Newsletter #1276

Another fought out draw, smattered with a few bright spots, and a game where we created a fair few chances but our failure to score meant we could not bury a woeful Newcastle.

We have match views tonight, a view on the referee and requests as usual.

Next up Fulham; they deserve a thrashing after last season. Let’s hope the kit man has located the scoring boots in the locker room.

MATCH VIEW I: MCFC 0 NUFC 0

Both City and Newcastle tried to play some good football, but City needed a Goat, and Newcastle needed a Shearer.

The City defence held firm and keep their record of not conceding a goal at the CoMS, but came under a lot of pressure in the final minutes when Newcastle really turned it on.

For the first 60 minutes Dickov and Vassell were the City strikers, lots of energy but no real threat on the Newcastle goal. Then came on Corradi and Samaras as the subs. Although the City strikers never got a goal, Corradi came very close and made some fine efforts; the same cannot be said of Samaras.

On the sideline, Glen Roeder and Stuart Pearce looked as if some fisticuffs was going to happen, but we never got to see the Ricky Hatton side of Stu, as they were separated. After the game was over they were the best of friends again, as of course they should be.

The game saw lots of effort, but City lack that killer punch; oh for a Goat to feed.

Liverpool had a problem with scoring back in 2002/03, and Gerard Houlier who was manager back then brought back Ian Rush as the striker coach to improve things.

Would it do any good to bring back an ex-City player to coach the strikers? Maybe Shawn Goater who was a pure striker, and had that instinct for goals, and if my memory serves me right he wants to be a coach.

When Daniel Sturridge is fully fit, I don’t think that it will do any harm to give him a go, after our other strikers failing to score yet again.

Come on you Blues, just score!

MATCH VIEW II: MCFC 0 NUFC 0

Well my eyes opened at 1.41am on Sunday morning, the wife stirred and asked “Where are you going?” She couldn’t sleep either. “I’m off to watch City”, I replied stumbling out to the lounge and the telly.

Well it wasn’t a half decent performance against a woeful Newcastle side and we could have been 2-3 goal winners if for a little bit of luck.

Very impressed with the back four, Dickov ran his socks off and made a nuisance of himself (I honestly believe you need players like that in any side), Barton had one of his better games, but the one I liked the look of was Trabelsi. Got a bit of class this fella, and can play as well, which is handy. And for once was impressed with Corradi. Actually put himself about, made a few decent chances for himself, was unlucky. Maybe all he needs is the first goal, who knows.

Still happier this morning, be happier if we were like this, effort wise, every week.

To my mate Dave Lamb, who’s back in Manchester for his dad’s funeral, I’m thinking of you, take care, and a safe journey back to Christchurch.

Yeah you gotta luv City, my wife thinks I’m crazy!

MATCH VIEW III: MCFC 0 NUFC 0

I remember listening to Radio 5 Live when we were in the 2nd Division in 1999 and they were interviewing City fans going to a game. Interviewer: “Why do people turn up in such great numbers to games even in the 2nd Division?” City fan: “We’re liked whipped dogs – it doesn’t matter what punishment you dish out, we keep coming back for more.”

This is exactly how I feel as a City fan and it feels much worse now than it did back then. I told myself after the Reading and Wigan games that I wouldn’t watch any more, but I sadly decided to watch this excuse for a football game.

This was an abject City performance against a poor and demoralised Newcastle side that could hardly muster a shot on Weaver’s goal. These should be games for the taking, but City just don’t have what it takes.

Everyone seems to try hard but there’s no creativity and a lot of the players are just second rate. The back four are solid against crappy teams like Newcastle but the midfield and attack are players that are probably playing one division too high for the skills they have.

In the first half, City had 70% of the possession but the best chance came from a good Barton volley from outside the area, which Harper palmed away. Reyna had a chance later in the half at the far post but fluffed his shot.

In the second half Newcastle made some substitutions and seemed to come more into the game. I was worried that they would sneak a goal and it would end 0-1. Corradi and Samaras came on for Reyna and Dickov and the pace upped a little, but there was no real threat from City.

I would single out four players that will continue to perform poorly this year but that might do better for us next year when we’re in the Championship:

Dickov – you can’t fault his endeavour but what we need from a forward is someone who hit the target. In the second half he was clear on goal and only had to put it in with his left foot. Instead he turns to bring it onto his right and the defender gets a foot in. He was never that good but he’s now way past his best.

Trabelsi – Perhaps he’s being played out of position, but he’s not a midfield player. When he does win the ball, he hangs onto it for too long instead of making the telling pass. Sinclair and even Sun Jihai do better at right midfield and I know there are lots who don’t think much of these two, so that shows just how poor Trabelsi is.

Corradi – couldn’t hit a barn door with a wet fish! He’s just a lightweight and I’m not at all surprised that he hasn’t scored once in 12 games.

Reyna – Captain America my arse! I really don’t know what Pearce sees in him. Every aspect of his game is below par and I don’t even think he would cut it in the lower division.

I think Pearce has got to shoulder a lot of the blame for City’s current form. He’s brought in three of the four players above and let Andy Cole go, who was one of our best players last year. I don’t buy the bullocks about the board not giving him enough money. We have one of the highest wage bills in the league and invest more in our Academy that any outside the top four.

Pearce is out of his depth as a Premiership manager. I’d be happy if he went soon and we got someone like Curbishley in.

[Take it you haven’t seen the accounts then Andy, it is hard to see what money the board have to give! – Ed]

OPINION: POLL-AXED

Watched City labour to a 0-0 against a very poor Newcastle side who only looked dangerous in the last 5-10 minutes when City had to hold on. What I cannot believe is how the Premier League allow games to be refereed by Graham Poll. The World Cup highlighted his shortcomings as have the last few weeks and as for today it is clear he wants to be in the limelight à la Rob Styles. Pedantic, incapable of allowing the game to flow with no advantages being played.

I will have to watch MOTD to judge some of the decisions, especially the disallowed goal but City seemed to get punished and Newcastle got away with more, biased as I may be!

With the money in the game and hence the stakes each game is played for, we (the paying customers) need top drawer officials, not poor, overly pedantic ones like Poll. Come on Premier League, where is the quality control? Please do all us genuine fans a favour and get shot of the likes of Poll, Styles or relegate them to non-league where they deserve to fester (sorry, no offence to non-league teams etc.).

Sorry for the rant… my day was spoilt not just by the wind, rain and City being unable to get the ball between the white frame known as a goal (7 goals all season in the league, slight problem maybe?) but by Poll yet again. Can we canvass such that next time he is at COMS we give him the reception he deserves and all boo him?

[He lived up to his song again, how about 40,000 yellow cards being held up to him – Ed]

OPINION: JIM’S VIEW

Well, I took my limited intelligence to the game last Monday (Middlesbrough) and was treated to a win as usual (my annual visit to the UK and the COMS always results in a win!).

It was a pleasure to have a pie and a pint to go with the win and I owe my thanks to my nephew who surrendered his ticket to me for the privilege. Nobody read any financial reports to me during the game, so I was able to enjoy the win, although the last 15 minutes were a strain for my heart.

The surrounding supporters did offer to chip in for my airfare again if we suffer a similar slump but I think that smacks of desperation. Thanks again to all for your hospitality and 3 points!

REQUEST: CHELTENHAM/GLOUCESTER BLUES VIEWING

Got to be in Cheltenham on the day of the derby in December – does anybody know any pubs that will show the game but won’t be full of Rags?

Might go to see Gloucester at Kingsholm afterwards, so Gloucester would be a possibility too.

RESULTS

12 November 2006

Reading               3 - 1  Tottenham Hotspur     24,110
Arsenal               3 - 0  Liverpool             60,110

11 November 2006

Manchester City       0 - 0  Newcastle United      40,571
Middlesbrough         1 - 0  West Ham United       25,898
Portsmouth            1 - 1  Fulham                19,563
Chelsea               4 - 0  Watford               41,936
Everton               0 - 1  Aston Villa           36,376
Sheffield United      2 - 2  Bolton Wanderers      28,294
Wigan Athletic        3 - 2  Charlton Athletic     16,572
Blackburn Rovers      0 - 1  Manchester United     26,162

League table to 12 November 2006 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Manchester Utd  12  5  0  1 13  2  5  1  0 14  3 10  1  1  27   5  22  31
 2 Chelsea         12  5  1  0 13  3  4  0  2  9  4  9  1  2  22   7  15  28
 3 Arsenal         11  3  3  0 12  3  3  0  2  7  3  6  3  2  19   6  13  21
 4 Aston Villa     12  4  2  0 10  3  1  4  1  5  6  5  6  1  15   9   6  21
 5 Bolton Wndrs    12  3  1  2  5  5  3  2  1  7  6  6  3  3  12  11   1  21
 6 Portsmouth      12  4  1  1 10  3  2  1  3  7  7  6  2  4  17  10   7  20
 7 Everton         12  3  2  1 10  5  1  3  2  6  6  4  5  3  16  11   5  17
 8 Wigan Athletic  11  3  1  1 10  6  2  1  3  6  7  5  2  4  16  13   3  17
 9 Liverpool       12  5  1  0 13  3  0  1  5  1 12  5  2  5  14  15  -1  17
10 Fulham          12  3  1  2  5  5  1  4  1  8 11  4  5  3  13  16  -3  17
11 Reading         12  3  1  2  8  9  2  0  4  5  9  5  1  6  13  18  -5  16
12 Tottenham H.    12  4  1  1  7  4  0  2  4  2 10  4  3  5   9  14  -5  15
13 Middlesbrough   12  4  0  2  6  7  0  2  4  4  9  4  2  6  10  16  -6  14
14 Manchester City 12  3  3  0  4  0  0  1  5  3 14  3  4  5   7  14  -7  13
15 Blackburn R.    12  2  1  3  7  8  1  2  3  3  8  3  3  6  10  16  -6  12
16 West Ham United 12  3  1  2  7  6  0  1  5  2  9  3  2  7   9  15  -6  11
17 Sheff. United   12  1  3  2  6  8  1  1  4  1  8  2  4  6   7  16  -9  10
18 Newcastle Utd   12  1  2  3  5  7  1  1  4  2  7  2  3  7   7  14  -7   9
19 Watford         12  1  4  1  7  6  0  2  4  2 11  1  6  5   9  17  -8   9
20 Charlton Ath.   12  2  1  3  4  6  0  1  5  5 12  2  2  8   9  18  -9   8

MCIVTA FAQ [v0607.01]

[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.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 Radio Manchester (née GMR) pre and post match phone-in is available on the web at http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/sport/manchester_city/index.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://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer, 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 Plus Markets Group web site http://www.plusmarketsgroup.com/ 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] I hear there is a TV programme specifically about City?

InsideMCFC is broadcasted by ChannelM. It is available on the SkyDigital (ch.203) and NTL (ch.26) platforms as well as being transmittedtraditionally within the Manchester area (ch.39). In addition, theprogramme is available to watch via the web. More details and schedule:http://www.channelm.co.uk/features/city.html

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: