Newsletter #964

An excellent performance on Saturday when Fowler & Wanchope gave us two long awaited goals and victory down at St Mary’s which moved us up to 5th place. We have match reports tonight thanks to Dave and Richard.

Much off pitch talk this week as our latest figures were announced, and Andy has produced his excellent review for us all to ponder here tonight.

We’ve also plenty of opinion and the usual requests. The European campaign continues on Thursday night when the mighty Groclin visit CoMS.

MATCH REPORT I: SOUTHAMPTON 0 MCFC 2

Went along to this game, and what a pleasure it was to see City play so well. The passing and possession football was as good as I’ve seen from them. You’d have thought we were the home side.

City had an early chance when Robbie Fowler ran at the Saints’ defence, only to see his shot turned round for a corner by Paul Jones in the Southampton goal. What was surprising was the way the Southanpton defenders backed off and allowed Fowler so much space. Lo and behold a few minutes later there was almost a carbon copy, with Robbie picking the ball up just inside the Southampton half. He turned and ran again at the defence after beautifully rounding one Saints defender, again the rest seemed to back off and Robbie’s angled shot across the face of the goal from the left edge of the penalty area nestled in the far corner to Jones’s left.

There were a few of the usual indecisive defensive moments after that, with Distin particularly finding Beattie a bit of a handful. But City started to settle down and play with the confidence the early goal had given them.

City began to really boss the midfield with Reyna in particular growing in stature and control by the minute.

Southampton’s best chance in the first half came from a Beattie free-kick from about 25 yards that flew past Seaman’s right hand post, although I have to say from where I was sat it looked like it had gone in. Phillips tried to lob Seaman from about 40 yards when it looked like he could have gone on, the effort went high wide and not very handsome (in the words of Gary Owen).

City were taking complete control of the game in midfield and Reyna was being ably assisted by Joey Barton with some flashes of genius from the ever more influential Shaggy (Scooby Doo Be Doo) McManaman.

During one of Saints’ rare attacks there was a sickening clash of heads between Sun Jihai and Chris Marsden, with both sustaining cuts. Sun Jihai was down the longer and didn’t look like he would be carrying on. However, he recovered and, wearing a bandage, he returned to the fray looking now like a ninja. I don’t know if it was the bang on the head but from then on until the end of the game he played brilliantly, as a defender!

Although City remained in control for long periods in the second half, I feared at the failure to score a second.

I don’t think I’ve seen City looking so confident with their short passing game, playing lots of little triangles, leaving the Southampton players chasing shadows. After another flowing move, Shaggy crossed a great ball from the left. Robbie Fowler at the far post got his head to it and a deflection took it over Paul Jones only for Lundekvam to hook clear off the line.

Another great cross, this time from the right, found Bambi Wanchope clear at the far post but he could only put a very poor header straight into Jones’s hands.

With about 5 minutes to go Shaggy ran down a loose ball on City’s right, halfway in their own half. He waved at Wanchope to start his run and lobbed a delightful ball down the right touchline. Wanchope appeared to time his run brilliantly and with three Southampton defenders standing still and waving for offside ran clear and bore down towards the penalty area. Having run into the box, and before the covering Southampton defender could get the tackle in he blasted a rasping shot past Jones from about 14 yards.

There were so many M-O-M contenders. Fowler never stopped running, as well as scoring a great goal. Sun Jihai and Richard Dunne (slimmer than Robbie now?) were absolutely rock solid. Shaggy was genius at times and Joey Barton gave another great display. For me though, for his total control in midfield, it has to be Claudio Reyna.

The nice thing is having so many people to consider. It really could be any one of them.

This game cost me a lot of money as we had booked the Mick Channon Suite with all the trimmings.

Thanks lads for making it worth every penny.

MATCH REPORT II: SOUTHAMPTON 0 MCFC 2

What a game. What a performance. Gorgeous weather, lovely neat stadium, perfect result.

With it being sixth versus seventh in the Premiership, it was always going to be a testing game – that was before we kicked off. With Anelka not included in the team or the bench, rumours were rife. With Fowler and Wanchope up front there was some degree of uncertainty. With Shaun Wright-Phillips suspended, the first of three, particularly with the rich vein of form he was in, there was some degree of doubt as to whether we would be able to take the three points. However, within two minutes we were ahead. Fowler had already had a sparkling strike turned round for a corner before taking the ball inside the Soton half, edging towards goal, and then unleashing a tremendous left footed strike that left Jones stranded.

From that early moment, City dominated, never looked in trouble, and eventually ran out easy winners with a classic footballing display that left this spectator very happy with our progression and development under Mr Keegan.

Wanchope’s beautiful strike sealed victory towards the end and left us acknowledging a goalscoring symmetry in the game that enveloped great entertaining team performance that did not allow Southampton to play.

You will get more detail from other sources. Suffice to say that the match left me with a wry smile on my face in a week that saw Leeds announce such crippling debt, Tottenham fans arguing about who to manage them and Sir Alex whinging as per usual.

Remember 5 years ago… City have come a long way. A very long way.

Seaman – some cracking saves but still that nagging doubt encapsulated in one of those regular flaps at a nothing cross.

Sun – great performance, linking very well with McManaman. Especially sound after a nasty head injury in the second half.

Tarnat – I have had my doubts, but an excellent display. Calm and professional. Defensively sound. I could do with him striking a more effective partnership with Sinclair.

Distin – great performance. Left Beattie once from a Phillips cross, but fortunately the striker was in dire straits today.

Dunne – solid. Man mountain. Not the greatest of ball providers when in possession, but a player full of grit and determination.

Sinclair – an OK performance. I want to see him taking people on more often than he does. Fights back well and is very committed – we need a few goals and more creation for the perfect article.

Barton – wonderful. What a godsend. The boy will go far.

Reyna – so accomplished. Worked tremendously in midfield with Barton – a pleasure to watch and admire.

McManaman – I was so sceptical when he joined… but performances like this leave me standing and applauding. Vision, finesse, determination, delivery, he has it all. A couple of goals and we’ll be phoning Sven again.

Fowler – what a difference a good goal makes. Worked hard all game and tremendously well with McManaman.

Wanchope – same as always, gangly and unpredictable – I would have put Macken on – but what do I know when he hits a ball like that for the second.

Roll on Thursday, a Cardiff appearance and a Champions’ League spot!

OPINION: MCFC ANNUAL REPORT

A couple of things helped us in 2003, firstly being back in the Premiership and the excellent finish of 9th boosted our revenues. I must also add that I only have the Profit and Loss and the Balance Sheet and not the full notes to the accounts at the moment. The balance sheet was drawn up before the move to the CoMS and so does not show this in the Fixed Assets.

Turnover was up 75% to £49m, due as stated above to the improved performance of the team and being in the Premiership.

We made an Operating Profit (profit on trading activities, which does not include writing off player values (under accounting rules) and tax and interest) of £1.72m. This is commendable as last year we made an operating loss of nearly £6m off half the turnover.

Player values were written off to the tune of £13m and does not include purchases made during the year. Football clubs are now forced to do this so that the balance sheet gives a true value.

This lead to an operating loss after amortisation of £11.3m. Add to that the loss of £1.9m on player transfers plus the interest of £2.6m we pay on the debts and this leaves a total loss of £15.4m.

On the balance sheet (where we see the true worth of a company), fixed assets rose from £60m to £84m. This includes intangibles (basically player values, which are only worth the going rate and so it is hard to put a true value on them) of £38.8m. The rest being made up of fixed assets (tables, chair, Peter Swales’s wigs etc).

Current assets (ones which can be turned into cash very easily), total £9.6m, which is made up mostly of monies owed to the club by other people. A small proportion is cash (£11k).

Current liabilities (money which we have to pay out within one year) comes to £30.2m. As I have no breakdown of this I can only assume it is made up mostly of debt in the form of loans and overdrafts. Part of City’s debt is on, I believe, a revolving credit facility. This is like a huge overdraft, which can be utilised as and when it is needed. This would appear in current liabilities as it is repayable on demand.

This leaves us with working capital (money which we have to use to develop the club) of -£20.6m. The liquidity (the proportion current assets to liabilities) is 0.3. This means that the money we owe in the next year is just over 3 times more than the money we are owed or have. However, part of the money we owe is repayable on demand in the large overdraft and would only be payable if things went breasts to the sky.

Long term Liabilities are at £50.9m and again is mainly made up of debt.

In total we have a total worth of -£10.4m or in other words we are technically insolvent.

That doesn’t look good but there are a few saving gracesm, which should improve the position next year. One is the value of the new stadium (or our share of it) will be included in fixed assets. Two, we have European football and larger crowds, which will bolster the income (from gate receipts, TV money etc.). This should help profitability next year. Three, our debts are secured on the new stadium and on future ticket sales. As we now have 36,000 season ticket holders and a nice new council house we look good for the long run. The deal is secured on ST sales of 28,000 and upwards (based on sales from MR). So we should be ok.

Where Lids fell down is that their borrowing was secured on player values at a time when the player market was booming. Since the drop in player values and the losses they incurred on player trading, this has meant that they are unable to pay the debts off.

All in all, as a straight business the figures aren’t encouraging. But for a football club which has in recent years been in the doldrums and had some shocking financial results, they aren’t bad. Yes, I am concerned over the debt but the security we have in place seems stronger that the traditional routes used by clubs (à la Lids).

Also Reebok seem to take us more seriously. They have sponsored the superstore at Eastlands and they are marketing the shirt in 22 countries. The deal with Thomas Cook should be profitable.

This next year should be a defining year; if we can’t make money on the back of a good Euro run, good Premiership result and a good run in the FA or League Cup then something is wrong.

OPINION: SHOT STOPPING

I don’t normally contribute to MCIVTA (apart from a Why Blue? a few years ago) as living so far away from the ground I am always the last person to hear what is going on and therefore use the service as a means of keeping up to date as opposed to giving my view. Besides, we see so little of City on a week to week basis that it’s only fair to let the people who see them all the time to give their opinions as they are in the best position to comment. I suppose it comes down to different people using the service for different things.

It’s got to be said that the last few years have been pretty good when compared to the débâcle of the Swales and Lee eras. Wembley play-offs, promotions, Division One trophies, class players, superb stadium, some good results and it seems to be getting even better. But one thing is starting to worry me, even from the scarce information available over here and that’s the lack of a decent goalkeeper. I have never rated David Seaman. Even in his so-called peak I always felt very uneasy whenever he played for England. He just didn’t seem to know what was going on, always flapping like a madman whenever the ball came near him, never communicated with the rest of the defence, and was always in the worst possible position when it came to free kicks. Mind you, I suppose that’s what comes of playing in front of a world class defence week in, week out, I don’t suppose he ever had to worry about letting goals in as the Arsenal defence kept everything away from him, and when one did find its way past him, then it was to be expected that “He can’t keep everything out!”

It summed it up to me when a Gooner workmate of mine congratulated me at the start of the season for quote “getting hold of a quality ‘keeper” Unquote. Now he just keeps saying that he never realised how bad he was.

I would have been worried if he had gone to City 10 years ago, but to see him there now, after so many high profile clangers and at a stage when almost everybody was agreed that his career at the top of the game was well and truly over was disappointing to say the least. Kevin Keegan will always be remembered for the results he got, or didn’t get, and I fear that unless he’s prepared to face the fact that he just isn’t good enough and do his best to bring in a decent ‘keeper in the January transfer window, then it will cost us the top six place that I think we are well capable of achieving.

Despite my views on the ability of the man, I have no desire to see him end up a laughing stock, which I fear he will if he carries on as he is doing. It should have been a fitting end to his career captaining an FA Cup winning side and going out on a high and not being crucified in the press every week or worse still ending up being subjected to the treatment that Richard Edghill recieved from a small majority of the crowd if it starts to cost us valuable points.

It doesn’t help matters when I see him on the TV every week pratting about trying to get as much media exposure as possible at the obvious expense of valuable training ground time. If he was still doing the business on the park each week then no problem, but it will only give ammunition to the critics, and will only result in more mistakes which we, or he, cannot afford. I also share Mike Maynard’s view that without any direct competition, added with the apparent undying support afforded to him by Keegan, it gives him no incentive to keep his place as it seems that no matter how many times he keeps dropping things, he won’t be.

I noted with interest the news that Terry Baines posted the other week in that Norwich are so desperate to get Darren Huckerby on a permanent basis, they are willing to let one of their rising stars, Adam Drury, go the other way. I live in the same village as Terry and have also heard the same thing but now with Robert Green, first team goalkeeper, being offered as well. Green is quite a good goalkeeper, and if it’s true, then I hope serious consideration is being given to it by management at City, although I understand that Norwich’s goalkeeping cover is worse than ours at the moment, so it is more than likely a groundless roumer, but stranger things have happened. Norwich supporters are having a whip-round every week, and a strange 8 game season ticket deal is being pushed hard by the club in an attempt to generate some quick cash, so the eagerness to get Huckerby is there; I hope they are so eager to get him that it solves our ‘keeping problem as well.

I just hope that I’m proved wrong again, as when Schmiechel was signed at the start of last season, I had the same reservations, but like most people, didn’t want to see him go for at least another couple of years.

OPINION: FINANCE AND FOOTBALL

I saw this very interesting article in one of the weekend’s papers. We all like to think that what is currently happening at Leeds could not happen to us; read below and think on.

Sunday November 2, 2003, The Observer

Leeds United posts record losses, the Premiership’s debt is £600m; lessons need to be learned, says Denis Campbell.

In the Premier League, there is now as much competition for the unwanted honour of being the division’s most indebted club as there is for the league title itself. The 20 clubs are swimming in a sea of debt, which, despite the financial folly on a grand scale illustrated by Leeds United’s annual loss of £49.5 million posted last week, few teams seem able to escape.

According to Deloitte and Touche, the most recent figures available show that the 20 clubs in England’s elite league owed a staggering £598.5m between them. Leeds was lambasted for running up the biggest loss in one season in football history, on top of which it also owes a massive £78m of long-term debt. But it is not the side with the biggest debt. That dubious distinction belongs to Fulham, the small London club owned by Mohamed al Fayed, which owes a mind-boggling £107.94m.

Despite all the warning signs over the last few years that football’s financial bubble had burst, the Premier League has sunk deeper into the red. For example, that collective debt figure went up by almost 50 per cent from the previous year’s hardly healthy total of £416.2m. Only superclub Manchester United makes a significant profit; £39.3m last year. ‘Most Premiership clubs make a loss and the amount they are losing is going up. The bad financial practices of the last decade, paying transfer fees and high salaries with money they didn’t have, are catching up on them just when the global transfer market has collapsed and the Premier League is going to get less money from Sky from next summer for their television rights’, says Phil Clisby of Soccer Investor magazine.

Lessons obviously need learning; and quick. Last week Manchester City admitted that it lost £15.4m last year and saw its overall debt rise from £30m to £50m – a million pounds more than its £49m turnover – after buying players such as Nicolas Anelka and Robbie Fowler in a bid to retain its place in the Premiership. ‘City are doing exactly what Leeds did a few years ago, taking out long-term debt to buy short-term assets, despite that disastrous policy having left Leeds in a terrible state,’ said one prominent soccer analyst in the Square Mile. ‘They spent over 75 per cent of their turnover on players’ salaries, which is dangerously high.’

There are, though, encouraging signs of financial realism dawning. Most players’ salaries are staying the same or even falling, more players are coming to clubs on loan, contracts are often for shorter periods, and clubs are making much more use of performance-related pay. The previously rare practice of players having their salaries cut if their team is relegated is becoming more common. Chelsea’s lavishing of £111m of Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich’s fortune on new personnel has not sparked copycat behaviour. Most clubs seem determined to avoid repeating mistakes such as Leeds awarding journeyman midfielder Seth Johnson a £38,000-a-week deal when his agent would have accepted £10,000.

But Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and even Charlton Athletic, which until recently had practised a strict ‘live within our means’ policy, seem to be bucking the trend. They are following Manchester City down a ‘spend now, pay later’ player acquisition road, which many other clubs have belatedly begun to abandon because of the game’s changed financial climate. All three strengthened their squads in the summer, when many rivals were spending no money at all. Coincidentally or not, Everton and Tottenham last week posted losses for the last year of £13m and £7.12m respectively.

‘Clubs generally are improving their finances by no longer speculating to accumulate and getting their costs down. They know the next Sky deal is worth £1.05bn compared with the current £1.1bn one,’ explains stockbroker John Moore, a football finance expert with Bell Lawrie in Edinburgh. ‘But there are exceptions. Only time will tell if what those clubs are doing now is wise or not.’

The situation is even worse in Scotland. The accountants PriceWaterhouseCooper recently reported that the net debt of the 12 Scottish Premier League clubs had climbed from £132m to a new record total of £144m. Five clubs – Dundee, Dunfermline, Hearts, Hibernian and Livingston – were in effect insolvent, said PwC.

Inevitably, the two big Glasgow clubs account for much of that debt mountain. Rangers lost £29.61m last year and saw its total debt climb from £52m to £65m, while arch rivals Celtic ended up £5.79m in the red last year and are now carrying £17.78m of long-term debt. Both have spent beyond their means, buying players in an attempt to make an impression in European competition; both are now cost-cutting.

The problem for the debt-ridden Scottish clubs is that television income is only a fraction of what English Premier League clubs receive, and that outside of Glasgow’s Old Firm nobody draws large crowds.

Some City football experts believe it has never been more likely that a British club – possibly one of the dozen or so in England’s lower divisions that are, or have recently, been in administration – will go bust, because some banks are tiring of cutting mismanaged client clubs endless slack. If one does, it may be more likely to happen north of the border first.

‘All clubs will have to start being run as normal businesses rather than as football clubs in the way we’ve seen for years, and stop spending money they haven’t got; there are only so many Russian billionaires around’, says Clisby.

Debt league

The top ten most indebted clubs in the Premiership:

1. Fulham £107.94m
2. Leeds United £78m
3. Middlesbrough £53.6m
4. Manchester City £50m
5. Arsenal £45.8m
6. Newcastle United £43m
7. Bolton Wanderers £33.9m
8. Everton £27.6m
9. Liverpool £20.5m
10. Southampton £20.2m

Sources: Deloitte & Touche’s Annual Review of Football Finance July 2003 and clubs’ own accounts released subsequently.

OPINION: KK’S PERFORMANCE

Kevin Keegan might not be perfect; like referees and players he too can have bad moments. For example I think the loss at Wolves might have been avoided with a better line up.

I also had some doubts last season when we had a very poor start and the ghosts appeared of another relegation, of another “not good enough for the Premiership” manager who was about to be sacked. And I even remember an interview when he was pretty depressed as he said we’ll never be able to match the English powerful clubs.

But let’s talk about how Keegan responded. Not by analysing his interviews, but through the analysis of facts. After nearly 2 and a half seasons in charge, I think that now it’s not too early to discuss his 5 year plan:

SEASON  TARGET          RESULT
1       Promotion       Achieved
2       Consolidation   Achieved
3       Top 6           Well underway
4       Top 4           ????
5       Top 4/title     ????

I’m with him. Even if I happen to disagree with some of his decisions in the future, I’m with him. And I always will be. He just knows what he’s doing and the facts speak for him. Maybe I’m too optimistic but quite frankly I think the most difficult part has already been achieved.

Because let’s face it, honestly: Arsenal, United, Chelsea: they are better than us this season. But then… who else is?

OPINION: CALENDAR BOYS, THE SEQUEL

Following my previous note on the official City calendar and featured players leaving the club: given the rumours about Nicolas Anelka following his no-show against Southampton, it’s slightly worrying that I’ve just turned it over to November. Main featured player… Nicolas Anelka!

OPINION: GRAHAM’S MID TERM REVIEW

1. KK – Best manager since Tony Book. Fact… I’ll have that.
2. Seaman – has to go – Agreed. Robinson from Argos (sorry, Leeds) orBarthez… perhaps Weaver if he pulls his finger out.
3. Sun – no more a right back than I’m an operatic tenor. Will be afantastic midfielder when played in the right position. He is being playedout of position.
4. Tarnat – best left back since Bobby McDonald. End of…
5. Distin/Sommeil – Both great going forward but employed,unfortunately, to stop opponents doing precisely the same thing. Dunneshould have replaced Distin at QPR, not Sommeil. Not Doyle and Watson yetbut let’s wait and see…
6. Reyna – no idea why we bought him. Not a big Horlock fan but whatdoes he bring to the party that Horlock forgot? We needed a reserve’keeper/defender, not another midfielder…
7. Macca – potentially the most influential/ intelligent signing sinceDon Revie became the architect of the… erm… ‘Revie Plan.’ I’ve gonelarge there and I realise that. Just think though, he could become atalisman like Tommy Hutch and amaze some of us.
8. Berkovic – just can’t forgive him I’m afraid… Would like to seehim picking up litter outside the COMStad. With a pair of blunt tweezers.
9. Barton – Six months away from being a better player than StevenGerrard. Needs to improve his distribution though.
10. SWP – Best home-grown player since Paul Lake (although Barton runs himclose). A future England international without a doubt.
11. Sibierski – looks like he can’t be arsed. Bobby Moore played with asimilar swagger and calculated insouciance but he could afford to, he hadtalent in reserve. And he was Bobby Moore. Relaxed is fine as long as youare delivering. Sibierski is not.
12. Fowler/Wanchope – Fowler fan. There you are, I said it. Once saw himvolley a ball onto the crossbar at Melwood (Liverpool’s training ground)ten times without it touching the ground. He doesn’t need a goal, he needsto be excited again. He needs a f***ing reason to breathe. His talent isfrightening. As for Paulo – I think he’s got the hunger. Can he deliver? Noidea. He’s beyond science. Even he doesn’t know what he’s about to attempt.Frustrating? Yes. City? But of course. What do you want? Gareth Taylor back?
13. Anelka – everybody seems scared of him. Don’t upset him whatever youdo. He’s delivering but, to be fair, that is what he is paid to do. Worldclass player. Best since Trevor Francis. Yeah, very good. Score some moregoals why don’t you. We’ll let you know when we get bored of you hittingthe back of the net.
14. Macken – Just feel he will be at City for years and will alwaysscore |He’s a Mancunian – but then we tend to under-sell our own. RememberNeil Young?]. If the rotation system is supposed to capitalise on the hungerof players in the first team squad, let him have a go. This kid will scoregoals like ringing a bell.
15. Tiatto – ‘Great workrate, short on talent’. Don’t know what drugsMCIVTA correspondent Graham Hine is on but if you’ve got any left over…Danny T should be the backbone of this team. He never goes missing, you canput your life on him fighting to the end of the game. He is also an artist,disregarded by the ignorant. Check out his first touch. Failsafe. Alwaysimmaculate. The feckless let his aggression detract from his sense ofpurpose, this is foolish. George Best said his most difficult opponent wasTony Book and, with a similar degree of apprehension, every opponent looksfor Tiatto’s name on the team sheet and then sighs when they see it. He isthe most under-rated player at the club by a country mile. Short on talentmy @rse. Should play every week.
16. Weaver – We’ve been waiting a long time Nicholas. Now is the time foryou to overcome your injuries and step into the spotlight. Now. As in,today. Now. Not tomorrow. Not the day after, but now. That’s right, thismorning… Let’s have it.

OPINION: SOUTHERN COMFORT

The Blues came marching out of Saint Mary’s stadium with a victory over the Saints that was well deserved. Kevin Keegan proved that his team is a “squad team” and that his rotation system is working. For this to work it not only has to have the players with the ability, but the morale and team spirit to go along with it.

Fowler scored a world class goal, by beating two defenders in a solo run before hitting home a cracker after just 4 minutes, which silenced the home crowd. Paulo Wanchope also got a very good goal in the 86th minute to give City the 2-0 win and take City up to 5th in the table, leapfrogging the Saints; nice revenge after they spoiled our Maine Road Party last season. Anelkastar was rested with a slight calf injury, keeping him for the important game on Thursday versus Groclin in the UEFA Cup.

A lot of the media got all hyped up that KK and Anelka had had a bust up; I prefer to go with KK’s version, the slight injury, and his tactics to play Fowler and Wanchope up front together, which as we all know paid off.

Nice to see our strikers on target, and I guess we must all take into consideration that Fowler, Wanchope, and Macken have all been out with serious injuries, we all have to be patient with their return (including me) and it now seems that all three strikers are on their way back, and in time before the window opens. Let’s hope that City will not have to get another striker, just another goalkeeper as cover if Weaver is still injured.

Nice to see that Claudio Reyna has settled into the City team, this gives me personal pleasure as I had recommended him to Francis Lee, who was then Chairman, in 1994. Claudio Reyna was then playing for the University of Virginia, he was first signed by Wolfsburg in the German League, then Rangers and Sunderland before City finally got him.

OPINION: FOXWORLD USA

I can’t be as cohesive as possible but for us Blues in the USA, I can’t be the only one who is thoroughly ****ed off with the coverage and comments City get off American Foxworld. When we trounced Bolton we got a snide comment typical of some Rag bandwagon jumper from the woman on the show and that Scots excuse on the show added his two pen’orth. Er, did I miss something or did we not win 6-2? Let me repeat that. 6-2. The round up of the Carling Cup did not even mention that City played, let alone the score or any coverage of the goals. I kid you not. It’s like we’d not played. My point is these American pundits know rock-all about our game and club but seemed to have subscribed wholly to this belittling City bandwagon attitude. ****ers! I’m sure Murdoch and his cronies are Rags and I bet this new California governor is one too. I know I’ve lost my track but I’m fuming.

REQUEST: DENTON BLUES

The next meeting of Denton branch of the OSC takes place on Monday 10th November at 8pm, the Con Club, when our special guest will be former City player and Chairman of the PFA, Richard Jobson.

Please contact me for further details.

REQUEST: REDDISH BLUES

The next meeting of the Reddish Branch of the Centenary Supporters’ Association will be on Wednesday 12th November at The Ash Hotel, Manchester Road, Stockport starting at 8.00pm (doors 7.00pm).

Our confirmed guests for the evening are FA Premier League Referee Mark Halsey (City’s favourite ref.) and FA Premier League Referees Assistant Trevor Massey.

As always everyone is welcome.

REQUEST: MELBOURNE BLUES

As an exiled Blue (Queensland since May 2000… what a time to emigrate!), you can only imagine the hunger, not only for live City action but also having a pint with City fans.

I have relocated from the football wasteland of Queensland, where in 3 and a half years I met 1 City fan, to Melbourne (c**p weather) but hoping to meet up with some fellow City fans in Melbourne for live matches, beers etc. Please contact me at:

REQUEST: US/NEW YORK VIEWING

Thursday’s first leg tie will be on Fox Sports World at 3:00 pm EST. New York fans, as always, will be at Nevada Smiths (3rd Ave and 11th St).

RESULTS

2 November 2003

Fulham                1 - 2  Liverpool             17,682
Leicester City        2 - 0  Blackburn Rovers      30,975

1 November 2003

Everton               0 - 1  Chelsea               40,189
Leeds United          1 - 4  Arsenal               36,491
Manchester United     3 - 0  Portsmouth            67,639
Middlesbrough         2 - 0  Wolverhampton Wndrs   30,305
Newcastle United      1 - 1  Aston Villa           51,975
Southampton           0 - 2  Manchester City       31,620
Tottenham Hotspur     0 - 1  Bolton Wanderers      35,191

League table to 02 November 2003 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Arsenal         11  4  1  0 10  5  4  2  0 13  4  8  3  0  23   9  14  27
 2 Chelsea         11  4  1  0 10  5  4  1  1 11  4  8  2  1  21   9  12  26
 3 Manchester Utd  11  4  1  1 12  3  4  0  1  9  3  8  1  2  21   6  15  25
 4 Birmingham City 10  2  3  0  5  2  3  1  1  4  3  5  4  1   9   5   4  19
 5 Manchester City 11  2  2  1 12  6  3  1  2 10  6  5  3  3  22  12  10  18
 6 Fulham          11  2  2  2 10  9  3  1  1 11  6  5  3  3  21  15   6  18
 7 Liverpool       11  2  1  2  7  6  3  1  2 10  6  5  2  4  17  12   5  17
 8 Newcastle Utd   11  2  2  2  6  4  2  2  1 10  9  4  4  3  16  13   3  16
 9 Southampton     11  3  1  2  5  3  1  3  1  5  4  4  4  3  10   7   3  16
10 Charlton Ath.   10  1  2  2  6 10  3  1  1  8  3  4  3  3  14  13   1  15
11 Portsmouth      11  3  0  2  9  5  0  3  3  2 10  3  3  5  11  15  -4  12
12 Tottenham H.    11  2  1  3  6  8  1  2  2  4  6  3  3  5  10  14  -4  12
13 Aston Villa     11  2  3  0  6  3  0  2  4  3 10  2  5  4   9  13  -4  11
14 Middlesbrough   11  2  0  4  6 10  1  2  2  3  5  3  2  6   9  15  -6  11
15 Bolton Wndrs    11  1  3  1  5  4  1  2  3  4 15  2  5  4   9  19 -10  11
16 Everton         11  2  2  2  9  7  0  2  3  3  8  2  4  5  12  15  -3  10
17 Wolves          11  2  1  2  5 12  0  2  4  2 11  2  3  6   7  23 -16   9
18 Leicester City  11  2  2  2 10  8  0  0  5  6 13  2  2  7  16  21  -5   8
19 Blackburn R.    11  1  0  4  8 10  1  2  3  7 11  2  2  7  15  21  -6   8
20 Leeds United    11  1  2  3  5 10  1  0  4  5 15  2  2  7  10  25 -15   8

MCIVTA FAQ [v0304.06]

[0] MCIVTA Addresses

 Articles (Heidi Pickup)          : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

 News/rumour (Don Barrie)         : news@mcivta.city-fan.org

 Subscriptions (Madeleine Hawkins): subscriptions@mcivta.city-fan.org

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

 FAQ (David Warburton)            : faq@mcivta.city-fan.org

[1] What are MCIVTA’s publishing deadlines?

Deadlines for issues are nominally 6pm, 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/); the “Centenary Supporters’ Association” (http://www.reddishblues.com/CSAWebsite/CSA.htm) and “The International Supporters’ Club” (http://www.mcfc.co.uk/article.asp?article=111845&Title=International+Supporters+Club&lid=Membership).

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

The GMR pre and post match phone-in is available on the web at http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/gmr/sport_intro.shtml.

Live match commentaries and archives of games, reports and interviews can be found at http://www.mcfctv.com/, whilst an alternate live commentary service, hosted by Yahoo, is located at http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/foot/englandprem/cal/index.html.

[7] Where can I find out if City are live on satellite TV?

http://www.satfootball.com/pl.html provides a listing of Premiership games being shown on UK domestic and foreign satellite channels. Useful sites for North American viewers are http://canadatvsoccer.tripod.com/Fixtures.htm, http://www.foxsportsworld.com/named/FSW/Index/Soccer, and http://www.soccertv.com/.

http://www.foxsportsworld.com/content/view?contentId=1288602 also provides a guide to pubs in the USA showing football.

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

It’s actually a mix of two tracks. It starts with “O Verona” (from the motion picture “William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet”) and leads in to “Barber’s Adagio for Strings (Ferry Corsten remix)” by William Orbit. The first part is available on the movie soundtrack (volume 2) and the second is included on a variety of CDs such as Kiss House Nation 2000, Galaxy Hit Mix, Cream Live, Ibiza Chill and Dance Nation 4.

[9] Do we have a Usenet newsgroup?

Yes we do: uk.sport.football.clubs.man-city is our home on usenet. If you are not familiar with usenet, a basic explanation is available here: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,289893,sid9_gci213262,00.html

[10] Do any squad members have their own web pages?

There are a number available and direct links can be found at http://www.uit.no/mancity/players/

[11] Can I buy shares in the club?

Yes you can: Shares in Manchester City PLC are traded on OFEX. The latest prices can be on found the OFEX web site http://www.ofex.com/ (registration required) or in the business section of the Manchester Evening News.

[12] Where can I find match statistics?

Statistics for the current season are available from the club site, but for a more in-depth analysis try http://www.mcfcstats.com/ or http://www.citystat.net/.

[13] Acknowledgements

Thanks go to Damian Quinn, Stephen Webb, Roger Haigh, Martin Price, and Adrian Howarth for the Satellite TV info.

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.

Heidi Pickup, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

Editor: