Newsletter #96

There’s another nice Why Blue in this issue as well as all the usual features. The main thing I want to address in the editorial is the MCIVTA T-shirts. John Shearer needs to get a firm commitment from people wanting shirts so that we can set the printing in motion. Please take a look at the article in this issue and mail John to see whether we can get together enough orders. Please note that even if you’ve expressed an interest to me, Svenn or John previously, if you want a T-shirt then you must mail John!

The rumour mill is still grinding away but nothing concrete has happened as yet. I’ll just finish off by tossing this rumour into the pot: apparently Big Fat Ron has been sighted at the Academy, work that one out!!!!

MCIVTA T-SHIRT

The MCIVTA T-shirts will be printed shortly. The design chosen was essentially number 4 on the WWW (‘Manchester city mailing list’ link then ‘samples‘ link). The colour will hopefully be close to MCFC Blue with a black City crest on the front plus a zig-zag line with dot, which is meant to represent both the Alps and the internet. This zig-zag line will also be on the back. On the front in maroon will be “MCIVTA” above the crest and “INFO VIA THE ALPS” below the crest. On the back will be “INTERNET BLUES”. This may be subject to slight variation.

The cost will be £8.00 per shirt, sizes XL, L or M plus post and packing at the following rates:

UK                  £1.50
Europe              £2.50
World               £3.50

We need a minimum order of 40 shirts; send me an email if you definitely want one and will definitely part with your money when the time comes (soon).

Don’t send any money yet. Now is the time to commit yourself; without 40 orders we can’t proceed.

NEWS – ANDY HILL’S HOUSE!

Andy Hill has now sold his house, which is pretty good going as it was only on the market for 3 or 4 weeks.

NEWS – KIDD

Today (Tuesday) it seems that Kidd is ready to be the next City manager according to much of the press. Seemingly he isn’t happy with U*****’s refusal to allow City to speak to him and he is ready to quit the club. It is believed his two spells and the fact that he was a City fan as a child (something I didn’t know about) are the main reasons behind him wanting the job, but more pressing is the fact that he wants to get into management and Fergie won’t retire until he lands the European Cup (so that means an extra season at least), plus when he retires many club directors are looking to bring Bryan Robson back as manager. I’m sure City will again deny all rumours and we’ll eventually end up with Tony Book as manager 😉 It was interesting to note that Martin O’Neill on becoming Norwich manager spoke about running out of time!!!!!!

NEWS – GRAHAM I

According to an interview with George Graham on BBC radio last night, (reported on CEEFAX this morning), Graham stated that he can’t wait to clear his name and get back to management again. He is reported as stating that he has been approached by a number of Premier League clubs, but wouldn’t name them. Maybe that’s why ii’s all gone quiet at Maine road?

NEWS – GRAHAM II

According to radio reports this morning, FL has offered George Graham £200,000 a year to come to Maine Road. George Graham has a week to think about it.

NEWS – VARIOUS

Reserve midfielder/winger Steve Finney has signed for Swindon Town. I don’t know if a fee was involved.

Both Mike Quigley and Adie Mike are being linked with Wrexham; does this mean that the Robins are about to part company with their prolific strikeforce?

Bobby Robson’s Porto are still thought to be interested in signing Niall Quinn, though why City would sell to them if they wouldn’t sell to Sporting Lisbon because of the “foreign club” clause in Quinn’s contract is anybody’s guess.

NEWS – TRANSFERS

Steve Finney’s transfer was a “free”, and he’s signed a 12 month contract.

ITV Teletext says that Nottingham Forest want to sign West Ham’s John Moncur, but they will face stiff competition from Manchester City. Owner Francis Lee feels that Moncur is the perfect player for the new regime at Maine Road.

Does this mean City are no longer interested in Dino? (Moncur is a very good midfielder, with a bit more “bite” than Dino)

RUMOUR – TRANSFERS AND MANAGER

According to ‘The Star’, United have said that City can have Kidd if they can have Flitcroft. With the likely sale of Paul Ince, City being linked with John Moncur and Flitcroft having been quoted as wanting a club that matches his ambitions (sort of), this rumour fits the evidence. Sounds like a good deal to me, as long as the money we get for Flitcroft covers the cost of Kidd and Moncur.

Another rumour is that BH will be the next manager of Huddersfield Town.

NEW MANAGER

Here is some hopefully accurate and interesting info:-

1. Manager – MCFC have been knocked back by many potential candidatesand the man FL wants is Brian Kidd. BK is interested but does not wish to“burn his boats at United” by walking out. Seems he wants to be sent withMartin Edwards’ blessing so that he can return in the future. Seems an oddattitude to me and it could be that City will have to look elsewhere -although there are now no simple alternatives.
2. Flitcroft – Man U are interested as are others and Colin Barlowwill not confirm that he is not for sale. He seems the type of player weshould be keeping but this now seems unlikely.
3. Kippax – the builders stopped due to non-payment by FL. FL andColin Barlow have fallen out over finance as FL had to go to his personalbankers to bail City out on the deal. The builders are going to get allfranchise income and an income from the two super screens.
4. After the Wimbledon match FL did kick the door down and shoutedthat if he saw the players walking down the road he would have nohesitation in “running them over.”

MCIVTA BOX!!!

All this gossip about work being stopped on the Kippax is a load of bollocks (according to a contact at the club). If any MCIVTA subscribers are interested in an executive box on the top tier it’ll cost a mere £100,000 for 5 years. So if all MCIVTA subscribers got together I reckon we could probably stretch to two, with enough left over to buy a pie. Well maybe not the pie. If we start a fund raising campaign now I think we could be in there for the start of the 2020 AD season. I can do the posters if someone else can think of a few crazy ‘charidee’ stunts for us to do. Instead of having a MCIVTA sign on the front of the box I think we could do a different slogan every week. Like “Jimmy Hill’s a wanker” or “Swales In!”

Do they provide oxygen masks when you buy top tier tickets? I’ve thought of a fund raising idea… ‘Guess the weight of Franny’s wallet,’ or ‘Pin the fraud charge on Gaudino.’ Let’s throw this open to MCIVTA subscribers, I reckon we’re on to a winner.

I read a funny article in the MEN yesterday. The headline read… “Blues cash on ice.” Are they taking the piss? What exactly are we waiting for? Anyway, let’s get fund raising.

OPINION – POSSIBLE SIGNING ??

The Mickey M… sorry!… Umbro Cup has just finished here and the Brazilians have just shown us how to play football. However, the player who caught my eye was Kennet Andersson from Sweden. Currently, he plays for Caen (I think) in France, but apparently wishes to leave. He had an excellent World Cup last year and a bid of £2.5 – 3 million would probably get him.

What do other people think of him and who do you think we could and should sign?

COMMENT – MANAGERLESS CITY I

According to the MEN, City do have plenty of money to spend on players, but the problem lies in the fact that they have no-one to spend it. Just how much longer are we expected to wait for a new manager to be appointed? I know there’s 2 months to go before the season starts but pre-season training is scheduled for mid July (?), if we don’t have a manager by then it could affect the team’s performance and routine if he comes in middway through!

I just want the board to appoint someone soon(ish). OK I don’t want them to rush in (which they haven’t anyway) but the possible managers seem to be getting a bit thin on the ground. That is unless of course they are awaiting the outcome of the George Graham disciplinary proceedings with the FA.

COMMENT – MANAGERLESS CITY II

I agree with what you say about City not rushing into expensive, short-term solutions for once. The next manager should be at Maine Road for at least the next 5 years, and he has to be the right man for the job. I would be happy with Kidd who, despite his lack of experience in a managership post, has had a good apprenticeship working with Ferguson. He would overhaul City’s dire fitness and training programme and put some fight back into the squad (hopefully, without doing it on the basis of creating a team of ‘bad losers’, as Ferguson proudly boasts). I also think he would command the sort of respect that Brian Horton couldn’t.

My first choice was Beckenbaur. Sounds like a wild dream, but there have been rumours of this ever since Franny took over, due to their apparent close friendship. I don’t know if there’s any substance to it, but I’ve heard it mentioned often. So, if we’re in the market for fantasising about our chosen manager, who wouldn’t want the Kaiser?

The Dream Team is interesting (Lee, Bell, Summerbee, Book), but it shows how much our expectations have risen that we think of this one rather coolly. If anyone had suggested this in the dark old days of Swales it would have been the ultimate dream come true of every City fan. If anything, our change in attitude to this shows just how much Franny has achieved in two years. We don’t dream about success any more – we’re almost beginning to expect it. Whether this team could pull anything off remains to be seen. There’s certainly a lot of footballing experience there. The danger is that we might be just deluding ourselves by being too literal about returning to the glory days.

I wait for the television to prove me wrong and for the new City manager to be none of the above. Still, at least we won’t have to suffer the sight of David Pleat dancing on our pitch again.

WHY BLUE?

I’m 37 and live in Canada. I was born and raised in Manchester and used to follow City when I was a nipper, and here are 9 memories:

1. My Uncle George (Smith) would come round to our house to visit, and hewould balance a football on his instep as a “party-trick”. I wasimpressed. Uncle George played for City and scored 4 goals against Unitedduring the war years, as some of you may know, so it was a real treat tosee him.
2. 1966. Running on the pitch at Maine Road at the end of the last game as theteam paraded the Second Division trophy. I was 10 years old, and I was inheaven. Johnny Crossan is the only name I remember. Where is he now?
3. 1968. I was at the 4-3 Newcastle game. What a thrill. My dad wouldn’t letme go on my own, and made me travel with a couple of his mates from work. Whatan era for English and Manchester soccer. World cup in ’66, City winning theDivision title in ’68 and United in the European Cup final.
4. Scoreboard end with my new City bobble-hat. Playing Leeds, and 30 minutesbefore the game started a bunch of Leeds fans arrived. I was sitting on abarrier, and before I knew it, one of them had snatched my bobble-hat, and ranoff with it. I reported the theft to a bobby, but he couldn’t really do much.From then on I went into the Kippax – to be amongst friends.
5. “The ballet on ice”. Anyone remember that? Against Spurs, we won 4-1, andthe football was fantastic. Tremendous game, played – you guessed it – on asheet of snow and ice. Must have been a close call as to whether or not topostpone the game, but I’m glad they didn’t.
6. That woman with the bell. Glad I don’t have a season ticket for the seatnext to her!
7. Standing at the barrier down at the front of the Kippax Street for onegame. The ball skidded off the wet turf, and into my hands. I passed theball back to George Heslop. He said “thanks”. Didn’t wash my hands for aweek.
8. Me and my buddies hanging out on a street corner in my native Simister(near Prestwich), when who should stroll by but Tommy Booth on his way tothe corner shop. Could have knocked us down with a feather. We couldn’tbelieve that there was a Mega-Star strolling along like a regular guy.Wow. He’d justbought a house in Simister (Farm Lane). He was nice guy, and would always beaccomodating when we occasionally asked him to get tickets for us.
9. Hanging out near the Bell-Waldron retaurant in Whitefield in the hope ofcatching a glimpse of Colin. He was co-owner, and spent quite a bit of timethere.

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

Thanks to Dave (x3), Paul, Jim, Stefan, The Mole, Martin, Daniel, Jo-Ann & Andrew.

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: