Newsletter #1376

A hard fought 1-0 win away at Bolton last night sees us through to the quarter finals of the Carling Cup. An 86th minute penalty superbly taken by Elano was all that separated the teams. By all accounts, the penalty award was somewhat dubious, but I’m sure we’ll take that and a win, it’s happened to us enough times in the past. On the downside, Micah was stretchered off last night with an injury to his knee, but reports coming out of the club today are suggesting that it’s not as serious as it looked, and will not involve a long term lay off.

Plenty of opinion/comments/thoughts/questions tonight on various topics, and a lovely ‘Why Blue?’ from Peter in Ghana.

Oh, and I’ve remembered to include Don’s news summary!

Heidi’s still on her break from her editorial duties, so either myself or Don shall be standing in until further notice. Please keep the articles coming to the usual address of <editor(at)mcivta.city-fan.org>.

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

Ramos Spur-ned City: If you believe the following tale, then S-GE wasn’t even the second choice for the manager’s job. We know that the New Regime were rebuffed by Claudio Ranieri, but new Tottenham boss Juande Ramos has claimed that City made an approach for his services during the summer. The former Sevilla manager was officially confirmed as Martin Jol’s successor on Saturday evening after months of speculation. Ramos has revealed Tottenham were not the only club who attempted to lure him to England. “I have always dreamed of working in England and this is the right moment to make that leap,” he told the Sunday Mirror. “Manchester City wanted me to join them in the summer. At the time that move was impossible. Now Spurs have made their approach and I have accepted it.”

Transfer News and Gossip

Trust Sven! Thaksin Shinawatra has pledged more funds to back S-GE in the January transfer market. “There will not be many new faces like there were in the summer but possibly, there will be a few,” Thaksin said. “There is no doubt that I trust Sven to spend my money well and it is our duty to find it. His track record has been brilliant so far. There were those who questioned us when we appointed Sven as manager but they are not doing so now. So far, he has proved to be a perfect choice. We set out with a three-year plan and although people will say we are ahead of that plan we have only played 10 games so far,” he said. “But we have started very well and we seem to be winning the disillusioned fans back.”

Picking Swedes: City have handed a trial to Swedish starlet (great word) Kristoffer Wiktorsson. S-GE’s scouts have been impressed by 18-year-old Witkorsson, who currently plays for Swedish Second Division club Degersdorf. The defensive midfielder has now been invited to train with the City squad for four days and is hoping to make an impression. “It’s exciting that a Premier League club has shown interest in Kristoffer,” stated agent Martin Klette to Expressen. “But we haven’t got a contract proposal.”

Eidur Down on Sven’s List? Former Liverpool striker, the exotically coiffuered Djibril Cisse, has been linked this week with a return to the Premiership with either Portsmouth or City. However, Cisse’s agent has insisted there is no chance the hitman will be lured back to England in the New Year transfer window. Ranko Stojic said: “There is no question of him leaving in January. He will be successful at Marseille.” Cisse’s recent career has been blighted by injury and he famously suffered a broken leg in a warm-up game against China just before the 2006 World Cup. Or could Pompey and the Blues be after Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen? The News of the World says both Premiership clubs are willing to meet Barca’s £8 million asking price for the former Chelsea star. In other news: according to Dutch TV, City are said to be interested in going for PSV Eindhoven and Peru striker Jefferson Farfan (23) (Thanks to Henk Timmer for this). PSV might want to sell for €14 million (or £10 million to us Brits). Henk also writes that Wagner Love has also been mentioned as a Blues target. The 23 a Brazilian plays for CSKA Moscow. Nearer home, Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce has poo pooed City’s alleged interest in signing Michael Owen. According to the charming gaffer, “You probably can’t afford him.” And this isn’t the last time in this news summary we hear from Big Sam.

We Say: Open that Gate! Hardly a new story I know, but we’ve had further suggestions of a Shaun Wright-Phillips return to City. The speculation began after Chelsea left SWP out of their squad to face Schalke 04 in the Champions’ League last week. When asked if he’d consider a move for Shaun, Sven replied thus: “I’d personally open the gate for him tomorrow if he wishes to return here. I have no idea if it will be possible but, if we strengthen the squad; we must buy top class players – better than what we have already. I won’t pay his salary personally but I’ll certainly open the gate. He did great things for City. He has pace, good technique and is very direct. He’s a good player, one I admire very much.” A few months ago Shaun’s Dad Ian Wright dismissed any thoughts of a return to City, saying his lad would never return while S-GE was Blues’ Boss. When Eriksson was in charge of the national team SWP featured in a number of his squads but was left behind for the 2006 World Cup finals when Eriksson elected to only take four recognised strikers, including the untried Theo Walcott. “People point to my decision not to take him to the last World Cup but I can explain it very easily,” said Eriksson. “He simply wasn’t playing enough games for Chelsea.”

Chrisantus is Coming: A deal for Macauley Chrisantus is said to be on the cards. City are set to hold talks with the Nigerian striker this week, according to the 17-year-old’s agent. Chrisantus was a star of the recent World Under-17 Championships – now Chrisantus is due for negotiations with the club although a work permit application could throw a spanner in the works. “I can confirm Sven has written inviting myself and the boy for a discussion and we will be in England next week to conclude talks,” Adam Mohammed told the News of the World. “But there may be a snag with the issue of a work permit. However, if it is refused first time we will get it second time if the club appeals.” Chrisantus is wanted by many European clubs but it appears big-spending City are at the head of the queue.

Keeping Tabs on ‘Keepers: Could a move for a goalie be on the cards come January? One Sunday journal claimed that Sven’s eyeing Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastien Frey. Bayern Munich and AC Milan are chasing the France international, but the News of the World says they will face competition from City for the shot-stopper. A cheaper option might be available in the Premiership. City are considering a move for Aston Villa goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen, apparently. The People says Sorensen has the backing of City goalkeeping coach Eric Steele, who worked with him at Villa before moving to the COMS. Villa manager Martin O’Neill has relegated the Denmark ‘keeper to second choice and he could leave in January as his deal is up in the summer.

Ex-Blues’ News

What a Wit: Thanks to Joel Perry for sending me these delightful quotes from young Joseph Barton, former Shining Wit at the COMS, and now striking out (if that’s the right phrase) for a new team, Newcastle United. Barton has claimed that Newcastle will soon be ahead of City in the table, as the Blues are missing characters like, err, himself. “Sometimes you’d walk in and you could hear a pin drop,” Barton told The Daily Star. “It’s lost a lot of characters like Robbie Fowler, Andy Cole, Ben Thatcher, Nicky Weaver and myself. I speak to people still there and they tell me they have so many languages, there’s no banter now. As well as they’re doing right now, it’s only a matter of time before it comes slamming to a halt unless they address that. In the Newcastle dressing room if anyone starts talking French or something the gaffer shouts ‘speak effin English, I don’t want any of that foreign s**t in my dressing room’.” This proves that the football marriage between Sam Allardyce and Barton is one made in heaven – and do know what? They deserve each other. I won’t say which words Joel used to describe Barton when he sent me the item – suffice to say, he wasn’t impressed.

After-Match Reactions and Comments

No Six Appeal at the Bridge: I don’t think we should dwell on this for too long, do you? Stamford Bridge, West London, last Saturday. Super Sven’s Swashbucklers Smashed for Six. The worst defeat since the dark days of the late Alan Ball. How about a few quotes from Sven, then we’ll move on to other things. “I’m sorry,” said S-GE. “I’m sorry for our performance, I’m sorry for the fans who travelled down and hoped to see us play good football. I think we started ok, but if you are not prepared to defend much, much better than we did today, things like that happen. Of course it’s very bad being 2-0 down at half time and trying to get it right. Then after three and four, the heads were very much down and we came off even worse, that’s not good. I hope that we have learnt something. You can’t give them the possibility to have so much space and time. Five of the six goals they were alone with Joe Hart and if you allow that in 90 minutes it’s very bad. We were taught a lesson today. It’s good to play good football and to attack, but when you lose the ball you have to do much better than we did today. Nothing has changed, it is just a very good reminder that this is not good enough and that is it. Well, we obviously forgot how to defend,” he concluded. “If you give a team like Chelsea space and time like that, then that will happen.” [That’s enough. News Ed]

Confidence Restored: Losing by six was all part of Sven’s cunning masterplan, see. He was geeing the boys up for the assault on the League Cup! So on Wednesday, Elano’s late penalty secured City a Carling Cup quarter-final berth, and handed Gary Megson his first defeat as Bolton manager. The victory was somewhat tainted in the 74th minute when England defender Micah Richards was stretchered off with a leg injury after taking an earlier knock. S-GE later said: “Before Micah’s scan on Thursday it’s impossible to say if it’s serious. I think he was hurt trying to turn. He says he’ll be fine but let’s wait and see what happens.” There was plenty of overnight press speculation, worrying that Richards might miss England’s crucial Euro 2008 qualifier later this month with Croatia. Sven was pleased with his players’ response to Saturday’s drubbing. “The spirit was there again and we defended very well, even in the last 10 or 15 minutes when Bolton put a lot of players up. It was important to go through and reach the quarter-finals. I am happy. We can play better football, I’m sure of that, but we defended well although we need to keep the ball better in the last third. That will come, but it was important for our confidence that we won today.” He added: “It was very important that we got back to winning after what happened at Stamford Bridge. If we get Chelsea again in this competition, I can promise you that it will be different.”

Paying the Penalty: The biggest talking point of the game was the award of City’s winning penalty on 86 minutes. Most commentators thought that the decision was a harsh one – Bolton gaffer Gary Megson certainly did. “You have got to be 100% certain if you are going to give a penalty at that stage of the game,” he said. “I cannot see how he could even be 50% sure. It was not clear cut. It was a bit of a nonsensical decision in such an important game. But the players deserve great credit for keeping going.” Sven, not surprisingly had a different take on the incident. “I’ve seen it quickly just now, it takes his arm but I don’t know if he means to block it. It’s very difficult and I could understand if they were upset, but I don’t know either way.” The draw for the Quarter-Finals takes place on Saturday, and the Boss commented: “Let’s see what the draw brings us on Saturday, it could be very interesting but it’s good so far. If we get Chelsea again in this competition, I can promise you that it will be different.” Let’s hope that last sentence doesn’t come back to haunt him.

Squad News

Keeping it in the Family: Micah Richards has yet to sign a new deal with City, although no one at the club is sounding too worried. “I do not know how close it is but sooner or later it will happen, I am quite sure about that,” Sven said the Daily Telegraph. “Micah is under contract until 2010, so he has plenty of time to sign. He will sign, I just don’t know when.” Elsewhere it’s reported that City will make Micah the highest paid player in the club’s history, after Thaksin Shinawatra agreed to the 19-year-old’s £50,000-a-week wage demands. A City insider is quoted in the News of the World: “It will be signed within a fortnight. Micah’s advisers pointed out he could easily get that money from Chelsea, Manchester United or Liverpool. Dr Thaksin stepped in and he made it clear Micah should be kept happy – and under no circumstances should he be allowed to move.” Apparently Richards is delaying signing because he’s pondering a change in agent. He’s represented by SEM, one of the most prominent agencies, but he is considering his options, which would include other leading agencies, such as the Wasserman Media Group, Key Sports and First Artists. He also relies heavily for financial advice on his father, Lincoln. Dad is considering becoming a FIFA registered agent, at which point he’d take sole control of his son’s interests.

Kasper Flies to the Bluebirds: Kasper Schmeichel has completed a month loan deal to join Championship side Cardiff City, where he’ll encounter former City team mates Robbie Fowler and Trevor Sinclair. Schmeichel is eligible for five Championship matches during his first month – against Scunthorpe last Saturday plus Crystal Palace (home), Charlton Athletic (away), Ipswich Town (home) and Leicester City (away). And 20-year-old Schmeichel duly made his Bluebirds’ début in the 1-1 home draw against Scunthorpe United. Sven has stressed that the youngster should to go out on loan to secure some first-team action. “This does not mean Kasper has no future here, he just needs to get some games,” said Eriksson. “We’d love Kasper to stay,” said Cardiff City manager Dave Jones, while Schmeichel echoes his MCFC manager when he says: “I need games and Cardiff City have offered me the chance. I’m excited to be here and if I do well and we win a few matches then I would be happy to stay longer.”

Target: January: Fitness coach Stefano Marrone says that Valeri Bojinov is on course for a return to action as early as January. “Players need targets for motivation, so anything around January would be great,” Marrone said. “That would mean being fully fit for normal training in December and then he would be ready for the Barclays Premier League in January. We are still at a very early stage of his recovery, so it is difficult to say for certain, but that is our target.”

All You Need is a Little Respect: Dietmar Hamann has been comparing life during the Pearce and Eriksson regimes, and has concluded that players and fans are all much happier now than last year. “The whole place has changed,” Hamann told The Guardian. “Last year was a real struggle. The supporters were unhappy and, at times, there was a really bad vibe. Everyone was fed up. We didn’t have the quality to challenge the top eight, or even the top ten, and we were in relegation danger until March or April. That incident at the end of the season [Joey Barton’s brawl with Ousmane Dabo] summed it up. Things were not right. There were disciplinary matters, fines being handed out and a general sense that the club was in a bad state. All-round, things were wrong. It was dire – absolutely terrible. The basis for any successful team is that everybody respects one another and treats each other in the right way, but we didn’t have that last season. It was only when the new manager took over that things changed. We’ve bought a lot of new players and he told the ones already here that he wanted us to make them feel welcome because otherwise it would be impossible to integrate eight or nine new signings. The team spirit has improved beyond words and we’re seeing that on the pitch. We’re playing some very good football – outstanding, at times – and the fans are going home happy from games. They have seen us beat Manchester United and go top of the league, things they haven’t had for years. The atmosphere is so much better.”

OPINION: THE KING AND THAI

Bizarrely with all of the talk of the King of Thailand, I am currently in Thailand on holiday (I know… lucky for some!).

Anyway, from what I can make out, he is pretty much the most revered monarch anywhere in the world. You simply would not believe how much the people here love him. It’s not like he is the political leader of the country either – it appears to be a similar setup to the UK with a prime minister and a parliament, but then a slightly emasculated royal family. The thing is that Rama IV (Bumibol) has done such incredible things for the people (they couldn’t farm in one region, so he personally paid for a cloud seeding programme – that sort of thing) that he is the foremost person in the country. Almost everyone wears yellow T-shirts with the King’s crest on, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of his reign. And they put up posters of him on their houses and pretty much everywhere.

It’s a fair point that that’s no reason to celebrate him at a City game… apart from… if you talk to people in the cities here (opinion is different amongst in the country side/farming community) they are pretty clear that our club has been bought using money that belongs to the Thai people. The guys I’ve asked have been very clear on that. So maybe a bit of due deference to their King doesn’t do us any harm.

In terms of the way the club is viewed here, I’m pleased to say they still sell City shirts in the night markets!

OPINION: REALITY CHECK (I)

Originally this piece was just about, getting a reality check following the caning we received at Chelsea, which really despite this happening, we are still in the top 4, granted only just, but 4th all the same, with a reasonable points total, who would have thought that this time last year, we could say that in a year we would be in this position, no one, because they would have been told to go back on their medication.

Yes the result was a bad one, but I remember the same happening with KK in charge, so it happens, get over it, move on, as I’m sure Sven will tell his players, however I was catching up on the last couple of issues, and felt compelled to write a response to a couple of items, which address the ‘Blinkered’ attitude of ‘Phil Gatenby in MCIVTA 1374’.

I don’t want go on at length about his comments, because a number of readers have already addressed this, but in light of the title ‘Reality Check’ I would strongly suggest that Phil ‘Wake up and smell the Roses, Coffee, Smelling Salts’, or whatever it takes to bring you out of the place you currently reside in, because, who on earth cares if there was a message of goodwill shown, to the ‘King of Thailand’. If you had ever visited the country, as I have or even know anything about Thailand, as I do, you would know how the people revere their King, including Frank, you would then realise where this comes from.

For God’s sake there are people out there in the world, dying of starvation, oppression (Burma for instance) natural disasters, and you are getting hot under the collar about one message on the scoreboard!

My other point was about the item from ‘Tom Ritchie MCIVTA 1375’ where he mentions the following and I quote:

“I’ve often thought that there is a culture at City, deeply ingrained and going back over 50 years, of always being pessimistic, of reliving the infamous Maine Stand Moaners of the 60’s, where, no matter what we won, or how we performed, some people were just happier at having a good moan!”

Well from the mid 60’s through to the late 70’s I used to sit in the Main Stand with my Father. At home games, there were at least half a dozen maybe more, who use to go on endlessly, ‘Moan, Moan, Moan’ it didn’t matter that we won, or Summerbee played a blinder or Gary Owen, likewise, we won, but this never satisfied them.

Phil’s comments just remind me of that time, yes there are still doubts over Frank, but I say “Don’t believe blindly everything you read in the press”.

Mind you if we win anything or qualify for ‘Europe’ touch wood, I suspect he or the Old Moaners of the Main Stand, still won’t be happy?

OPINION: REALITY CHECK (II)

I’d sooner lose 6-0 in one game than 1-0 in six games.

OPINION: WE’RE DOOMED… OR MAYBE NOT! (I)

Can’t complain, mustn’t grumble, help yourself to another piece of apple crumble…

So here we are 10 games into what has so far been a season of great promise. Whilst nobody at City expects us to finish in a Champions’ League position come the end of the season, to sit in 3rd is a better start than we could have dreamed of. Sven has blended together several astute, and in some cases, brilliant purchases, with the best players from last season. Forgive me for stating the obvious, but there still exist some City fans who will complain at anything and they forget or overlook the progress that has been made since last season, when there was every justification to be critical of City, given the poor results and lack of entertainment. Predictably, there have been over-the-top reactions to the humiliating mauling when we suffered under the Chelsea dagger.

Of course everyone has a right to complain. That’s the nature of the freedoms that we have. It just looks ridiculous to whinge in the context of the most exciting season since Kevin Keegan walked into Maine Road. Rather than enjoy the sublime skills of this latest City team, would these serial complainers rather watch Joey Barton continually giving the ball away to the opposition, or failing with yet another set piece? I know what most Blues would rather watch.

Normally a 6-0 defeat should be the cause of a great deal of concern, but this is no time for immature bouts of hysteria, singling out players for over-the-top-criticism, when they all had an off day. As good as Chelsea were, City’s performance at Stamford Bridge was clearly totally unacceptable and there were players who should have been working much, much harder than they were. Sven has already reminded them of this and you have to take his words at face value when he says it won’t happen again. Some of these players are the same players who have worked hard and played some fantastic football this season. What a brilliant game that was against Newcastle – it was the best game that I have seen for many years. The Middlesbrough game wasn’t far behind in terms of quality and excitement. Elano is potentially an all time City great. He and Petrov are great to watch and make watching City so enjoyable with their delightful skills and intelligent play.

Thankfully, in Sven we have a manager who dealt with the aftermath of the Chelsea game calmly and maturely, having a constructive word with the players. They will be in no doubt that they need to improve, as Sven will bring in better players to replace them. Their reaction in the Cup win at Bolton, says much about them and the manager who is always looking to improve, whether we have won, lost or drawn.

As for those people slating Garrido and Mpenza, and even more laughably, Dunne, well how many City games have you seen? We missed Mpenza’s work rate, physicality and yes, skill last Saturday at Stamford Bridge. Garrido has had one and a half bad games and far more good ones since he’s been here. He’s generally pretty solid, and let’s not forget that he’s only 22. Give him a break and let Sven do the sorting out. As for Dunney, he is having a cracking season. Constructive criticism is one thing but sometimes people are too quick to judge. They expect instant success and a player to settle down at a new club immediately. We’ve seen a welter of players come to City down the years, look impressive for a couple of games, then fizzle away. Why not let someone settle in and judge them when they’ve had at least half a season, if not a whole one?

Let’s not allow one appalling game spoil the season. I know Sven won’t. So why not just enjoy the season, and while we’re at it, let’s not worry about birthday messages to the King of Thailand. It’s great to look forward to City games once again. So far, it’s been as pleasurable as apple crumble with lashings of custard! So, help yourself.

OPINION: WE’RE DOOMED… OR MAYBE NOT! (II)

I couldn’t but feel sorry for Sven Goran Eriksson for the big loss of 6-0 to Chelsea. Only recently, MC had beaten MU by a solitary goal and I felt that City would be a team to watch judging by their third position in the Premier League. But I couldn’t believe my eyes when they were thrashed 6-0 by the Blues and if there is one player that should be responsible for the heavy defeat, it must be Micah Richards. Time and time again he was beaten by the roving Chelsea forwards of Drogba, Kalou and Sheva and he (Micah Richards) seemed to have a metal lock to his legs. He could not chase the ball when fed by Lampard to Drogba and he did not seem interested to slide the ball in the penalty circle when he could have done so. He was hoping for a miracle from the goalkeeper when Drogba unleashed his powerful kick in the left back position.

Micah Richards is supposed to be the last man but his apathetic game cost City a disgraceful defeat.

I hope Sven Eriksson would rest him in the coming match as Richards is sure to lose his focus again.

He seemed lost in the game and he was not sure whether to retreat and to mark the Chelsea forwards when Lampard had the ball.

Please rest him in the coming week.

OPINION: WE’RE DOOMED… OR MAYBE NOT! (III)

Crowd Lifters Of The World Ignite.

Yawn, the moaning brethren are back…

We lost 6-0 at Chelsea – torn apart – humiliated some say. Get over it will you? We lost 1 game in 5. Albeit heavily. But, if we were nose-diving into oblivion under the stewardship of Stuart Pearce (or Gary Megson, Paul Simpson, Sammy Lee, Elvis), lying 3rd from bottom, then I’d be worried. We’re not, we’re still 3rd from top. We still beat the Rags, came close against Arsenal, scraped 1-nil’s here and there that invariably we’d be losing, battered the Geordies convincingly, breezed past Boro and still have a nice little run of games to come.

You can be assured that yes, it was like being smashed on the nose with a frying pan. But good. A good wake up call. Complacency won’t prosper now will it? Sven won’t allow it to happen again, and if we lose 1 in 5 for the rest of the season I’d be really happy with that.

It’s more interesting to note that at half time at gold trafford the biggest cheer of the day was our result being read out from the previous days fixtures. It says something that – and us little boys and girls should be very proud of what we’ve achieved thus far.

If Bolton beat us tomorrow – I will never come on here again…

OPINION: WE’RE DOOMED… OR MAYBE NOT! (IV)

Bravo to Tom Ritchie and his thoughts/opinions in the last issue. I agree entirely with him. There is a small hard core of City fans who revel in the doom and gloom, the despair we have all endured over many, many years. The self-loathing and the self-pity that has eaten away at our club in recent times.

Who really and truly gives a hoot about a bloody message on the scoreboard?! We can all remember the (very recent) times when we didn’t have a scoreboard that worked to put a message on – and I do not joke!

I have been watching and attending MCFC for over 35 years. We are playing the best football I can remember. We have one the best and most highly rated managers in the world.

We are attracting players to the club that only this time last year would have never been thought of in our wildest dreams. We sit 3rd in the table. We have money to spend in January and for once we know the Manager will bring in only top quality players.

The club has even got its act together on the marketing of the team and the selling of tickets (how unbelievable is that!). If you are not happy now as a City fan then you never, never will be and to be very frank it would be better if you stayed away and let the club progress and the rest of the fans enjoy the ride. For the moment the dark, dark days are gone. The future is bright the future is Frank!

OPINION: WE’RE DOOMED… OR MAYBE NOT! (V)

Some City fans aren’t happy unless they have something to complain about. I don’t have an issue with any message to the king of Thailand and let’s hope he gets well soon so he can enjoy his birthday. If we really want to complain, let’s complain about how the “most loyal” fans in the world are missing about 8,000. Thick and thin? Thick and fickle if you ask me…

CREAM?

Guardian crossword solvers will have notice a clue recently that asked which football team was an anagram of ‘synthetic cream’. And I thought they were the real thing (until last Saturday perhaps?).

TICKET INFORMATION FOR IRISH FANS

Basil, I saw your message in MCIVTA there this morning. Like you, I’m an Irish-based City fan. I tend to get over to COMS once or twice a season, and it’s really not that complex. Basically, you need to send an email to <websales(at)mcfc.co.uk> explaining that you live outside the UK and want to get an access card. Give them your name, address and contact details and they’ll send it to you.

Then you play the waiting game…

The ‘tickets’ section of mcfc.co.uk is updated every few days with details of upcoming games and as soon as it says that access card holders can purchase tickets for the game you want to attend then you have to log in using the ‘customer number’ on your access card and a password that they’ll have emailed you when they send the card.

As far as flights go, Aer Lingus have just opened up Dublin-Manchester in direct competition to Ryanair so fares are rock bottom if you book around 2 months in advance, but I guess that’s no use if you live in Kerry! You can also fly to Manchester from Shannon (Ryanair), Cork (BMI Baby and Aer Lingus), Knock (BMI Baby), Waterford (Aer Arann), Sligo (Aer Arann), Kerry (Aer Arann) and Galway (Aer Arann). Liverpool airport is also pretty accessible, and it is possible to do a one day trip on the boat from Dublin or Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead (though it involves a long, long day!).

Accommodation is grand… just try websites like hotels.com and lastminute.ie/.co.uk and see what offers they have. The stadium is walkable from the city centre, so staying central is the best option. I’m going to the Reading game in 4 weeks and staying at the ever classy Travelodge. Three of us in a family room for under £50 can’t be scoffed at, though.

Hope this helps, and sure maybe I’ll see you on a flight soon!

FRANK’S SONG

Honestly, Mr Allen.

Read the article properly.

In my article I dedicated the song to the prosecutors of the illegally installed Government of Thailand!

They froze the twice democratically elected Dr Thaksin’s assets. Whatever he is accused of?

That’s like telling a Jewish person in England in 1930’s we are not too sure about you because you are wanted for questioning by the National Socialist Government of Germany.

They ousted him in a coup and threw him out… illegally.

We shall await the prosecutor’s request for extradition papers to be served in London but the UK Courts will/should quite rightly dismiss them out of hand as they would if they came from Mugabe in Zimbabwe or whoever it is who murders monks in Burma. Our courts will/should not recognize governments borne out of illegal military coups.

Once there is a democratically elected Government of Thailand then the extradition papers can be served and dealt with then he should return to face the courts.

Like you are doing now I lived in the USA before and have a love/hate relationship with matters/people on your side of the pond, there is much to admire and similarly much to despise about Sam’s (Uncle Sam) Town.

Cast your mind back to the USA Election – Bush/Gore in 2000 when Florida and its “hanging chads” saga and the whole USA presidential election hinged on the outcome of the state of Florida. The District Judge adjudicated that the ballot papers of 150,000+ African American voters in the poor districts of central/northern Florida were invalid and therefore the election is awarded to George Walker Bush. Later it was discovered that the district judge presiding was campaign manager for the Republican Party and the Governor of Florida was Jeb Bush – How does the song go – “things that make you go hmmmmm”?

When the tragedy of the floods of New Orleans occurred, Dubya was playing golf (African Americans don’t tend to vote Republican so why burn up Air Force One going to Louisiana, the second poorest state of the union). However, fires in the wealthy white suburbs of Southern California – hmmm, great opportunity for a photo shoot. Dubya was he appointed or elected – you decide.

So please Mr Allen if you’re getting upset over a song then you are worrying about the untidy deck chairs on the Titanic; I can think of a few more issues to get upset over.

And finally did you not see the 😉

ALFONSO ALVES

The latest player to be named of interest to MCFC is the Brazilian Afonso Alves, who is currently playing for Heerenveen (Samaras’ old club) in Holland.

Afonso Alves has caught the eye of many other clubs when he scored 7 goals in one game when Heerenveen beat Heracles Almelo 9-0 earlier this month.

At present Heerenveen are currently 7th in the Dutch League whilst Heracles Almelo are 15th.

Last season Afonso Alves scored 34 goals in 31 games; he is 26 years old. An interesting thing here is that Alves played in Sweden for two years and was top goal scorer in the Swedish League before being signed by Heerenveen, their most expensive signing.

I think that Sven will have all the information on this player to make a decision and soon.

If City are able to get Afonso Alves, would Samaras stay at City or go as part exchange back to his old club Heerenveen?

It looks as if Sven is trying to get Samaras to play straight and direct football without the tricks; if Samaras improves he could team up with an old team mate?

I feel that this could be a signing that could improve the strike force. I can hear it now: “Elano to fellow Brazilian Alves – it’s a goal!”

Come on you Blues!

SVEN DEFENDS GARRIDO

Whilst I tend to agree with Sven about when a team loses badly you blame the whole team, I singled out Garrido because he stood out for having a very bad game, so let’s just call it a bad day at the office, it happens to us all at some time or other.

Garrido has had some good games for City since his arrival, and deserves another chance, whilst we are lucky to have Michael Ball pushing to take his place.

As I have said before, it’s best to forget the game versus Chelsea quickly and move on.

Come on you Blues!

CALENDAR SHUFFLING!

It’s that time of year when all the Christmas crap is in the shops again. It’s made me wonder if it might be nice to resurrect the sport of calendar shuffling amongst some of us sadder McV readers. I had great fun doing it a few years back, it brightened up the dark winter nights no end. For the uninitiated, ‘Calendar Shuffling’ involves going into as many shops as possible and covering up or moving all those ugly Rag calendars that are often put at the front of displays. If I remember correctly some McV readers came up with some very creative ways of doing this the last time round. Any new suggestions are more than welcome and it doesn’t just have to be calenders, any Rag rubbish will do.

One added bonus I’ve discovered this time round is that my wife has threatened not to take me shopping with her again. Brilliant, no more thinking of original ways to answer all the usual stupid questions such as ‘will this go with the top I got for my birthday’ or ‘do you fancy going to Matalan’ doh. I’m already looking forward to the Christmas run in.

MAINE ROAD ENGINEERING

I know this is a bit of a strange request, but I have to teach polymers and composites to first year civil engineers and read somewhere that the Main Stand at Maine Road was one of the first examples of using these materials in engineering. All the textbook says is “the grandstand has a barrel vault system using glass-reinforced polyester composite”. I just want an excuse to talk about City for a while, so if anyone can give me any more information I’d be glad to hear it.

CLOTHES AND MEMORABILIA WEBSITE

Can somebody help me?

I remember about 2 months ago finding an American site dedicated to City that sold pretty good clothes and memorabilia.

Some of the T-shirts/mugs had the strap line ‘Blue Moon Rising’ I think. I need to organise my little brother’s Xmas present in North Carolina.

Does anyone have any idea of the site or a link to it maybe?

Thanks in advance.

WHY BLUE?

It all started when the great Man City Football Club started playing in the Premiership. Most Ghanaian Premiership fans support clubs like Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea because such clubs are well known in Ghana. It was in the year 2000 when l started developing an interest for the Premiership. At that time I did not have a club to support, so I decided to join the great ‘sky blue’ Man City Football Club when they came into the Premiership.

After choosing the club as my favourite club, I also decided to form a Supporters’ Association for the club in Ghana to get more fans to support the club here in Ghana. So, in September 2007 I joined the Centenary Supporters’ Association of Man City [CSA] and formed a CSA branch in Ghana of which I am the Chairman, whose main aim is to build a strong supportive base for the club in Ghana and also to make the club popular in Ghana.

As part of making the club popular in Ghana, I have also set up a young team which is known as the Manchester City Babies Football Club which will soon be registered into the Northern Regional Juvenile League and if possible play in the Ghana League in the future.

RESULTS

League table to 31 October 2007 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Arsenal         10  6  0  0 16  4  2  2  0  6  3  8  2  0  22   7  15  26
 2 Manchester Utd  11  5  1  0 12  1  3  1  1  7  3  8  2  1  19   4  15  26
 3 Manchester City 11  6  0  0 10  2  1  1  3  5 11  7  1  3  15  13   2  22
 4 Chelsea         11  3  2  0 10  2  3  1  2  6  6  6  3  2  16   8   8  21
 5 Blackburn R.    10  3  1  1  8  5  3  2  0  7  4  6  3  1  15   9   6  21
 6 Liverpool       10  1  4  0 10  4  4  1  0  7  2  5  5  0  17   6  11  20
 7 Portsmouth      11  2  3  0 11  6  3  1  2  8  6  5  4  2  19  12   7  19
 8 Newcastle Utd   10  4  1  0 10  4  1  1  3  7  9  5  2  3  17  13   4  17
 9 Everton         11  2  1  2  6  5  3  0  3  9  8  5  1  5  15  13   2  16
10 Aston Villa     10  4  0  2  9  7  0  3  1  5  6  4  3  3  14  13   1  15
11 West Ham United 10  2  1  2  7  5  2  1  2  5  4  4  2  4  12   9   3  14
12 Reading         11  4  0  2  7  7  0  1  4  7 16  4  1  6  14  23  -9  13
13 Birmingham City 11  2  1  2  6  6  1  1  4  5  9  3  2  6  11  15  -4  11
14 Fulham          11  1  3  2  9 11  0  3  2  4  6  1  6  4  13  17  -4   9
15 Sunderland      11  2  1  2  5  6  0  2  4  7 14  2  3  6  12  20  -8   9
16 Wigan Athletic  11  2  1  2  5  4  0  1  5  5 13  2  2  7  10  17  -7   8
17 Middlesbrough   11  1  2  2  7  8  1  0  5  4 14  2  2  7  11  22 -11   8
18 Tottenham H.    11  1  1  3 11 12  0  3  3  7 11  1  4  6  18  23  -5   7
19 Bolton Wndrs    11  1  2  3  7  8  0  1  4  3  9  1  3  7  10  17  -7   6
20 Derby County    11  1  2  2  5  7  0  1  5  0 17  1  3  7   5  24 -19   6

MCIVTA FAQ [v0708.01]

[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 Points of Blue (formerly the Fans’ Committee)?

The committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. Points of Blue appears 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] 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/.

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.

Madeleine Hawkins, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

Editor: