Newsletter #826

In tonight’s news we get a glimpse of the much-vaunted new away strip (well, on some of the websites anyway), news of former Blues and our outspoken long-throw expert putting his foot in it.

There’s also ticket information (hold on now) for the pre-season friendly games, opinion on the new line-up and one of the more unusual requests we’ve had for a MCFC postmark.

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

Away Kit Preview: City have unveiled an “artist’s impression” on their website this week of the latest away kit. Gone is the grey and fluorescent yellow abomination, and it is place is, as suspected, a shirt which harks back to the era of Garry Owen, Brian Kidd and (dare I say it) Jimmy Conway. It is a white shirt with a red and black diagonal stripe across the front. The shirt is on sale from August 22, and the team will probably wear it competitively for the first time at Aston Villa on Wednesday, August 28.

The Killen Fields: Last week New Zealand, including City’s own Chris Killen, played a pair of friendlies against Scottish Premier League side Dunfermline. The Pars won the first game 1-0 in Killen’s hometown of Wellington, but the All Whites gained their revenge two days later with a 4-2 victory in Auckland. Our boy scored New Zealand’s second. Killen believes that his country are well prepared for the Oceania Nations Cup. The 20 year-old reckoned: “While club football is where I make my living, I love playing for my country and don’t hesitate when I’m asked. Luckily, I got through the last season relatively injury-free. From what I saw in China I think we have a team capable of winning the Nations Cup. Australia will be tough, but I think we can do the job.”

No Dodgy Deals: Kevin Keegan has rebutted the charges made by Newcastle United last week that City had made an illegal approach for Sylvain Distin. “Newcastle didn’t take up their option in the period they could have done, so we moved in,” said KK. “Like all the new signings he is hungry for success with Manchester City. Remember, he could have stayed at Newcastle and the chance of Champions’ League football there. Sylvain Distin very nearly came to City before he went to Newcastle. If we had been in the Premiership then he would have been here then. We couldn’t offer him that then, so the deal never happened,” concluded Keegan.

Fixture Change: Throw away last week’s amended fixture lists for next season – there’s been another change. City’s home match with Blackburn Rovers has been selected for pay-per-view showing by Sky TV, so will now kick off on Sunday September 15 at 2.00pm. The game had originally been scheduled for the previous day.

Transfer News and Gossip

Landers Landing Soon? The UK press seem to have heeded Kevin Keegan’s statement last week that there will be no further transfers before the season starts. Transfer rumours have consequently been thin on the ground. Idly leafing through my copy of “The Philadelphia Inquirer” this week, I came across an interesting background piece on the possible transfer of 16-year-old goalkeeper Jason Landers to the Blues. City have offered the ‘keeper a three year scholarship with the Academy, and the player sounds keen to accept, provided a work permit can be gained. Although Landers would have to miss the last two years of his college education, he is convinced that a move to City is ideal for his career. “My absolute first decision in life is to be a soccer player. Being a pro soccer player is really what I want to do,” Landers said. “This seems like the right move for me.” City had wanted the youth player to play in the Milk Cup tournament in Northern Ireland in late July, but the family declined this offer. City came back with the offer of a three-year scholarship, living arrangements with a host family for three years, and a $120-per-week allowance for living expenses. Landers and his father visited England in May to check out City’s facilities. Landers said, “I came home and a few days after that I told City that I was interested and I wanted to pursue it,” he said. “That’s where we are, just waiting on word for the work visa. If I get the work visa, I’m going.”

No Ritchie Bid by Brown: Preston manager Craig Brown has denied that he is set to make a move for defender Paul Ritchie. Brown has also been linked with a move for Newcastle defender Stephen Caldwell, but denies any move for either player. Brown said: “I have not made any enquiries about Ritchie or Caldwell although I know them very well and rate them both as very competent players. But I can assure you I have not even mentioned their names within the club, never mind been on to the clubs they belong to.”

Mears Goes to Preston: Old Pa Broon certainly fooled the local media this week, as it was announced on Thursday that the former Scotland manager had signed City’s 19-year-old full back Tyrone Mears, and not Ritchie. The fee was said to be £200,000. Mears joins his former academy colleague Dickson Etuhu at Deepdale. The new Preston manager has said that he is trying to copy the French squad system of having twenty members of the first team squad, with youngsters around as back-up. Mears is expected to be cover for the experienced Graham Alexander. Mears made one appearance in the first team last season, coming on as a late substitute in the 3-0 Maine Road victory over Nottingham Forest at the end of March.

Odds and Sods: Middlesbrough have opened talks with Atletico Madrid over a possible deal for Brazilian midfielder Juninho. Atletico want £6.5 million for the player, with City and Fulham also showing an interest. Fulham are reported to be favourites for the signature of the former City target Matt Holland, although the player is away on holiday after his World Cup exploits, so a deal is unlikely in the short term. Arsenal are set to pip Roma to the signing of Holland international Edgar Davids, according to reports in Italy. Davids recently dismissed a move to City, as he didn’t want to leave Italy. How times change in six weeks. Paul Ince is on the lookout for a new club, having rejected a new contract with Middlesbrough. Ince was linked recently with the Blues, as the player wants to move nearer his North West home. Perhaps Incey should give his old mate Carlton Palmer a call at Stockport County? Thursday’s Daily Express reports that KK is about to make a £7 million bid for Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour. The Boss Man awarded Parlour his first England cap a couple of years back.

Ex-Blues’ News

Right Time to Move: Leon Mike reckons that leaving City was the best thing he could have done to further his career. Mike moved to Aberdeen last February, scored on his Dons début, scored a further three times in the season and can look forward to UEFA Cup football next season. “Things are going well for me now,” said Mike. “I scored on my début against Dundee United and played against Rangers at Ibrox but got a hamstring injury, then an ankle strain and that kept me out for a while. It was hard, because I was away from my family and friends and was trying to get used to being away from them. But I’m over all that now and I’m looking forward to getting a sustained run under my belt. We have got a fairly young side and there are a lot of good players around me. It’s always been one of my ambitions to play in Europe, and I’m lucky that I have that chance so early. I wanted to do it with City, but looking back I realise that I had to go. I wasn’t even getting a chance in the First Division, so what chance would I have had in the Premiership with those players in front of me? And I knew that when City got promotion that he would buy again, so in that respect it made my decision easier.”

City Old Boys FC: Rochdale have denied making a move for ex City captain Keith Curle. “I can honestly give you a 100% guarantee that Keith Curle isn’t coming to Spotland so I don’t know where that came from,” stated ‘Dale boss Paul Simpson. “Maybe it’s the old Man City link I don’t know, but I haven’t even spoken to him.” Another rumour circulating has Terry Cooke moving to Spotland. Cooke had been given a free transfer by KK, but had an impressive couple of months at Grimsby, helping the Mariners to escape relegation from Division One last season. It’s unclear where Cooke will be playing next season, as it was reported on Grimsby’s website that Town boss Paul Groves was about to offer Cooke a longer contract.

Jim’s Deal: Jim Whitley has been voted Player of the Year at his new club Wrexham, and was offered a two year deal after his excellent season at the Racecourse Ground. The former Blues defender, and brother of Jeff, has opted for only an extra season with the Welsh club. “I was offered a two-year deal, but I decided on one year, because if I do well again, then I can go back to Denis Smith next summer,” said Jim. “I hope some people don’t look on this as me being greedy, it’s just that at 27 years of age, I do have to look after myself and see what the best offer is.”

Striker to Stoke: Stoke City have signed former reserve striker Chris Greenacre from Mansfield Town on a Bosman free transfer. Greenacre was described by former football genius Alan Ball as being like “a mini Alan Shearer”. It looks like Greenacre has survived the curse of an AB tribute (“Buster Phillips will be the first £10 million player”, remember?), and will have a chance to play Division One football next season at the Britannia Stadium. The Halifax-born centre forward made nine League and Cup appearances for the Blues, scoring one goal, before moving to Mansfield where he bagged 49 goals in 121 league outings.

Reactions and Comments

Au Revoir, Anfield: Nicolas Anelka has a bit of a reputation for falling out with his former employers, so we shouldn’t be too surprised to read this week’s comments from our new star striker. ‘Le Sulk’ said: “It seems Gerard Houllier did not appreciate my personality. It bothers him to have someone around who could stand up to him. I did not price myself out of Liverpool. Everything was going fine with me and the team. I proved what I was capable of and I had no problems with the management. So it was down to the coach. I left PSG because I thought I could play better elsewhere. It was a tactical choice.” Anelka is very positive about his new challenge at Maine Road. “Manchester City is by no means a step backwards for me. It’s a great club and I’m happy to be there. I have adapted well to England and it suits me fine. It’s good to have a change of lifestyle and a less exciting life will allow me to fully concentrate on my form.” He is also philosophical over his absence from the 2002 World Cup. “It was a shame to miss out on the World Cup,” he said. “But I’m young, and I still have time for another one. I admit that I haven’t been entirely on my game of late, but in the end I wasn’t the only one.”

Flexible Tactics: A panel of experts (i.e. my dad and myself) has been discussing whether KK is toying with using a 3-4-3 formation for next season. The system was much in evidence in the World Cup, and a squad filled with six forwards might imply that three strikers would play most weeks. Boss Man Kev has been making some interesting comments this week on this subject, concerning the need for tactical flexibilty in the months ahead. “I think in the Premiership you have to be able to play different ways. You have to go away from home and employ different tactics sometimes depending on the opposition and the form you are in at the time. I have got so many strings to my bow now I can’t say that we will only play one way. I think last year I decided very early on after watching training that we couldn’t play 4-4-2. We can now if I want to do it. We don’t have to as the three centre backs worked very well for us. But the signing of Sylvain Distin in particular with his pace and strength gives me the opportunity to go with just one other centre back and play a different system if I want to. I didn’t feel I could do that last year in the First Division and that is no disrespect to the players I had. That was the way to get the best out of them. The great thing is that I have now got two players – at least – for every position. I have got everything I want at the moment with all sorts of combinations and systems available. I have the option to play two holding players in midfield or two or three forwards. I am excited by the prospect. I am committed to playing a certain type of football and that is why the Marc Vivien Foe signing is so important. You have to have someone in there who can marshal the troops. He is a similar player to Roy Keene.” Let’s hope this doesn’t mean that Foe will cripple opposing captains for sixteen months, or strop out of the squad if the training facilities aren’t good enough.

Macken Can’t Wait: Jon Macken might have felt a bit intimidated by the arrival at the club of two top international strikers, but not a bit of it. Commenting on the Anelka signing, Macken said “I think it is an absolutely tremendous signing and it really points to what the club are moving towards. It sends a serious message out to the other clubs that we won’t be hanging around when we kick-off against Leeds and that we are determined to go out and win things. I can’t wait to work with him on the training ground. I believe you should always be willing to learn and I have no doubt that I will be able to pick things up off Nicolas. He’s played at the highest level and won trophies. It says a lot about the club in the fact that we are able to get a player of Nicolas’ ability in and also that the big name players are aware of who Manchester City are.”

Stirring Words from the Boss Man: So Kevin Keegan, what are you doing? You’ve spent more money this summer than any previous City manager, and you’ve brought in the type of international talent that we could have only dreamed about twelve months ago. Explain yourself. “We are staking a claim to be one of the big clubs in this country, that is what we are doing. I look at the squad which is here now and I think that yes it could happen. If we get it right, if we work hard and if we have that little bit of luck which you need then we could be fighting for honours next year, both in the Premiership and in the Cup competitions.” I see. Do you have a message for the players? “My message to the players is to aim for the very top. The players who took us to promotion knew that we would bring in new people this summer. At least the players who now find themselves under pressure for their places realise they’re at a very ambitious club. We know it’s not going to be easy, but my aim is to finish in a Champions’ League position – and that means the top four. What I do know is that you won’t hear me talking about struggling in the Premiership – because we won’t. There’s no hiding place in the Premiership. To immediately go to Leeds and then play Newcastle means we’ll know pretty quickly how we’re going to do. The only slight doubt as to how teams are going to play concerns the new boys to the league – and people are going to have that with us.” Get me a Laser Blue shirt, Kev, I’ll join you in the push to the top!

Squad News

Edgy Still Available You have to wonder how well Richard Edghill’s search for a club is progressing, because there’s been many “I’m here and available” stories in the press this week. Edgy’s name has in recent weeks been linked with a number of clubs, including Wolves, Sunderland and Charlton, but as yet nothing has materialised for the Oldham-born full-back. “Of course there is some sadness attached to leaving, I think everyone knows what I feel about Manchester City,” stated Edgy. “It has been great that so many clubs have registered their interest in signing me because I know this will be one of the most difficult summers ever for players. There could be a lot of my colleagues who find themselves out of work because of the collapse of the ITV Digital deal and the fact that clubs will be cutting back. I feel I played reasonably well when given the chance last season and that I still have a lot to offer. At 27 I am just about reaching my peak. Obviously playing in the Premiership would be the ideal and if Charlton do pursue their interest then I would love to talk to them. But all the clubs mentioned to me have their attractions.”

What’s It All About, Alfie? On Tuesday it appeared that Alfie Haaland had injured himself again – this time by putting his foot in his mouth. The press on that day reported that our last Premiership skipper doubted the wisdom of signing Nicolas Anelka, and that it was a big gamble by the management. The Norwegian only managed four substitute appearances for KK last term, so these comments didn’t appear to be a good career move. Clearly Alfie thought so too, as twenty four hours later a swift clarification appeared. “What I really said was that if Anelka finds the form of his Arsenal career he will be a fantastic signing. But his performances have been varied since then so I am a bit unsure where he is at the moment,” he explained. “But I hope and think that he will be a big hit with us.” Haaland has endured a miserable time with injuries since Mr. Keane’s on-pitch assault last derby day, but this week he sounded upbeat about his chances of making the squad for the start of the season. “I have been in England for large parts of the summer and I am hoping to be in good shape when the pre-season training starts, although I still don’t know how the body will react. Keegan gave the team the enthusiasm back after we had been relegated and I think that we will have a good season,” he concluded.

New Skipper Poser: With the retirement of Stuart Pearce, there is a vacancy for the captain’s armband. The media have been speculating that Peter Schmeichel will be the man to lead the team out, but Super Super Kev clearly hasn’t decided yet. “To be honest I haven’t really thought about a captain yet but there are one or two obvious candidates. I think I have plenty of captains in terms of leaders. It was very easy last year because Stuart (Pearce) came in, but we have a lot of character around the place now. I can think of five or six contenders off the top of my head. It is something I will think about before pre-season. If you take Peter Schmeichel, who has maybe taken over the mantle of Stuart, out of the equation and also Ali Benarbia, then we are quite a young squad. For the next three or four years we are only going to get better as long as we can get them playing right, but that doesn’t mean we have not got experience and leadership at the club,” said the Boss Man.

Headline of the Week:
“ITALIANS LIKE THE LOOK OF FERGIE’S BUTT” – Football 365, 4 July.

‘FRIENDLY’ TICKET INFO

Preston North End. Tues 30th July, kick-off 7.45 pm

£10 adults
£5 concessions (u16/o65)
Via window and postal applications from 8th July 2002.

Bury. Wed 31st July, kick-off 7.45pm

£10 adults
£5 concessions (u16/065)
Tickets by phone from Bury on 0161 764 4881/ 0161 705 2144

Hamburg. Sat 3rd Aug, kick-off 6pm

Season ticket holders only, priced at £6.50.
Applications from season ticket holders only via post upto and including Fri 5th July. On sale at windows from Mon 8th July. Card holders may apply from Mon 15th July via post/windows. No telephone sales for this game.

Rochdale. Mon 5th Aug, kick-off 7.45pm

No advance ticket sale, payment by cash at turnstiles.

Tranmere Rovers, Tues 6th Aug, kick-off 7.45pm

£12 adults
£5 concessions (u16/o65)
Window and postal applications from Mon 8th July

OPINION: NEW LINE-UP

In MCIVTA 825 Glyn Albuquerque makes a number of good points. His starting team is virtually the same as mine would be apart from Foe in for one of Jensen or Tiatto. However, he has concerns about the fringe players.

The strikers he mentions (Macken and Vuoso) are both young enough to know that their chance will come and they can learn from Anelka (I still chuckle to myself when I think we’ve actually got Anelka). The others, namely Negouai and Weaver are I’m afraid surplus to requirements. I can’t see CN cutting it and anyone who has watched the end of season video will know that a high percentage of the goals we conceded were down to Weaver’s bad decision making. Generally he either stays glued to his line or flies to the edge of the area. I think that Wiekens, Goater and even Tiatto might be sold, though it might be wise to keep one of Ritchie or Tiatto as left sided cover. In defence I can also see Haaland and Charvet having more significant rôles this season than Silver Service duties in the Boardroom.

We are going to have suspensions & injuries and in midfield I can forsee Ali and Eyal getting a bit of a clobbering. That’s why we have to have a big squad. If KK has done one thing there’s a unity there that I don’t think there was before. Nobody wants to leave. Haaland, Horlock and Howey have been around long enough to know what is happening at City and understand that it’s better to play a small part in what KK is starting than no part at all.

Oh and by the way. Glyn if that’s your real name – hot dog, jumping frog!

OPINION: PRE-SEASON HOME GAMES

Just a short note on the subject of pre-season friendlies at home. Haven’t we played the Jamaican national side and Sunderland in recent years? I though both these games were played at Maine Road. Anybody care to throw some informed light on the subject!

OPINION: CLUB FOR ME

“I’ve never seen the team play live. When they’re on TV, I’ll always make the effort to watch them and really hope they win. When they do win, I revel in the success for a while. When they lose, I grumble about them but rapidly lose interest. When they’re not playing, I hardly give them a thought. I do own the shirt, though…”

The above may read like a confession from an out-of-town Yernited “fan”, but it’s actually a pretty fair summary of what supporting England means to me. As far as I can see, this is the essence of why City is infinitely more important to most of us than the England team – the England experience just doesn’t quite feel right.

England fans like me expect the rewards without the toil. We haven’t travelled thousands of miles or forked out our hard-earned cash. We haven’t suffered jibes from our workmates (unless you live in Scotland perhaps – and they can hardly comment!). When we celebrate an England win, it has not come on the back of a week’s mental preparation and anxiety. In other words, it’s nothing like our “day job” i.e. supporting City.

The problem I have with supporting England is that I have something to compare it with. I’m as English (and proud) as anyone, I love football as much as anyone, but I can’t help feeling like a bit of a phony. After an England defeat, I look at friends, heads in hands as though their entire world has collapsed. They clearly don’t share my discomfort in supporting the national team. Then again, they “support” their preferred club in much the same way.

Next time England play, I’ll look forward to it, get up for it and no doubt shout at the TV throughout. Ten minutes after the final whistle, I’ll probably be thinking about City.

P.S. Ask me again when SWP, Huckerby and Macken are firing us into the European Championships.

REQUEST: CITY POSTMARK?

I must state before I go any further – I have no interest whatever in football in general, or Manchester City in particular!

However, I have collected stamps since I was 7 years old – I am now in my 60’s – and recently obtained an interesting cover.

I wondered if you, or any of your members, can tell me if the postmark has any connection with the football club, or if any of your members know anything about it? If anyone has any idea, I can forward a scanned image for further identification.

The sender’s name and address on the back of the envelope – Houlder Brothers & Co – refer to the initials punched through the stamp on the front (HB/&C