Newsletter #1175

A niggling performance from the Blackburn of late, a game in which Mr Atkinson allowed himself to get sucked into their negative cheating tactics and the highlight was Pearce coming onto the pitch when Lily was yet again time-wasting. A point sees us seventh, two places above our next visitors Liverpool.

We have match views tonight thanks to Ian, Graham and Ernie. Predictions from the Anorak, and a good piece on rivalry from Dave in Holland. The usual requests, and continuing debate.

MATCH VIEW I: MCFC 0 BRFC 0

My first game at Eastlands this season. Yes, I know I could have selected a more interesting contest than this one. I was pretty sure that I’d have no trouble getting a ticket on my Citycard. And that proved to be the case. I wanted to see Stephen Ireland live and I hoped to see Lee Croft because he’s always looked exciting when I’ve seen him. Of course I bought my ticket before JB was suspended. And when I read that it was likely that neither Reyna nor Musampa would play, my heart sank. Oh no, I paid £31 to watch my two most unfavourite players – the readership can guess who they might be.

Watching the warm-up game of 5-a-side or whatever it was, I was impressed by how good Onouha was, pretty quick feet for a defender.

I had a very good view from the seat sold to me: East Stand, Entrance J Block 207, Row L, 2nd level. Pretty cold in Manchester on Saturday (I’d come from the south where it was frosty too but obviously not as bad as the Mancs have had it).

Given the team that was fielded, I thought we might be lucky to get a result against Blackburn who have been going well of late and had scored 2 against the mighty Chelsea. The game was pretty poor though. To be fair Blackburn closed us down well and in my opinion we tried to be too intricate. Kiki did not seem to be fully fit and drifted out of the game. I’d heard a Radio 5 commentary on City earlier this season and Jimmy Armfield had commented that Kiki tends to drift inside. I watched and JA is right. Sort of narrows our play. Lee Croft was well marshalled by Michael Gray (not surprising since he’s played for England). City did not have the nous to break Blackburn down. And when we did have chances, the shots were not hit with conviction while at times chances were not taken.

In the second half there were a couple of excellent crosses (by Ireland and Croft) put in to the box but neither Cole nor Vassell were near them. The ball simply would not drop to our players or maybe Blackburn were just very well organised. I thought we missed the driving power of JB. Contributors to various websites who suggest we should sell him are crazy in my view. He gives us more than just steel, he drives us forward (something that Roy Keane couldn’t do for us if he came to City, not that I’m suggesting we should go for him).

The star man according to the fans who texted in was Stephen Ireland. My star man was Sylvain Distin. He defended impeccably. I don’t think Craig Bellamy actually had a shot on goal, and remember he scored 2 against Chelsea. I’ve seen Bellamy before and he’s a good player, he’s quick and dangerous. But he had to take up offside positions to beat Sylvain. How about the others? I know a lot of people don’t like Crofty. Here he was often marked by 2 men but he never gave up trying. As for Stephen Ireland, some very neat touches and has more strength than I thought he had. He’s also much quicker. So one for now and the future – let’s hope we don’t burn these 2 youngsters out. When Kiki eventually hobbled off I was pleased to see Clever Trevor back after all his injury problems. First time I’d seen Vassell live and I was impressed with his workrate but he needs to be more selfish and have a shot himself rather than trying to set others up.

As for Blackburn, they are well organised. But Savage is an ugly player. Poor sportsmanship – trying to get opposing players booked and blatantly time wasting. When SP came and placed the ball for him it shouldn’t have been SP who was spoken to, it should have been Savage who was sent off (second bookable offence for ungentlemanly conduct) but I expected nothing different from that jobsworth of a referee. Neither Savage nor Dickov play the game fairly; it’s a pity the refs can’t see these things and punish that behaviour accordingly (Pires is another player of the same ilk).

Afterwards, I had dinner in a very nice restaurant in Woodley with a mate of mine and my sister (we’d come up for a family celebration). Back on the road at 22.00, horrendous fog most of the way back, glad to see my sister’s house at 1.00am. Not a great game but good to see the Blues again.

MATCH VIEW II: MCFC 0 BRFC 0

An inept performance today gives the players exactly what they deserve: not much at all. Realistically, we’re clearly no better than a mid-table outfit, as recent results have proved to be the case. No consistency. No excuses.

Once those several clubs immediately below us have had the opportunity to make up their games, not much doubt they’ll be leaving us in their wake, and we’ll be sliding down the table. Our forwards couldn’t punch their way out of a paper bag, as was obvious to all, today. If the club doesn’t make a serious investment in a quality, proven striker, as well as a midfield playmaker at the earliest opportunity, then, shame on those responsible in the boardroom.

This is the time when Stuart Pearce really begins to earn his money if he is going to be successful in his rôle at Manchester City. Sure enough, he has his work cut out for himself, and I don’t envy him one bit. Kevin Keegan must be sleeping well tonight – he no longer has to deal with this nonsense any longer. The players are slipping, as Stuart well enough knows after today’s débâcle, and he must put a stop to this nonsense before it gets any worse. If not, then I won’t blame him when he eventually leaves for another club.

40,000+ fans today paid good money – for what? If the players cannot be bothered then why should the fans? It’s really quite pathetic and I would expect the players will be called in for extra training, Sunday, to help make amends for their most recent non-efforts. I’m not convinced, though, that the players are up to the job; neither do they have sufficient motivation to do their best for the club, on the basis of what was on display today.

Perhaps if the players were paid according to results obtained, then the message would finally get through to them; this isn’t a joke, or is it?

MATCH VIEW III: MCFC 0 BRFC 0

Blackburn Rovers, knowing that City did not have all the midfield players available for selection, came to the CoMS with one thing in mind: to close down the midfield, defend, and hope for a breakaway goal. The City defence played a very good game, with David James left with very little to do.

It was a game with very little to cheer about, the City strikers had very few opportunities, Darius Vassell probably had the best chance of the game but whilst he was teeing up his shot on goal had the ball taken off his foot by a defender. Andrew Cole on the other hand got frustrated at being offside so got booked for kicking the ball away, which only showed King Cole’s feelings at having very few chances on the day.

The game was a battle of the midfield with either side not able to win it. Blackburn just wanted to keep slowing the game down, whilst City, who did manage to raise the tempo a little in the 2nd half, failed on the day. City missed Joey Barton and Claudio Reyna who could have been the difference in this game. If there is one player in the City side that can raise the tempo of any game, my vote goes to Joey Barton.

When the transfer window opens it is evident that MCFC need another attacking midfield player and another quality striker.

Mystery is: what has happened to Robbie Fowler? Last week there were two false reports, one that Portsmouth were interested, then the other was Wolves; both clubs couldn’t wait to say “no way, not interested in Fowler” and how could any club be interested whilst he has not played this season except for a brief reserves game? Fowler has not even been in the last reserve games, which leads me to asking “has Fowler got a pain in the back, or a pain in the neck?” How can Robbie Fowler prove himself to be fit and capable of playing first team football before the transfer window opens? Of course I, like many other City fans, would like to see a fit and on form Fowler, but it is nearly December and no sign of him. This is why we need a quality striker signed when the window opens. The squad needs strengthening if City are to be serious contenders for a place in Europe.

Next game Stuart Pearce should be able to field his best available players (exception of Robbie Fowler).

Come on you Blues – beat Liverpool!

OPINION: PREDICTIONS

Anorak’s Final League Position Prediction 2005-6

So how will we end up after the highly disappointing Fulham and Blackburn games?

The first prediction (p1) replaces last season’s score with this season’s score (with the relegated clubs replaced by the equivalent promoted clubs). According to this measure, we’ll finish on 57 points and with that form then last season we would have finished 7th and therefore in the UEFA Cup!

The second (p2) is a rolling average that averages how we’ve done so far over the rest of the season. This is calculated as follows, where gr = games remaining, gp = games played, and p = current points total:

p2 = gr/gp * p + p
p2 = 25/13 * 21 + 21 = 61 points (rounded down) = Champions' League Qualifying Round!

The third (p3) is a rolling average based on the points obtained from the last 6 games played. This is calculated as follows, where ls = points in last 6 games, gr = games remaining and p = current points total:

p3 = ls/6 * gr + p
p3 = 10/6 * 25 + 21 = 63 points (rounded up) = Champions' League Qualifying Round

Our last 6 form has dropped from an average of 12 points at the end of September to an average of 9 points, and this is entirely down to our away form. Are we attacking too much, not defending well enough, or a bit of both? Or are the players believing that they are better than they are?

The following table indicates how our form has changed over the season, with the columns specifying:

• result last season [and the points obtained]
• result this season [and the points obtained]
• ch = change from last season
• grp = gr/gp = games remaining divided by games played
• l6 = points from the last six games
• p = current points
• p1, p2, p3 = each prediction (and league position)

Blackburn Rovers     (H) 1-1 [1] 0-0 [1] ch=NC grp=25/13 l6=10 p=21 p1=56(7) p2=61(4) p3=63(4)
Fulham               (A) 1-1 [1] 1-2 [0] ch=-1 grp=26/12 l6=09 p=20 p1=56(7) p2=63(4) p3=59(5)
October 2005
Aston Villa          (H) 2-0 [3] 3-1 [3] ch=NC grp=27/11 l6=09 p=20 p1=57(7) p2=69(4) p3=61(4)
Arsenal              (A) 1-1 [1] 0-1 [0] ch=-1 grp=28/10 l6=07 p=17 p1=57(7) p2=65(4) p3=50(10)
West Ham United      (H) 2-1 [3] 2-1 [3] ch=NC grp=29/09 l6=10 p=17 p1=58(5) p2=72(4) p3=65(5)
Everton              (H) 0-1 [0] 2-0 [3] ch=+3 grp=30/08 l6=10 p=14 p1=58(5) p2=67(4) p3=64(4)
September 2005
Newcastle United     (A) 3-4 [0] 0-1 [0] ch=NC grp=31/07 l6=10 p=11 p1=55(7) p2=60(5) p3=63(4)
Bolton Wanderers     (H) 0-1 [0] 0-1 [0] ch=NC grp=32/06 l6=11 p=11 p1=55(7) p2=70(4) p3=70(4)
Manchester United    (A) 0-0 [1] 1-1 [1] ch=NC grp=33/05 l6=12 p=11 p1=55(7) p2=84(2) p3=77(3)
August 2005
Portsmouth           (H) 2-0 [3] 2-1 [3] ch=NC grp=34/04 l6=14 p=10 p1=55(7) p2=95(1) p3=89(2)
Sunderland           (A) 2-1 [3] 2-1 [3] ch=NC grp=35/03 l6=14 p=07 p1=55(7) p2=89(2) p3=89(2)
Birmingham City      (A) 0-1 [0] 2-1 [3] ch=+3 grp=36/02 l6=12 p=04 p1=55(7) p2=76(4)  p3=76(4)
West Bromwich Albion (H) 0-0 [1] 0-0 [1] ch=NC grp=37/01 l6=12 p=01 p1=52(8) p2=38(17) p3=75(4)

Notes:
[1] 2004-5 Season: Season Points: 52 Goal Difference: +8 League Position: 8 last5=11, last4=8, last3=7, last2=4 last1=1
[2] Last season’s relegated teams are replaced with:
18: Crystal Palace = Sunderland
19: Norwich City = Wigan Athletic
20: Southampton = West Ham

OPINION: THE BEST OF

I tried to resist responding to the Times piece but I couldn’t resist. Tony Book wasn’t an amateur plucked from obscurity although that no doubt suits the journalistic prerogative. Tony Book had been playing for Bath City for some years when Malcolm Allison took over as Manager (fedora or fur hat and cigar ablaze as always).

Tony at the time was a part time professional. Malcolm produced a great Southern League side and took them to as far as either the second or third round of the FA Cup where they were knocked out by First Division Bolton Wanderers. Bath drew at their ground, having almost managed an epic victory, a penalty being won towards the end of the game by a certain Lee Won Pen. Bolton won the replay 3-0.

When Malcolm moved on to manage Plymouth Argyle, he took Tony with him. So after he left to join Joe Mercer’s aces he decided to pluck Tony from the obscurity of the old Second Division. The rest of course is history, as is Tony winning the Player of the Year award. Shame that wasn’t mentioned in the write up too.

OPINION: RIVALRY

I do not hate the Rags. I dislike them intensely. My repulsion is limited to boycotting the products promoted/dedicated with their involvement. When they are on the telly, then that is always an opportune moment to get the tea on, or get a beer out of the fridge, depending whether it’s Football Focus time or Match of the Day. I fail to understand how ‘yobs’ (let’s call a spade a spade) can sing ridiculous chants dedicated to such a tragic event as the Munich disaster.

Seems many of these culprits couldn’t have been born at the time. I belong to a generation of City supporters who have lived through the period of the accident and have since wondered at the frequent attention in memory of the event. I have to admit that a sour taste has been created by my own doubts that the resulting legend has been cynically milked, at the cost of the appropriate respect. Make no mistake, they had a good team that might have reached its full potential and sustained it. The important thing was that the legend was established and millions of people worldwide became aware of, and sympathized with the lot of a football club, which for the rest of their naturals they may have been otherwise blissfully unaware. In my opinion, the due respect and remembrance has not always been paid to the remaining victims. Our own Frank Swift springs to mind, but what of the press corps? I relate Munich to the fate of Torino in post-war Italy. An air-crash robbed Torino of no less than nine international players and the national team’s entire selection, but not many people know that.

I take issue with Brian in L.A. insofar that he feels that the only grade is to love one and hate the other. I think that there are many grades. I don’t hate the Rags (a clue?), I try to ignore them. I don’t give them the respect they feel it’s their God given right to deserve. Brian, the romantic picture at the end of your contribution made me cringe. As somebody who’s had many years of force-fed Red bull***t rammed through our throats while in Manchester, I’m a committed A.B.U., and am 100% rooting for any of their opponents. I’m amazed that anybody so pro-City could admit to an admiration for the others. A couple of hard facts however, are in order. Manchester United financed a post-Munich re-building programme with the insurance collected after the accident. They plundered the talent of all sorts of clubs to build the ‘Babes’ mark 2. They were carried to Wembley on a wave of public emotion, no opposition could withstand them or dare to offer resistance. Within ten years the whole event, sporting-wise, had lost its significance.

My discomfort and dislike of all things Rag has been maintained through the interceding years, reinforced by the media attention and cultivation thereof. As long ago as 1968 Georgie Best made front page with a head-cold, and City lifting the Championship the back page. Things have hardly changed since!

On the sporting(?) front, I have always resented the fact that it was Rag defenders, who after repeated attacks, kicked my own idol out of the active game. I’ll not name names, but Burns failed to prevent us lifting the Championship and a couple of years later Buchan kicked the great Colin Bell so hard that it is fortunate that the King can today walk. Colin has long since forgiven them, why should I bear a grudge? In between, Glyn Pardoe suffered a collision with the aforementioned George, so horrific it was that it nearly cost Glyn his life. Best’s challenge was reckless rather than malicious. Both Bell and Pardoe were extremely talented and notoriously fair players. Old habits die hard and in recent years we’ve seen what Keane did to Haaland. Our players never did that to them somehow.

I suppose that after my ramble and trying to establish my credentials as a City lifer, I’m trying to demonstrate that the old stagers, like myself, draw the line at mindless chants and admit amazement that Munich is still an issue. If we of long-standing do not find it necessary to stoop so low, having endured so much nonsense through the years, where do these relative newcomers find their grief? Having experienced death and destruction at first hand I find it hard to believe that whatever sort of sad, mindless people they must be, that they can find something humorous to sing about in the misery of a disaster? If they wish to demonstrate their love for City, then they can best achieve it by keeping their gobs shut! Are the chanters really aware of what happened? Can they not be plucked out of their sad little groups and as part of their rehabilitation be forced to watch a documentary of what it was all about?

My lifelong pilgrimage in Holland is in extolling all things City and counter-propaganda against the Rags, not an easy job with Horseface and van der Saar in the other camp. Things were a bit more evenly balanced when Paul Bosvelt was around, but the verdict is still pending on Musampa.

Greetings to all of the Blue persuasion.

OPINION: THOSE SONGS

With respect to Joel Perry’s comments about Munich chants in MCIVTA 1172. I hate the Reds too. I hate their smugness, I hate their glory-seeking fans, I hate their inability to cope with losing, I hate their bitterness (yet they accuse us of being bitter), I hate them full stop. But that’s still no reason to sing Munich songs at them.

Look at our history for God’s sake. We won the Championship before the war because Busby was in our team. Our best ever goalie was Frank Swift (personal opinion from members of my family who saw both him and Bert) yet by singing Munich songs we despoil their memories and those of older Blues.

In fact I’ve had my complete fill of these songs. I chant “City City” when I hear them to try to drown out the morons. But nobody else joins in.

So come on Blues, if you’re really serious about it we have to start chanting some sort of agreed anti-chant ASAP and then perhaps the smug b*****ds will get the message that we don’t want them.

I’m even beginning to wonder whether SP shouldn’t get Royston Keane esquire into the team so the morons will take umbridge and bog off, leaving my team alone (like some have already done thanks to the arrival of Andy Cole).

OPINION: CARD BENEFITS

In response to Don’s statement that:

“Not one person can or will justify the £20 charge, most people’s opinion was that MCFC thought that there would be full houses most weeks and it was a way of cashing in.”

I’ll have a go:

Here’s what the club state that you get for your £20

Citycard members’ benefits:

• Exclusive match ticket rate for all members: £1 off all Premiership homeleague games when purchased during the exclusive sale period
• Vouchers worth over £25 to spend at the City of Manchester Stadium
• 10% Members-only discount in the CityStore and at mcfc.co.uk until 30September 2005 plus other selected discounts during the season (usualdiscount 5%)
• Exclusive sale period for all home league games to choose prime position
• Exclusive sale period for all away games and cup games (subject toavailability and after Seasoncard holders)
• 50 extra loyalty points for all members on joining
• Free entry to Reserve Team home league games at the Regional Athletics Arena
• Three editions of CityNews magazine deliverd to your door (one perhousehold, extra copies available on request)
• Invitations to special preview Members-only evenings at the CityStore
• Special offers for Museum & Stadium Tour during the season
• Loyalty points already acquired by previous members are carried forward

Which I seem to remember were similar when people had a Citycard back at Maine Road, the difference then was that you had to have a separate paper ticket to get through the turnstiles.

If you don’t want to get any of the above, and just want to pick and choose games to go to once the tickets are on open sale, then just get an Accesscard.

The club says:

“All Seasoncard holders, Citycard and Citycard International members are automatically issued with a smart card. Any non-members should register with the Ticket Store to obtain an Accesscard, which you will be able to use for the rest of the season. Non-members can obtain an Accesscard by calling 0870 062 1894 (option 1, lines open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm).”

And when I arranged a seat for a friend recently I was told on the above number that “An access card is £3.50 over the phone or FREE at the ground”

The club quotes are from the official website’s “Tickets & Membership” pages.

P.S. If you do the home reserve games, then the Citycard pays for itself before Christmas…

OPINION: PSYCHO

Last Thursday, I was very impressed to see our Leader at The Vibrators gig in Ashton at The Witchwood (of course). In a crowd of around 50, he was hardly recognised standing quietly at the back on his own. With the tabloids full of pictures of 2nd rate players staggering out of nightclubs after paying £200 for a bottle of champagne, what a refreshing change to see one of the most respected figures in the game paying a fiver to see one of his favourite bands. What a top bloke.

OPINION: ROYSTON

Sign Roy Keane.

OPINION: SUPPORTING THE SUPPORTERS’ CLUBS

When Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce decided some time ago that he was going to stop players visiting local supporters’ branches, many people were very disappointed with the decision but who was going to argue with him because I for one wasn’t? Instead, the club said that branches could hold meetings at the stadium, which far from being ideal, would be better than nowt if it happened. I among others were sceptical about the whole concept but the proof of the pudding is in the eating someone once said. P&W committee members and Manchester City football club have to be congratulated with the stunning success of the November meeting; while I wasn’t there and had absolutely nothing to do with it, credit where credit is due. City provided free coaches to and from Prestwich, provided the Citizens Suite free of charge, only charged £1.40 per pint, and provided raffle and auction prizes, City also supplied the guests, which included Fred Eyre, Stevey Ireland, Joey Barton, John Wardle, and Moonbeam. It might not be to everyone’s taste having to go to the ground for a meeting but if that is the price to pay to have such a great night then I for one think it is a price worth paying. I can’t think of another club that would do the same for its supporters; the fact is that the club aren’t going to send players to local meetings any more, so it is a case of either moving with the times or losing out altogether. It is dead easy to criticise MCFC when they get things wrong, so it is nice every now and again to praise them when they are on the ball. Once again, well done everyone involved and let’s hope other branches have just as good a night.

[Glad that P&W had a good night, hope it’s open to all supporters’ club branches though, as we’ve not heard about it – Ed]

REQUEST: LIVERPOOL TICKET

Can anyone help with a spare ticket, or ideally 2, for the Liverpool game?

Bemused by the City website’s explanations of ticketing, members, seasoncards, citycards, smartcards, accesscards, customer numbers and loyalty points – I have none of these things but would just love to see this one match while I’m briefly visiting the clan back in Manchester from current home in Helsinki.

In the good old days it used to be so easy just turning up at Maine Road at half past two with half a crown! Call +358 9 813 4474 or email.

REQUEST: BAY AREA BLUES

I’ll be in San Francisco on the weekend of the Liverpool game (26 Nov) and am wondering if there are any Blues planning to watch the match in a local bar or other venue. I’ll be staying downtown but could jump on the BART.

Let me know.

REQUEST: CITY WEB USERS

If anyone has any comments, suggestions, constructive or otherwise, on the mcfc.co.uk website that they would like raising at the forthcoming web users’ forum, please let me know by Thursday.

BLUE HUMOUR

It appears some ex-Rags still have a sense of humour: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8725427799&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:UK:31

RESULTS

20 November 2005

Tottenham Hotspur     1 - 1  West Ham United       36,154
Middlesbrough         3 - 2  Fulham                27,599

19 November 2005

Wigan Athletic        2 - 3  Arsenal               25,004
Charlton Athletic     1 - 3  Manchester United     26,730
Chelsea               3 - 0  Newcastle United      42,268
Liverpool             3 - 0  Portsmouth            44,394
Manchester City       0 - 0  Blackburn Rovers      44,032
Sunderland            1 - 3  Aston Villa           39,707
West Bromwich Albion  4 - 0  Everton               24,784

League table to 20 November 2005 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Chelsea         13  7  0  0 21  4  4  1  1 10  3 11  1  1  31   7  24  34
 2 Wigan Athletic  12  4  1  2  8  6  4  0  1  7  2  8  1  3  15   8   7  25
 3 Manchester Utd  12  2  2  1  5  4  5  1  1 14  8  7  3  2  19  12   7  24
 4 Arsenal         12  6  0  0 13  2  1  2  3  6  8  7  2  3  19  10   9  23
 5 Bolton Wndrs    12  4  1  1  6  1  3  1  2  8 10  7  2  3  14  11   3  23
 6 Tottenham H.    13  3  3  1  7  4  2  3  1  7  5  5  6  2  14   9   5  21
 7 Manchester City 13  4  2  1  9  4  2  1  3  6  7  6  3  4  15  11   4  21
 8 West Ham United 12  4  1  1 11  4  1  3  2  5  7  5  4  3  16  11   5  19
 9 Liverpool       11  4  1  1  8  4  1  3  1  4  4  5  4  2  12   8   4  19
10 Charlton Ath.   12  1  1  4  5 10  5  0  1 12  7  6  1  5  17  17   0  19
11 Middlesbrough   13  3  2  2 10 10  2  1  3  8  8  5  3  5  18  18   0  18
12 Blackburn R.    13  4  1  1 10  5  1  2  4  5 10  5  3  5  15  15   0  18
13 Newcastle Utd   13  3  2  1  6  5  2  1  4  6  8  5  3  5  12  13  -1  18
14 Fulham          13  3  1  2  8  6  0  2  5  6 13  3  3  7  14  19  -5  12
15 Aston Villa     13  1  2  3  6 10  2  1  4  7 12  3  3  7  13  22  -9  12
16 West Brom A.    13  3  0  4 12 12  0  2  4  1 10  3  2  8  13  22  -9  11
17 Portsmouth      13  0  3  3  3  8  2  1  4  8 10  2  4  7  11  18  -7  10
18 Everton         12  1  1  3  2  5  2  0  5  2 11  3  1  8   4  16 -12  10
19 Birmingham City 12  0  1  5  3 10  1  2  3  4  7  1  3  8   7  17 -10   6
20 Sunderland      13  0  2  5  7 17  1  0  5  5 10  1  2 10  12  27 -15   5

MCIVTA FAQ [v0506.02]

[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.mcfcosc.com/); the “Centenary Supporters’ Association” (http://www.reddishblues.com/CSAWebsite/CSA.htm) and “The International Supporters’ Club”.

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

The Fans’ Committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. The Fans’ Committee has been relaunched as “Points of Blue”. It has appeared on the club website as a minor entry under “Fans Zone”.

[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://mcfc.videoloungetv.com/do/preLogin?clubSiteCode=MCFC&CMP=AFC-003.

[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://www.foxsportsworld.com/named/FSW/Index/Soccer, http://www.soccertv.com/, and http://www.livesoccertv.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: