actually disappointed – even though it meant that City had a better chance of winning.

That City can still expect over 30,000 to watch them is very creditable, when you consider the cost of attending and the fare on offer much of the time. Various comments in recent editions of MCIVTA suggest that maybe things are turning full circle, and in future fans will choose which games they go to, rather than shelling out for a season ticket. Back in the fifties there must have been season ticket holders, but they would have been ‘in the stand’. In those days that would mean the main stand, where people were seated. The rest of us stood on the popular side, which was open terracing. I stood in the same place on what later became known as the Kippax. In the late fifties, they even provided us with a roof. The massive amount of football available on TV is another distraction, and must be a worry to many clubs, even though they are eager to grasp the extra millions provided by the TV companies. I only hope the latest windfall doesn’t disappear into the pockets of already overpaid players. A Manchester Corporation double-decker was good enough for most players in the fifties, so surely today’s young men can manage with one Ferrari?

Having written all that, however, I’m pretty sure that a team scoring and winning consistently would get us over the 40,000 mark again.

OPINION: OPEN LETTER TO THE MCFC BOARD

Dear Chairman,

Here we are again. Is there no immediate remedy?

I love my club, as indeed you do. I go to the game, not expecting the world, quite happy with my lot, safe in the knowledge we are never going to scale the heights of those achieved by clubs within a 50 mile radius of our somewhat still desolate surroundings. But I attend and probably always will. It’s a ‘probably’ that I feel Manchester City rely on a little too often these days.

It must be unconditional, as I get little or no reward.

We are just going to be us forever more, and that’s fine. Or is it?

What is not so easy to swallow is the fact that at 11.50pm on a rainy Manchester Wednesday, weary eyes glued to the screen of Sky Sports news’ sanctimonious ramblings of all things football, the only God damn piece of paper upon our in-tray contains the signature Michael Ball. Contrary to popular rumour, we could not get another striker signed to our ‘tried and trusted’ squad. It’s a great shame.

Now I back Stuart Pearce wholeheartedly, and my willing of him to succeed is vehement. I am not alone. Ignore the nomadic football fans on Manchesteronline and their unsurpassed knowledge. Pearce is loved by Manchester City.

My feeling is, if Mr Pearce was plying the embryonic stages of his managerial career at say for instance, Aston Villa, his personal ‘player draw’ would not be dissimilar to that of Manchester City. Regardless of the extra pennies in the cap. Pearce will do well. He will.

I did not want to bring my ‘airing’ to the monetary aspect – but of course, I suppose I probably have to. Three million quid. For goodness sake. You don’t need me to go on, others will be far more geared towards this kind of spleen venting. I have things of my own to do today.

Mr Wardle, I remember distinctly at your chairing arrival – your reluctance to actually take the job indefinitely – what was the reason for this exactly? I also remember 3 of our strikers each scoring a hat-trick against Huddersfield in 1987.

I am not calling for your head – nor indeed anyone’s, I am calling for a review. There is pressure no doubt, but there has to also be a reasonable outcome and soon. It is arrogant to believe that we City fans will come, rain or shine. The clouds over Eastlands appear to be gathering – and we may be preparing for Saturday afternoons relying on Sky Sports to deliver us the same old, same old.

Is everything running OK at City? Is there going to be investment? New players in the summer? The smokescreen pacifying is not the greatest course of action if it does not bear any fruit. Am I dreaming or is the guy who took over West Ham a City fan? Were you not in talks with him last season? What happened? The rumours of John Caudwell’s takeover? Hearsay?

P.S. Pearce’s inclusion to the England U21 managerial post is a great thing. The FA paying to further the level of his expertise is no bad thing. His immediacy in taking the rôle showed no hesitation. Things can be drawn from this Mr Wardle. It will also benefit MCFC. I think your immediate denouncement in the aftermath was both indelicate and naïve. It also leads many people to countless conclusions about the club you and I love.

I wish you and our Club well,

Best regards,

OPINION: TRANSFER BUDGET

The transfer window has closed without City signing a much needed striker.

Although I must admit that I am pleased that we did not sign Mido, my feelings being that he would not have improved the team much, and other strikers mentioned were not that much better. We need a striker who is hungry, young, and can score goals. Very good strikers are expensive, and the club do not have the money to get one. It is better to wait than just sign anyone for the sake of signing a player, we need only players that can improve the team.

Had the club invested in a very good striker it was very possible that the club would have gone up the table for extra bonus money, even a place in Europe, and a run in the F A Cup, who knows even win it? So the money would have come back to the club, and all the supporters and everyone connected with the club would have been happy.

I guess that the MCFC Board are now being over cautious after many failed signings during the KK era and money being wasted.

The January transfer window is a difficult one, for many clubs do not want to let players go half way through a season. We have a decent squad minus a goal scorer, it’s a small squad that got smaller during the transfer window. Now our main hope is that there are no more major injuries. Nedum has already been ruled out with a bad injury in training just when he was making a very good comeback, I feel sorry for him. Accidents happen in training and during games, and sometimes it doesn’t even need contact, just look what happened to Ashley Cole yesterday playing for Chelsea versus Blackburn; there were no players near him, yet he has a serious injury. So it’s not any bad training that caused Nedum’s injury, just bad luck.

We must still get behind our players who are still capable of getting up the table and having a good run in the FA Cup. Sure, we are disappointed with the transfer window, but this is still “Our City” and we must not desert them.

Come on you Blues!

OPINION: STRIKEFORCE

I am writing to express my concern about our centre forward ‘Gorgeous George’ Samaras. I have never in my experience of watching football seen such a pathetic attempt as his performance against Southampton. I know he occasionally shows glimpses of ability like that goal he scored at the start of the season, but for 6 million quid, what were we thinking? He chickened out of almost all physical contact and threw away all the chances set up on a plate for him by Stevie Ireland.

I’m beginning to despair with him and I personally think he should be sent out on loan to somewhere like Oldham for a while to toughen him up. I seem to remember him saying when he joined that he was pleased to be signing for City but hoped that he would one day play for a ‘bigger club’ as he clearly thought he was capable of it. That thought seems amazing now. He doesn’t even hold the ball up when it is played to him, something that Corradi does do effectively. If we sign a striker I think whoever that is should play alongside Corradi who at least does all the basics apart from goal scoring well.

Perhaps George’s confidence is shattered and a run with the reserves or on loan might help him. What does everyone else think?

OPINION: ‘KEEPERS

Read this in the last issue of MCIVTA.

Weaver – 5. Not inspiring. Time for Issaksson to be given a chance?

Have seen a lot of Isaksson since I live in Sweden. Weaver is good but I can’t find ten goalkeepers in the world that are better then Isaksson or five better in the UK. He is young and he is for sure a class ‘keeper. I don’t know if you saw the Germany-Sweden game in the World Cup, Sweden would have lost with 7-8 goals if it wasn’t for Isaksson.

Time for Isaksson. Hell Yeah, about time! BTW I’m Croatian, not a Swede if you thought that would influence my opinion.

Best regards from Torcida!

OPINION: U21 OFFERS I

When I first heard about Stuart Pearce accepting the England Under 21 job, I thought how can he do both jobs at once? I did not like what I was reading about doing both jobs. After all City are a Premier League Club, and one would think that City will need 100% put into the position of Manager/Coach.

But after looking into it more carefully, and reading Peter Taylor’s statement that “Stuart Pearce can do both jobs for it will only take the coach just 2/3 days away from the City team whilst they are training”, of course the City players will continue to train with the other City coaches trusted by Stuart Pearce.

I might not be in total agreement on Stuart Pearce taking the Under 21 job, simply because I am after all a Manchester City fan, and like other fans my team comes first, and I want the best from my team City.

I have also read Stuart Pearce’s statement that he will always put the club first over the under 21 job. Having followed Stuart Pearce from day one, and knowing that he is an honest man, I now trust his decision, even though at first I questioned it.

As long as it does not hinder the performance of a City team, and now I feel that it should not, but I feel that it could help our club with young players who might join our Academy before some other club’s academy, simply because City also have the England under 21 team coach.

Stuart Pearce is very passionate about his country, and so am I, my room with all my Manchester City photographs, banners, memorabilia etc. (collected over many years), also has a large England sign with the three lions.

So now I am saying “Good Luck Stu” and may you help both City and the future of England’s young players.

OPINION: U21 OFFERS II

Just a little comment, having read the introduction to the last edition of MCIVTA. If SP had been offered a similar rôle with, say, Wales’ or Scotland’s under-21 team (which would probably involve as much time – or even less given the distance of the FAW and SFA from Manchester) would the people currently in support of his diluting his rôle at Manchester City be as keen?

[Speaking for myself, definitely Joe. This experience, kudos, networking and potential for our manager/club has to be a good thing. Thankfully the board at MCFC seem to have realised that – Ed]

BLUE HUMOUR

As you all know, Manchester has recently been granted the right to build a super casino at Eastlands ahead of bids from Blackpool and London. The reason has been disclosed as purely economical since the casino will provide the Roulette, Fruit Machine, Black Jack and Poker Games, whilst the Crap Games will remain in the Man City stadium next door!

RESULTS

31 January 2007

Bolton Wanderers      1 - 1  Charlton Athletic     22,357
Chelsea               3 - 0  Blackburn Rovers      38,000
Manchester United     4 - 0  Watford               76,032
Newcastle United      3 - 1  Aston Villa           49,201

30 January 2007

Portsmouth            0 - 0  Middlesbrough         19,820
Reading               3 - 2  Wigan Athletic        21,954
Sheffield United      2 - 0  Fulham                27,540
West Ham United       1 - 2  Liverpool             34,966

23 January 2007

Watford               2 - 1  Blackburn Rovers      13,760

League table to 31 January 2007 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Manchester Utd  25 11  1  1 33  8  8  2  2 24 10 19  3  3  57  18  39  60
 2 Chelsea         25  9  4  0 27  8  7  2  3 17 11 16  6  3  44  19  25  54
 3 Liverpool       25 10  2  0 25  3  5  2  6 14 14 15  4  6  39  17  22  49
 4 Arsenal         24  7  5  0 30  9  6  1  5 15 11 13  6  5  45  20  25  45
 5 Bolton Wndrs    25  7  3  3 18 11  5  2  5 11 16 12  5  8  29  27   2  41
 6 Portsmouth      25  7  4  2 20  9  3  4  5 14 15 10  8  7  34  24  10  38
 7 Reading         25  8  1  4 24 16  3  3  6 13 18 11  4 10  37  34   3  37
 8 Everton         24  6  4  2 19  9  3  4  5 12 14  9  8  7  31  23   8  35
 9 Newcastle Utd   25  6  4  3 21 16  3  2  7 10 17  9  6 10  31  33  -2  33
10 Tottenham H.    24  8  1  3 21 12  1  5  6  8 20  9  6  9  29  32  -3  33
11 Middlesbrough   25  7  2  3 18 12  1  5  7 11 17  8  7 10  29  29   0  31
12 Blackburn R.    25  5  2  5 14 15  4  2  7 14 21  9  4 12  28  36  -8  31
13 Manchester City 24  5  4  3 10  9  3  2  7  9 19  8  6 10  19  28  -9  30
14 Aston Villa     25  5  4  3 14 11  1  7  5 13 20  6 11  8  27  31  -4  29
15 Fulham          25  5  4  3 10  9  1  7  5 16 29  6 11  8  26  38 -12  29
16 Sheff. United   25  4  5  4 15 15  3  1  8  6 18  7  6 12  21  33 -12  27
17 Wigan Athletic  24  3  2  7 12 20  3  2  7 13 21  6  4 14  25  41 -16  22
18 West Ham United 25  5  2  6 14 16  0  3  9  4 24  5  5 15  18  40 -22  20
19 Charlton Ath.   25  4  3  5 11 16  1  2 10  9 28  5  5 15  20  44 -24  20
20 Watford         24  2  5  4 10 13  0  4  9  4 23  2  9 13  14  36 -22  15

MCIVTA FAQ [v0607.01]

[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 Radio Manchester (née GMR) pre and post match phone-in is available on the web at http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/sport/manchester_city/index.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://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer, 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 Plus Markets Group web site http://www.plusmarketsgroup.com/ 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] I hear there is a TV programme specifically about City?

InsideMCFC is broadcasted by ChannelM. It is available on the SkyDigital (ch.203) and NTL (ch.26) platforms as well as being transmittedtraditionally within the Manchester area (ch.39). In addition, theprogramme is available to watch via the web. More details and schedule:http://www.channelm.co.uk/features/city.html

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: