Newsletter #1040

Ups and downs for City this weekend, as we beat Wolves 3-1 on Friday and the reserves went 5-0 up against Leigh RMI on Saturday. New ‘keeper Geert de Vlieger looks to be out for the season after rupturing his achilles tendon during the Wolves game.

Opinion tonight on the squad, tickets and service, and sponsorship. We also have news from Germany on a new foundation that is being headed up by Bert Trautmann, definitely something to keep an eye on as there is likely to be a fund-raising game between MCFC and a German team.

City are in action tonight against Reading; if anyone going along has the time to do a match view/report of our penultimate friendly, that would be greatly appreciated.

OPINION: DO WE NEED A NEW STRIKER?

Just a thought – there’s lots of comments both on here and from Keegan that we need another striker but, looking at the stats, I’m not so sure personally. If you do a Premiership table from last year based on goals scored it looks like this:

1 Arsenal       73
2 Chelsea       67
3 Man Utd       64
4 Liverpool     55
5 Man City      55 Yes, fifth!

We may have missed as many as we put away but it could be said the problem’s not here, and we’ve arguably already got an extra striker on last year as Paulo was missing most of last season anyway.

This is the goals conceded table:

1 Leeds         79
2 Wolves        77
3 Leicester     65
4 Blackburn     59
5 Everton       57
6 Tottenham     57
7 Bolton        56
8 Man City      54

This looks like the problem department surely? To be fair, we’ve now got a couple of fairly uncompromising “kick them up in the air” type full backs in Mills and Thatcher, which hopefully will go some way to addressing this issue.

Fingers crossed, we might be OK.

Just my tuppence.

OPINION: THE GREAT BERT

In the German monthly alternative Soccer magazine “11 Freunde”, Bert Trautmann gave an interview about his time in Manchester, his life after City and his new idea, the “Bert Trautmann Foundation”.

I won’t translate the well-known story of Bert to become the ‘keeper of the Blues but I think the information about the Bert Trautmann Foundation is something new.

This is part of the article:

Today Bert Trautmann is eighty years old and lives near Valencia in Spain. He hasn’t accepated his rôle as a senior citizen. “I want to give something back to everyone and especially the English people for the good things they gave to me” Trautmann told the Sportsreporter Matthias Paskowski, as he told him in an interview about the idea of the foundation. To reach something in life with passion and employment is the mediation of the foundation.

The Foundation is in its early days. Seven people are planning the official start of the foundation. Although there are some sponsors, donations are most welcome to the foundation and his aims.

The foundation expects donations in the next year. They are planning forward to be well-known in the public with several events. First project is a friendly match between MCFC and an unknown German club. Other meetings are football games between English and German amateur teams and things like that.

More information can be found at: http://www.trautmann-foundation.de/

By the way, Trautmann’s home team TURA Bremen (where I live) was just relegated into the German 6th league.

OPINION: TICKET RIP-OFFS AND SERVICE

Firstly 40 quid for Birmingham is an absolute rip off and I for one will not be applying for a ticket.

I had a better seat last night at Hull, with more leg room and better facilities.

Now as we are talking prices, how about this. I rang the ticket office at COMS for 3 tickets for Hull. I was told as I only had one seasoncard I could only have one ticket. I declined my ticket and rang Hull KC Stadium. A very pleasant young lady sold me 2 tickets over the phone, told me not to pay for my grandson as he could sit on a knee and there would be plenty of spare seats anyway as they were not expecting to sell out. Then, best of all, she apologises for having to charge me 50 pence extra for using my debit card. The tickets arrived next day in the post. This is unlike our ticket office who happily charged me £1.50 to electronically authorise my ticket for the Lazio game.

Anyway, back to Hull. Drive down A63, get directions from 2 very friendly locals, drive through a park area, directed into ‘executive parking’ by 2 stewards. So we are there next to the ground and free parking. We then find our tickets are for the East stand. Another very friendly steward takes us to the away end and lets us use our tickets there. Now the best bit. The tickets cost me £13 each and were on the half way line East stand. The City fans had all paid £15 to sit behind the goal in the North stand. Slight rip off there then.

As City score the second goal my grandson traps his leg in the seat (like you do when you are three) and cuts his knee. Another very friendly steward took him to the First Aid area with his mum and the St John’s cheered him up and bandaged him up.

All in all a great evening out, bit of everything, even if daughter and grandson did miss the last two goals.

Thank you Hull City FC for your courteous and helpful staff. You appear to have a very happy family orientated club and I and my family wish you the best of luck in whatever they are calling that division this season.

Shame about the idiots who chanted U****d and lost any respect we may have shown them.

Now guess where my other daughter lives? Yes Reading, Feed the Goat!

OPINION: FOWLER ON TRACK?

In the game versus Hull it was not just the goal that Growler Fowler scored, it’s the positive way that he played the game. Fowler is getting his growl back, and I truly feel he will be the “Fox in the Box” again. From all accounts he looks fit and rearing to go, “Come on Growler!”

What’s important in the new season is that Anelka and Fowler can work together. I think they not only can but will.

I fully back Kevin Keegan all the way, anyone disagreeing you’re not with it.

Come on you Blues!

OPINION: SPONSORSHIP

Now that Danny Tiatto has left City, Mark and Lard will have to think of someone else to sponsor. Who better then, than young City prospect Mark Laird, only one letter away from being Mark Lard. It has to be doesn’t it?

If Carole Nash can sponsor Carlo Nash, players’ names sounding like their sponsors should therefore continue.

Before you ask, I don’t know of any Thomas Cooks playing professionally. Would have been interesting if Terry Cooke was still here mind you. And on the same vein, albeit at a slight tangent, I also remember David Phillips playing for us when Philips sponsored us. Actually, as I write, the mind is working overtime although at this moment in time I can’t think of any Saabs, Brothers or Eidos who played for us.

What about other clubs though? There was the obvious Lee Sharpe for the dark side when they were sponsored by Sharp. I’m surprised he didn’t change his name to Viewcam, wouldn’t put it past the Red publicity machine. Any others?

Answers on an electronic postcard to MCIVTA?

MCIVTA FAQ [v0405.01]

[1] 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

[2] What are MCIVTA’s publishing deadlines?

Deadlines for issues are nominally 6pm, Monday and Thursday evenings bu email. Unfortunately we cannot accept email attachments.

[3] 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.

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

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

[5] 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).

[6] 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.

[7] 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/.

[8] 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/.

[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/.

[13] Where can I find a list of City-related websites?

Try Wookie’s Lair: http://www.wookieslair.com/modules.php?name=Web_Links

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: