Newsletter #685

City are out of the Cup after losing 2-4 at Anfield to a rampant Liverpool side. This match starkly illustrated the immense gulf between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’, with Liverpool able to have the likes of Barmby, Owen and Fowler merely warming the bench! One wonders where having a full squad finishes, and where paying stars to stop them playing for other teams – stops! We have four match reports; a match view; Peter’s News; City Diary; allegations of racism; plenty of opinion and a nice Why Blue (more please).

NEWS SUMMARY

Part I: Cup Fifth Round – Result and Reaction

City Out After Anfield Defeat: Manchester City are out of the FA Cup. The Blues were beaten 4-2 by Liverpool in Sunday’s fifth round tie. City made the worst possible start to the Anfield clash, conceding two goals in the opening thirteen minutes. First, Jari Litmanen scored from the spot after Nicky Weaver was penalised for a foul on Vladimir Smicer – though television replays suggested minimal, if any, contact between the two players. And when Emile Heskey added a second, the Blues faced an uphill battle. Andrei Kanchelskis reduced the arrears before half-time to give City some hope, but a Smicer penalty after he had again been fouled by Weaver – indisputably on this occasion – and a Marcus Babbel header from a free kick ensured the Merseysiders a quarter-final berth. City, however, continued to battle until the end and were rewarded with Shaun Goater’s consolation goal after good work by Darren Huckerby.

Royle Fury at Penalty Decision: Joe Royle admitted that Manchester City were second best at Liverpool on Sunday. But the Blues’ boss was furious with the early penalty decision which left his side chasing the game. Referee Graham Poll awarded the home side a spot kick after Vladimir Smicer had gone down under Nicky Weaver’s challenge, even though the Czech was clearly looking for the penalty and any contact with the City goalkeeper was negligible at most. And while Royle was candid enough to admit that the Merseysiders went on to outclass the Blues, he reflected that the task was hard enough at the outset without the match officials awarding contentious decisions in favour of the home side. “That was not a penalty,” raged the City manager. “It was fiction and it changed the game. It was a ridiculous decision that we could have done without.”

City Boss Hails Houllier’s Men: Joe Royle saw Liverpool end Manchester City’s FA Cup hopes on Sunday. And after the game, the Blues’ boss reflected that his side had lost to opponents who have every chance of going all the way in the competition. Royle must now focus on City’s main priority for the season – avoiding relegation. But he paused to reflect on the strength in depth which makes the Merseysiders and outstanding team. “It’s always hard to make predictions in this competition because anything can happen, but there is no doubt that Liverpool are an exceptional side and they can go all the way,” he said. “When you look at their bench today and see the likes of Owen, Fowler and Barmby then it is clear that they have plenty of quality in depth.”

Houllier Salutes City’s Spirit: Gerard Houllier was delighted with Liverpool’s display in the FA Cup win against Manchester City on Sunday. But the Anfield boss recognised that the Blues had shown good fighting spirit and contributed to an entertaining game. Houllier was pleased with the way his side came through the encounter only three days after a demanding UEFA Cup clash away to Roma. But he found time for a few words of consolation for the Blues. “At 4-1, I thought it was all over,” he admitted, “but credit to City. They kept on trying to score another goal – and they got one.”

City Dismiss Morrison Incident: Manchester City will take no action against Andy Morrison following an incident as he left the field at Liverpool. The defender was substituted and reacted to the taunts of a home supporter by spraying him with his water bottle. Morrison seemed upset at being removed from the fray and replaced by Tony Grant. And the ex-Huddersfield man was spoken to by a police officer after the incident involving Liverpool fans. But City director Chris Bird says the club are viewing the matter in context. “The incident is something out of nothing,” Bird told the official club website at http://www.mcfc.co.uk/. “It was a bit of light hearted fun between some of the fans and Andy. It was just harmless banter and the club certainly won’t be taking it any further.”

Two Blues Still in the Cup: Manchester City were eliminated from the FA Cup on Sunday. But two of the Blues’ players still have an interest in the competition. Richard Jobson featured in the Tranmere side which earned a fifth round draw at Southampton on Saturday. And the on-loan defender will play for the Merseysiders in Tuesday evening’s replay, with the winners due to host City’s conquerors Liverpool in the quarter finals. Meanwhile, Tommy Wright was denied permission by the Blues to play for Bolton against Blackburn on Saturday. But with the sides due to replay after a 1-1 draw at the Reebok Stadium, City’s elimination means that Joe Royle will allow the Trotters to field Wright in their line-up. But the goalkeeper is likely to be on the bench for the Ewood Park encounter, as Bolton’s first choice Steve Banks will have completed his suspension by the time the match takes place.

Part II: Transfer News and Rumours

Taylor Set for Burnley Loan Switch: Gareth Taylor was on the Manchester City bench for Sunday’s FA Cup tie at Liverpool. But the ex-Sheffield United man is now set to make a temporary move away from the club. Owing to other strikers’ injuries and ineligibility, Taylor was needed as cover at Anfield. But the player is out of contract in the summer, and given that he hasn’t actually taken the field for the Blues since a substitute appearance against Stockport in December 1999, it seems highly unlikely he’ll be offered fresh terms. So with the 27-year-old’s Maine Road career effectively over, Joe Royle is happy to allow him to ply his trade elsewhere for the next month – and no doubt for longer if the Clarets are keen to extend the arrangement.

City and Bradford “Eyeing Goram”: Joe Royle has recently signed a new goalkeeper for Manchester City as understudy to Nicky Weaver. But that hasn’t prevented the Blues from being linked with a swoop for former Scotland international Andy Goram. Royle brought Carlo Nash to Maine Road from Stockport in January, but said at the time that he wanted three senior goalkeepers at the club. The City manager has hinted that he’d also like his other senior goalkeeper, Tommy Wright, to remain with the Blues next season, possibly taking on coaching duties – but it’s thought the veteran may want to sample as much senior football as possible before he retires and may therefore reject any such offer. It seems most logical to view in this context reports that City may be interested in rivalling Bradford for Goram’s signature. The ex-Rangers man is available from cash-strapped Motherwell on a free transfer, and was, of course, given his first taste of senior football at Oldham by the current Blues’ boss.

“Plenty of Interest” in Transfer-Listed Edghill: Richard Edghill could soon be on the way out of Manchester City. The former skipper was recently transfer-listed and has reportedly been the subject of enquiries from a number of clubs. Edghill was dropped and lost the captaincy at the start of this season following a personal nightmare in the August home game against Coventry. And though he returned to feature in three matches in January, Joe Royle has now decided that the Blues’ longest-serving player no longer has a future with the club.

Continued Speculation over Prior’s Future: Manchester City last week denied that Spencer Prior could be set to leave Maine Road. But the ex-Derby man continues to be linked with a move away from the Blues. Prior was previously said to be a target for Wolves and West Bromwich Albion. And while Joe Royle says that neither of the Midlands pair has been in contact to ask about the defender’s availability, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace are now said to be monitoring the situation. A Sunday tabloid claims that the 29-year-old has enjoyed his time with the Blues but is concerned that he is behind Steve Howey and Richard Dunne in the pecking order for a defensive place.

New Players Targeted – Whether City Survive or Not: Joe Royle has in mind a couple of transfer targets he feels could improve his Manchester City squad for next season. And the Blues’ boss says that his team strengthening ambitions would not be curbed if the Blues are relegated. Royle is still insistent that City can stage a late revival to retain Premiership status. But he emphasises that he will take a long-term view if the team is unable to climb to safety. “We have got one or two on a short-list and we will keep looking,” he affirmed. “You still have to go and build for next year and if the player is of the right calibre and the right age, you do not stop looking.”

City Watching Bury Starlet?: Chris Armstrong is beginning his career at Bury but has already made a big impression. And Manchester City are one of three north west clubs said to be monitoring the left back’s progress. Armstrong has only played in nine senior games for the Shakers. But media sources claim that the Geordie has received “rave reviews” for his performances so far – including Saturday’s against Oxford, when he notched his first goal for the Second Division club. Preston are said to head the queue for the 18-year-old, while City are believed to have had him watched and Burnley, where the player’s older brother Gordon is on the books, have also been mentioned as an interested party.

Part III: Miscellaneous News and Views

Injured Trio Return to Training: Manchester City have several squad members on the injured list. But the Blues could soon be boosted by the return to fitness of three of those players. Laurent Charvet, Paul Dickov and Mark Kennedy have all been out of contention for first-team places for several weeks, the Frenchman sidelined with an achilles injury, the Scot having damaged knee ligaments and the Irishman sustaining an achilles injury after first being out with knee ligament damage. But all three men were expected back in training on Monday. Kevin Horlock, who has a broken ankle, and Paulo Wanchope, who has had a cartilage operation, will return to training in two weeks’ time.

City Suffer Ritchie Injur Blow: Paul Ritchie will be unavailable for several weeks as Manchester City bid to save their Premiership lives. The Scot picked up a groin injury in last week’s reserve win over Leeds. Ritchie was sidelined for two months with a groin strain he sustained in the defeat at West Ham in November. But though he returned to action last month, the ex-Hearts player now has a fresh injury of a similar type. It’s not yet known how long he’ll be missing, with the 25-year-old due to see a specialist to determine the extent of the problem.

Royle – We’ll be Stronger Even if We Go Down: Joe Royle knows Manchester City face an uphill task if they’re to remain a Premiership side next season. But the Blues’ boss is convinced that, even if the worst comes to the worst, the club is stronger than a year ago. Royle is adopting a bullish attitude over City’s prospects of top-flight survival. But he’s adamant that whatever happens in the remainder of the campaign, the long-term outlook is rosy. “The club does not hinge on one season,” he claimed. “Okay, you have got to say at the moment that there is the possibility that the worst could happen but we will be stronger. And in any event, I still firmly believe we will come through this.”

Boss Tells Tiatto to Carry On: Danny Tiatto has arguably been the biggest success of Manchester City’s season in the Premiership. And even though the Australian has been suspended twice this term, Joe Royle doesn’t want to remove the passion from the player’s game. Tiatto has recently earned the praise of Sky TV pundits, who hailed the Australian’s progress during this week’s Soccer Saturday programme. And while Royle would like the 27-year-old to be booked a little less frequently, the Blues’ boss feels that the ex-Stoke player’s aggression adds to his effectiveness. “I don’t want to take the fire out of Danny’s game because it is part of his make-up,” explained the City manager. “I’ve had a quiet word, but there is nothing malicious about him.”

MATCH REPORT – ‘LIVE TV’ I

LIVERPOOL vs. MANCHESTER CITY (FA Cup 5th Round), Sunday 18th February 2001

The field was ringed by baying Philistines as onto the veldt strode the giant Goliath. From one corner stepped the nervous diminutive figure of David, clutching his leather sling and half a dozen water polished pebbles. The adversaries moved tentatively toward the centre of the arena, eyeing each other with ill-concealed suspicion. Fitting a stone into his sling, David wound back his arm and launched his missile at the approaching behemoth. The stone, propelled by adolescent muscles, flew straight and true, and missed Goliath by a mile! Without fear Goliath stepped smartly forward and smote the head from the unfortunate shoulders of the unarmed lad. Giants 1 Boys Nil read the scoreline… Hang on a minute that isn’t how the story goes. Everyone knows that giants always lose out to virtuous lads with curly hair and a just cause behind them…

Step forward three millennia and it’s Sunday afternoon in a foggy Liverpool. The venue is Anfield, and the giant that is Liverpool F.C. are running out straight from a major killing spree in Rome, the taste of fresh blood on their lips and fire in their bellies. For David read Manchester City – last engagement a closely fought though ultimately losing match against the slothful Spurs – but this is a cup match and anything can happen and usually does.

So the teams line up facing each other, Liverpool playing a standard 4-4-2 with Westerveld in goal, Babbel, Henchoz, Hyppia and Carragher across the back. Midfield they have Smicer, Biscan, Hamann and Ziege whilst up front the real giant Heskey and the northern interloper Litmanen. City opt for a more attacking 3-4-3 with the boy Weaver in the net, Dunne, Morrison and Prior looking mean and awesome at the back, then Haaland, Wiekens, Tiatto and Granville across the middle. Up front the experienced Kanchelskis, Goater and Huckerby. Officiating… oh no it’s Poll! Yes once more Mr Graham Poll, famously the only son of Tring anyone can ever remember, takes the field to referee a City cup tie.

It’s thirty seconds to four and too late to back out now! The M.I.B. blows his whistle and they’re off. Goater and Huckerby exchange the customary quick one two and break for the front. The ball however has other ideas and travels in the opposite direction to the way the 6,000 travelling Blues would have wanted. Never fear, up pops ‘Big Richard’ to fell the approaching red shirt and the first free kick of the afternoon is awarded with only 30 yards to go and 30 seconds on the clock. No fear, the resulting tame shot is easily cleared away and at least for now there is to be no repeat of the farce that was the early goal in the derby game.

It’s a nervous start from the Blues with ‘The Pool’ seemingly wandering at will with the ball. Prior makes a good job of clearing what could have been a dangerous Heskey charge on 3 minutes followed immediately by a nasty little foul on Kanchelskis, 35 yards from the opposite goal. It’s five minutes down and nerves just seem to be settling when Liverpool break clear with the ball. A defence caught flat-footed and Smicer steps smartly around the back of Prior to be faced with the on-rushing Weaver. Weaver goes down but realises too late that the ball is outside his grasp and tries to desperately pull his arms, crab like, back into his body. Too slow and one hand brushes tamely against Smicer’s passing boot. Obviously Smicer is some sort of alien with his major sensory organs in his feet as he goes down poleaxed like a bag of manure. Unfortunately so does Graham Poll but purely because he possesses the balance of a drunken man. One has to admire his professionalism though, for even as he is plunging earthward he points balefully at the spot for the first penalty of the afternoon. Step forward Jari Litmanen, who slots the ball past the rueful Weaver diving the wrong way. 1-0 and Joe Royle who is celebrating three full years with the club is looking stony faced with jaw firmly clenched.

If looks could kill Poll is a dead man walking now! Later Royle and television pundits will agree that Smicer should have brought a knife and fork as he made a real meal out of the incident. More of the same nerves made the next five minutes or so a series of missed passes and poor crosses. However, Liverpool break again on 12 minutes following a midfield tussle involving Wiekens. Presumably in the idle that is Tring, climbing all over a player isn’t a disciplinary offense as Mr Poll waves play on even as Wiekens struggles up from the ground whence he has been pushed. A smart through ball sees Heskey clear and one on one with a charging Weaver trying to close down the angle. To no avail, a side-footed ball runs past him and into the goal for 2-0. So where is the defence? We started with three at the back but apparently now Dunne is playing a sole centre back rôle whilst Morrison and Prior roam free in search, presumably, of easier prey than the snarling Heskey.

City’s first real break came on 18 minutes when Graham Poll suddenly woke up to the fact that Blue shirts rolling around on the floor was the sign of foul play. A horrendously late tackle on Haaland by Ziege left the blond hero rolling around in what looked like real agony. Free kick but no result. A couple of minutes later and maybe just maybe Poll has a sense of trying to right the wrong as he gives Tiatto a free for a shirt tugging incident that no-one else saw, bless his cotton socks!

The game had been very short of corners so far but that was put to rights on 28 minutes with the first one going to City. Tiatto whips in a superbly weighted ball straight across the pack to find Kanchelskis on the far side unmarked and with a clear shot at goal. The ball flies straight and true but, not to be out done, Huckerby just gets a foot over the top of it and the replay shows he may well have back heeled it to strike the right hand post, spin off across goal and roll into the net. The goal is still credited to Kanchelskis and Huckerby looks like he may well want a word with Andrei after the game. The goal, as so often happens, is like a shot in the arm, pure caffeine to a tired looking team as City are now lively and attacking for the first time in the match.

Some exciting action follows with City looking ‘up for it’ at last. Possession is the name of the game and the lads manage to find that not only can they spell the word but they know what it means too. There is some sustained pressure on the Liverpool backs right up to half time but unfortunately the Reds prove resilient and all the effort leads to nought. 26,000 Scousers are singing “Going Down” and 6,000 valiant Blues sing “City we Love You” whilst on the last few seconds of the half Goater makes a rash, high challenge which results in a free kick just outside the City area. Ten men in the wall and a lame shot followed by an even lamer kick at the rebound finish the first forty five.

It’s half time and a chance to give a quick overview of the first half. A faltering start by City gifted some early dominance to Liverpool but as has happened so often in the past, once feet are found, a bit of balance was restored. Huckerby and Kanchelskis look strong and full of running whilst the Goat looks off the pace and not a little bewildered. The only other two Blues worth a mention are Tiatto, who must have some terrier genes in him as he never stops, and Dunne. Many contributors to McV have commented on how good he looks at the back this season and of the current back three he is certainly the only one to stick wholeheartedly to the task. Liverpool as ever look composed, controlled and skilful but at 2-1 in front the game is still wide open and there is everything to play for. Cue the second half.

The second half kicks off with a corner for Liverpool, well that is how it seems as I only have time to pick up my notepad before the corner is given. It is cleared easily so no worries! First action to City is a free kick that Kanchelskis hooks in from 25 yards out to find Morrison rising. The ball just skims over his head for what must surely have been the missed equaliser. It’s straight back up the other end and Weaver easily plucks one out of the air. For a change he decides to throw the ball out instead of kicking it. The ball sails ten yards over the halfway line and begs the question, with a throw like that why he ever tries to kick a ball. Fifty minutes and all the air is sucked out of the visitors’ side of the stadium as a collective intake of breath greets Dunne’s challenge on Smicer. Running full tilt, Dunne hits the unfortunate Smicer from behind like an express train whilst he isn’t in possession of the ball but it’s OK in Tring, that isn’t a disciplinary offence either. Smicer lies there like a deflated balloon, which is presumably pretty much how he feels, whilst play continues around him. It isn’t Smicer’s afternoon for a couple of minutes later Weaver does his party trick again by completely mistiming a challenge on the unfortunate chap inside the penalty area. Penalty areas, now Poll knows about those, and points at the spot once again. Smicer exacts his revenge and slams home goal number three with Weaver only just missing the ball with outstretched hands. In fairness the challenge was horribly reckless and the penalty justly deserved, but coming as it did on top of the earlier questionable decision it was more than a little hard to take. The goal drained the game out of the Blues for a while if not the fight.

A series of free kicks followed for niggly challenges and incidents, Morrison climbing over Heskey, Granville pulling shirts. Morrison, temper rapidly fraying, was subbed on 59 minutes, probably for his own good, and on came Grant. As he sat in the dugout, Morrison was approached and spoken to by one of the local constabulary. It later transpired that some of the local ‘scallies’ (local speak for Liverpudlians of a cheeky nature) had given him a hard time so, showing admirable restraint, Andy had sprayed them with water from his drinking bottle instead of diving in and ripping a few heads off… he’s good at that! Anyway, local plod wasn’t amused and had stern words. Subbed and snubbed, what an afternoon…

The introduction of Grant seemed to pick the pace up a bit and City start to look more dangerous for the first time in the half. This leads to City’s first real chance when a Grant through ball finds Haaland onside and cutting the ball back in from the goal line to Huckerby. Hucks shoots too quickly and harmlessly clears the cross-bar but City are back! One of the side battles of the afternoon was starting to come to a head though. Ziege and Haaland had been swiping at each other all through the match. It was inevitable that another caution was going to come and fortunately for Alfie it went to Ziege for pulling. A quick look at the stats show that City have had the lion’s share in this half but haven’t created the chances the figures suggest they should have done. 15 minutes to go and Weaver pulls off one of his classic reaction saves after a great strike from Smicer. Smicer is almost immediately substituted for Owen, to the corresponding adulation from the Scousers.

The game is winding to a close but there is still some frenzied action to come. 82 minutes and Goater has his first real chance, only to head wide off a Tiatto ball. Two minutes later and Heskey is off and Fowler on, the result of a stoppage for a free kick. Fowler is still running on when Barmby looses a swinging kick across the goal mouth only for Babbel to dive, getting his head onto the speeding ball and deflect it in for the fourth Liverpool goal. You would think that was it but no, the lads are rising like the Phoenix and pressing forward again. Kanchelskis shoots just wide, a corner is cleared and comes to nothing but finally the pressure pays off and right at the death there is the Goat in the middle to receive the sweetest of crosses and sidefoot past Westerveld for a consolation second goal.

On reflection City paid the price for a lack of pace and a poor back line, with the exception of Dunne. Weaver must carry the blame for the second penalty but equally Smicer’s play acting was the cause of the first. Man of the match according to the TV was Jamie Carragher, but for me Smicer had to be the choice. For City it would have been a close run thing between Kanchelskis and Tiatto but AK just edged it I feel. The difference in class between these two teams couldn’t have been better illustrated than a look at the starting line up of the subs’ benches. Liverpool had five full internationals sat down whilst City had three players who are transfer listed and a youth player. Maybe the original storyline wasn’t far from the truth, after all only this time it reads Giants 4 Curly Haired Lads 2. Roll on next season…

MATCH REPORT – ‘LIVE TV’ II

LIVERPOOL vs. MANCHESTER CITY (FA Cup 5th Round), Sunday 18th February 2001

I am not a schizophrenic. A bit of a manic depressive, yes, but given my family history (a long line of doom and gloom proclaimers on my mother’s side) and the conscious choice I made to follow the fortunes of Man City, that’s unsurprising. Anyhow, it makes me creative and it makes me analytical (I know because I saw a very deep programme about it on telly once). So, one minute I’m the life and soul of the party, the next I’m pouring scorn on the concept that anyone can go out and enjoy himself. Being an MD helps in my job. One minute I’m writing biting, lyrical copy – “two thousand words on cooking without heat, no bother, editor dear” – the next I’m sat in front of someone else’s purple prose taking it to bits with scalpel, scissors and blowtorch. As it happened I was in doomy, analytical mode today.

So this arvo, I sat down to watch City play Liverpool minus my scarf, lucky Dennis Tueart shirt and plastic banana. Instead, I reclined with notebook and pen, plus a bottle of Powers Gold Label for company – though I did keep the scarf within reach, in case we scored first. I didn’t want to be seen parading round the living room tossing V-signs to the Kop and improperly dressed. So I sat down with paper and pen and made notes for 100 minutes. Then I blo*dy wept, manic mode returning. First thing I noticed was the disparity of the two benches. They had Fowler, Owen, Barmby and someone called Asphyxiated who (I looked it up in my Championship Manager 2000/1) is a GK. We had Shaun Wright-Phillips, someone called McKinney (another GK I believe) and 3 people who probably ought to be asphixyated ’cause we’re trying to sell them and can’t. Nothing like asphyxiation for reducing the wage bill. Then we had Houllier and JR. Houllier, right on, confident, analytical, suave, urbane “well, I ‘ope we win ze coupe for ze fans et les playeurs. But eet is jus another etage on ze way to geting things as we want zem”. JR, whose neck seems to retreat further into his padded caggy with every defeat, gives his opinion too – the good old British underdog, well this is the cup, game’s not won till it’s lost, we’re gonna scrap for it, anything can happen scenario and I thought, Jesus, he could be managing Rochdale.

Next, enter, stage left, the referee. Oh, blo*dy hell, it’s Graham Poll. Not that Mr. P is one of the hang ’em/flog ’em /send ’em off school of refereeing you understand. No, simply cause every time I see the amiable Mr. Poll, in the midst of a lot of sensible things he makes just one dire, dodgy decision that’s invariably costly and usually against the team who are carrying my sympathies on the day. So it’s kick-off and right from the start it’s evident that there’s one guy who’s about a brain-and-a-half heavier than anyone else on the field: he ain’t wearing a blue shirt and his name’s Litmanen (did I spell it right?). This guy spells trouble and on about 9 minutes he hands it to us with a capital T. Wiekens dwells on the ball long enough to sing American Pie twice over, ball gets nicked, Nicky tries to keep his hands off a guy in red, Mr Poll gets his dodgy decision in early and Litmanen does the rest 0-1.

Couple of minutes later, some dreamy defending down the left, Heskey forgets to dive, whacks and and – whoops! It’s 0-2, probably all over. Trouble with watching on TV, there seems to be an unwritten rule, don’t let the punters see more than 3 players at a time. It’s hard to suss the patterns. Nevertheless a blind man could deduce that our defence is its usual shambles. Dunne seems to be doing quite well, although our curious formation has him playing right and centre back at one and the same time as Alfie is playing too far upfield. On the left Huck is not getting much change out of Markus Babbel; on the right Kanchelskis (can’t bring myself to call him Andy or even Andrei yet) is receiving crap ball. Wiekens is playing deep CF, like he’s been watching old videos of Don Revie. And Granville. Where the hell is Granville? Prior and Morrison, neither the quickest, are finding Heskey and Litmanen, by now doing his impression of The Scarlet Pimpernel (they seek him here…) quite a handful.

Thus far Danny Tiatto is playing Pool on his own, though Goat does at least chase back and harry their midfield, something quite absent from Wanchope’s game (though I still maintain that Ole Rubber Legs represented a bigger goal threat). Though Huck isn’t rounding the back too often, he’s doing some smart things; particularly impressive is finding Danny T with a cool backpass; Danny plays it infield, opening up another option from what was initially a blind alley. More, please. Danny T obliges with a great pinpoint corner. Wham! Wonderful shot from… Andrei has me on my feet. O Andy Andy, I sing. We start to play a bit. Alfie hammers in a reckless tackle.

Mr.Poll gives us a few free kicks when playing advantage would have been better. 41 mins – ah, there’s Granville, on the far side of Huck about 6 feet away. Remember that game you used to play when you were a kid, jumping on peoples’ shadows? Well that’s what Danny G seems to be doing. Half time and even Terry “I admit nothing” Venables has to admit we’re back in the game. Houlier doesn’t. He parks up Litmanen; can he really be that contemptuous of us? Probably he just remembered the couple of dodgy offside goals Barmby’s scored against us in the past. We’re getting better ball to Andrei. Trouble is Carragher is playing better in response. On the other wing the Dannies and Huck are getting under one another’s feet, like an inept morris dance team. Sort it out Joe/Willie. Ah, something’s been done, Danny T goes deep, Huck moves inside leaving Danny G to do what he does worst – defend. Didn’t we buy him as a full back?

Another heroic foul from Alfie. Pool sweep down our right flank, Smicer, I think, clean through, shows Nicky the ball and Nicky, who’s been standing up four square, arms wide doing the sensible thing, suddenly launches himself like a torpedo. Attacker cunningly gets rid of ball and braces himself against the arrival of Nicky. Inevitable penalty is whacked home 1-3. This is the cue for Morrison to start foaming at the mouth, oh dear, someone’s gonna get whacked. Tiatto is now playing full back as well as midfield and doing brilliantly – wish we had five of him. We have a five minute purple patch of stringing patterns together. One glorious five-man move comes to nothing ’cause Goat is a might too one-paced. Quarter of an hour to go – I’m thinking hmmmm, be seeing Carlo Nash for the first time next week when Nicky makes an absolutely fantastic save from Smicer. Then it’s 1-4 as Babbel, my man of the match if you can’t give it to the genius who went off at half time, gets a great glancing header from a cross whipped in at the speed of light, the sort that are impossible to defend against unless someone gets on the line.

Of course we cap it with a great goal. Nice turn and twist by Huck, who never gave up all afternoon, and Goat whacks it in with a Goatlike version of aplomb and nonchalance. The sort of goal that always seems to come when you’ve got sod all to play for. Whistle goes. Oh look, there’s Tony Grant. Well (remember, I’m still in warped and analytical mode) we’re going down lads. Not because we get stuffed 4-2 away by a team crammed with decent and some wonderful players. Not because of lack of spirit, thank God, not like last time. We’re going down because we are a wee bit unlucky, yes I really mean that. But mostly because we cocked it up against the other crap teams – the Derbys, the Coventrys, the Charltons, the Middlesbros yes, and I believe, the Ipswiches – who I believe are getting found out at the minute. Some of it is bad players. A lot of it is bad coaching. Tactically we are somewhere between the inept and the naïve. Formation wise, between the absurd and the ludicrous. Anybody who has ever captained a pub team should know you don’t beat a team with fast forwards and an organised defence by playing 3 up front. Older fans, cast your mind back to ’69. Joe Mercer’s side usually played an attractive 4-2-4. Actually, that’s not quite true because Colin Bell had so much lung power he could up it from 4-3-3 at a moment’s notice and we also had a ball-playing centre back in Tommy Booth who made incursions into midfield. But against Everton in the semi-final City played (in crude terms) 4-5-1 with David Connor, essentially pacy but a fringe player, brought in to man mark Everton’s play-maker Alan Ball and disrupt their rythym – which David did to perfection. A totally pragmatic move for one game only that led to a victory when Booth hammered in from a corner in the last minute.

One of the really bad things coming out is, from static positions like GK throw-outs, or short free kicks, the receiver is always given too much to do – so under pressure, he gets rid hastily and not always to a man. Simple, elementary stuff that we just can’t seem to get right. Statistically, apparently, we had the lion’s share of possession today, but we gave an awful lot of it away. It was pretty evident too that the defence just aren’t functioning as a unit. I taped the match and re-ran some of it afterwards, watching Liverpool’s defence – their back 3 seemed to be able to convert to 4 at a moment’s notice, even a back 5 on one occasion. And it wasn’t necessarily the back 4 in the programme either! That’s another hallmark of the good teams and I’m afraid those other Red bas*ards do it better than anyone – a midfielder temporarily replaces a stranded defender and the defence still functions as a unit. That way, if someone gets skinned you still have a chance.

The old days of performing by numbers are, I’m afraid, gone for ever – even teams like West Ham and Leicester have sussed this, so why can’t we? Lastly, Joe seems to want the ball got forward fast. Why? Watch any of the great Italian teams, especially Milan in their heyday, and you soon realise it doesn’t matter how slow the build up as long as you can accelerate, step up the tempo at some point, ideally in the last third of the pitch. Ipswich, though I believe their players aren’t much, if any better than ours do this quite well. They are where they are because they haven’t given the ball away a lot (and because Marcus Stewart has been in such good striking form). Soooooh… let’s have some marks:

Weaver 5.5 – Two great saves, some crap throwing, fair kicking and a rush of blood but at least he has youth on his side.
Dunne 6.5 – Composed for the most part. Has to learn that knack of retreating without giving space to the attacker.
Morrison 4 – Poor game, dragged this way and that and zilch pace. Like his spirit but those who reckon he can hack it in the Premiership are just sentimental softies, I’m afraid.
Prior 4.5 – Uncannilly reminiscent of George Heslop of yore. Nicely dirty, good in air, no positional sense, at this level anyway.
Haaland 5.5 – Better in second half. Strong, combative but doesn’t seem to see the big picture. If we’re going to play this ludicrous format I think he’d be better in the middle instead of…
Wiekens 4 – Ponderous, slow-thinking, slow-moving playing a full Division above his capability really. Shame, I was rooting for him.
Tiatto 9 – Superb in defence, midfield, attack. Always looked sharp, positive, never shunned the difficult option in favour of giving someone a tidy but neggy pass. And cooler than I’ve seen him.
Granville 5 – Fair player on the ball who cannot defend to save his life. Again, no spatial sense.
Huckerby 7.5 – Impressive, rapid, turned players, never stopped trying to do what he does best. Can be a bit selfish but at least he sees other players.
Goater 6 – Oh dear! I love this guy like a brother and can’t bear to criticise him. Works hard, does intelligent things, pops the odd one in but at this level it’s surely going to be only the odd one. A mite too slow for the Premiership but like his attitude.
Kanchelskis 7 – So far so good. Kept 2 good players pretty well occupied all afternoon. Took his goal brilliantly. Still quick. Worked hard.
Grant, Tony – A bit like Kinkladze (impossible to mark!). Frankly, they could have sent on Grant, Ulysses S; Grant, Bobby; or Grant Mitchell for all the effect Grant, Tony had on the proceedings.

Where are we next week? Come on you Blues (back in manic mode, thank God)!

P.S. I wouldn’t want to be fingered as The Man Who Shot Joe Royle. But I might leave the loaded revolver in the dugout.

MATCH REPORT – ‘LIVE TV’ III

LIVERPOOL vs. MANCHESTER CITY (FA Cup 5th Round), Sunday 18th February 2001

Live on Foxtel, Perth, Australia, Sunday 18th January 2001

Was not filled with confidence about this one, much to the disappointment of my 13-year-old son who he felt City could secure a creditable draw; as for me I thought anything less than 3 zip would be somewhat of an achievement (let’s face it, we have not actually been scoring more than 0 or 1 against our fellow Premiership teams of late).

The game started almost immediately after Arsenal-Chelsea on the same channel and I pondered if we did get through what would the jet like forwards of the Gunners do to our infamous defence if we draw them… frightening was the thought that crossed my mind.

Commentator mused over the lack of a full house (about 8,000 short of capacity). A lack of Liverpool supporters as the Blues’ allotted area looked full; why is it the FA Cup has been poorly supported this year? I noticed Sunderland was well under capacity.

A few early exchanges with Liverpool looking sharp was followed by a quick move involving Smicer with Weaver hurtling off his line and what appeared to the naked eye a trip by Weaver on Smicer with his right hand. Typical, why is it we give an early goal away when playing the big boys? On the replay it looked a harsh decision as Weaver failed to actually connect with Smicer’s legs and to cap it all the ref fell to the ground with Smicer, almost in sympathy. The tell tale action was that of Smicer staring at the ref, his eye’s almost pleading for the penalty. Up stepped Litmanen, 1-0 to the cheating scousers. “Same old scousers, always cheating” echoed from the City end.

City for the next 10-15 minutes had plenty of possession, without really creating any danger. In fact the commentator said City were not playing badly; just at that very moment Wiekens decided to turn on the ball in the centre circle, was quickly robbed and a curling ball was played over Granville’s head by Litmanen, which sat up lovely for Heskey to drive it underneath Weaver’s body into the far corner. 2-0 and Liverpool had not really broken sweat. My 3 zip prediction was looking ominously wrong as the Euro scousers (they only had 2 home born players in the team) caused havoc each time they went forward. However, people like Tiatto are made of sterner stuff, thank God and more in frustration let fire from about 25 yards, resulting in a corner on the left. Not really ideal for Tiatto’s best kicking foot but nevertheless he floated in a high cross which somehow sailed right in front of Kanchelskis on the edge of the box, who quickly controlled the ball and fired it through the the penalty area. Huckerby’s attempted back flick, which unsighted Westervelt, hit the inside of the far post trickled along and eventually across the line into the net, a bl**dy goal scored by a City player. Which was exactly the reaction of the City players – an almost subdued celebration, we’ve scored, what the hell is that, sort of reaction. Now tell me, you are playing at Anfield in the 5th Round of the FA Cup, your team has scored a very good goal, at the Kop end, would you not go berserk? No, perhaps the City players have an inevitability syndrome about them; whatever we do we are still going to lose, not quite the foundation to build a relegation battle on over the next 11 games!

The half seemed to finish with very little happening for both teams as Liverpool appeared content to let City have the ball up to the last third of the pitch and then with little fuss dispossess us or clear the ball adequately; the commentator seemed to think City had made a game of it!

The second half started with City’s defence marking each other rather than the Liverpool forwards which resulted in all sorts of chaos, mistimed tackles and very poor attempts at headers. The inevitable happened when Smicer played a quick one two, Haaland did not track Smicer into the box and as he received the pass, Weaver again came hurtling out of the box and promptly dropped Smicer for Liverpool’s 2nd penalty which was easily converted by the same player. Now I know City have a goalkeeping coach, a one Mr Stepney, who from my memory was never one for rash decisions, so why is he not quelling our young goalkeeper’s urge to break the 100m sprint record, or is it that Weaver is clearly proving to be not up to it at this level? Redbrov’s goal last week was another example of his careless charge off the line.

City were really not up to it after that; even Tiatto lost the desire to run and harry and let’s face it, he is the only one who has shown any consistency, he can be excused.

After a series of free kicks and corners on our left, Liverpool just had to add to their score when Ziege whipped in another cross that Babbel glanced on with his head into the far corner. In between Huckerby blasted a great chance over the bar from City’s best move, created by Grant and Haaland. Finally Goater, who had been awful all game, scored from 8 yards after a great run down the left by Huckerby, beating 2 Liverpool defenders before cutting the ball back. Final score 4-2.

To me City’s whole performance was embarrassing. Still no midfield guile and what hurts most, no team spirit; see description of City celebration of their first goal. Even at 3-1, it was soul destroying, the lack of desire to fight and get back in the game. Show some urgency, have a bl**dy go. For me though the sight of Haaland with his chin on his chest strolling over to retrieve the ball for a throw-in immediately after Liverpool scored their 2nd goal in the 25th minute was worth the big hook, the man is not worthy of wearing the shirt, never mind the captain’s armband. And yes, the tactic which fools all teams into fear and panic, the long throw in; we heard a valiant cry over the mike “yes City why not try the long throw”; surely Joe, all your years of managing can produce something better than this over used, unproductive, nothing more than a throw and hope tactic; it’s well past its used by date.

Players’ analyses:

Weaver: Sorry, you have cocked up too many times this year and have failed to live up to your promise. Nash must replace him next week.
Dunne: Average player, why else did Everton sell him?
Morrison: Great in the air, unfortunately Premier forwards have got speed, looked well out of his depth.
Prior: Did some good work, but in this arena a defender has to be good on the ball as well, looked clumsy in possession.
Haaland: The most uninspirational captain I have ever seen play for City, Mike Doyle must be cringing; almost anonymous all game.
Wiekens: Too slow, no skill, cannot pass, why play him or even give him a contract?
Granville: Same as Dunne except for Leeds.
Tiatto: Has risen to the dizzy heights of a good Premiership player, unfortunately none of his fellow players have and as such cannot do it on his own. Good first half, got tired in the 2nd.
Kanchelskis: Good goal and can play. I thought he gave Carragher a run for his money and to my absolute astonishment the TV gave Carragher man of the match?
Goater: First touch is a tackle or a pass to the opposition; did not look if he was trying.
Huckerby: Lots of pace, great run for the 2nd goal, needs a good player up there with him, example Litmanen!
Sub – Grant: Joe, this man cannot even control the ball, never mind the defence splitting passer you informed all of us he is!

In summary this team was not up to it, nor does it have the desire. Defensively we are naïve, lack composure and above all are missing a midfield. This was an utterly disappointing display and does not give me any confidence in avoiding the dreaded drop.

MATCH REPORT – ‘LIVE TV’ IV

LIVERPOOL vs. MANCHESTER CITY (FA Cup 5th Round), Sunday 18th February 2001

I watched this match ‘live’ on ITV. The panel included Des Lynam as the host along with Ally McCoist and Atkinson. They gave City very little chance of getting anything from the match and I had to agree. Liverpool are riding on the crest of a wave at the moment what with the 0-2 against Roma in Rome and the fact that players were pushing for places in the Worthington Cup final. Indeed it would take something special from the men in blue to beat a resurgent Liverpool side.

On to the match then. City started with Weaver in goal, Granville at left back, Haaland right back, Dunne, Prior and Morrison as centre-backs, Tiatto, Wiekens and Kanchelskis in the midfield with Huckerby playing deep and the Goat up front. This was a very defensive formation and would have been ideal if City’s plan had been to stifle Liverpool and take them back to Maine Road. All of our back five are defenders, even Haaland who is better there than in centre midfield. Wiekens is a defensive holding player and Tiatto does get back a lot as well. Unfortunately City started the game at least ten minutes after Liverpool and were literally blown away by Liverpool’s strong opening. If you come to Anfield with five at the back and a determination to get at least a replay you do not defend like City did. We were passed off the pitch and were chasing shadows for much of the opening period. A big difference between City and Liverpool’s midfield was that they had two outstanding attacking midfielders in Litmanen and Smicer. We on the other hand had Wiekens and Tiatto. No match there then. Not only that but Heskey was playing up front on his own with Litmanen playing very deep with Smicer. Big fat Ron rightly pointed out that City were overstaffed at the back with two of the centre backs not marking anyone. They were playing their zones and no one was coming out of defence to pick up Liverpool’s deep lying forwards/midfielders. Fat Ron again pointed out that none of our centre backs had the ability to come out of defence and man mark either Smicer or Litmanen. This meant that we were often overrun in midfield with Liverpool completely dominating things.

Liverpool’s first penalty was a penalty. I have seen the replays several times and I have to say that it was a goalkeeping error on Weaver’s part. Contact was very marginal but Weaver did touch Smicer’s trailing leg as he was going sideways past him. Did anyone really think that the ref would not give such a penalty at Anfield? The ref was actually falling over when this happened but was very close to the action and was correct. Weaver was lucky to get away without a card. Litmanen made no mistake with the penalty and we had gotten off to the worst possible start. Worst was to follow with Wiekens being caught in possession in midfield. Ziege (I think) caught Wiekens dwelling on the ball and it broke kindly to Litmanen who played an excellent first time ball over the top to Heskey. Even at this stage I thought we could recover as Prior was racing back and Dunne was coming across. This kind of ball from Litmanen was meat and drink to Heskey who with ample power and pace sped towards goal. Camera replays later on Sky Sports (Goals on Sunday – Iain Dowie) showed that Prior could have done more to block Heskey’s shot. As Iain Dowie rightly pointed out, Prior slowed down at a critical moment when he probably should have gone hell for leather and went two footed to try to block the challenge. I also felt that Nicky Weaver had come too far off his line and made Heskey’s shot easier. Earlier in the game Prior had almost given a penalty away for a desperate challenge on Heskey when he made a run into our box. Heskey wobbled but stayed on his feet so maybe Prior had this at the back of his mind when he was reluctant to put a blocking tackle in.

So after about a quarter of an hour we found ourselves 2-0 down at Anfield. Not the start that we were looking for, I felt that the game was effectively over as I felt that we could not come back from two goals down. We had fought back bravely from two goals down in our league meeting here but still lost that one 3-2. Atkinson and McCoist pointed out that we should not try to play the ball through midfield as we could not match Liverpool’s passing ability or numbers. They recommended that we play more direct balls up to Huckerby, Kanchelskis and the Goat as this was our best hope of a break. The Goat was getting little change from Hyppia and Henchoz due to poor service. We won a corner a little later on that was brilliantly played to Kanchelskis on the edge of the box; he showed an expert first touch and control before shooting low past Westerveld. The pundits said Westerveld was unsighted and that maybe even Goater or Huckerby were offside but replays showed that it was a great shot and goal. This was the lifeline that we needed and if we could reach half time without conceding again we would give ourselves a fighting chance. Just before half time though Goater popped up on the edge of our box and fouled a Liverpool player with a rash challenge. Goater normally defends well for a centre forward but not today. The resultant free kick came off the wall and we went in to the break 2-1 down.

We started the second half brighter than the first and were not caught as cold as in the first. We sometimes matched and out passed Liverpool with good passing and movement. However, at this crucial stage of the game we again made a big error. I have to say that Weaver lost us the game at this point because he gave away a very bad penalty against Smicer again. Ziege played a good first time ball into the box for Smicer to run onto. I do not know what Nicky was doing but his decision making and execution were very poor. Weaver hared off his line to intercept the ball but succeeded in only taking away Smicer’s legs. He should not have come for that ball. It would have taken a really good shot to beat Weaver at his near post if he had stayed on his line. The options open to Smicer would have been to shoot first time (otherwise he would have run the ball out) or to cut it back into the box (where Weaver could have been positioned well to save). If a ‘keeper does come for those kinds of balls he has to take the ball and everything else with it. Alas this really killed us off because Smicer put the resultant penalty away with aplomb. Conceding a penalty at such a crucial time when we were starting to play better took the wind out of our sails.

Nevertheless, we continued to chase the game hoping for a break but our attack was not firing on all cylinders. The Goat was all too often isolated against Liverpool’s two big centre backs. Huckerby and Kanchelskis were playing well but the Liverpool full backs Biscan and Carragher were playing our two fast lads well. Indeed, Liverpool’s quality and strength were apparent because they brought on Fowler, Owen and Barmby. We brought on Grant for Morrison, which was far too late. Grant should have been on instead of Wiekens from the start as he looked as if he has the passing quality and incisiveness that we lack. He showed this by playing a great through ball to Haaland in Liverpool’s corner who in turn played a great low ball to Huckerby on the edge of box. Huckerby though fluffed the shot by whacking it hard and high when a neat sidefoot would have sufficed. We rarely threatened after that with Liverpool adding a further goal from another Ziege free kick. We gave away lots of dangerous free kicks, which Ziege duly popped into dangerous areas. From one such free kick Goater lost his man (Babbel) who glanced a header past Weaver. Again Goater is usually very good at tracking back and doing defensive work but he did not do it today. 4-1 and it was definitely all over. We had some good phases of possession, with a few half chances. We looked a better side when Grant came on for Morrison and we switched to a 4-4-2 formation. We actually had enough numbers in midfield and Grant showed enough to warrant a starting place. Tiatto ran his socks and was our MoM. He runs well with the ball, tackles like mad, and has energy and enthusiasm in abundance. He had one chance where he went on a mazy run going past several Liverpool players only to fall over when the ball bounced off a Liverpool defender by accident. Hyppia thought he took a dive but he just ran out of steam.

With about five minutes to go, Huckerby received a good ball down the left, went past Babbel and one other to square to the Goat who made no mistake with a deflected shot into the roof of the net. This was about the only real chance the Goat had and he took it well. It was a shame that it was only a consolation though. A bank of fog rolled in from the Mersey early in the second half and I was desperately hoping that it would descend onto the ground and get the game called off. Alas not because the game ended 4-2 to Liverpool. Overall we could not argue with the result because Liverpool were the better side on the day.

A few points to mention:

• It was a penalty for their first goal.
• We were too defensive and were often overmanned at the back.
• We were outnumbered in midfield.
• Wiekens in sadly not up to the job at this level.
• Grant should have been playing from the start.
• Weaver made some costly errors at crucial points in the match thatlost us the match (made a good save from Smicer in the second half though).Many aspects of his game are good, especially his shot stopping and aerialability. His decision-making and kicking are both poor though as is hisconcentration. Maybe it is time to give the lad a break and let Nash takeover for a while? I think we expect far too much from him and shouldremember how young and inexperienced he really is.
• We should try other players such as Jim Whitley who can play a bitand put his foot on the ball. Also others such as Terry Cooke and GarethTaylor. As Royle has often pointed out, if the club is paying them they arealways in the frame.

Lastly I will attempt to give the players a ratings score out of 10.

Weaver 4 – Poor decisions and two penalties cost us the game I am afraid.
Haaland 5 – Not a captain and a shadow of the player we had at the beginning of the season, plays better at right back and is too much of a defensive midfielder alongside Wiekens and Whitley.
Granville 5 – Solid left back if asked to be a left back and not a winger.
Morrison 4 – Looks slow and cumbersome.
Prior 4 – Poor game from him, nearly hacked Heskey down and then stood off to let him score.
Dunne 6 – Good performance although nearly gave a penalty away when he was clearly pulling Heskey back in the first half.
Wiekens 4 – Caught with the ball that gave Liverpool their second, too often passes sideways or back and provides little attacking flair. Not up to it at this level I am afraid.
Kanchelskis – 6 Good goal and generally gave Carragher a hard time but never had too many chances.
Tiatto 7 – Excellent game from him, ran ran and ran again.
Huckerby 6 – Good run to set up Goat at the end but too often ran himself into a corner.
Goat 5 – Poor defensively and never got much out the Liverpool defence.
Grant (on for Morrison) 6 – Played well when he came on and set up Huckerby for a fluffed shot, passed well and should have started.

MATCH VIEW

The game:

First half:
1st goal: Not a penalty but having said that, City were poor in tracking back and should not have been caught like that anyway.
2nd goal: Not a lot to say about that one – good finish but if we are playing offside then we have all got to play it.
3rd goal: Good to see Kanchelskis did something in the game – he was not used much in the first half.

Second half:
4th goal: Oh dear. Nicky had a touch of the Richard Wrights about him – why he had to come out for the ball I do not know, there was enough cover around him and the angle was tight for a shot.
5th goal: Very poor defending – no one really challenged for the ball – and why did we not have someone on the far post?
6th goal: City’s best move of the match – and the first time that Huckerby looked up to see what support he had when he had the ball.

The team:
Weaver: Unlucky with the first penalty, totally to blame for the second. He could not do a lot about the other two goals at all. Apart from a blinding save in the second half I do not recall that he had much to do (3).
Dunne: Good all round game, but he did play Heskey on side for their 2nd goal (5).
Prior: OK. Showed he was not match fit – slow at getting back from corners as showed for their 2nd goal, also didn’t challenge in the air as much as I remember him doing before (4).
Morrison: The usual rock though still a bit too slow for this level (6).
Granville: Still not sure about this one – maybe it was because he, Tiatto and Huckerby all seemed to be playing in the same area in the first half. A few good crosses but nowhere as good as Kennedy, but at least he tackles (5).
Tiatto: Man of the Match. Man of the Season (9).
Wiekens: Worst player on the pitch – he didn’t seem to want to touch the ball and when he did dwelt on it too long – his mistake lead to their 2nd goal – I have never seen such an ineffectual performance by him (-2).
Haaland: Huffed and puffed but didn’t achieve a lot (4).
Kanchelskis: Didn’t get the ball enough to shine. Nice goal and that was about it (7).
Huckerby: Some great runs but he always seems to only have one thing on his moind – scoring. That’s okay but there were lots of times yesterday when he should have looked up and passed to the support players around him as he did to set up the goat’s goal. Should have scored a sitter at 3-1 (6).
Goater: Quiet game – started poorly – always seemed to be waiting for the ball to come to him and hence lost out to the defence. Good finish for his goal but needs to get involved a bit more (6).
Grant: Some very incisive passes but I would like to have seen him on for longer – I would have played him instead of Wiekens from the start (5).

I was very disappointed that SWP was not brought on for at least the last 20 minutes – I know Joe is resting him but he would have injected pace and skill in our midfield when there defence was tiring.

Overall: Ignoring the first ten minutes in both halves City played well enough to get a draw – the problem was the first ten minutes in each half. We can now concentrate on the league but the game highlighted what we all know that City need a creative midfielder – who that is I do not know – but it definitely is not Gerard Wiekens.

CITY DIARY

February 19th-25th. This week in City’s history: 78 goals (and one that wasn’t), a refereeing controversy, a famous comeback, and some birthdays.

February 19, 1968 was the first game in which Bell and Lee and Summerbee all scored, a 3-4 Cup replay defeat at Leicester.
February 20: Also in the Cup, in 1926 City beat Crystal Palace by 11 goals to 4 (7-0 at half-time) on the way to Wembley where they lost to Bolton.
February 21: In 1953 City were beaten 6-0 by Cardiff in Division One. Steve MacKenzie made his only derby appearance and got the only goal of the game to beat United in 1981, and Asa Hartford, Dennis Tueart, and Joe Royle scored in the 3-0 win over Everton in 1976.
A year earlier, on 22 February 1975, Joe scored his first goal for City (3-1 vs. Birmingham). City scored four times away to Leicester on 22 February 1958, but unfortunately Leicester scored eight. If anyone remembers a player named Frost, the 4-0 defeat at Grimsby on this day in 1964 was his second and last game for City, though he had scored in his first a week earlier. And in 1997 Kevin Horlock got his second goal for City (see February 25th) in the 3-0 home win against Swindon in the Nationwide Division One. February 22: Billy Meredith made his comeback for City at age 49 in 1924, scoring in the 5-1 fourth round FA Cup win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
A hundred years ago today, on February 23, 1901, Meredith had scored in City’s 3-1 victory at home to Preston. Fifty years ago, on February 23, 1951, City drew 3-3 with Doncaster Rovers in Division Two, the last time City played them.
February 24: Another Rovers game. City went to Blackburn in the fifth round of the Cup in 1969, the only match they had that month on account of the weather. Francis Lee and Tony Coleman got two each in the 4-1 win (4-1 at Blackburn – that’s familiar!).
February 25: Kevin Horlock scored his first goal for City as the Blues beat Swindon 2-1 in the Premiereship in 1994 – but he was playing for Swindon at the time!

Happy Birthday today to Shaun Goater and to Gerard Wiekens. Belated Birthday greetings for last week (February 17) to Neil Young. Lastly, this week in 1956 saw City take a step towards Wembley when they knocked Liverpool out of the Cup in a 5th round replay at Anfield. On ninety minutes City led 2-1 but in the last second Liverpool’s Billy Liddell belted a long shot past Bert Trautmann. Liverpool thought they’d equalized, but the referee had blown for full-time either as the ball was kicked or as it was in the air. Well, forty-five years later another referee redressed the balance…

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL (Part 1 – Liverpool)

We are the only team to have scored at Anfield since 1 January 2001.

We are the only away team to have scored 2 goals at Anfield this season (and we’ve done that twice) in their 21 home games, cups and Europe included.

We can now concentrate on the job in hand and securing the points needed for the run in.

Right, I’m off with straws clenched firmly in hand.

RESERVES ACTION

MCFC reserves play Boro at home (Ewen Fields, Hyde) tomorrow night, Tuesday 20 February, 7pm k-o. Probably subject to pitch inspection, so I would suggest a call to MCFC or Hyde United to check beforehand if people are going.

AT ANFIELD YOU PAY THE PENALTY

L  ost
I  t
V  ery
E  asily?
R  eferee
P  oll
O  utwitted
O  ur
L  ads.

CAMBRIDGE AND DISTRICT CSA

Mike Summerbee and Colin Shindler will be coming to chat to members of the Cambs & District CSA on Wednesday 21st February. We’ll be in the Eagle pub in the centre of Cambridge; for further details / directions contact Colin Naylor at colin.naylor@napp.co.uk.

HITLER JIBES

It’s a shame that my first conribution for a few seasons is this story from today’s Jewish Chronicle, but I’d welcome some views.

16-Feb-2001

Hitler jibe fans face Maine Road ban
By Nathan Jeffay
MANCHESTER City’s life president has condemned the club’s fans for Hitler chants directed at visiting Spurs supporters during Saturday’s Premiership game.

Sidney Rose said that “anyone who took part in such chants should be ejected from Maine Road and banned for life from all Manchester City matches.”

A bloc of City fans in the ground’s north stand sang “There’s only one Adolf Hitler” to taunt the contingent from Spurs, which is known for its large Jewish following.

Lifelong City fans Andrew Showman and Richard Lawton are to complain to club chairman David Bernstein and hope that other disgusted supporters will follow suit.

Mr Showman, who was sitting close to the perpetrators, described them as “an embarrassment to City. They probably didn’t have the sense to realise that we have a Jewish chairman.”

Although stressing that the “upsetting incident is not something I usually associate with my football club,” Mr Rose told the JC: “I take this very seriously. I will be speaking to David Bernstein about it, suggesting, among other things, that a notice appears in the match-day programme warning fans to watch their conduct.”

Chief operating officer Chris Bird pledged that any complaints would be thoroughly investigated, but added: “It is always difficult to police people’s individual behaviour.”

He said that there had been no mention of the chants in the reports of the match stewards.

OPINION – MCIVTA AND VER PREM

What a refreshing change it was to read MCIVTA 684. Some excellent match reports from youth and reserve games we could find nowhere else, some humorous reflections and well-thought out opinions along with a healthy dose of realism, hand-rolled into one neat package by Ashley. Recent issues have been far too depressing for my liking.

I particularly enjoyed Simon Taylor’s “Reasons to be Cheerful” article; I agree that the football in ver Promised Land has not lived up to its billing. At the start of this season in this publication, I warned that the Premiership is a “nasty and brutish” place. It’s supposed to be the pinnacle of English football so how come one half-decent team can rule the roost for so long? Because the rest are not very good and make up for their shortcomings by running around the pitch like headless chickens for 90 minutes, that’s how.

City’s shortcomings, amplified by our own insecurities and current management’s lack of tactics (vision?), have got us where we are. Only by being nasty and brutish ourselves can we avoid relegation. We will have to kick lumps out of the opposition and hope that we beat better teams because their season is over, they are stuck in mid-table and frankly bored. And that’s not really our style, is it?

If we do drop down, I will not shed a tear for the most over-rated league in the world: the Premiership. I’m not sure I can look forward to another White Riot in South Bermondsey on a Tuesday night – first time anyone has ever chucked a potato at me in anger – or queuing for half an hour for a non-existent pie. However, the quality of football will not be worlds away from this season’s.

One thing I was looking forward to in ver Prem was some quality coverage of City in the media. Was I wrong or what? Match of the Day and Football Focus both have dropped alarmingly in standards since I last watched them regularly. They’re caught between the entertainment and serious analysis stools. No wonder Mark Lawrenson looks permanently on the verge of suicide. And will BBC Sport ever stop doing those pretentious set-to-trendy-music mini-biogs of players with the ‘Network 7’-style angles (the regulation 13 degrees off horizontal shot)? And you can take ITV’s pathetic “Off the Ball” off the air forever! Barry Venison? In a cocked hat!

I’m most disappointed with the broadsheet coverage – a certain Observer article from the derby springs to mind as typical. At least the tabloids on a Monday are honest enough to omit all but the barest details of what happened and when, and instead focus on the latest comic-book capers and supposed mindgames from a match. That style is a far truer approach to the Premiership than pretending to eulogise it.

The coda to all this is of course that I will be gutted if City got relegated. I still think we can survive but I reckon our chances are 2-1 against and we’re going to need some big chunks of luck along the way. This will go down as heresy, I’m sure, but sign Paul Ince as a short-term measure and we will stay up; he’s unhappy at El Crook taking over and might just jump ship. Him or anyone who can protect our back four would do. For sure, we need a creative midfielder for next season but it’s much too late to sign one now and get him bedded down in the team this season.

P.S. to the Derby fan, yes it was definitely your lot who stole the singing honours on that afternoon at Pride Park. City fans got going when we scored but the “Derby Army” chant from 40 minutes through half-time to 50 minutes was great stuff. At half-time, all I could hear from our end were anti-Rag songs and “won’t they ever shut up over there?”. For once, our travelling army was put to shame. Your burgers are sh*te though.

OPINION – CURRENT STATE OF PLAY

I write this with an increasing certainty that we will once again be relegated this season. Anybody who thinks that we will win 5 of the remaining games is, I fear, living in cloud cuckoo land.

The league table does not lie and I am getting tired of people saying that we are not one of the three worst teams in the division. We are because we are in the bottom three – end of story as far as I am concerned.

Alright, we have had some hard luck in the past couple of games with the disallowed goals, but when you are only scoring one or at best two ‘goals’ a game then you are always going to be victim to this sort of dodgy refereeing decision. I am also sure that the other sides down there with us could point to similar refereeing injustices over the course of the season and I do honestly believe for sides at the bottom, things do even themselves out on this front over the course of the season.

I think there are a few key reasons why we will ultimately fail this season:

1. The manager simply does not appear to know his best side or formation.
   
   Throughout the season Royle has chopped and changed the side, not seemingcertain of who his best players are in particular positions. Just look at thefull back positions where Charvet, Edghill, Haaland, Granville, Tiatto, Ritchieand Dunne have all been tried at various times. Similarly in the heart of thedefence.
   
   He now appears to have settled on Granville, Howey, Dunne and Haaland as hisfirst choice back four – but now I hear that Charvet may be coming back atright back to push Haaland back into midfield (where incidentally I feel he hasbeen a very major disappointment – right back appears to be his best position).
   
   Midfield and attack have similarly chopped and changed.
   
   The formation has been altered on what seems to have been an ad-hoc basis frommatch to match and sometimes in the middle of matches. We have gone from 4-4-2to 3-5-2 to 5-3-2 to 4-5-1 – we should choose one formation and stick to it andlet the opponents worry about combatting us by tinkering with their formation.Find your strongest 11, see how best you can utilise their strengths and stickwith that formation.
2. Centre midfield – I have concentrated exclusively on the centre as I feelthat with Tiatto and Kanchelskis now in place we are quite good down theflanks. In the centre, however, it is an entirely different story.
   
   Statement of fact – Whitley and Wiekens are barely good enough to form apartnership in the centre for a Nationwide Division 1 mid-table side, let alone aPremiership one. Stick with them in the middle and we will go down – end ofstory. The lack of creativity in that pair is staggering – in the most recentgame against Tottenham they hardly put a forward pass in all game.
   
   We have got to buy a quality central midfielder. I would try for (thoughadmittedly we may not get him) Lee Clark from Fulham. The problem now is thatthe only decent central midfielders we are likely to get are in the promotion /play-off places in Division 1 and are unlikely to gamble on coming to City wholook as if they are going the other way to their present club.
   
   So unless we go abroad then we are going to struggle to get anyone with anyquality.
   
   Tony Grant looks good in patches but does not impose himself on the gamesufficiently to justify a starting place. Unless a gem can be found abroad weare really going to struggle.
   
   And if I hear that we are interested in one more ‘defensive’ midfielder, I willscream!
3. Attack – We have not scored anywhere near enough goals this season – nor dowe look likely to. One of the main problems is the lack of shooting abilityfrom the midfield who, barring Horlock, rarely score.
   
   Up front, whoever has played has struggled due to the lack of penetration fromthe central midfield as discussed above. But it looks as if Royle is going tostick largely with Huckerby (who has never been an out and out goalscorer) andShaun Goater. Goater has done tremendously for us but there is no room infootball for sentimentality – he is not a Premiership player and alas neverwill be.
   
   Wanchope is lazy and arrogant at times but give me him over Goater for the restof the season – if he keeps us up we can at least kick him out of the door witha thank you. I would play him once fit and if I was Royle send him out with thewords ‘Make me look an idiot and prove me wrong’.
   
   And for all those who are waiting for the return of Dickov, don’t forget thatafter a bright early season start he was back to his old moaning, diving worstjust before his injury.
   
   All in all I paint a fairly bleak picture but I feel it is a realistic one. Ifthere is one single point above all others I would say it was the centralmidfield which is extremely weak – this puts pressure on both defence andattack.

And can somebody please tell me when we lost won a game in the top division when we went a goal down?!

Here’s hoping that I am wrong but I can see no way out of this one.

Forever Blue – and I will still be there at Anfield thinking that it may be our day!

OPINION – ONE BRIAN HORTON

A brief response to James Walsh. Agree with much of what you say, but feel compelled to say a word or two in defence of Brian Horton. Clearly he’s not exactly pulled up any trees since leaving Maine Road. At the same time however, during his relatively short tenure in the hot seat (though perhaps not so short for a City manager) going to Maine Road was an absolute pleasure and entertaining, attacking football was the normal fare, even in the midst of a relagation battle. What a contrast with the present day dross served up to us by Mr Royle’s charges. I particularly remember the 4-day Easter period one season when we’d virtually given up hope of staying up, and were due to face Liverpool at home and then Blackburn away, with Blackburn chasing hard for the title. I think most City fans assumed we’d lose both but at least expected to see us have a go, to try and play a little football and to score a couple whilst getting hammered 5-2.

Those two matches constitute for me the pinnacle of City in the top flight during the 90’s. Rather sad I know, but nevertheless true. Anyone else got anything better to offer? First there was the victory over Liverpool, showing great character to come back from 1-0 down to win 2-1 with a memorable headed winner by that notorious German/Italian boss of a car fencing ring, Maurizio Gaudino. It was a gloriously sunny Saturday afternoon in April and was one of those Maine Road days when there was quite literally nowhere else in the world that you’d rather be. And then, live on Sky on the Monday evening we faced table topping Blackburn in what turned out to be an absolute epic. The darting twisting runs of the little genius, the powerful thrusts of Der Bomber, the superbly whipped in crosses of tricky Nicky, the height, strength and deftness of touch of the Big Irishman, the feints inside and out of the Artful Dodger. Flitcroft and Lomas, for whom Piccadilly Radio’s Brian Clarke didn’t have any particular nickname as I recall, controlled the midfield brilliantly and we ran out 3-2 winners, also hitting the woodwork on at least a couple of occasions. And again, if I remember rightly, all of this was after going a goal down. Not sure if all of the above actually played that night, but they were all part of what could be a brilliantly entertaining team to watch. I watched the match on telly with a couple of mates, also City fans, and we might as well have won a Cup Final that evening such was the feeling of absolute pride in our side and joy at the performance that they served up for us. It wasn’t merely the result, though clearly at the time that was vital, it was the way we went about securing it. The team was full of creative attacking talent and went for the jugular. It was death or glory, no half measures, and I’ve no doubt we’d have been almost as proud in defeat, simply because we all love to support a team that’s prepared to have a go and actually has players who are capable of doing it.

And I ask myself now why I don’t feel as though I care as much this season what happens to us as I did then. Clearly when the inevitable happens and we go down I’ll be gutted. But not half as as gutted as I would have been under Horton. And the reason is because that team had players with ability, who wanted to express themselves, and a manager who fully encouraged them to do so. That team had something to offer to the Premiership and the fans and played with a cavalier spirit that I for one believed in. I actually believed that we deserved to be in the top flight, unlike the current side. And the manager was an open, honest guy, who as far as I recall never fell out with his players, and didn’t regurgitate the same old tired excuses week in week out about referees and bad luck. I’m sure a lot of people will be saying that there are plenty of other sides down there with us this year who are little better than us. And purely based on results that’s certainly true. But having watched Coventry get mugged by us in the Cup this year, I’d be far happier to support a team who play the way they did that day despite the precarious nature of their position, than watch our lot, with the “pump it up” long ball philosophy, and the practice of any throw within the opposition’s half calling for a 2-minute halt in proceedings, and the loss of all momentum, whilst Haaland trundles over and launches the ball into the stratosphere. It was always going to be a tough season I know, but frankly the more I see of Joe Royle’s City at this level, the more I think to myself that it’s not my City.

Went on for far longer than intended, and perhaps some of the above was a little rose tinted, but what I do know is that if it was Brian Horton’s side playing at Anfield on Sunday I’d be going and I’d be buzzing at the thought, because there was always the chance that that team would pull out a brilliant and dramatic win when you least expected it, simply because of the way they approached their football. As it is I’ll settle for the couch. Of course though I hope that the flying Russian is on fire and that I live to deeply regret my decision. But somehow I can’t see it.

OPINION – DIVISION 1 HERE WE COME

I have to say I agree pretty much with what Simon Taylor said in MCIVTA 684.

I couldn’t believe our luck when we got promoted and was looking forward to finally being able to watch MotD and see the Premiership sides come to Maine Road.

Maybe it’s because we’ve lost so many games, but so far the season’s been one big snore. The only games that stick in my mind are the Sunderland and Everton home matches. The rest have been a hotch-potch of boring crap (Leicester, anyone?) with opposing sides being not much better than us but getting a point (usually all 3).

The atmosphere has been boring and it just hasn’t been as much fun. The Premiership takes itself far too seriously. I think Division 1 is far more interesting and open – just as well, really, seeing as though we’ll probably be back next season. It also seems to be much more competitive; the Premiership just chugs along with the scum winning the league every year and one or two teams making a half-hearted attempt to overtake them (Ar*e, Liverpool, usually too little too late). Then there’s the scramble for the European places, the mid-table also-rans, followed by the annual let’s see who doesn’t get relegated (you know who you are, Coventry, Everton, Boro, Soton etc.).

I realise I’m probably going to get slagged off for writing this and no, I don’t want us to get relegated. I’m just saying the Premiership seems pretty stagnant and far too pompous and tossers like Hansen, Lawrensen and Lineker get paid to spout utter bollo*ks about how fantastic Stretford Rovers are and to make patronising comments about the newly promoted sides. I think that they should look at the lower divisions, particularly Division 1, and give that a bit more coverage – especially when they lose MotD in a few years’ time. Division 1 teams certainly merit more of a mention apart from the crumbs they get when they’re playing a Premiership side in a cup game.

Whatever division we’re in next season, I’ll still be renewing my season ticket. I just hope next year will be more fun and we can have a bit of a laugh instead of taking everything so seriously.

OPINION – GARETH TAYLOR

This is a heartfelt plea to Joe Royle and everybody else at the club. It may be shocking, it may seem absurd, but it is my theory and I’m going to run with it. So Joe, and anybody else who cares to listen – do not let Gareth Taylor leave this club! I am possibly alone in being delighted that Gareth has forced his way into the squad for this Sunday’s game and will be chuffed to bits to see him on the pitch. The reason is that I simply believe that Gareth Taylor is our lucky charm. Think about it. There we were languishing in the bottom half of the 2nd Division, looking for all the world that not only would we not be getting promoted, we might even face another relegation battle, when along came Gareth. Ever since then, Gareth’s presence has meant a steady up and up for the Blues, right through to the Premiership. I need not mention that at Wembley it was only when Gareth arrived that we finally scored the goals to take us up (but I will). What more evidence do you need? Well, what’s happened this year. Gareth was told he had no future at the club. And look, there we in the bottom three. A demoralised Taylor has refused to cast his spells and we’re struggling. So finally, Joe has realised what was causing our success. Having tried everything else he has finally turned to the one person who can keep us up. Our lucky charm, our talisman, our mascot, Gareth Taylor. Do not look this gift horse in the mouth Mr Royle, give Gareth his run in the side and a new contract, and then our fortune will return to the positive. My only hope that it is not too late.

P.S. Won’t be at the game at the weekend. In hospital having tongue removed from cheek.

OPINION – QUALITY

Re Simon Taylor’s article about what he won’t miss if our mighty Blues do get relegated. I agree deep down but must add that the quality of so called Premier officials has been on the whole p**s poor. This is equally so for visiting teams as well as home sides. We were sold a vision of untold riches and a place among the elite.

Well you can keep the lot if it means being ripped off by clubs charging extortionate prices because they can cash in on the loyalty of the Blue Mooners and a year out won’t be the end of the world as we will bounce back, stronger (not bigger ’cause we can’t get any bigger until we move ground), more wordly wise and experienced. It is not the ideal scenario I know but long term it doesn’t appear to have done Sunderland or Charlton any harm.

It’s not over yet and we might get something at Anfield tomorrow – as Joe Mercer once said ‘When the chips are down – City are great’.

OPINION – WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE

As a lifelong Blue, like many of you, I watched today’s game in many minds – never mind the usual two. Yes, I would like to have gone through to the FA Cup quarter finals, but then again 3 points in the league would be of far more use. But then, are we really good enough to stay up? Is it the lesser of two evils if we do eventually crawl to safety, no doubt on the last day against a revitalised Chelsea? Or do we attempt a Sunderland or a Charlton by bouncing back after a season in the mire? Unfortunately for us it would be back in the mire!

For what it’s worth I hope to God that we stay up. The thought of another 46 game season with virtually nil press and TV coverage save for ‘Nationwide League Extra’ highlights in the middle of a Tuesday night is sickening and depressing to say the least. But will we? and what has today’s game shown us?

Liverpool, fresh (?) from their result in Rome, have a bench-full of subs to die for! We have upwards of 10 so-called first teamers injured or suspended. Poor old Nicky Weaver is judged to have caught Smicer’s ankle inside 10 minutes and we’re one down at Anfield. A wonderful one touch through ball from Litmanen (didn’t we also once have a former Barcelona player?! – albeit on loan having also been a former Southampton star too!) to Mr Heskey’s right leg who, having turned and beaten Spencer Prior for pace, left us 2-0 and wary of Liverpool fulfilling my tongue in cheek 8-1 prediction.

Then Kanchelskis does an Ian Bishop (Leeds in the Cup last season) with a screamer from the right hand edge of the Kop penalty area, and it’s 2-1 and we’re back in it? Not a chance.

Whilst we played some neat possession football from that moment onwards, most of it was in our own half. No incisive one-touch passing from us; no visionary movement or support play; no real class – anywhere. Tony Grant made a huge impression – on me, that confirmed he is not the creative midfielder that Joe thinks he is. God love him, he scraped in and out of Everton’s first team without setting anything on fire, so why did we buy him?

Nicky Weaver has still got enormous potential and could easily become world class – but he needs some help and Haaland’s website comments do not help matters. As for Alfinge, whilst he is solid and at times workmanlike – he does not, and will never have, potential approaching that of a world class player.

It was a pity that Steve Howey’s toe wasn’t up to it as he has, of late, been showing positive signs. Richard Dunne continues to improve and looked a little more confident on the ball, but isn’t he still overweight? God, I love Andy Morrison, like Paul Dickov, somebody who I would never criticise after what they have done for us recently – but surely these players know the level of their own ability?

Richard Edghill was interviewed at the start of the season and impressed me with his honesty when he commented that he didn’t yet know if he would be up to the demands of the Premiership in terms of ability. Confidence has, I feel, got a big part to play there.

Gerard Wiekens’ game and ability level was encapsulated in the split second before Litmanen played that through ball to Heskey – either constantly caught in possession or unable to distribute effectively.

Danny Granville is yet another of our nearly men – if Chelsea and Leeds couldn’t uncover that jewel why did we think that we could? He always looks vulnerable against anybody half-decent and also suffers with poor confidence, particularly going forward.

At least we have the ever combative Danny Tiatto – devoted, conscientious, enthusiastic, full of running workhorse – whose one big let down is the number of suspensions he picks up.

Up front we had the dual wingers of Huckerby and Kanchelskis. Two ‘luxury’ items who I couldn’t play in the same side unless we had a midfield and a proven lone goal scorer – which we haven’t. Kanchelskis tried hard but never had the beating of Carragher. Huckerby too, gave glimpses of his potential, but it was Tiatto who set up the second City goal with a fine run down the left to pull back for Shaun to side foot into the roof of the net. As with many before him (Morrison and Dickov above) and still in the squad, I can’t bring myself to criticise the Goat. He’s had his taste of the big time and I feel we’ve been left wanting – though Paulo is not the answer, just more unpredictable. So where does that leave us? Kennedy, Horlock, Whitley, Wright-Philips – will they ever provide us with a solid yet imaginative midfield? Look at West Ham with Cole and Carrick and the old (22/23?) Lampard? Where are our youngsters? Are we that lacking behind the first team squad?

I believe we have the finances to buy. Mr Bernstein and the backroom crew having done a remarkable job sorting out the mess. But who do we buy? Though perhaps more pertinently, who would come to us while we are languishing 4 points adrift of safety with 11 games to go? It is the close season that we have to wait for and where I hope that Mr Royle can put behind the errors of last summer. Spend money, big money by all means, but buy sensibly. Yes it’s easy for us to criticise from the sidelines but we all know where the squad’s weaknesses are. Last summer I would have gone for Ehiogu – which was attempted, and we got Howey – who has been successful in a poor side. I would also have gone for Nicky Butt and tested that urban myth about tattoos.

This summer will be a different story altogether, totally dependent on those 11 games. Eleven games to gain 17 points? However, we’re the 9th best supported club in the Premiership, joint top with Southampton if you consider proportion of capacity (100%) – so roll on Arsenal, Villa, Chelsea, Southampton and West Ham and let us see 15 points from those games to keep us in with a fighting chance and some decent transfer business next July. We can only live in hope.

REQUEST – BULGARIA CITY FAN

My name is Lubomir Karaivanov and I’m very big fan of Man City from the little country Bulgaria. I’m 16 year old boy who support your team for 4 years and I think you are great. I would very much like to correspond with fans of the team so I thought I should write you. And I have a request. Can you publish my e-mail address in a fanzine of the supporters for correrspondence with fans of the team. If you can do it for me I’ll be very happy and I want to thank you in advance.

My e-mail address is: lubomiryk@abv.bg

I want to wish your fantastic supporters’ club very much success in the future. I’m sure you will have more members in the future. Thank you for all in advance.

PROGRAMME AUCTION

Mark McIntyre, a Bradford Park Avenue supporter, is co-ordinating the next Bradford Park Avenue Programme Auction. For a full list of programmes (both League and non-League) email Mark at mark.mcintyre@bushinternet.com.

WHY BLUE

A pat on the back for Anthony Catterson.

I want to congratulate Anthony Catterson on his article, which appeared in last Friday’s issue entitled ‘Corporate Tosser’. Good points – well made – by a guy who unquestionably loves the club, which after all is what being a fan is all about (isn’t it?).

I have undoubtedly been made to feel inadequate about my Blue credentials by some City fans I meet now and again – or have it implied to me in the 3rd person through reading some of the articles in MCIVTA and other paper based City fanzines. It is based on the fact that (a) I was born outside of Manchester and have spent almost my entire life living outside of Manchester and (b) like Anthony Catterson I go to a certain amount of games through the grace of corporate invites. While I will patiently listen to any Blue on the issue that my current lack of season ticket is a problem to them when it comes classifying me as a ‘real’ Blue, I will not however, accept the fact that I don’t live within 3 miles of the ground as a credible reason why I should feel inferior to a Rusholme resident.

I was born and raised in Birmingham and grew up in the claret and blue side of that city. Both of my parents descend from Irish immigrants who were raised up in the deep south of Manchester – ‘Wythenshawe’ – who moved to Brum in the early 70s. My mother’s side of the family are Reds, my father’s side are Blue. At the age of five my father woke up in a panic having realised the present danger that his pride and joy could at any point be kidnapped by a Red uncle and taken down to the sty. With that in mind he bundled me in his car and we hit the M6 on route to my personal début at Maine Road (Derby County at home). It was the season when a certain Steve Daley arrived after we finished runners-up to Liverpool the year before. Heady days. Although I don’t remember anything we apparently got beat. An omen perhaps. Either way it was the start of what was, still is and always will be a true and deep-rooted love for City. Without any shame and embarrassment I will hand on heart tell anyone bored enough to listen (e.g. you) that Man City is unquestionably the most important thing in my life outside of my family/friends/work. The fact that I don’t live in Manchester is a complete irrelevance.

In the following years from my first game (in particular ages 7 to 14 – seasons 79/80 to 87/88) I can honestly say I hardly missed a home game. My father and I went up the M6 every other Saturday taking in Peel Hall (Wythenshawe – to see the Blue side of the family) then up to Moss Side to watch in awe as my father blagged a ticket for us both (most notably from Arty’s Barbers in Moss Side – anyone else remember him and his brother?) or from outside the main stand/players’ entrance). I say ticket (singular) as my father would then perform blag number two of the day as he pleaded with the bloke on the turnstile that he had “travelled up from Birmingham and been let down by the guy giving us our tickets at the last minute and could he let little me jump over the turnstile?” It was always my first time to Maine Road in his story and when he told them this I would, on cue, look up at the bloke (as instructed) with a face full of utter fear at the possibility that this man might deny me the right to see City. Job done.

Once inside (always the Main Stand) my strongest memories of my early days at Maine Road are more linked to people and the crowd rather than the actual football itself. Listening to grown man ‘F’ and blind about why were persisting with Kevin ‘fu*k**’ Reeves – or some man mountain berating Mick Channon. The crowd rising to its feet to clap the teams out to the to the sound of the ‘Boys in Blue’ – can we get that back at Maine Road please? Favourite player of that era – Peter Barnes. No question. Favourite game of that era – Beating Ipswich at Villa Park to go to Wembley – Paul Power in extra time. I went to the Cup Final that year and saw the 1-1 game. Worst game – getting beat away by Fulham 4 (or 5) – 0 in the cup – the same weekend that the boat sank in the Cambridge/Oxford Boat Race.

At the age of 14 my parents got divorced and after a turbulent few months it all resulted in my father moving abroad (NB city were relegated the year before and were currently looking for promotion out of the old Division 2). This chain of events meant that my attendance rate at Maine Road suffered horribly for a number of years. When my father returned for the odd weekend or if I saved enough money to go up on the train on my own (meet up with my cousins) then I would go see City. But my mother did not go back to Manchester regularly and my paper round could not fund a 160-mile round trip to Moss Side. Being in Birmingham made it easy to see the odd away game. West Brom, Villa, Walsall (anyone remember Dibble going off and Gleghorn going in goal and it being an absolute classic 3-3?) and Birmingham City (how moody is St Andrews? – probably the most dangerous away ground in England – any thoughts?).

I like to think though that when it mattered I was still there. The draw with Palace at home in the promotion season when we both went up. The 5-1 win against Charlton to go up. The 5-1 win over the Scum at home (a game a bit like Newcastle away for my father’s generation when everyone says they were there – I actually was), being in the away end when Brightwell got the equaliser that same season to get a draw at the Sty. All great memories. The 10-1 vs. Huddersfield I missed.

Then I ventured south at the age of 18 to go to that Mecca of academic excellence – Kingston Polytechnic. Due to work I have subsequently lived in either the south east of England or abroad ever since and like Anthony Catterson I make no apologies for it.

I do go to Maine Road. I go regularly. I do go away as well. Albeit less regularly (4 away games this season). My point is – am I a lesser fan than someone from Manchester? I don’t think so. If I have supported City all my life and regularly go (albeit not a season ticket holder this year) why should I get abuse (as I did at Reading away in Division 2 a couple of years back) for being a so-called ‘southern Blue’? As AC said in his article, City fans come from all over. I currently live in Berkshire. I know at least 5 other City fans in Windsor alone (all with genuine Manchester connections). It is a fact of life that Blues are going to have to accept if you support a big club like City. People have moved down south in huge numbers over the last 15/20 years that the growing ranks of ‘southern Blues’ is a trend that is unstoppable.

My kids will support City. Their kids will support City. My nephew who lives in Barcelona supports City. What is wrong with that? I know one of the few things that City fans can throw at Red scum is the fact that over half their support comes from outside Manchester – hence the ‘you’re the pride of Singapore’ song. But should this then mean that any City fans outside of Manchester should be swept under the carpet – so we city cannot be tarred with the same brush?

Well done Anthony – you wrote a piece that I had been meaning to write for a number of weeks. This is a time when Joe and the boys need all their support they can get – wherever you’re from.

As for the staying up/going down debate – my thoughts are last game vs. Chelsea City will win to stay up (probably on goal difference). Either way – it will go down to the wire that for sure. Stay up or go down I say keep Joe for consistency and also because I really can’t think of anyone better who would realistically come to us. Something changed at Wembley for us when we beat Gillingham. It was the day that we got the rub of the green for once. I reckon we’ll pull it off – Keep the Faith.

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