Newsletter #183

Well, it looks like the best advice we can all take ss to prepare ourselves for the drop. After playing really well on Saturday we turned in yet another dire performance against a team who most people wish would just go away. We have only ourselves to blame; if we can’t grind out a result against these teams at this stage of the season then we don’t deserve to win our fight. We now have only three games left and we will need 6 points to avoid the drop (IMHO). Three on Saturday is a distinct possibility but the other three seem well and truly beyond us. Sorry to be pessimistic but I really feel we’ve had it now, please prove me wrong.

We have two live match reports on the United game as well as a match view; Flixton Red did get to the Swamp and has promised his view of the game, it’ll be in Thursday’s issue. Anybody fancy doing a Why Blue? Now would be a really appropriate time to do one about being long-sufferring and depressive 8-)).

This one reaches 725 people who haven’t been that impressed by this year’s Easter holidays!

MATCH REPORT ‘LIVE’

MANCHESTER CITY (2) vs. (3) MANCHESTER UNITED, Saturday 6th April 1996

Team: Immel, Frontzeck (Phillips 45), Symons, Brightwell, Curle, Summerbee, Brown, Kinkladze, Clough, Quinn, Kavelashvili (Rösler 64).
Unused Sub: Margetson.
Att: 29,688.
Ref: Mike Reid.
Formation: 5-3-3.
Weather: Sunny then overcast.
Pitch: Firm.

We passed and were passed by lots of City fans on the way to the game. Surprisingly we didn’t see any Utd. fans through Greater Manchester county but then realised that they would all be travelling up the M1/M6. With Kavelashvili making his début, I don’t think there was either optimism or pessimism amongst City fans, but I did sense a cautious feeling of expectancy that we may make a game of it.

The first 10 minutes were United’s. They seemed to be overrunning us in midfield with a spare man looking to receive the ball across the entire park. In short, they were working and running for each other to a man. The first goal came when Irwin overlapped down Summerbee’s exposed flank and Buzzer chopped him down as he was about to cross. Definite penalty. Bean Head stepped up to make no mistake from the spot. Cue celebrations from one or two infiltrators, which, as you can imagine, didn’t go down too well with the City fans. The one near us was ejected by the police for his own safety. A melée in the Umbro Stand ended with a similar outcome.

Ferguson stated that he thought United dominated the first half but after they had scored I thought we started to come into the game more and more. Quinn was having the better of his tussle with Bruce and Frontzeck started to come forward dangerously down the left. Summerbee also began to look dangerous on the other wing. Our best early chance came when Quinn met a Frontzeck cross but his header went over. Although Cantona was seeing a lot of the ball he wasn’t doing much with it. Butt was looking their most dangerous player but with the exception of Curle, our defence was holding up securely. Brightwell was man marking Giggs mostly.

Kavelashvili didn’t get to see much of the ball. He’d been thrown in at the deep end and it showed. He didn’t seem to know which runs to make and looked a little unfit. Having said that, I think he’s going to be a great player for City. Our equalizer came from another Frontzeck cross which Niall nodded down for Kavvy to drill home from 8 yards. Our celebrations had hardly ended when from the restart, United played a series of neat passes through our still euphoric/sleeping midfield and it was a simple dissecting pass from Cantona to Cole which enabled United’s ‘luxury’ striker a simple tap in past Immel. The referee should have awarded a penalty to City when Clough’s cross clearly struck Bruce’s hand, but he waved play on. Mike Reid’s handling of the game showed a definite United bias but then again we’ve come to expect that now haven’t we? He booked several players including Brown, Summerbee, Butt and Neville. Gio was obviously singled out for most of United’s spoiling tactics and he was clattered several times with one particularly nasty one earning a yellow card for Keane(?) just as Gio was through and looking dangerous.

Half Time: 1-2.

A major reshape at half time saw Phillips replace Frontzeck with Brown filling the gap left by the German’s departure. Brown made some great tackles on Beckham and generally worked his socks off without ever posing a threat whilst in possession. Phillips started off on the right wing, then switched to the left. It was Phillips who sent Kavvy through and he unleashed a screamer which ‘red-nose’ didn’t know much about until it hit his throat and knocked him into a motionless position, seemingly unconcious. The ball went out for a corner and the big Dane finally came round. A succession of corners for City followed. Symons had a header cleared off the line and Quinn nodded one goalwards which landed at Clough’s feet following a deflection. Schmeichel smothered Clough’s shot. United looked to be buckling under the pressure and it was virtually one way traffic. Rösler replaced the tired Kavelashvili and looked like a man transformed. With virtually his first kick, he danced round Bruce and fired a screamer into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. Uwe ran over to AB and it looked as if he he was giving him some advice regarding his selection policy.

2-2 and Ferguson was panicking. Off came Cole and Bruce to be replaced by May and Sharpe. Uwe soon was free again with only Schmeichel to beat. This time it was the Uwe of old and he shot straight at the ‘keeper. Phillips was mesmerising Neville and you sensed another City goal. Unfortunately we handed another one to United instead. Clough and Summerbee decided to fall over each other. The ball came to Giggs and he beat Immel with a brilliant 25 yard strike which gave the ‘keeper no chance. Although 15 minutes remained, City looked shell-shocked. We carried on pressing forward though and Clough had a good shot blocked by the ‘keeper. Schmeichel was by far the busier of the two ‘keepers and kept United in it. The venom had gone from City’s play and we didn’t have the time or energy to muster a final assault.

Final Score: 2-3

City’s progress this season could be measured by the games against United. This was one we deserved something out of and yet got nothing but we are still improving. Once Kavelashvili settles in we will be a match for anyone. Curle is the weak link on today’s performance and the jury is still out on Summerbee.

MATCH REPORT ‘LIVE’

MANCHESTER CITY (2) vs. (3) MANCHESTER UNITED, Saturday 6th April 1996

There was a lot of anticipation in the air before the game and as far as I was concerned, of the positive kind once I’d heard that Kavelashvili was playing and we’d actually have two up front. A sudden wave of confidence hit me as I realised that we might actually score some goals.

This was my first derby for about 20 years and I was tense as hell, but we managed to blow off a little steam before the kick-off as we taunted the Rags (2500) and they us. Also, Paul Lake was introduced to the crowd as part of his testimonial promotion. He was given a standing ovation and to their credit the Rags joined in as well. He then came over to the Kippax, visibly shaken by the reception; he looked as if he was in tears. It was quite an emotional moment and hopefully, it’ll be matched by his testimonial game later this year.

The Rags started by attacking the North Stand and went a goal up after about 5 minutes thanks to some appalling defending from Summerbee. Irwin did what everyone knows he does and overlapped down the left flank; why did nobody pick him up, he’s famous for it for God’s sake? Buzzer then decided to take him out with a ludicrous challenge; he was already inside the box and all he succeeded in doing was scything him down, absolutely no complaints. Cantona strolled up and easily beat Immel from the spot. Here we go I thought, 0-4 or some other embarrassing scoreline.

The Blues really pulled themselves together and quite rightly tried to play football. There had obviously been a total rethink of our tactics of the last two derbies, where we were physically finished after 70 minutes through running around like men possessed. Our approach was much more measured and we started to push United back; there were some hard tackles coming in, particularly from Butt, and Neville who saw yellow for going right through the back of big Niall. Curle was also booked for an innocuous pull on Cole on the halfway line. The good news was that Kavelashvili looked class after only his first couple of touches, he’s fast and controls the ball beautifully.

United looked dangerous when coming forward but never really carved out a decent opening after the initial penalty, mainly due to the ball landing at the feet of the unimpressive Cole. Cole looks like a player out of his depth, he has great positioning but is woeful once he actually gets the ball. City continued probing, with Buzzer in particular guilty of wasting several crosses by placing them too close to the Dozey Dane. United were constantly troubled by Quinn’s height; he had a half-chance from a free kick when he stole in behind Bruce but headed the ball straight at Schmeichel. Finally, he made his superiority count on 40 minutes; Frontzeck sent over a teasing cross which Quinn nodded down, Kavelashvili turned on it in a flash and buried it beyond Schmeichel. The Dane was livid and berated his defenders almost to the halfway line! Kavelashvili in contrast, was over by the Platt Lane Stand soaking up the adulation. The crowd’s celebrations were passionate to say the least but it was shortlived as United scored virtually from the restart; Cantona put Cole through our static defence and he appeared to miskick the ball under Immel. This was a real sucker punch, a really poor goal to concede, mainly due to inattentiveness.

City came out in the second half with Phillips on for Frontzeck and began to dominate; within a minute the ball was played to Kav in the right of the United box; he turned, controlled the ball brilliantly with his chest and absolutely blasted a shot goalward which appeared to be intercepted by Schmeichel’s neck/face (bet it burst some of his spots!). He seemed to be unconscious for a moment but recovered; it was hit extremely hard and must have hurt like hell. City had a succession of corners which troubled United but failed to result in any clear cut chances; United were confined to their own half for long periods. On about 70 minutes Ball substituted Kav for Rösler and within a jiffy we had equalised. Rösler got the ball on the edge of their area, turned his man and ran across the box unleashing a brilliant shot which beat Schmeichel and almost burst the net. This looked like the Rösler of old, a wonderful strike.

Could we last 15 minutes more? The answer was no but what a way to lose. Summerbee and Clough (I think) managed to tackle each other 35 yards from our goal and the ball ran loose and was eventually played to Giggs who ran 10 yards and unleashed what can only be described as a thunderbolt, which gave Immel no chance. This was a truly special shot; why us? City tried in vain to get the equaliser; Clough had a shot well saved and Curle a header just outside the post.

We wuz robbed (honest), we outplayed United for several periods and deserved a draw at the very least. This was a much better performance than the two OT matches, there was purpose about City, not just running around putting tackles in in an attempt to stop United playing; a performance we can all be proud of. But… the Coventry result was a real sickener and if we don’t win against Wimbledon then we will be relegated.

Immel (7) No chance with the goals, but nothing else to do!
Frontzeck (6) Frequently caught upfield where he had to overlap but obviously wasn’t at home.
Buzzer (5) Gave away the penalty and messed up for their third, he will lose his place as soon as Foster is fit as Foster is a real defender.
Curle (6) Usual timely tackles but his distribution was once again dismal.
Symons (8) Excellent tackling.
Brown (7) Good ball-winning in midfield and really battled hard.
Clough (8) Another good performance, showing the others how to play.
Kinky (6) Quite subdued apart from a run at the heart of the United defence which must have had them bricking themselves and which ended with him being tackled by three players, one of whom, Bruce would surely have seen yellow if Kinky had gone down under his crude lunge instead of riding it.
Brightwell (7) Did a good job shepherding Cantona and didn’t kick him at all???
Kavelashvili (7) This guy has skill, his first touch is excellent and he looks quick, he should become a star.
Quinn (8) Won almost everything and laid off well.

Subs:
Phillips (7) Showed us more tricks but his crossing needs some work.
Rösler (8) Great finish out of nothing, has he received a jolt by being dumped on the bench?

Ref: Let United get away with a lot of kicking yet booked Curle for a powder puff challenge, otherwise I thought he was OK.

Linesman: The one in front of us (Kippax) was terrible, he let two clear United offsides go and the latter could have proven costly as Cantona drove just wide of the post. On MofD this was praised as a great United move and no mention of Cantona being a good 2 yards offside when the ball was delivered. The linesman was frequently 10 yards behind the play but obviously got a kick up the arse at halftime as he was right there when we were attacking and gave some hairline decisions against Quinn.

Crowd: There weren’t many Rags in the Kippax but plenty in the Executive boxes, openly displaying their affections. Many Blues were getting exceedingly agitated by this but according to the programme (Colin Barlow) they are allowed to be there so will not be ejected unless inciting trouble.

Mr £7m: This isn’t sour grapes (honest), but Cole really is crap, the only reason he scores at all is the law of averages; if you hang around the opposition’s penalty area for the entire season then you’re bound to get a few anyone can put away.

MATCH VIEW – MANCHESTER CITY vs. RAGS 2-3 “LIVE ON TV”

Another derby defeat. Rags got away with the luck this time as well. I am totally p****d off as we are back in danger again. I am also p****d off because the Rags have destroyed my Easter celebrations, I just can’t believe it…

Points to make:

• The referee: The penalty was fair enough. But if he had let the playcontinue, we would have been even after what happened at the Swamp.Otherwise, the ref. exaggerated the fact that he wasn’t going to beaffected by the crowd. Too many decisions went in favour of the clowns.Butt(head) & Cole provoked City players and were looking for trouble all thetime, but it had to take a lot of fouls before the ref. took action. I hopeFlixton Red isn’t reading this, as he would even argue about the world beinground…
• It was a good game from City. Even my friends who are not supporting Citythought the Rags were lucky. City pressured the Rags all the way in thesecond half. I thought we would win after the Rösler goal. We really hadsomething going, then the Rags got that *****ng fluke goal…Compared with the Bolton game, this was a much better display. Brown, Cloughand Gio were controlling the midfield for most of the second half.
• The defence is not well balanced. Curle & Symons are doing very well butwe leave too much space on the flanks. I think the 3-5-2 system is a gamble.It invites the opposition to make runs down the flanks. Frontzeck had amediocre game today, but it’s nonsense to play him as a midfielder. He hasnever liked going forward and he is used to playing as a defensive full-back.City should adapt to a 4-4-2 system, it would make the players safer and theteam would be better organized.

Here are my ratings:

Immel 6 – Couldn’t do anything with the goals. Otherwise a quiet day.
Summerbee 5 – Once again a bad performance. Lacks power, pace and determination. Should have a run in the reserves.
Frontzeck 5 – Left too much space on his left side but he must be excused for his poor performance as Ball is playing him in a rôle he is not comfortable with.
Symons 7 – Did most things right on the day. Came to rescue on several occasions, but too passive on Rags’ second goal.
Curle 7 – As Symons; safe and calm. However, Curle must also take some criticism for his defending of the Rags’ second goal.
Brightwell 6 – Adequate performance. I was sometimes wondering which position he was playing in.
Clough 7 – Vital experience in midfield. Great pass for Rösler which led to the 2-2 goal. Takes responsibility.
Brown 9 – True Blue! Gave everything in every tackle. Committed as nobody. A fighter who didn’t take c**p from the Rags! Great performance. Compliments to Ball for “discovering” this youngster.
Kinkladze 8 – Not as brilliant as usual. Made a great run which should have given him a free-kick, when he was “sandwiched” by two Rags just outside the penalty area. Was often being kicked by Rags; when will the refs start to notice that?
Quinn 7 – Good game again. Gave everything as well. Great assist on the first City goal.
Kavelashvili 7 – Didn’t show himself as much as expected but he did some great movements off the ball and looked sharp. He will do well as soon as he learns to play with the rest of the lads. Simple goal, but it took some nice movements to get there.

Subs:
Phillips 7 – Came on for Frontzeck at half time. Made some nice pieces of skill on the left-hand side, but delivered very poor crosses. A great talent.
Rösler 8 – On for Kavelashvili. Did very well. A great goal and several good runs.

If the lads can keep on playing the same way as today, we should get a good result against Wimbledon. Today, we were robbed of the points by the lucky Rags… By the way, the thought of Vinny Jones tackling Gio makes me frightened. If I was AB I would have made an “official appeal” to the referees that they should start paying attention to the treatment Gio is getting. Or perhaps it’s too Rag-minded to make such protests…

Best wishes from a guy who didn’t enjoy his Easter…

NEWS – SINGING SECTION

An interesting note in the programme concerning the fans’ commitee meeting on Wednesday 21st February. The club are apparently thinking over the idea of turning the North Stand into a ‘Singing Area’ with away fans being relocated into the Umbro stand. It says the idea is being given serious consideration and may come into effect for the start of the 1997/98 season.

SINGAPORE BLUES

On Easter Friday, three MCIVTA subscribers in Singapore — namely Steve Slack, Craig Fielding and myself — met up for a bevvy and had North Indian curry for dinner. It was our first meeting with Steve. We were all grateful to Ashley for coming up with the brilliant newsletter (MCIVTA) and the other guys (Paul, Svenn et al) in their efforts to bringing together this very valuable twice-weekly material of high journalistic (not?) quality which is invaluable to any City supporters in this part of the earth. With the dearth of City information available here, MCIVTA has been my lifeline. I have been lucky to have been receiving MCIVTA from issue number 1.

We were high spirited that night, perhaps psyching ourselves for the crunch derby the night after. I was hoping for at least a draw, but the other two were more positive of a possibility of a win — long overdue we all think. Sadly we lost (again). But our spirits are not dampened, OK slightly maybe 🙂 We are already planning to meet again soon, all decked up in our City colours for a photo-taking session and then scan the photo to be featured on the City home page. I am taking this opportunity to ask anyone out there in or around Singapore who might be interested to meet up with us to contact the following number:

Nizam
at the office (+65) 536 7775
at home       (+65) 7773505
or email me at nizam@idea.com.sg

Be there!

P.S. How many of you think the second goal was Immel’s fault? I thought he was too slow off the line.

YET MORE TABLOID TALES:

Here’s a clipping from 5th April Daily Mirror:

“MAN CITY STARS IN GAY BAR FRACAS”

Soccer stars were booted out of a gay bar after hurling anti-gay abuse and smashing glasses, it was revealed yesterday. Customers stormed out in disgust at the loud mouthed antics of the Manchester City players, who included skipper Keith Curle. The Premier League club’s managing director, Colin Barlow, went to the bar to apologise, but the revellers still face a grilling from City manager Alan Ball after tomorrow’s crunch derby clash with arch rivals Manchester United. “It will be dealt with on Monday,” Ball vowed. “I will look at it and take whatever action -if any- is necessary.” The players were shown the red card on Tuesday night at the trendy Via Fossa bar in the city’s “Gay Village”. Bar manager Alan Owen said: “They got a bit loud, broke glasses and started making remarks of an anti-gay nature. After 3 customers walked out I called taxis and asked them to leave. It is a mixed rather than gay clientele but the remarks were a little offensive. There is no excuse for bad behaviour.” After saying sorry City chief Barlow claimed: “It was nothing malicious. It was their day off and they were having a few drinks and a sing song.”

The article ends with a reference to their behaviour at their hotel in Southampton, when they were moved out – there’s also a nice picture of Keith Curle next to the story. I seem to remember his face even appeared in the ‘5 times a night with Dibble double page spread’ in the Daily Star a few years ago!

EASTER IN MANCS

Well I made it up to Manchester for a very forgettable weekend!

1. Took kids, wife and mother to the Platt Lane complex to watch the ladstrain – they were in Altrincham – the youth team had to suffice.
2. Visited the City Shop and spent loads of Dosh.
3. Went to the ticket office for derby tickets, I’m not a member and the onlystubs I have are for 3 home games and 5 away matches. Tried begging fortickets, pleading, crying, threatening suicide but they wouldn’t let mehave any 🙁
4. Listened to the match on the radio 7 miles from the ground – got crampcrossing my fingers, headache trying to mind meld with the team. Burnt myfingers constructing a voodoo doll of Eric Cantonaaaaaaaargh! Destroyed everything I could find that rhymed with Gi**s (reject!)

On Easter Sunday we packed up the car and headed darn Saarf to Crawley. As I type this the gear is ready to go to Selhurst Park to see City vs. the Wombles (home game 15 miles as the crow flies).

If the club are now reading this is their any chance of arranging some tickets for the big games so us exiles can get there? I promise to give the club £3 million when I win the lottery!

Happy to be Blue!

LATEST

I’ve just got in from Selhurst Park and the deserved 3-0 thrashing – we were rubbish!

Immel (1 point) If he had come off his line it may have been only 1-0.
Frontzeck (3 points) Some good play but his fouling and inept passing cost us dear.
Lomas (6 points) He tried hard and made some good plays.
Curle (3 points) Booed by the fans, he cannot head the ball, cannot pass and does not motivate the team.
Kinkladze (3 points) Did nothing against the hard-tackling Dons.
Quinn (6 points) Once again played his heart out but got substituted – the fans booed this.
Brightwell (5 points) Tried hard.
Symons (4 points) He was un-noticeable.
Summerbee (6 points) Got subbed but was a threat.
Clough (6 points) Played his normal game – a trier.
Kevelashvili (5 points) As he hardly got the ball it’s difficult to say what he can do.
Kernaghan (sub) (10 points) He looked great in the dugout – didn’t play.
Phillips (sub) (5 points) On the right wing which was strange; needs a proper outing.
Rösler (sub) (4 points) Tried but is still slow and needs the ball feeding to him.

Wimbledon were not good but we were even worse! It looks like the drop if we consider the remaining games. Sorry this is short but there is a foul language filter on my PC.

RELEGATION

In MCIVTA 175, Barry Foster wrote an analysis of the then remaining fixtures and I have been following how they’ve played out. Following today’s defeat by Wimbledon, it doesn’t seem to be looking too good. Here are the remaining fixtures, with Barry’s forecasts from 11th March.

Wimbledon

                        Plyd            F       A       Pts
8th April               34              51      64      37
Apr 13          Middlesboro (a)                         3
Apr 27          Coventry (h)                            1
May 4           Southampton (a)                         1
TBA             Blackburn (a)                           0
Season total:                                           42 pts

Sheffield Wednesday

                        Plyd            F       A       Pts
8th April               34              45      54      38
Apr 13          Man City (a)                            0
Apr 27          Everton (h)                             1
May 4           West Ham (a)                            0
TBA             Chelsea (h)                             1
Season total:                                           40 pts

Southampton

                        Plyd            F       A       Pts
8th April               34              30      50      31
Apr 13          Man United (h)                          0
Apr 17          Newcastle (h)                           0
Apr 27          Bolton (a)                              3
May 4           Wimbledon (h)                           1
Season total:                                           35 pts

Coventry

                        Plyd            F       A       Pts
8th April               34              39      60      30
Apr 13          QPR (h)                                 3
Apr 27          Wimbledon (a)                           1
May 4           Leeds (h)                               1
TBA             Notts F (a)                             0
Season total:                                           35 pts

City

                        Plyd            F       A       Pts
8th April               35              29      56      31
Apr 13          Sheff W (h)                             3
Apr 27          Aston Villa (a)                         0
May 4           Liverpool (h)                           0
Season total:                                           34 pts

QPR

                        Plyd            F       A       Pts
8th April               35              35      53      30
Apr 13          Coventry (a)                            0
Apr 27          West Ham (h)                            1
May 4           Notts F (a)                             0
Season total:                                           31 pts

Bolton

                        Plyd            F       A       Pts
8th April               35              38      67      29
Apr 13          West Ham (a)                            0
Apr 27          Southampton (h)                         0
May 4           Arsenal (a)                             0
Season total:                                           29 pts

End of season table: (Barry’s 11th March forecasts in brackets)

Wimbledon               42 (33)
Sheff Wed               40 (36)
Southampton             35 (38)
Coventry                35 (34)
  ----------------
CITY                    34 (36)
QPR                     32 (25)
Bolton                  29 (21)

What can we derive from this?

I’m not convinced that we will beat Sheffield Wednesday, but if we don’t we must surely be relegated. That leaves as key matches (i.e. the ones I think are most likely to differ from Barry’s forecasts and to affect City’s final position) (Barry’s forecasts in brackets):

Apr 13          Coventry        vs.       QPR             (Home Win)
Apr 13          Man City        vs.       Sheff Wed       (Home Win)
Apr 27          Bolton          vs.       Southampton     (Away win)
Apr 27          Wimbledon       vs.       Coventry        (Draw)
May 4           Southampton     vs.       Wimbledon       (Draw)

Given their current form, I could easily see Bolton beat Southampton and Wimbledon beat Southampton and Coventry, but otherwise I’m not happy. I wouldn’t relish needing a result against Liverpool on May 4.

OPINION – HINCE

For the first time in ages I had a quick read of the MEN (Manchester Evening News) Pink Final on Saturday evening and in particular, the match report by the esteemed Mr Paul Hince. I honestly couldn’t believe we’d witnessed the same game. Now I know that I’m describing what I see from a ‘Blue’ perspective’ but so should he, not some undeserved and thinly-disguised eulogy to the Rags. For those outside Manchester, the MEN has a United writer and a City writer; alledgedly Hince is the City writer. One of his tasks should be to counter the tide of pro-United propaganda that threatens to overwhelm every issue of the MEN. Naturally, one might just expect him to do this by writing passionately about the Blues and supporting their case wherever he can. Instead, his admiration for United is almost palpable, and appears to influence what he sees on the pitch to such an extent that his pro-United perceptions become reality. This would be acceptable if he were a United fan writing about United but he’s supposed to be a City reporter. The sooner the MEN get someone who is passionate about City, and who we as City fans can respect, then the sooner it will provide a more balanced coverage of football in Manchester.

CITY SONG

Here’s some City lyrics to Oasis’s “Don’t Look back in Anger”, penned by Helena Murtagh:

Take me to the place you all know,
They call it Maine Road,
Where the City play.
With Kinkladze and Quinn,
The fans queue to get in,
Every Saturday.

Hiley starts a move from the halfway line,
Gives the ball to Quinn as he shouts “It’s mine”.
Steps outside and slides the ball on through.
Kinkladze fulfills his role,
Puts the ball into the goal,
And,
Then the City fans all sing their hearts out…

YOU KNOW KINKLADZE CAN PLAY,
YOU KNOW IT’S TOO LATE,
AS HE PASSES YOU BY.
YOUR “SOLES” SLIDE AWAY,
YOU CAN’T KEEP UP WITH
YOU CAN’T KEEP UP WITH KINKY,
THE FANS ALL SAY.

ANYONE HELP?

Further to the odds shown in MCIVTA 182, would it be indelicate of me to ask if anyone would put a fiver on City for me? I wish I could wish the Blues all the best for the derby game, but the heart wouldn’t be in it. However I hope you win the remaining games and I’d be delighted to lose my bet and send the fiver to the relegation escape party… Keep dreaming… Wythenshawe exile.

RESULTS

April 5 1996

MIDDLESBROUGH           3-1    SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY       29,751

April 6 1996

ARSENAL                 2-1    LEEDS UNITED              37,619
CHELSEA                 1-2    ASTON VILLA               23,530
COVENTRY CITY           1-0    LIVERPOOL                 23,137
EVERTON                 3-0    BOLTON WANDERERS          37,974
MANCHESTER CITY         2-3    MANCHESTER UNITED         29,688
NEWCASTLE UNITED        2-1    QUEENS PARK RANGERS       36,583
NOTTINGHAM FOREST       2-1    TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR         27,053
SOUTHAMPTON             1-0    BLACKBURN ROVERS          14,793
WEST HAM UNITED         1-1    WIMBLEDON                 20,402

April 8 1996

ASTON VILLA             3-0    SOUTHAMPTON               34,059
BOLTON WANDERERS        2-1    CHELSEA                   18,021
LEEDS UNITED            1-3    NOTTINGHAM FOREST         29,220
LIVERPOOL               2-0    WEST HAM UNITED           40,326
MANCHESTER UNITED       1-0    COVENTRY CITY             50,332
QUEENS PARK RANGERS     3-1    EVERTON                   18,349
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY     1-0    ARSENAL                   24,349
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR       1-1    MIDDLESBROUGH             32,036
WIMBLEDON               3-0    MANCHESTER CITY           11,844

April 8 1996

Team                Played   Won Drawn Lost  For  Against   Points
Manchester United     34     22    7    5     63    32        73
Newcastle United      32     21    4    7     60    33        67
Liverpool             34     19    8    7     66    31        65
Aston Villa           34     18    8    8     51    31        62
Arsenal               34     16    9    9     46    30        57
Tottenham Hotspur     34     15   10    9     45    35        55
Everton               35     15    9   11     57    41        54
Nottingham Forest     33     14   11    8     45    43        53
Blackburn Rovers      33     14    6   13     47    40        48
West Ham United       34     13    7   14     40    47        46
Chelsea               34     11   12   11     39    39        45
Middlesbrough         35     11   10   14     34    44        43
Leeds United          33     12    6   15     38    48        42
Sheffield Wednesday   34     10    8   16     45    54        38
Wimbledon             34      9   10   15     51    64        37
Southampton           34      7   10   17     30    50        31
Manchester City       35      7   10   18     29    56        31
Queens Park Rangers   35      8    6   21     35    53        30
Coventry City         34      6   12   16     39    60        30
Bolton Wanderers      35      8    5   22     38    67        29

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

MCIVTA ADDRESSES:
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Subscriptions: Adam.Houghton@sheffield.ac.uk
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Thanks to Leo, Tor-Kristian, Ken, Tony, Andy, Geoff, Nizam, 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.

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