Newsletter #1386

Don’s news tonight brings a few new names in the transfer speculation area following Shinawatra’s interview stating we were looking at 3 new players. There’s also reaction to the Wigan game, and news of ex-Blues in action at CoMS in the PFA centenary game. Oh and our ex number eight causing ructions on Tyneside with his latest musings… still, somebody else’s problem now. We also have views on the tactics, player capabilities, stats and cartoon fun. Our nemesis Spurs is the opposition for the weekend, will it be 4-5-1 again?

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

Hamming It Up for the Cup: The draw for the Third Round of the FA Cup was made last weekend. This is the stage that the Premier League and Championship clubs join in the competition. And City got handed a repeat of their first league game of the season, with an away game at West Ham. Sven’s thought on the tie? “I would have liked a better draw, but you accept it and I’m looking forward to my first game in the FA Cup. We have won there once already this season – it would be nice to do that a second time.” The game will be played on either the 6 or 7 of January.

Marshall Law Rules: The Reserves showed the first team how to beat Wigan Athletic away from home this week – Paul Marshall grabbed a hat-trick, while Ashley Grimes also found the net in a 4-2 drubbing of Athletic at Robin Park in Wigan. Coach Ian Miller said: “We were well worth the win; I was delighted with the performance. It was a horrible night in the driving rain, Wigan put a strong side out but we passed it and played well. We did OK when we lost to Liverpool last week, but we gave the ball away too much. This week we kept it a lot better against a stronger team, and I’m thrilled with both the performance and the result.”
City: Mentel, Obeng, Williamson (c), MacDonald, Breen, Clayton, Vidal, Grimes, Moore, Ball, Marshall. Subs: M Daly, Hartley, Mouritsen, Weiss, McDermott.
In other second team news; we now know how Thaksin is going to help his country’s national team – Thailand will play City’s Reserves. The game will take place on Sunday December 16th at the mini-COMS, kick-off 1.00pm.

Trabsfer News and Gossip

Agents Taxing Thaksin: I had breakfast with Thaksin Shinawatra on Friday. Let me rephrase that. I had Thaksin Shinawatra on my TV at breakfast time, as the City owner gave an interview to Sky Sports News. Thaksin revealed that S-GE is looking to bring in a new striker in January – and his target could be Liverpool’s Peter Crouch. “Sven is looking for one striker and one or two midfielders,” Thaksin told me over my toast. “Sven does like Peter Crouch, very much. But he has yet to decide. We are looking for good players that are good money, not too expensive. I am not in the position to buy everything at any cost. Sven will pick the right person at the right price.” Later in the week, the Daily Mail reported that Thaksin Shinawatra wants to take a stand against payments to agents by reducing his involvement with leading middle man Jerome Anderson. Anderson was said to be the power behind the arrival at City in the summer of the 8 players Sven signed – but in January, Thaksin will rely on his City staff to do much more of the transfer wheeling and dealing. Anderson said: “There is no one else in the world who could have delivered what I did in three weeks. It was my idea to open it up to other agents, and whatever I was paid – and it wasn’t as much as City say – they’ve had it back in spades.”

Rafa Doubts Crouch Pouch: Now it’s all very well for Dr.Thaksin to name Peter Crouch as a potential target – the manager of the target, and indeed the target himself, are sure he’s going nowhere. Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez said, for instance: “We do not want to sell Peter. So there could be rumours in the press but we are really happy with him. The players in a top side know sometimes they will not play every game but you can see how important Peter Crouch is for us. We want to enjoy and see Crouchie score a lot of goals. Always you know Peter in every training session is a very good professional. He is always ready if he must play and if he is not playing he is working hard to be ready for the next time.” And the England striker says he’s happy to be part of Benitez’s rotation system at Liverpool and insists he wants to stay at the club. He told the Liverpool Daily Post: “I don’t want to go anywhere and unless I am told otherwise I will certainly be at Liverpool in February. I haven’t started the last two games but did start the two before that. I think I’ll be involved and get the right amount of games to be happy. If I perform in those games I’m sure the manager will want to keep me. I’d like to play in every game but the manager likes to rest players and select players for each individual match. I don’t think any player apart from Steven Gerrard can play 70 games a season!”

