Newsletter #817

With the start of the World Cup, attention has shifted from the domestic scene and there’s been little to report about City. However, the deal to sign the young Argentinean striker Matias Vuoso has finally been completed and the one City player in World Cup action so far, Niclas Jensen, made a telling contribution in his side’s victorious opening to their campaign.

With Don on his hols this week, I’ve cobbled together a news summary and we’ve also got some information about the pre-season fixtures, news of a former goalie, some humour and a nice Why Blue.

Articles for Thursday’s edition to me (Paul Howarth) at the usual address (editor@mcivta.city-fan.org) please.

Next game: to be announced

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NEWS SUMMARY

World Cup News

Niclas Jensen is the only one of City’s World Cup stars to have seen any action so far. The left back replaced Jan Heintze on 57 minutes with the score at 1-1 in Denmark’s game against Uruguay. Jensen made the tackle that led to the Danes’ 82nd-minute winning goal in their eventual 2-1 victory, both Danish goals coming from former Newcastle man Jon Dahl Tomasson.

Richard Dunne and Lucien Mettomo were both unused substitutes as Ireland and Cameroon drew 1-1 in their World Cup group E game. Cameroon took a first half lead with a strike from Sunderland’s Patrick Mboma, only for possible City target Matt Holland to equalise for the Irish in the second half. Dunne is a doubt for the Republic’s next game against Germany on Wednesday after injuring an ankle in a collision with Millwall’s Steven Reid in training. The injury is not thought to be serious but Dunne had to sit out the rest of the session and is now doubtful for Wednesday’s game. Ireland physio Mick Byrne will monitor the player’s progress over the next 24 hours and a decision on his fitness will be taken on Tuesday.

Sun Jihai and Paulo Wanchope are likely to play and be in direct opposition as Costa Rica take on China on Tuesday morning (UK time).

Vuoso Signs

City have signed Independiente striker Vicente Matias Vuoso for around £3,500,000 on a four-year contract. Vuoso, his agent Carlos Morete and three Independiente representatives returned to Spain yesterday after successful negotiations, which started last Monday. The 20-year-old Vuoso said: “I am thankful to the club (Independiente) and the fans. Some day I will return.” Kevin Keegan clinched the deal after returning from holiday, and will now concentrate on finalising the deal for Paris Saint-Germain’s Nicolas Anelka, which appears to be in limbo over the payment terms. The clubs are believed to have agreed a fee of £13 million and the player’s terms have been settled but City are thought to want to make a player(s)-plus-cash arrangement (Alain Toure and Lucien Mettomo both having been touted as possible makeweights, though City have denied that Mettomo was ever part of the deal), whilst the hard-up French side are reported to want a straight cash transfer. City’s preference for a player-plus-cash deal is said to be because a straight cash payment wouldn’t leave enough money to finance the one more big signing that Kevin Keegan hopes to make during the close season.

Transfer Speculation

There’s been a whole host of names linked with moves to or from City over the weekend, some very predictable (e.g. Goater to Wolves) and new ones that haven’t surfaced before…

First the old ones. With the signing of Vuoso and the likely arrival soon of Anelka, Shaun Goater’s place in the squad is thought to be in serious danger. This is despite Kevin Keegan having said previously that he wanted six strikers in his Premiership squad. If we assume that Anelka will arrive, that gives us Anelka, Wanchope, Macken, Huckerby, Vuoso and Goater as the six. Chris Killen could possibly be added to the list but it’s by no means certain that Goater will be shown the door. Topping the list of clubs looking to sign the Goat is of course Wolves, who were reported to have made a bid for him this time last season (and might be joining City in the Premiership if they had succeeded). City would probably be looking for a seven- figure sum for their top scorer and Dave Jones is likely to have to sell before he could buy. The other club linked with Goater recently is Preston North End.

The Sunday tabloids have resurrected the idea that City are interested in signing Leeds winger Jason Wilcox. The out-of-favour Leeds winger was linked with City many times during last season and is said to be available for a fee of around £1.5 million. Sunderland are also said to be interested in the former Blackburn and England man (he won three caps whilst Kevin Keegan was England manager) but it’s thought he’d prefer a move nearer to his native north west. Wilcox still lives in Worsley in fact. The signing of Wilcox could allow Danny Tiatto to be sold, the extra cash resulting from the deal being used to help finance the arrival of Nicolas Anelka and a top notch defensive midfielder. The midfielder in question would most likely be Lyon’s Cameroon international Marc-Vivien Foe. The 27-year- old former West Ham man has confirmed that he has been contacted by Middlesbrough about next season but his agent Willie McKay (also Anelka’s agent) has said that the player is likely to sign for City: “Marc told me Steve McClaren asked if he would like to go to Boro, but I expect him to go to Manchester City. A deal is nearly done and should be completed after the World Cup. Marc is keen on a return to England and he wants to join Kevin Keegan.”

Now for the new, and more fanciful speculation: newspaper reports have suggested the City are looking at Brazilian midfielder Juninho, who is said to be keen on a return to the Premiership. The 29-year-old was one of the best players in Brazil’s 2-1 win over Turkey today, despite having spent the whole of last season on loan from Atletico Madrid to Flamengo.

Another World Cup name linked with the Blues is the young USA midfielder DaMarcus Beasley, who is also supposed to be on the shopping lists of Sunderland and Perugia. MLS and Beasley’s club, Chicago Fire, rate the 20 year-old in the £2.5 million class.

Nearer to home, Brentford defender Michael Dobson has been linked with a move to Maine Road, most likely as a direct replacement for Lucien Mettomo if he returns to France as part of the Nicolas Anelka transfer.

Preston North End chairman Derek Shaw has dismissed reports linking his club with a move for City defender Paul Ritchie as “speculation”. Preston boss Craig Brown was reported to be eyeing a move for Ritchie as a replacement for Ryan Kidd, recently forced into retirement by injury. Shaw said: “Craig may have asked about him, but then he has probably asked about a lot of players since he was appointed. But I can assure you that it is not a name that has been put to the board. So until we hear otherwise, I have got to say it is all speculation.” Ritchie won nine international caps during Brown’s reign as Scotland boss and is keen to find first-team football after falling down the pecking order at Maine Road. The 26-year-old joined City two years ago in a £500,000 switch from Rangers but a string of niggling injuries have limited his chances at the club and he failed to make any first-team starts under Kevin Keegan last season.

Other News and Reactions

Restrictions on the number of non-EU players in a side have been lifted by the Premiership. Under the previous rules, only three non-European Union players were allowed to play in Premiership matches in the same side. However, that limit has now been dropped after the decision was reached at the Premier League’s annual meeting in Leicestershire. Given the number of foreign players in the City squad these days, this may give Kevin Keegan more options on match days, though most of the City squad hold EU passports, including new signing Matias Vuoso.

Jonathan Macken believes that City could not have attracted a player like Nicolas Anelka when they were last in the Premiership. Macken was a £5m club-record buy for manager Kevin Keegan in March but that record is set to be smashed if City can finally complete the £13m signing of Anelka. Macken claims it is a measure of how far Keegan has taken the club that City can now attract such world-class talent. He told the official website: “It says a lot about the club that we are able to get a player of Nicolas’ ability in, and also that the big names are aware of who Manchester City are. A couple of years ago that might not have been the case but with the gaffer in charge and a new stadium to move to in 12 months’ time, things could not be better. A lot of the players who have come here know what it’s like to play in Europe and those that haven’t want to sample that for themselves. I for one can’t wait for next season to start.”

Bolton manager Sam Allardyce has been passing on some words of advice for last season’s promoted sides. Allardyce steered Bolton to Premiership safety last season and says that a good start is crucial when it comes to points in the bag come the end of the season. “There’s a trend for clubs coming into the Premiership that your early results are your best results of the season, so a good start is vital. Whether teams have stayed up or have been relegated, they have always got more points from the first 10 games than any other similar section of the season.” Bolton were early leaders of the Premiership last season and recorded a memorable victory at Old Trafford during that spell, so Allardyce speaks from experience. He also believes that big-money signings don’t necessarily prepare a club for life in the top flight: “It doesn’t matter if you have got millions to spend like Fulham and Blackburn had last season, it is hard for everybody who is promoted – they still had to battle.”

Paul Howarth (paul@city-fan.org)

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CITY OF MANCHESTER STADIUM

From the MEN: (not sure of date)

Security Alert at Games Site

Security at the Commonwealth Games stadium is to be stepped up after the Manchester Evening News discovered intruders are getting into drains under the multi-million pound complex. Despite guards on site round the clock, people, possibly children, have been able to penetrate the perimeter of the £110m stadium in east Manchester and climb into the under-site drainage system.

An investigation has now been launched to establish how access was gained to the Sportcity site and how the intruders were able to get into a large culvert by climbing through a manhole.

The culvert, which is big enough for an adult to walk through, runs under the complex between the River Medlock and the Ashton Canal and is designed to drain water from the stadium.

The security breach raises fears that terrorists could also gain access to the site which will be packed with VIPs, including the Queen, for the opening ceremony on July 25.

From Manchester Online: 27/5/02

Rain Swamps Games Stadium

Manchester’s showpiece Commonwealth Games Stadium was swamped as freak thunderstorms wreaked havoc across the region.

Two inches of rain fell on Manchester in just 12 hours, flooding several lanes of the track and severely disrupting an athletics meeting.

The drainage system at the £110m venue just couldn’t cope with the torrential rain. The stadium’s generator was then knocked out by lightning.

There was also considerable flooding on the warm-up track, eventual home for Sale Harriers.

On Monday, 2002 bosses played down the problem and said the freak weather conditions – which hit many roads – were exceptional. Malcolm Rogers, competition director for the Games, insisted the main stadium performed as well as could be expected.

“The track is designed to drain towards the middle and under normal conditions would drain in 20 minutes,” he said. “But these weren’t normal conditions. There was no let up in the rain. As far as I’m concerned, the track performed superbly and we had a tremendous weekend.”

Perhaps they’ve been blocking up the drains for security purposes?

Peter Kewley (peterdk@email.com)

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DENMARK TOUR INFO

Is anyone going to Aarhus, Denmark for the pre-season game on the 24th of July? If so I have an e-mail address that could be useful for purchasing tickets for the game at Aarhus stadium.

The Danish Blues have pre-booked 972 tickets and that is far too many for us. We only have about 80 members in the Danish Branch.

Feel free to e-mail me at the address below if you are interested.

CTID, Morten (morten72@cityfan.dk, http://Trueblue.homepage.dk/)

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HAMBURG SV SUPPORTERS’ FRIENDLY

I have just received the following information for people from Hamburg SV Supporters’ Club. If anybody is interested in taking part in the fan-friendly football game(s) please contact me directly and I will forward their details on.

Hello from Hamburg,

Due to several enquiries from different fanzines and homepages, here is an article about the city of Hamburg, Hamburg SV and its history. Please feel free to use the article on the Internet, in your fanzine or take information out of it. If you have any more questions just let me know.

The game will most probably be at 5 or 6 pm as this will be the start of the season party for the fans and a lot of things will take place in the ground before the kick off. Bands will play, a kiddies’ fun park will be there and so on. The best thing for you is that the admission prices will be only €5 for terracing (you remember…) and €10 for all seats. The away end is on the south/west corner (south/west entrance). There will be tickets on the day but a number of tickets will be sent to Manchester City shortly.

The Hamburg SV supporters’ club is very much interested in playing a supporters’ football friendly in the morning (11 a side if possible). Please let us know if you are interested.

Thanking you in advance

Dirk Mansen, Hamburg SV Supporters’ Club

Heidi Pickup (heidi@mcivta.freeserve.co.uk)

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ANOTHER SENSE OF HUMOUR FAILURE?

I saw an advert in yesterday’s Guardian by a company called Blue Square wanting people to bet on World Cup. They used a picture of Kevin Keegan and the slogan “Losers Required”, obviously referring to his stint at Lancaster Gate. I’m outraged by this but have thought of a way of making them pay, literally. They have a freephone number, 0800 587 0400, which means they pay for all incoming calls at the various rates i.e. national peak time rates etc. so if we can get as many Man City fans to phone the number and make a complaint, the telephone bill to Blue Square will be extremely large and it will cost us nothing; even if you just get into their call queuing system a telephone bill is being racked up. I’m sure the advertising agency will be based in London somewhere and a bunch of no doubt United fans thought it would be extremely funny. Kevin Keegan deserves more respect than this bunch of idiots is giving him.

Jimmy Williams (james.williams@option-one.cz)

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DANISH BLUE SEEKING ROOM IN MANCHESTER

I am a Danish Blue who’s never had the opportunity of going to Manchester – until now that is.

I’ll be done with upper secondary school this summer and will be moving to Manchester September 1st. I’ve already started job searching but I need a place to stay.

If anyone knows of an affordable room/flat in the Manchester area available for rent from September 1st to about May 2003, please mail me at the address below.

CTID! Kasper Nymand, Denmark (mokouko48@yahoo.dk)

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW – JOHN BURRIDGE I

Just to note that john is currently living next door to me in Oman and he is currently the Oman coach. I am friends with his son Tom who was an ice hockey player for Britain.

Chris Pomeroy (chrispomeroy18@hotmail.com)

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW – JOHN BURRIDGE II

John Burridge and his wife Janet are good friends of mine. I have spent the last 3 weeks with John Burridge. He is currently living in a beautiful beach house, Muscat, Oman (Middle East) training goalies for the Oman football team. Now at 50 years old, he is still fit and strong as ever, taking on the world and still training with the team every day. He has been in Oman for 5 years now, and I don’t think he will be moving on for some time, as he loves it there.

Doreen Haggard (haggarddee1@aol.com)

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BLUE HUMOUR

Sir Alex Ferguson is on “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” and has reached the million pound question.

Chris Tarrant says “Right Sir Alex, this is for one million pounds, and remember, you still have two lifelines left, so please take your time.”

“Here’s your question: What type of animal lives in a set? Is it: a) a badger,
b) a ferret,
c) a mole, or
d) a cuckoo?“

Fergie ponders for a while and says, “No, I’m sorry Chris, I’m not too sure. I’ll have to go 50-50.”

Chris says “Right, Sir Alex, let’s take away two wrong answers and see what you’re left with.”

“Badger” and “cuckoo” are the two remaining answers. Fergie has a long think, then scratches his head and says “No, Chris, I’m still not sure, I’m going to have to phone a friend.”

“So who are you going to call, Sir Alex?” says Chris.
“Hmmm…” ponders Fergie. “I think I’ll call David Beckham.”

So Tarrant phones David Beckham. “David, this is Chris Tarrant from ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionnaire’. I’ve got Sir Alex Ferguson here, and with your help he could win one million pounds. The next voice you hear will be Sir Alex’s”.

“Hello David” says Fergie. “It’s the boss here. What type of animal lives in a set? Is it a badger or a cuckoo?”
“It’s a badger, boss” says Becks without hesitation.

“You sure, son?” says Fergie.

“Definitely, boss. One hundred percent. It’s a badger. Definitely.”

“Right, Chris,” says Fergie, “I’ll go with David. The answer’s a badger. Final answer.”

“Sir Alex,” says Chris, “that’s the correct answer. You’ve won one million pounds!” Cue wild celebrations.

Next morning at training, Fergie calls Beckham across. “Son, that was brilliant last night. I thought I might be taking a gamble giving you a call, but you played a blinder! But how the f*** did you know that a badger lives in a set?” says Fergie.

“Oh I didn’t, boss,” replies Beckham, “but everybody knows a cuckoo lives in a clock.”

Don Barrie (djb1305@yahoo.co.uk)

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WHY BLUE?

Being born and bred in Manchester, till work brought me to deepest Somerset, some 18 years ago, I always read with interest how people became a Blue. This is my “Why Blue”!

It all goes back to 1965 – I was 10 years old and sport mad! Football, cricket, rugby, athletics, swimming; you name it, I did it. None of my school chums supported any ‘local’ football teams. My dad and brother had no interest in football, in fact my dad’s great one- liner, which my uncle has always told me, was he was introduced to Stan Matthews at some Army function. My dad came out with the fantastic question: ‘What do you do for a living Stan’!

As my footballing skills were getting better, my uncle asked if I wanted to go to see a football game. I was over the moon to be asked. I did not know at the time that my uncle was a avid Man Utd supporter, season ticket, everything (in fact if my memory serves me right, he had a red car and painted the outside of his house red). He had arranged to take me on the Wednesday to the mighty Old Trafford. I was very keen on going to my very first professional game. It was so disappointing to find out that he could not get back from London in time to take me to the game but promised me that the next time he was available, he would make it up to me.

A few weeks went by and my uncle appeared on the doorstep with 2 tickets – in the main stand, best seats – for Maine Road. City won the game and my uncle said that they had a good player in Colin Bell. I was then hooked!

From this day on I was a Man City fan. I was lucky enough to be a supporter when City were champions etc. I remember when City won the game at St James’s Park to win the title. My TV at home had my scarf wrapped round the TV along with my infamous rattle, crying my eyes out at what my team had done. As I got older I became a season ticket holder in the Kippax and was lucky enough to see them at the League Cup Final at Wembley.

Since I have moved away from Manchester, I have always supported City – as we all have done – through thick and thin. Living in Somerset and when City were in the 2nd Division, I thought it would be easy to see them at say Swindon, Plymouth etc. No chance; with the fantastic away support City have, I had no opportunities to get tickets for any of the matches near to me.

I watch as many games on the TV – looking forward to seeing them on Sky next season.

I now have a teenage daughter who likes football – unfortunately she supports a team in red – thankfully not for the other side of Manchester – but from Merseyside – all due to a Mr Michael Owen! I have to get the old programmes out along with the scrapbooks to prove to her that City did win league, FA Cup and European trophies! I always tell her – ‘A team is for life – not just for Xmas!’

Just think; if my uncle had made it back from London, I could have become a Red! Thank goodness for road works!

Keep up the good work; I have forwarded your address to my friends in Australia and USA – a great way to keep up with all the City news wherever we may be.

Regards, Jim Murray (jim@murrayagencies.com)

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MCIVTA FAQ [v0203.02]

[0] How do I contact MCIVTA?

 Articles (Paul Howarth)        : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

 News/rumour (Don Barrie)       : djb1305@yahoo.co.uk

 Subscriptions (Geoff Donkin)   : subscriptions@mcivta.city-fan.org

 Technical problems (Paul)      : paul@city-fan.org

Comments concerning this FAQ should be sent to David Warburton using the address: mcivtafaq@warburton.org

[1] What are MCIVTA’s publishing deadlines?

Deadlines for issues are nominally Monday and Thursday evenings.

[2] MCIVTA Back Issues and Manchester City Supporters’ home page

http://www.uit.no/mancity/ is the unofficial Manchester City Supporters’ home page. Created in 1994, it is the longest running of the Manchester City related web sites. Back issues of MCIVTA are also hosted on the site.

[3] What is the club’s official web site?

The official club web site can be found at http://www.mcfc.co.uk/

[4] What supporters’ clubs are there?

Manchester City FC recognises three supporters’ clubs: The “Official Supporters Club” (http://www.mancity.net/osc/index.html); the “Centenary Supporters’ Association” (http://www.callnetuk.com/home/sef/) and “The International Supporters’ Club” (http://www.mcfc.co.uk/extra/fanzone/isc.asp)

[5] Where can I find out about the fans’ committee?

The Fans’ Committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. It has its own website, http://www.mcfc-fans.com/ containing info about forthcoming meetings as well as minutes from previous gatherings.

[6] Where can I find information about our new stadium?

The latest information regarding the progress of our new home can be found at http://www.commonwealthgames.com/

[7] What match day broadcasts are available on the web?

Live match commentaries and archives of games, reports and interviews can be found here: http://www.mcfc.co.uk/comment.asp. An alternate live commentary service, hosted by Yahoo, is located at: http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/foot/audio/live/schedule/index.html. GMR Saturday Sport is also available live online between 1-3pm, and 4.45-6pm at http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/sport/index.shtml

[8] Are City’s goals available on the net?

http://www.citygoals.com/ has available for download, usually within 24-48 hours of a game being played, all the goals from City’s matches.

[9] What’s the music the teams run out to?

The music we ran out to at Maine Road during the 01/02 season was “Nightmare” by Brainbug and is available on the Positiva label.

[10] Acknowledgements

Thanks go to John Arnold for providing the information regarding match day music and to Ian Bell for pointing out the alternate live match commentary service.

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DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in MCIVTA are entirely those of the subscribersand there is no intention to represent these opinions as being thoseof Manchester City Football Club, nor of any of the companies anduniversities by whom the subscribers are employed. It is not inany way whatsoever connected to the club or any other relatedorganisation and is simply a group of supporters using this mediumas a means of disseminating news and exchanging opinions.

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Paul Howarth, paul@city-fan.org

Editor: