Newsletter #81

I’m afraid this ‘intro’ is going to be pretty cursory as I’ve had to have a day off work and am desperately trying to catch up! We’ve three match reports, one from the Toon game and two from Villa as well as a Villa view. There’s also a piece on the planned MCIVTA ‘meet’ which will be taking place at The Old Abbey (see MCIVTA 78 for a plan). If you’re thinking of going can you drop me a mail so I can keep an eye on the numbers.

Next game Nottingham Forest away, Saturday 6th May 1995.

MATCH REPORT ‘LIVE’

MANCHESTER CITY vs NEWCASTLE UNITED, Saturday 29th April, 1995

The day started well when some of the MCIVTA ‘penpals” met in the pub before the game, although can I finally and officially state that my name is not Kevin-the-Pervert or Kevin, a-woman-in-every-port Duckworth (I wish). My reputation died when it was confirmed that Lynne, the wife and the girlfriend, are one and the same.

After two or three pints we strolled to the ground and got in just as the teams came onto the field. This was unfortunate as Saturday was the 25th anniversary of City winning the Cup Winners’ Cup. I am not sure who was introduced to the crowd but a friend who got there early described a Pole; can anyone confirm if it was Lubanski?

City’s biggest crowd of the season witnessed a poor game of football, although on the positive side, it would have been classed as a good City performance 2 years ago. Newcastle played the better passing game, although it was all sideways. Beardsley played nearly every position on the field. I understand freedom of the park, but centre half? Coton had just one shot to save in the first half, where he promptly injured himself and was replaced by Burridge at half time who, at 43, became the oldest player to appear in the Premier League. He got a rousing reception from both sets of supporters, although the Geordies then started singing ‘Hello, Hello, dodgie goalie.’ – all in fun. Budgie didn’t have a save all afternoon until Ruel Fox beat him to a header and hit the inside of the post. This would have been an injustice as City had the clearer chances. Gillespie gave Edghill a hiding until switching over to the right wing to try, without success against Phelan.

Rösler, who was trying to impress the German management, would not have been happy with the service he received from the rest of the team and Quinn who ran his bollocks off was clearly tired from the mid-week international. Again my man of the match was Kernaghan who won almost everything, and when he didn’t Curle was there to clean up.

Not the best game, but at least a point which I think will be enough.

MATCH REPORT ‘LIVE’

ASTON VILLA vs. MANCHESTER CITY, Wednesday 3rd May 1995

We travelled south for this much-rearranged game in much better humour than we could have possibly envisaged before Easter; this looked like being a do-or-die game, our best chance of 3 points in the run-in. However, following City’s resurrection there was a much more carefree attitude amongst the fans who were determined to enjoy this game on what was a lovely, warm, sunny day. Arriving a little after 5:30pm, there was plenty of time to have a wander round the ground and take a closer look at the new Holte End. With more seats than the new Kippax, this two-tier stand is an impressive replacement for one of the most famous “kops” in the game. Not only is the capacity huge, the time taken to erect it was also surprisingly short; it’s been rebuilt from the bottom up, using none of the old terrace that it replaced. Tour completed, we made for the Witton Arms, about 150 yards behind the North Stand, where most of the City fans would be seated.

City lined up with John Burridge replacing the injured Tony Coton, Edghill at right back, Phelan at left back, Kernaghan and Curle in the middle, a midfield of Flitcroft and Simpson, Summerbee wide on the right, Walsh between the midfield and front pair (mainly on the left) and with Quinn and Rösler up front. On the bench were Beagrie, Gaudino and Margetson (recalled from his loan at Luton). City started well enough, taking the game to Villa who threatened little in the first 5 minutes. The Villa fans were in good voice and had a loud appeal for a penalty turned down in the 7th minute when the ball struck Kernaghan’s hand as he lay in the penalty area after an aerial challenge. No way was it deliberate; referee Stephen Lodge waved play on. Two minutes later Villa were ahead. A corner wasn’t properly cleared and when the second cross came in, Ehiogu rose above everybody and appeared to palm the ball over Burridge and into the net in classic “hand of God” style. Just about everybody but the referee and linesman seemed to spot it but despite the protestations, the goal stood. That could be just the sort of luck Villa need to keep themselves in the Premiership!

The game continued with City having more of the possession but creating little. The options seemed to be to play it down the wings or hoof the ball straight down the middle. Villa defended the crosses well, having men coming out from near post areas to head clear; the punts forward had their usual effect i.e. virtually none. At the other end, Villa put in some decent long shots but Burridge’s positioning was good and he wasn’t unduly troubled. A second Villa goal nearly came after good work from Taylor down the left wing. He got behind Edghill, cut inside and pulled the ball back just behind Dean Saunders who turned sharply but hit his shot straight at Burridge. On the half-hour mark, Burridge picked up an interception- cum-back-pass from Richard Edghill under no pressure whatsoever but either the referee didn’t notice or didn’t consider that an offence had been committed.

Overall, City had much of the first-half possession but little in the way of clear-cut chances to show for it. Summerbee whipped in some excellent corners from the left side but nobody could get the vital flick on. There was little creativity in the middle and I’d say Villa just edged the first half. At half time, Phelan was replaced by Beagrie, with Summerbee moving back to right-back and Edghill switching to left-back. Beagrie started off on the right flank where Summerbee had been, presumably to give Staunton something to occupy himself with instead of charging down into our half and sending in those great crosses that he’s inclined to do. Part-way through the second half, Beagrie swapped over to the left side and Quinn moved over to Staunton. This worked very well and Quinn was to give the Villa man a torrid time.

Right from the start of the second half City looked more fired up. Edghill sent in a long throw which was flicked on by Quinn but Rösler’s near-post effort flew just wide. A good build-up down the left side ended with Flitcroft shooting just wide of the other post from 20 yards. Then Simpson went close with a snapshot after a poorly-cleared corner.

I remember thinking to myself “we can win this”, which is usually the cue for the opposition to go down the other end and pop another goal in. This time it was different; Quinn robbed Staunton, charged into the penalty area and pulled the ball across the 6-yard box to Rösler, who completely mis-hit his shot; this wrong-footed Bosnich who could only get a hand to the ball and it trickled slowly towards the goal. Just as it was crossing the line, a Villa defender hacked it clear. Was it over the line? We all started celebrating – a goal had been given! My view (from behind the goal) was that it didn’t look completely over the line but this seemed to be a minority opinion amongst the City fans and to be fair, the Villa players didn’t appear to be complaining. In any case, justice was done for the handball which led to their goal.

Villa, deep in relegation trouble, now started to look very nervous and the referee gave us a few contentious decisions which rather upset the home fans. Bosnich made a great diving save from an 18-yard Beagrie effort after he’d cut in from the left. City were turning on the style, playing a good short-passing game and carving out a few opportunities. Villa then started to come back at us; a corner swung in from the left seemed to hit the far post and bounce out for a goal-kick. Maybe some forward got their head to it? Our luck was in for once. Villa continued to press forward and Burridge looked distinctly suspect on high balls. On 78 minutes Rösler limped off after a collision in midfield. A minute later Gaudino came on to replace him; between these events the final score came through from Southampton, where the home side had beaten Palace 3-1. This went down very well.

Gaudino’s trickery and passing ability threatened to open up the Villa defence for a City winner; Quinn was well on top in his battle with Staunton too but it was an in-form Beagrie who came closest to creating a winner when his cross was headed against the bar by Flitcroft with Bosnich well beaten. Flitcroft must be wondering just what he has to do to score! The last few minutes were quite frantic as Villa surged forward looking for a desperately-needed winner. Budgie saved well at the foot of his near post in the 89th minute but that was the closest Villa came to scoring again. So, it finished 1-1 which was a fair result over the whole game. Either side could have won it but the chances weren’t converted. The result leaves us on 49 points with 2 games to go and we still aren’t mathematically safe. However, Norwich can no longer catch us and if Villa fail to beat Liverpool on Saturday, they won’t be able to either. Palace are 2 points behind Villa and have a game in hand. I think I’d rather have the points at this stage.

MATCH REPORT ‘LIVE’

ASTON VILLA vs. MANCHESTER CITY, Wednesday 3rd May 1995

This was a game we should have won. Villa were poor. It is not surprising they are in trouble after the way they played for much of this game. At the start, however, they were quite good, but only because our midfield was non-existent for much of the first half.

After quite a bright start, Villa won a corner on the right after 10 mins. An obvious run across the face of the goal led to a short corner. The ball was then played in, flicked on, and went in from a crowd of players. The last touch was so obviously from Ehiogu’s hand that nobody could quite believe it when it was given. Burridge complained all half to the ref. and linesman but to no avail.

After going behind we still could not get going in midfield and Villa constantly tried shooting from long range. Budgie was up to the task and made some decent saves. Apart from long range shots, though, they didn’t really test him.

For most of the half Simpson and Flitcroft were absent (gone off modeling?) and as a result the front men were starved of decent balls. Despite this, Walsh looked lively and Summerbee his usual useless self!

At half-time the ref. was roundly abused as he went off near the City fans. Then we introduced Beagrie (at last!), in place of Phelan, for the second half. He had an immediate impact as we dominated the first 15 minutes of the half. The midfield had finally appeared and we had most of the possession. After about 65 minutes Uwe scored.

Another potentially controversial goal. Did it cross the line? I had a poor view but the City players were convinced so why argue? Anyway it was given, so that’s that.

For the rest of the half we were by far the better side but did not create many chances. The best was about five minutes from the end when a great header from Flitcroft hit the bar. They hit the post as well, well Quinn did for them. It was a header from Quinn that hit our post (the paper says today).

Rösler had to go off injured 10 minutes from time, to be replaced by Dino. He strolled around as usual. In one run he beat three men then almost stood still on the edge of the box and got robbed. He must learn that he cannot do that in English football.

Overall we were poor in the first half and superb in the second. It was a game we should have won and it could be seen why Villa struggle.

VILLA VIEW

There’s a lot of tension here at VP these days and it’s certainly showing in the performance of the Villa tonight. First half, we looked more a footballing side though, after a goal credited to Ugo (off his hand?). Corner right side taken by Stan short to Yorke, who lays the ball back, Stan chips over the near post, flicked on to Ugo who bundles the ball home at the far post. Great start!! Stan also tries his luck with shots from 30 yards out, Deano also unlucky.

Villa quietly confident at half time.

However, ManC come out meaning business second half, and Flitcroft, Quinn and Walsh cause problems for our defence, especially Alan Wright at right back. Seems only a matter of time before they equalise and they oblige from a better than of late clearance from Bozzie. The ball comes to Teale, who is charged off the ball by Quinn (looked a bit of a foul IMO). He takes the ball down the right, pulls the ball back across the penalty area where Rösler is lurking. Bozz committed to the cross, Rösler clips the ball beyond him but he still manages to get back to the ball but it crosses the line before he can get it clear. JEEEEZZZZUUUSSSSS!!!!!

From there on, ManC are looking most likely to grab a winner; but for a superlative save by Bozz from Flitcroft’s (?) shot, and a header which cracks the crossbar.

However Villa come again and the upright saves City from Deano’s effort, while Wright contrives to spurn a glorious chance 10 mins from the end.

A point saved, rather than two lost, given the chances ManC had, but Villa are playing with the weight of the Premier League on their shoulders, and with the RedScouse at home Saturday and Norwich away next Sunday (AIUI) it’s looking harder and harder…

RUMOURS

Unsubstantiated rumours that TC is ready to leave the club. Having been sent home on crutches following the Newcastle game, he was rushed to hospital by a family member, only for the surgeon to remove what is being described as a bloody great lump from his leg which, if left untreated would certainly have ended his playing days. Not surprisingly, this has dashed TC’s confidence in the Maine Road hierarchy and has led to his wish for a move in advance of next season.

OPINION – COTON

I’ve just read in today’s Sun about T.C.’s injury and specifically the City response to it. The article seemed to suggest the no one at Maine Road took it all seriously and T.C. had to make his own way to hospital at least three hours after he had hobbled off the pitch. The Sun alledged that the operation that immediately followed T.C. arriving at the private hospital was performed just in time. Any later he alledgedly could have substained permanent damage or even have had to have an amputation! The report also claimed that neither Frannie or B.H. have yet contacted T.C. and in the light of all this he is seriously evaluating his position at City.

As the report appeared in the Sun I have great reservations about taking it as gospel, but if it is true this surely means great problems for the club as whole. If Coton did decide to leave, it would leave us with Budgie (a great player but really far too old to be playing Premier league football) and Dibble (need I say more). This is a situation that needs to be rectified as soon as humanly possible by either solving the Coton problem or by purchasing a new, young goalie. If the latter option is used let’s hope he is a better player than Dibble.

OPINION – KERNAGHAN I

Are there any other Kernaghan fans out there? Well I am certainly one. Since he came back from Bolton, he has been superb. His control under pressure, heading ability and ability to be in the right place at the right time (in the defence penalty area) makes him a natural to follow McGrath in the Eire team.

One story that shows his credentials was against Notts County. In the first game Keith Curle watched from the sidelines and made numerous references to the County centre forward, I think White, who he termed windmill due to his flaying arms (ref- reliable source). The first 10 minutes of the replay, you could tell Curley didn’t fancy White and soon after Kernaghan took over and knocked him about a bit.

I have mentioned in earlier letters that I think his career is going in the same way as Gary Pallister who also was initially branded a donkey at the cesspit. I also think he will be as good. From the stick he has had, he deserves it.

OPINION – KERNAGHAN II

Kernaghan – I’ve always stood up for him as he was always good when he played for Middlesbrough against us and you don’t suddenly become a bad player. Jeering our own players can only be counter- productive so I don’t bother, not even for David Brightwell when he’s at left-back. I remember at Villa last season when there were massed groans when Al’s name was read out; I shouted “well played Al” every time he did something good (which was a lot) but it was a lone voice in the wilderness back then. You may all think “yeah right, we believe you (not!)” but if you look back at my comments on AK in earlier MCIVTAs before he became more widely admired, or indeed ask anyone who knows me, I’ve been behind him all the way, even when he was (admittedly) playing very badly. There was a period over Christmas this year where he was looking a reasonable candidate for player of the year; I’m sure Uwe will (deservedly) win the vote but Al must surely be “most improved player”. Well done Al!

OPINIONS – VARIOUS

1. Re. BH, should he stay or should he go? Well I think he should stay,reasons to follow another time.
2. Re. Kernaghan/Sputnik/SB, a previous contributor asked of ouropinions. Although only having seen him play a couple of times for Citymyself, I’ve always thought of him as a useful player. Before he came tothe Academy, in his ‘Boro days, he regularly turned in good performancesand was already an established Eire international. Although initially hewas a bit of a disaster, he seems to be coming good now, and hassurvived 18 months in a defence that at times has been as much use asBenedictine Monks against rampaging Vikings – i.e. none at all. Someoneelse commented on the fact that Richard Edghill’s confidence had gone;I think you could say this of any of the back 4 of the past few months(seasons?), Curley Wurley possibly excepted. David Brightwell could wellbe on valium for life after his left back stint.
   
   Anyway, about a year ago, just before USA ’94, the weekly UK ITmag ‘Computing’ printed a picture of Alan Kernaghan in an Eire stripon the back page in the Back Bytes section (their humourous section).The background to this if I remember correctly was that one of thesponsors of the tournament was I think an IT services company (can’tremember who) who were distributing the picture as part of theirpromotion. When you consider that the likes of Baggio, Bebetto, Hagi,Klinsmann and Stoichkov were on show at the World Cup finals, oldSputnik was an interesting choice, and this was commented on by themagazine. I did write in defence (pardon the pun) of old SB, commentingon his footballing abilities and stating that MCFC are the onlyPremiership club to originate from and play in the city of Manchester,and to my surprise they published my letter! They did however alsopublish a picture of Phil (?) Babb as a response to those who cried fouland that he was someone who actually made the team. Well, can’t win ’emall I suppose, at least big ‘Al is starting to win his share of balls inthe box (in the footballing not the cricketing sense).

OPINION – PENALTIES

Interesting to see John Connell standing up for penalty shoot-outs in MCIVTA 80; some valid points but I don’t agree with all of them:

1. “As with penalties, an error by a player means your team is out.”

This isn’t saying that sudden death is worse than penalties, just that a mistake can cost you the game. This is always true of football, not just after the 90 minutes. I think mistakes in open play are more forgivable than missing a penalty.

2. “In some ways it [sudden death] is more cruel than penalties. One mistake and you are out; at least with penalties you get 5 goes.”

It also opens the door for a flash of brilliance to win a game rather than a mistake losing the game. Sudden death gives the whole team a chance to be heroes, not just the goalkeeper.

3. “It will not make a negative team play more attackingly. They will still rely on the break.”

It depends what you mean by a negative team. I think a display like City’s at Newcastle in December was really good, soaking up pressure and trying to hit them on the break. A team that has no creativity and cannot score a goal even on the break will not win in a sudden death situation, wheras they stand a good chance with penalties. I enjoy watching counter-attacking teams actually.

4. “Fear of giving a goal away and knowing that you have no chance to come back may make sides either fearful (and the match will be dull) or aggressive (and desperate tackling on tired legs will increase the likelihood of injuries).”

While these points may be true, the game is still football rather than a contrived sport using similar rules and equipment, i.e. penalties. I think a dull “next goal wins” situation is unlikely but then that’s my opinion. I take the point about injuries though.

5. “If the match is televised it is less exciting for the mainly neutral world-wide audience.”

This again is a matter of opinion. With penalties you know when the issue will be decided. With sudden death a goal may come at any time; surely this is a recipe for more tension rather than less?

The television audience is actually the biggest thing going against sudden-death IMO. With extra-time and penalties you can plan alternative schedules around the events but with sudden death you never know when the match is going to end. This is a big problem for TV companies.

OPINION – HORTON

Why he should go:

1. Having had a season free of the pressure of last season’sboardroom chaos we’re not really much better off i.e.scrambling to get free of the relegation zone.
2. His tactical awareness is questionable; for example hischoice of all-out attack in the derby game at the Swamp, andthe constant flitting between a flat back four and a five mandefence when we seem much happier with the former.
3. A lack of respect from the players. The extent to whichthis is true is hard to gauge, but there are three pieces ofcircumstantial evidence that I can cite. A friend of mine (thisis a real person and not a friend of a friend of a friend etc.)has recently had the pleasure of doing some work at MaineRoad and has had a few decent footballing chats with some ofthe ground staff. They have stated that a number of playershave fairly open contempt for BH and his coaching abilities.This is reinforced by reports from a fellow Main Stander whooften goes down to watch the Blues train; he certainly seemedto think that some of the team were looking on BH as aneccentric old fool, the kind of mad PE teacher you got atschool who everyone took the piss out of as soon as his backwas turned. The last piece of prosecution evidence on thismatter comes from Vonk. He was obviously out of order forgoing to the press and will no doubt be on his way very soon(hopefully for 900K, although he’ll probably go for 250Kand go on to play for Holland knowing our luck). However,his savaging of BH’s training skills is unlikely to be totallymade up even if he only wanted to speed up his departurefrom the club.

Why he should stay:

1. We can’t afford to be paying three managers at a time.
2. There is no point getting rid of him, having yet moreupheaval of staff and players unless there is someone comingin of proven quality, and there can hardly be quality managersqueuing up to come to MCFC given its managerial pastregarding job security. The only people who I can possiblysee coming are Rioch and Todd (if Bolton don’t go up andthey don’t go to Arsenal because Houston stays there, havingwon the ECWC).
3. We have played much better football this season than wedid under Reid. Two finishes of 5th shouldn’t hide the moveto long ball boredom under Reid, plus the spending of bigmoney on uncapped players. I’ve enjoyed watching playerswith a bit of flair and intelligence such as Walsh, Beagrie,Gaudino and of course Uwe. We still have a long, long wayto go but anything has to be better than watching the ballbeing endlessly hoofed up to Quinn’s head.
4. Good transfer dealings. Rösler, Beagrie and Walsh werevery good buys for different reasons. Kernaghan may justturn out to be a reasonable buy on recent form, and the juryis still out on whether we can ever play Gaudino given the useof two wingers. Selling White was definitely right, as wasletting Rocastle go (he’s popular at Chelsea as he was here buthe’s always a sub. or being subbed which says it all). If hegives Simpson a new contract then he’ll also be doing well onthe player front.
5. The chaos of the last few seasons has to be stopped andone manager given a fair go at the job.

As you can see I’m sitting on the fence here but I probably tend toward keeping him on unless someone very very good comes in instead.

QPR MEET

About 10 of us met up in ‘The Old Abbey’ pub for a couple of pints and a natter before the Newcastle game. All agreed it had been worthwhile and it’s definitely something we want to repeat. Hopefully, we can eventually make it a regular fixture of match days, next season at least. Ashley Hevicon has already suggested meeting up for the last game of the season against QPR on Sunday May 14th. Rather than go through the process of choosing another pub we decided that for now we’d stick with ‘The Old Abbey’. The pub is however quite small and hence has the disadvantage that if too many people turn up things will be pretty squashed. On the other hand, it means that it’s not so huge and heaving that we can’t find each other. The advent of the MCIVTA T-shirt will hopefully help us on this score (more next week). If you are planning to come can you send me an email so that I can gauge whether we’re going to overload the facilities or not!

OASIS & T-SHIRTS

Hi there, as there’s quite a bit of talk about Oasis continuing, I’ll give you a bit more info. I asked Noel, Liam and Guigsy if they would model the new kit for merchandising purposes, and they were delighted, so off we trot to Umbro and had a look. Umbro made 6 shirts specially (as it’s not released until end of July). Anyway, they gave us a big box of all the new gear and we did a photo shoot at Maine Road during the reserve game vs. Barnsley, which included a half time kick about. We then got very drunk and Liam said he’d wear the new shirt for the Sheffield gig but ended up wearing the jacket on TOTP. We’re hopefully using the shots to market the new kit to other than football fans, in other words the essential fashion accessory for next year!

It has a lovely collar with thin, navy stripes, the shirt has the badge inlaid and the word CITY across it, you know the type, visible on close inspection. The socks are cool, with a sky/navy check on the turn downs. Guigsy wore his at the after-show party at Sheffield, well not the shorts or socks! Bye for now.

WHY BLUE?

This is yet another Why Blue from over the pond but with a twist. The twist is that I am a born and bred Mancunian; indeed, if there were a Manchester equivalent of a Cockney then I would be he. Without going into too much detail I was born in the old St. Mary’s hospital (now an NCP car park) opposite the Apollo, lived in Longsight (about 2 miles from the Academy), went to school in Victoria Park (about 800 yds from the Academy). As if these details alone were not enough to direct me to Maine Road, I had further help – everybody else in my family supported the other side.

Actually the situation is very simple. Two of my elder brothers are close in age (and much older than me) and they simply didn’t want “Junior” tagging along to the match. Then we won the second division and I bought a magazine with a picture of Johnny Crossan lifting the Second Division trophy and I was hooked.

When I was old enough to go to matches by myself I could walk to Maine Road and I was fortunate to see some of the best teams we ever fielded. My highest moment was the Sunderland FA cup tie when we drew 2-2 and even though we lost the replay it was one of the best matches ever. My low moment was being arrested during the Malcolm Allison return to Maine Road when he had just abandoned us for Crystal Palace (last match of the season in ’72 I think).

I have endured seasons of taunting by multitudes of Red friends. My nephew was part of the Reds’ youth policy until injury forced him to quit. Still, I maintain to them all that there is one true Manchester team.

Since ’72 the live matches I have seen have been few, although I do remember a Brighton game vividly. I forget the season but it was the John Bond era; I can remember seeing the team arrive on the pitch and remember how pale everbody else looked beside the suntanned Trevor Francis. Francis then proceeded to score one of the best goals I have ever seen, only to have it disallowed by some idiot ref.

In 1986 I moved to Oxford, and in 1993 moved to the good old USA but I still keep my passion for the “Blues” and I rely heavily on the information that each of you contribute weekly. During the season I have my brother-in-law tape the Match of the Days and send them over but they come in about every 8 weeks so the MCVITA is my lifeline to all that is true and good about England.

I will leave you with this one thought – Just how much could you hate United if Howard Kendall ever became their Manager?

TRIVIA QUESTION

There are eight players who have won European Cup Winners’ medals who have at some time in their career played for Manchester City – who are they?

We’re having trouble with this question at work – we have about 6. There are a few queries about the 6 at that! Of course, the question-setter could be wrong. Anyone any ideas on the 8?

RESULTS & LEAGUE TABLE

May  3, 1995   Aston Villa     - Manchester C.    1 - 1
               Everton         - Chelsea          3 - 3
               Newcastle       - Tottenham        3 - 3
               Southampton     - Crystal Palace   3 - 1
               West Ham        - Queen's P.R.     0 - 0
May  4, 1995   Arsenal         - Wimbledon        0 - 0
E1   1. Blackburn Rovers  40 26  8  6 78 37   86     +41
E3   2. Manchester United 39 24  9  6 73 26   81     +47
E3   3. Nottingham Forest 40 21 10  9 69 41   73     +28
E3*  4. Liverpool         39 20 11  8 63 31   71     +32
E3   5. Newcastle United  40 19 12  9 64 44   69     +20
     6. Leeds United      39 18 12  9 53 35   66     +18
     7. Tottenham         39 16 13 10 63 52   61     +11
     8. Wimbledon         41 15 10 16 46 63   55
     9. QPR               40 15  9 16 56 56   54
    10. Southampton       39 12 16 11 58 59   52
    11. Arsenal           41 13 12 16 51 47   51
    12. Chelsea           40 12 14 14 47 53   50
    13. Manchester City   40 12 13 15 51 60   49
    14. Sheffield Weds.   40 12 12 16 45 55   48
    15. West Ham United   39 12 10 17 40 46   46
    16. Coventry City     39 11 13 15 41 59   46
    17. Everton           39 10 15 14 43 51   45
    18. Aston Villa       40 10 14 16 48 55   44
    ---------------------------------------------
    19. Crystal Palace    39 10 12 17 30 43   42
    20. Norwich City      40 10 12 18 35 51   42
R   21. Leicester City    40  6  9 25 42 77   27
R   22. Ipswich Town      39  6  6 27 33 88   24

WWW MANCHESTER CITY SUPPORTERS’ HOME PAGE:
http://www.uit.no/mancity/

Thanks to Steve, Paul, Robert, Dave (x2), Stewart, Kev, Simon, Ian, Tony & Dan.

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.

Editor: