Newsletter #852

Firstly, apologies as this issue is delayed due to severe problems we have been experiencing with the McV ISP.

Tuesday night saw us scrape a 3-2 win against Crewe Alex and progress to round 2 of the Worthington Cup. Crewe scored within the first 30 seconds which stirred neither the crowd nor the team into action. No match report on that tonight, the only other notable feature being Berkovic in the news due to comments and gestures made.

Tonight we have Don’s news round-up of all City-related events, a match report on Liverpool, opinion on team selection and tactics, car-minding, humour and requests.

A visit to St Mary’s on Saturday with both teams in need of the points.

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

Future for Maine Road: In order to lobby Manchester city council on the future use of Maine Road, local residents have banded together to form the Residents Association of the Maine Road Action Group. The group is to deliver questionnaires to residents and are also in the process of drafting a letter to the city council. They are hoping that working together as “one voice” will encourage the council to talk with them. A spokeswoman for the Group said “We were all agreed that it was better to come together as one association rather than carry on working independently of each other. Our main concern is that the ground does not remain derelict once Manchester City move out. We are hoping the council will sit down with us and listen to what we have to say. I think that by working closely together we will get a lot more done and we are hopeful that will happen sooner rather than later.” The newspaper reveals that the Council are still hopeful of enticing Sale Rugby Union club to take up residence at Maine Road, but other options are being considered, including the retention of the stadium for other commercial and leisure uses, demolition and redevelopment. Howard Bernstein, chief executive of Manchester city council, said: “It would not be in the best interests of community or of council tax payers for the ground to remain vacant.”

International Blues (Junior Branch): There’s good news for a pair of young Blues, who have received international recognition this week. Centre half Rhys Day has been named in the Wales under-21 squad for their clash with Italy in the European Championship qualifier against at Cardiff’s Ninian Park on Tuesday 15 October. Day is expected to be the captain of the side. Lee Croft meanwhile has been called up for England’s under-19 squad as expected. England meet Yugoslavia on 10 October at Kidderminster. At senior level, the rumours of Nicolas Anelka’s recall to the French squad were proved to be false, as Les Bleus’ boss Jacques Santini left the Elk out of his squad to face Slovenia and Malta.

Doubt Over Games’ Success: A report by Manchester City council has hailed the Commonwealth Games as an outstanding financial success. This claim has however been doubted by some sources. The council’s report claims that the success of the Games has allowed