Goian for Gold: It’s a pleasure to bring you a trio of new names in this whirligig of transfer flimflammery, for a change. First off, S-GE is believed to be keeping tabs on Ascoli wingback Stefano Guberti. It was expected that the 24-year-old would be leaving Serie B’s Ascoli for Fiorentina in the summer. Sven, however, is hoping to beat Fiorentina to the punch and has asked Ascoli to name their price. Elsewhere, City and Newcastle United are said to be battling for Steaua Bucharest defender Dorin Goian. Both clubs have sent scouts to watch Goian in Champions’ League action for Steaua Bucharest in midweek. And with Steaua on their way out of the competition after Wednesday’s 1-1 draw against Slavia Prague, the race for £3.5 million-rated Goian is on. And what’s this? Another striker to consider? The answer is “yes”, as the Mirror claims that City are keen on Olympique Marseille striker Mahamadou Niang. The paper says S-GE sent Tord Grip to watch the 28-year-old Senegalese speed merchant in a scoring display against Lille recently. Niang can play in the solo striker rôle, so would fit into Sven’s preferred team shape. The player’s rated at £8 million, and it’s thought that he may be considered a cheaper option to the somewhat higher priced Crouch or Nico Anelka.

Adriano to City? Fat Chance: The agent of Inter Milan striker Adriano says the Brazilian star could join Sao Paulo on loan, rather than sign up for the Sven Revolution. His agent, Gilmar Rinaldi revealed: “I keep on saying that it would be very difficult to make Adriano stay at Sao Paulo but if the player is happy with that chance, that decision would be something important for his health, we can have a conversation with the Italians. In my opinion Sao Paulo is the best Brazilian team for Adriano because they have a very good structure.”

Full of Eastern Promise: All through the coverage of England’s meeting with Croatia, the media usually referred to the Croats’ influential playmaker Luka Modric with the prefix “Chelsea bound”. All accepted that the Dinamo Zagreb midfielder was on his way to Stamford Bridge, or so it seemed. Well, Mr Abramovich, think on – the Mail on Sunday says City were sending a high-powered deputation to Croatia that day in an audacious £20 million attempt to steal the hugely talented Modric from under the noses of Chelsea. And the same newspaper reckoned City are planning a mega bid for Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov – City have not been deterred by Spurs’ apparent refusal to discuss the possibility of selling Berbatov. They are heartened by the Bulgarian’s reticence when it comes to discussing his future at White Hart Lane, although this might also spark a reaction from down Stretford way, where manager Sir Redface, has a long-standing regard for a player he has inquired about more than once.

Ex-Blues’ News

How to Make Friends and Influence People – 1: Ah, the riddle wrapped up inside an enigma, wrapped up inside the p*ll*ck that is Joey Barton. You can’t really satirise this boy, he does it so well himself. City’s former teammate assaulter (allegedly, of course, his case doesn’t go to court for another 6 months, but more of that later) has decided to rally the crowd at Newcastle around beleaguered boss Sam “Big Sam” Allardyce. So Joey called the St.James’ Park faithful “vicious”. “I have not yet seen the famous crowd I was expecting to hear get behind us,” said Ousmane Dabo’s best mate. “Instead it has been vicious; I don’t think I have heard a crowd that vicious. The fans want success and they want it straightaway, but unless they change that mentality and start supporting the side through poor results then things won’t change.” Barton then went all Nostradamus on us by predicting that Allardyce and his successors would never attract quality players to the club. “Unless there’s a massive change, it’s going to be the same for this manager, the next manager and whoever comes in after that,” he predicted. “If it continues, when the manager goes for players, they will go somewhere else rather than jump in the frying pan. Sam’s a good manager. He’s getting the brunt of the criticism but doesn’t deserve it. Not many managers can turn a club round in five minutes.” By Wednesday the sound of a retreat could be heard, as the eloquent Scouser stated that he hadn’t mean to call the fans “vicious”. So that’s alright then…

How to Make Friends and Influence People – 2: Had enough of Joey Barton yet? Well tough, here’s another bucket full. He’s been giving his innermost thoughts to the BBC this week. Maybe he’s practising remorse for the court case, who knows? First, he insists that he does not fear going to prison if he is found guilty of assaulting Ousmane Dabo. Barton is pleading not guilty to a charge of actual bodily harm and now faces a trial, which is expected to start in June 2008. “If you go to prison for defending yourself then, yes, I suppose I’ll think about it,” he mused. “But I don’t care. It doesn’t scare me at all. I’ve done nothing wrong.” So the pictures of the battered Dabo were faked, Joey? He continued: “I can go home and sleep at night and know I’ve done what I thought was right. I don’t think I’m a bad person. If the incidents I’ve been involved in had been to anyone other than a Premier League footballer, I don’t think they’d even be mentioned. It was something that I’ve seen five, six, seven times since I’ve been a professional footballer.” Barton says his reputation has left him short of support among fans (nooooooo, surely not!). “Nobody cares whether I’m innocent or guilty – nobody cares. I’m already guilty before I’ve been sat in front of a judge – that’s the disappointing thing,” he said. “It’s my reputation. It’s my fault I’ve got that reputation, but you shouldn’t be slaughtered for trying to make yourself a better person. One day I will get to speak about the full facts.” Time for a little homespun philosophy: “With things that have happened you become more spiritual, and I think the main thing for me is I don’t think I’d ever be judged on this earth,” he said. “I think at the end of the day you can do whatever you want to do here. There’s one person standing there and that’s you, and you’ve got to answer to every decision you’ve made. Whatever high power it is, when you finally meet him. Whether it be right or wrong, I believe when I stand in front of my maker then I can say to him ‘yeah, I did this for this reason; this, that for this reason’.”

Ali Passes the Baton: The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) is 100 years old this week. One of City’s first ever superstars, Billy Meredith, chaired the first meeting of the Association Players and Trainers Union at the Imperial Hotel in Manchester (there was an article in the Observer this week on this subject; if you want to read the online version, go to: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/12/02/its_never_been_so_good_thanks.html). To mark the occasion, the PFA staged a game between England’s and the Rest of the World’s veteran players at the COMS. The proceeds of the event went towards a new unit at a local children’s hospital. England were managed by Terry Venables, the R.O.W. by our own Sven. The City manager kept his 100% record at the ground this season, as the Rest won 3-2. It also brought some City Old Boys into town, notably Ali Benarbia and Shaun Goater. Ali B was asked for his views on the current City team, and not surprisingly the 39-year-old focussed on his own area of expertise, the midfield. “They are very good, and very quick. I have been impressed by what I have seen of Elano. He is a very good player and has scored some excellent goals. He is a bit of a playmaker, like I was. He tries to make incisive passes to the striker.” Benarbia added: “Ireland is having a good season too, and he is getting important goals, which have taken the pressure off Elano and the forwards. Both players are valuable to the team because they can score vital goals. And they have a strong defence behind them, so they know that if they can score one goal, it will probably be enough.” He also had a few words of advice for his old mate Nicolas Anelka, who as we know is linked every week with a return to City. To summarise: get yourself back here, boy! Ali B said: “I think a player such as Anelka needs a big club. I hope he finds the right club for him. I would like to see him back at Manchester City, because this is my club in England. I hope Sven can catch Anelka. He needs a big club. I think City with Anelka will be a better club. He lives in Manchester, and he is ready to play; he won’t need to adapt. Sven knows he needs to buy a striker to stay in the top five. He wants Anelka. I just hope that Anelka goes to City, because I love the club and I want them to do well. I would like to see Anelka back at City, the fans would like to see him back and the manager would like to see him back. But it is up to Anelka.”

Shaun Approves: Lord Goat of Bermuda also likes the look of what the new regime at City are achieving. “It’s been superb. We get to see a few Premier League games in Bermuda and I wish they were all City!” says our former strike hero. “Sven has done a great job, he’s got a balance of experienced players with an international background and young players with no fear. They are a fit, energetic side and he has such a good blend of players, which is why it has not taken them too long to gel together. I’m really pleased for the club because City has been waiting for this for a long time. After I left I always said that City needed someone who could invest and bring in new funding similarly to other top clubs, to bolster and improve the team. I’m so pleased that it has finally happened at City, there is a Chairman with the funding if need be, and a really top class manager. Sven has done the rounds internationally, and he will have an eye to bring in quality players like we have already seen in the early days.”

After-Match Reactions and Comments

Oh Great, A Brucie Bonus! Having faced Steve “Sir Whingealot” Bruce only last month with Birmingham, our City came up against Bruce yet again at the weekend, in his new rôle as Manager of Wigan Athletic. A Titus Bramble error within 30 seconds got Bruce’s reign with the club off to the worst start imaginable. Geovanni capitalised to put City ahead but Wigan hit back through a powerful Paul Scharner header before half-time. Wigan captain Mario Melchiot was sent off late on for a two-footed tackle on Stephen Ireland, and the final action saw a strong handball appeal against Kelvin Etuhu in the City box. Referee Mike Riley waved away Wigan’s loud claims. At least it gave Steve Bruce something to moan about on telly that night, as did Melchiot’s sending off. “We might have to appeal”, said Bruce. “I can understand why the referee gave his decision because it looks like a stamp. But it was a 50-50 challenge and Mario has not gone over the ball even though he has shown his studs.” Sven saw the incident differently, however. “I saw it on the replay afterwards, so I don’t think they should protest too much about that,” he claimed.

One Point Good, Three Points Better: Speaking of his overall impression of the game, Sven said: “One point is always good in a way. But deep inside I have a feeling we should be doing a little bit better in games like this. We were a bit lucky with our goal because it was a mistake, but it was also a mistake from us for their goal. We have lost three times away from home before this, so one point is okay. We haven’t got a point against Wigan in two years, so at least we have one now. I don’t have the answer to why we play better at home than away but I wish we could. We have the quality.” The opponents got some praise as well. “Wigan have a much better team than the table shows,” he told Sky Sport. “And I think they did a very good match today. They are a very physically strong team and are fighting. We didn’t win the game today and that is down to Wigan. There are two teams on the pitch, you know? I think a draw is a fair result, they did very well”

Horrible Start: Despite having to have his customary gripes, Steve Bruce was a relieved man to see his side grab a share of the points. He conceded that he could barely believe his eyes after watching Bramble gift City the lead. “Well if you ever wanted the ground to open and swallow you up, well me and Titus I suppose, I guess that was it,” he told Sky Sports News. “The one thing you have to do after that is try and forget it and carry on, and have a response. And to be fair to Titus it made the afternoon uncomfortable for him, and for us, but they responded. We could have nicked it, and if anyone was going to do that, I think it was going to be us. But after such a horrible start, we’ll take a point.”

Something’s Missing: We leave this match report with our manager still feeling, as one paper put it, “quietly dissatisfied”: “I feel something is missing and that we will have to talk about it again and see if we can find the answer before next week,” Eriksson told the MEN. “We need to take half a step more but it is a young team, a new team and I am not frustrated or disappointed, just feeling that in the future we may be better.”

Squad News

A Bluming Month Out for Elano: He never likes to give too much away, does he, old Svennis? It sounds like Elano will be out for at least a month, due to the hamstring injury that forced him off during the win over Reading the other week. All Sven would say on this subject of when his inspirational playmaker might return was that the boy was being sent for further tests and that “The worst case scenario is that he is out for three to four weeks.” Four weeks is long enough of course, but it is an awfully short time to recover from a hamstring injury. Hurry back, Mr. Blumer…

You Dunne Yet? Richard Dunne pledged his future to City this week, as his three hundredth game for the club hoves into view. “I know players tend to change clubs every three or four years, but I enjoy it here, it’s the right place for me to be,” he said. “I don’t see any reason to leave, and I don’t want to leave. This feels like home to me, it’s normal and I feel happy going to work every day because it’s a nice place to be and I feel really comfortable. Breaking appearance records would be nice, but it’s not something I’m aiming to do. I’ll just keep carrying on, I’m grateful to have played the number of games that I have done. Without setting any targets, I’d like to stay here for as long as possible and see where I end up.” At the other end of the appearances scale is Gelsen Fernandes, who has just made his third consecutive first team start. And guess what? He’s loving it too. “I always make my own decisions and do what feels right in my heart,” Fernandes said. “Whether or not I like the country or the kind of football was always going to play a big part in choosing where I moved to and when City came along, I knew this was the move for me. I love England and English football, which I’ve always watched and loved since being a kid, so I am very happy to be a Manchester City player.”

Cool It, Says Corluka: Vedran Corluka’s musings this week have been more club orientated, after last week’s robust views on England and Croatia. Now he’s urged City fans to cool their expectations this season. Old Big Ved said on the club website: “We must be realistic and not expect to be in the top four, but we are a good team and should not be ashamed of that. The ‘top four’ teams are better than us, but they must prove that out on the field. We can aim for the top six or seven, but Portsmouth are a good side as well so a couple of teams could break through and I hope that City are one of them.”

OPINION: THE WIGAN GAME

A couple of points on the City game at Wigan.

1. Garrido should have been pulled off before Wigan drew level. Steve Bruceis a smart enough manager to know that City had a problem at left back andthat’s where the ball went for the equalising goal.
2. It is true that Samaras is clueless up front but Bianchi isn’t muchbetter, and that’s because of Sven’s 4-5-1 tactics. Leave a solitary strikerup front with no servicing from the wingers and what do you expect?

It’s great that City are getting the results but that is because of their defence. City’s attacking formation never looks like scoring more than one or two goals – against anybody!

If Sven is going to buy a couple of quality strikers in January, he needs to adapt his tactics to be more adventurous. Pretty soon the rest of the league is going to catch on how to play against us. Need to be more diversified.

OPINION: BEST FANS IN THE WORLD?

I was at the game on Saturday and it wasn’t a classic by any stretch. Apart from a workmanlike performance from Fernandes and a steady game from Corluka (who just looks better and better by the way; incidentally I’d swap him round with Micah as I don’t think he quite has the concentration for centre-half as yet but that’s another story), nobody else was consistently at the races.

Two very poor teams from an attacking perspective on the day. I agree with everybody that Samaras should have come off a lot earlier for Bianchi; even as early as half-time for me. But the boos that rang out from our “supporters” when he got substituted absolutely disgusted me. I heard it quite a lot last season and was equally as disgusted then. It was a minority, but given the amount of fans we had there on Saturday it rang loud and true. Yes, Samaras was frustrating. Yes, it doesn’t look like he is going to cut the mustard. And yes, he’s had enough chances. But the lad (and I mean “lad”; how old is he 21, 22?) has been given the opportunity purely on attitude in my mind and I respect Sven for that. He’s got his head down and got on with it. He clapped the fans as he went off and came over again at full-time with somebody else. I was embarrassed; I really was.

I don’t believe in booing one of your own, no matter how bad. That’s for the manager to sort out, which I’m sure he now will. I’m sure some of our other players who we adore weren’t at all impressed either. I’m sure people will reserve their right to say and do what they want as long as they are paying their money; just don’t refer to yourselves as the best fans in the world.

OPINION: SAMARAS SCHOOL

Maybe I’m missing something but our Greek tragedy mystifies me. Having endured the Wigan match where we effectively played with 10 men, I’ve come to the following conclusions.

Samaras style:

1. play with back to goal at all times.
2. pass ball back as quick as you can – usually to the player who gave it you.
3. hone shooting skills to finely-tuned passes.
4. don’t challenge for anything in the air.
5. don’t try to retrieve any balls from opposition players if they are morethan 5 feet away; if less than 5 feet, shrug and saunter.
6. shrug and saunter.

And he’s grown his hair again, Ernie Barrow take note.

Back in the days of Psycho I was convinced that the Greek must have in his possession some colourful pics of the man Psycho in a compromising position for old Stuart to keep playing him! So he must have some stunningly colourful and compromising pics of our Sven for this to continue. I’m convinced of it.

OPINION: LIES AND STATISTICS

Before Uncle Ernie tells us another bedtime story, let’s have a look at the old scoreboard. Is the glass half full or half empty or for the accountants out there in either scenario there is a 50% wastage in glass.

Are we 10 points from safety?
Are we 23 points from a UEFA berth?

My thanks go to the massive excel sheet that someone generously sent around.

Observations:

• Normally we are tucking into Easter Eggs by the time we have 30 points; weshould have at least 33 by Boxing Day.
• Projected (at this rate) of two points per game to end the season on 76points (glass more than half full)
• On balance I think we have had an easy start to the season (Chelsea excepted)
• Bolton will get better (new manager syndrome and we were lucky in theCarling Cup)
• Toon can’t get any worse (funny if they did tho’ Barton and Big Sam pushingthe self destruct button is amusing)
• Wigan played well on Saturday and will climb.
• We had 3 games at home on the trot (never heard of that before); if it wasChelsea or Arsenal then Taggart would have chucked his teddy.
• More teams will be gatecrashing the top 4 (Pompey, Villa, Blackburn,Everton)…
• We play Spurs twice with the new manager syndrome, I’d settle for win in thecup and a loss at WH Lane.
• If we buy a proven striker we should improve away from home.
• I think 35 points will be safety this year, which is lucky for Sunderland Ithink (34 points was the lowest ever safety mark).

Here’s a pub argument we had the other day.

Do you want Sunderland to stay up because of fond affection for Quinny or is it for the greater good for them to go down because of Mr Roy “career ending tackle on Alfie” Keane?

You never can tell what lies ahead. However, the statistics never lie. In the last 6 seasons these have been the points tally for the Top 7 positions, so assuming one of the top 4 Champions’ League slots wins either of the cups then UEFA slots are fifth, sixth and seventh in the league. So therefore with 39% of our season gone (15 games), statistically we have 50% of a target total of the 60 points that could get us a UEFA slot.

Position   Min Max Avg
Champions  83  95  89.2
Runners Up 78  83  81.0
Third      68  82  74.7
Fourth     60  71  65.7
UEFA 1     56  66  61.5
UEFA 2     56  64  59.8
Seventh    53  59  55.7

Let’s assume that UEFA slots go to fifth and sixth. Let’s assume it’s a tough year. Then we would need 64 points to get to Europe.

In our remaining 23 games we need another 34 points, which is 1.48 (call it 1.5) points per game: win at home, lose away. Realistic target or what! Where can we get another 34 points (6 wins and 2 draws from 11 home games / 3 wins and 5 draws in 12 away games)?

Jose for England
Shearer for Toon
Hold on, it’s going to be a rocky ride with Sven and the boys.

OPINION: JIMMY OF CITY

For all of those of the right age, Roy of the Rovers, Bobby of the Blues, Nipper and numerous others are instant nostalgia trips back to the days of Saturday morning comic runs and the trials and tribulations of Melchester Rovers, Everpool and many others. But I was always partial to the separate stories of Jack of United and Jimmy of City playing for Castleburn United and City. I’ve always suspected that my trip towards City started with these stories – Jimmy was a winger of freewheeling City while Jack played defender for a strait laced United. No contest, City were much more interesting.

Currently the Roy of the Rovers site is running the Jack and Jimmy stories from the beginning. Hopefully any attention they receive will encourage them to run other lost classics.

http://www.royoftherovers.com/comicstories/jackandjimmy.aspx

OPINION: AWAY FORM

We all know that the form at home is brilliant, the best in the Premier League, so why then can the same team not do well away from home?

City have been playing with a 4 defence, 5 midfield and a lone striker who is supposed to be lightning fast. The midfield helps the defence when it has to, and then counter attack at speed, but in the game versus Wigan just hung onto the ball, and it appeared with no real desire to go forward, and when they did it was without any spark to the attack.

Against Spurs we go without Didi Hamann who is suspended and Elano who is still receiving medical treatment on his injury. From the strikers, Vassell, Mpenza, Bojinov and Sturridge are all injured, which leaves Bianchi or Samaras? Although the latest news says that Mpenza and Vassell are back in training.

I don’t understand why Sven is not playing Bianchi, he says that Bianchi trains hard and wants to stay; why not start Bianchi? What have we got to lose by playing him? We have no one else right now, Samaras as far as I am concerned has had his chances.

To win the Spurs game, not only does the defence have to hold firm, but the game has got to be won by a midfield willing to attack more. Petrov, Ireland, Geovanni, and with Michael Johnson back from injury, are all potential goal scorers, but all must be at their best versus Spurs who will be all out to win after their defeat to a plucky Birmingham side at White Hart Lane in their last game.

There is no reason why City should not win; think win and not draw, and we shall win. Think positive for City are more than capable.

Attack! Attack! Attack!

Come on you Blues!

OPINION: TICKET RIP OFF

As I threatened last year, I did not renew my season ticket. So I rang to book some tickets over Christmas and to book for the Spurs League Cup game. I booked about 8 tickets in one phone call (0870 number, premium rate, how can they justify this? I agree with the message this week about saynoto0870 – it works, try it). The number for City is 0161 231 3200, ask for the ticket office and let us all know how you go on.

They add £1.50 for each ticket (or was it £1 but that’s not the point). This is profiteering in the extreme. If anyone in the club reads this, perhaps they will try to justify it. The person at the end of the phone costs £x whether they book 1 ticket or 30 tickets in the one call. We are all being taken for a ride on this and should protest. One answer is to get down to Maine Road (still can’t bring myself to say City of Manchester…) so you don’t have to pay the extra but not easy when you work a 10 hour day!

Why did we buy Bianchi? What’s the problem with him? Does anyone know? £8 million for a seat on the bench? Is there something we should know about? He has hardly had a chance.

OPINION: THE NAME OF THE GAME

In response to George, MCIVTA 1385, I think we could suggest that morals went out of the game in 1995 when Klinsmann demanded £20,000 a week wages and a ‘desperate for success’ Spurs obliged. He still drove a Beetle though did old Jürgen. It’s all about personal gain, more so now than ever and about employing whichever tactics to get it. Just look at Serie A.

My advice is enjoy the lofty heights whilst they are being probed. If old Thaksin does regain his political stance and decides to sell off his plaything, we will be in such a better position financially, then good old Bernstein can be welcomed back open arms. We are creaming the profits from a non communist China and everyone’s happy… Yes.

Except the right on amongst us! (only joking George!); oh and Yoo’nited.

P.S. Did anyone notice Sven’s more sombre, less articulate interview on GMR and MoTD on Saturday? Didn’t seem his usual self and this coincides with us sliding down the table at an alarming rate! Honeymoon period over?

RESULTS

5 December 2007

Newcastle United      1 - 1  Arsenal               50,305

3 December 2007

Manchester United     2 - 0  Fulham                75,055

2 December 2007

Liverpool             4 - 0  Bolton Wanderers      43,270
Tottenham Hotspur     2 - 3  Birmingham City       35,635

1 December 2007

Aston Villa           1 - 2  Arsenal               42,018
Blackburn Rovers      3 - 1  Newcastle United      27,477
Chelsea               1 - 0  West Ham United       41,830
Portsmouth            0 - 0  Everton               20,102
Reading               1 - 1  Middlesbrough         22,262
Sunderland            1 - 0  Derby County          42,380
Wigan Athletic        1 - 1  Manchester City       18,614

League table to 05 December 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         15  7  1  0 20  6  4  3  0 12  6 11  4  0  32  12  20  37
 2 Manchester Utd  15  7  1  0 16  1  3  2  2  9  6 10  3  2  25   7  18  33
 3 Chelsea         15  4  3  0 12  3  5  1  2 10  6  9  4  2  22   9  13  31
 4 Liverpool       14  3  4  0 16  4  5  2  0 10  2  8  6  0  26   6  20  30
 5 Manchester City 15  8  0  0 13  3  1  3  3  6 12  9  3  3  19  15   4  30
 6 Portsmouth      15  2  5  0 11  6  5  1  2 14  7  7  6  2  25  13  12  27
 7 Aston Villa     15  5  0  3 12  9  3  3  1 14  7  8  3  4  26  16  10  27
 8 Blackburn R.    15  4  2  2 11 10  3  3  1  9  8  7  5  3  20  18   2  26
 9 Everton         15  4  1  2 16  7  3  2  3 10  9  7  3  5  26  16  10  24
10 West Ham United 14  2  3  2  9  7  3  1  3 10  5  5  4  5  19  12   7  19
11 Newcastle Utd   15  4  2  2 12 12  1  2  4  9 13  5  4  6  21  25  -4  19
12 Birmingham City 15  2  1  4  7 10  2  1  5  9 14  4  2  9  16  24  -8  14
13 Reading         15  4  1  3  9 11  0  1  6  9 21  4  2  9  18  32 -14  14
14 Fulham          15  2  4  2 14 14  0  3  4  4 10  2  7  6  18  24  -6  13
15 Sunderland      15  3  2  2  7  7  0  2  6  8 22  3  4  8  15  29 -14  13
16 Tottenham H.    15  2  1  4 17 15  0  5  3  9 13  2  6  7  26  28  -2  12
17 Bolton Wndrs    15  2  3  3  8  8  0  2  5  4 14  2  5  8  12  22 -10  11
18 Middlesbrough   15  1  3  3  8 12  1  2  5  5 15  2  5  8  13  27 -14  11
19 Wigan Athletic  15  2  2  3  6  7  0  1  7  5 19  2  3 10  11  26 -15   9
20 Derby County    15  1  2  4  5 14  0  1  7  0 20  1  3 11   5  34 -29   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.

Heidi Pickup, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

Editor: