Newsletter #24
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Plenty of news but nothing earth-shattering. I’m starting to get news items several times over from different subscribers (no complaints from me!) so I’ve taken the liberty of pasting-in the first I receive and then acknowledging subsequent people. I hope the people concerned won’t be offended but I want to avoid things getting too repetitive. Please don’t let this deter you from sending stuff in.
Could be a big day today here in Zürich as the cable company switches on BBC World Service TV! There probably won’t be any football or cricket though, just EastEnders! Nothing wrong with Londoners I hear you say 😎
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Next game: Wimbledon at home on Saturday 26th November.
MATCH VIEW ‘LIVE’
LEICESTER CITY vs MANCHESTER CITY
20th November ’94
I should really have stayed in bed with my cold but money spent on tickets is money spent. And how would I have felt missing an away win gained on Sky (did they drop the BSkyB bit?)? Rather than cover the same ground by concentrating on the action, I thought I would look at this game from several tangents as there were plenty of underlying issues.
Not a sell-out but a large and noisy contingent had negotiated treacherous pre-match weather and made their way to Filbert Street, myself for the first time. My £10.00 ticket was a few rows back from the touchline, affording a not too brilliant view but I suspect my face got on Sky a few times as Peter Beagrie marauded down the wing in the first half.
The facilities at Filbert Street were appallingly bad. There seemed to be one refreshments stall covering about 1,000 seats in my section. The gangways were very narrow and absolute chaos. The (male) toilets were an inch deep in what looked very much like urine only 5 minutes into half-time.
The East Midlands police were doing their best to catch up ground on their West Midlands counterparts; firstly I saw Dave Wallace get rudely hassled selling KotK outside the ground, but more serious was their handling of the “sit-in” after the game. Around 300 Leicester fans stayed behind shouting “Sack the board” and we happily joined in with the odd shout of “Swales for Leicester”. As we were leaving, the police moved in and started pulling people out from the front of the Leicester stand. I didn’t see how that had started but with EMP, I think it’s safe to say that they were over-aggressive. Well, Brian Little has gone and so has his coach but they beat Arsenal 2-1 last night. It’s a strange game.
The City fans were a weird bunch on Sunday. We were very vocal and had a great time. The “Who bombed Old Trafford? … Uwe’s Dad” song is funny and inoffensive unlike the (thankfully absent) Munich chants. But “Leicester’s full of Pakis”? I ask you!! If it’s meant as an insult, it’s a bit hypocritical when you look around outside Maine Road. There were also constant Uwe songs and although I’m a fan of his, it must be rather unsettling for the other attacking players. Poor old Niall only got a chant when he scored a goal!
And WhyOWhy do some stupid City fans insist on running on the pitch at every game? It was only 2 or 3 this time but they must know by now that they’ll be carted off and miss the game. Maybe that’s the intention? 🙂
OY! LINESMAN! NOOOOOOO! was my mate’s cry. I don’t know who he was but the linesman covering our half of the pitch must be one of the most inept officials I have ever seen. He made a fair number of wrong decisions but the main problem was that he was always 5 or 10 yards off the last man. Absolutely unbelievable for a Premier League game. It’s quite possible that that is why our goal stood with Walsh obviously offside. :} (Harry Enfield reference at the start of that paragraph, sorry if I confused you!)
Thank heaven Keith Curle was back. He still unerringly heads the ball to opposition players but he is the rock in our defence and there is no way the rags would have stuck 5 past us with him present. I was very pleased with Summerbee’s contribution as he worked hard albeit without much effect and managed to quell the boo boys. Beagrie had another brilliant game; Beagrie for England anyone?.
The game itself I found very enjoyable. Plenty of action at both ends and with sharper shooting, we could have seen another cricket score. Leicester probably edged the overall game but City clung on well and should have had more goals. Three points well won. Saturday brings a chance to pay back the Dons for their victory at the Academy last year.
Very bad news about TC if it means his career is over. City can’t complain; he’s given us sterling service and no-one would blame him for hanging up his gloves. Let’s hope we do see him back between the sticks however.
James NashNEWS
A bit of an update regarding the fiscal situation at Maine Road (Tuesday’s MEN).
It appears as though City were somewhere in the region of £4 million in debt even before Lee’s consortium finally managed to wrestle control away from PJS. The further outlay on Walsh and Beagrie forced the debt to climb to £6 million (so Lee’s accusation that the debt was all down to the previous board is somewhat inaccurate). You can see why the takeover took so long; would you want to acquire a club in such bad shape? However, the £6 million debt hasn’t stopped Lee promising money is available to Horton to strengthen the squad.
On the plus side the executive restaurant in the Main Stand has already made more than a £1 million, so that looks like it’s quite successful. Quite a shrewd move by Lee to temporarily move the club’s offices into an office block near the Princess Parkway (major road link between the city centre and the motorway network) and convert the existing area into a money-making restaurant.
The club also hopes to raise a further £2 million by selling ordinary shares at £1.00 a share. I’m not sure if owning these shares are beneficial to the holder or not. If I remember rightly though they do give you the option to buy voting shares should any become available.
Is anybody in MCIVTA/WWW page willing to buy these shares? I wonder if there’s a minimum you have to buy?
Martin FordNEWS
TC’s seen the other surgeon for a second opinion and it looks like surgery may not be needed. It’s been recommended that TC rest for upto 6 weeks to enable the muscle tear to repair itself and then hopefully the discs won’t be a problem. If I was TC I’d think long and hard as to whether to continue; this problem could occur again at any time and it could lead to far more serious implications. I’d prefer to be able to walk in future years! I just wonder how much pressure City are putting onto TC to get himself back playing (we pay your wages and want you fit!!)?
It’s also been reported that Simon Tracey has sustained a shoulder injury, so he too will be unavailble, even though his loan period is not quite over. City are now down to two goalies, Dibble and Margetson. I wonder if City will rely on them or will they sign another goalie as cover?
I see three of City’s players are walking a disciplinary tightrope, Rösler and Lomas are one booking away from a suspension. I’m not sure who the third is, but I think it might be Beagrie. Could City afford to lose these three key players through a suspension?
The Newcastle Coca Cola Cup game is a near sell-out; with just a week to go there are about 1,000 tickets left. That should make it a cracking atmosphere and hopefully the game will live up to expectations. Get the tissues out if City win, we’re heading into definite nose bleed territory, the quarter finals!!!!!
Martin FordNEWS
A report in Today newspaper claims that TC’s career is not yet over. He saw a leading neuro-surgeon in Manchester who told him that time and rest could produce a cure. City manager Brian Horton said
“Tony’s going to rest and let it heal. We’ve been told he can start training in four or five weeks.”
Editor: