Newsletter #1279

A brief issue tonight, with Don bringing us a comprehensive round up of all things City past and present. There is reaction to Corradi’s brace and goal celebrations, the proposed supporters’ trust and Sun has been shipped off to Germany to find out just what is wrong with him. Interesting news from Norway where Uwe’s on a managerial merry-go-round and now joined up with one of our ex-loan players, Egil Ostenstad – remember him? We are rumoured to be after a Maltese player from Uwe’s ex-club. Maltesers, lovely.

We have opinion on the possible SWP out of Chelsea move and the inevitable interest in Richards given his England call-up, together with the usual requests.

City travel down the M62 to Anfield on Saturday and, given Liverpool’s indifferent league form this season I am quietly confident of a 1-1 draw and a point for our efforts.

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

Don’t Mistrust the Trust: The M.E.N. claimed this week that the embryonic MCFC Supporters’ Trust Group had been in touch with former Chairman David Bernstein. The article implied that the Group were interested in securing Bernstein’s return to the club, and quoted Mr B saying that “Over the last few months I have numerous calls from supporters and supporters’ groupings expressing unhappiness over a wide range of issues and the club’s general direction. These concerns appear to be increasing and it worries me that so many people feel this way.” In MCIVTA 1278, you may have read Colin Savage’s posting where he denied the Group was behind such a story with its hints of a proposed takeover. City’s spokesman Paul Tyrrell told the M.E.N.: “We are surprised by David Bernstein’s comments because he has always been extremely supportive of the club, especially of John Wardle and Alistair Mackintosh.” As the Evening News got a second day’s worth of copy out of this story, it quoted Ollie Goddard, who is also involved in the proposed Group. He put the ambitions of the Group into context: “We are still at the research and planning stage but hope to have an open meeting, possibly at the club. We are not about regime change. John Wardle and David Makin are saviours of the club and should be applauded. We want to work with the board towards a positive future. We don’t know how much we will raise until we launch the Trust but it is unlikely to be £10-£20 million. But even if we raise £2 million and it helps the running of the Academy for a year then it has got to be a positive for the club.” As to the concept of a Supporters’ Trust for City – the club don’t sound overly keen. The M.E.N. went on to quote Mr Tyrrell as saying: “We are in constructive dialogue with the people who are behind the idea. However, it is important to keep a perspective on their ambitions. Trusts do a great job at the lower end of the football pyramid, but the high financial stakes in the Premier League somewhat limit their potential effectiveness – as we have seen at other top flight clubs. All our fans must be clear that there does not appear to be any significant investors or investment opportunities associated with this group of well meaning people. Most of their stated aims are being delivered by Manchester City – day in, day out.”

The Price of Fame: You can tell that Micah Richards is a young superstar in the making – two agents are fighting over him. He’s in a £1 million legal dispute, according to the Daily Mail – his former agents Team Associates are suing the 18-year-old for breach of contract. Managing director Andy Hobson was quoted as saying: “He’s under contract with us and we’re actively pursuing the action against the player.” But his new representatives SEM claims it has been the player’s representative “for some time”. SEM negotiated the player’s new £15,000-a-week contract during the summer.

Tea-Time ‘Special’: Oh goodie, another kick-off’s been changed to accommodate Sky’s pay per view audience. The kick-off time of the home fixture against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday January 20, 2007 has been put back, and will now kick of at 5.15pm.

Ven’s Diagram for Success: The man they call “El Tel” was in town this week. England’s former coach, now back at the FA as Assistant to Steve McClaren, attended the Annual Sportsman’s Dinner, where he was guest speaker. He was full of praise for the Academy at Platt Lane. “All the clubs now have got to have good academies, there’s no doubt about that. We’ve got to get the best talent we can and promote our own English players coming through. And since the Academy has started at Manchester City, you’ve had 20 players come through, which is great.” Naturally he was asked for his opinion on the latest Academy graduate to make a name for himself, namely Micah Richards. “Recently the game when we played against Holland, Micah came into the group and from day one he wasn’t fazed, he was excellent. The first thing that struck me was what a nice guy he was. Then it was straight into training and it sort of took your breath away. This boy is quick, strong, got a good leap and a great attitude – he looks a winner. He went straight into a game playing against Robben, who is rated as one of the best wingers in Europe, and we all saw what he did. He did extremely well against him and I was delighted for him. We were left saying ‘we’ve got another good player’ as well as Manchester City.”

Transfer News and Gossip

Blades Fight: You what? City are apparently after a second player from Uwe Rösler’s ex-team, Lillestrom SK. Last week it was midfielder Robert Koren – this week, it’s Malta international Michael Mifsud. He has bagged eleven goals in nineteen games this season, and his deal expires at the end of this year. Sheffield United have in the past registered an interest in the 25-year-old and are expected to move again for the player, but City are also in the running and will be hopeful of beating the Blades to his signature. “For me it is not a matter of money, but to get the most out of my career,” Mifsud told Nettavisen. “Therefore I desire to join a bigger club in a bigger league. Both Manchester City and Sheffield United have been mentioned, but no offers have come yet. In case nothing happens, I might talk to LSK again.”

Sweep Swap? Chelsea are reportedly set to make a move for prize asset Micah Richards. And in an impressive effort to tie together two of last week’s news threads, the Sun claims that Chelsea may offer SWP back to City on loan in return for first option on Richards. It increasingly sounds like Shaun will be leaving the rouble-rich regions of West London, and according to one website West Ham’s Alan Pardew has set his sights on a securing the wee winger in a £10 million January transfer window raid. And just as you’d expect, Shaun is trying to make the best of his situation at Stamford Bridge. He’s started only 17 games for Jose Mourinho’s side and failed to register a goal, but he told the club’s official magazine that: “I’m just getting on with it, getting my head down and working hard. I’m doing my extras, just so that when my opportunity comes, I’m ready. I often stay behind after training and try to do a bit of everything really. Shooting, crossing, that kind of thing, the elements that are central to my game. It is frustrating, of course it is. But I always wanted to be a footballer and when you’re a footballer you have to take the rough with the smooth. This is obviously a rough patch but it’s down to me to make it smoother. People often ask how it affects my confidence but I can quite honestly say that it hasn’t dented my confidence at all. I can’t let my head drop. And if I can keep that mindset, my time will eventually come.”

Zak’s Appeal: How today’s transfer system works, Part 543. Last week we reported that City were interested in striker Amr Zaki, who plays for Egyptian side Zamalek. This week Zamalek revealed that they hadn’t had a direct bid from City – instead they claim that management agency 4 Steps have faxed a proposal to the club from two unnamed Premiership clubs offering £2 million for the highly-rated 23-year-old. However, despite Zaki’s self-confessed desire to play in England, Zamalek insist he will not be going anywhere unless any interested party ignores 4 Steps and makes a direct approach to themselves. Zamalek vice-president Hazem Fawzi told Egyptian website FilGoal: “We told the player to concentrate on Zamalek in the coming period and forget about any European offer at least until the end of the season.”

Hometown Boy: Swansea City have agreed a deal with City to bring teenage midfielder Scott Evans back to his hometown club. Evans, 17, will officially join the Swans on an 18-month deal when the transfer window opens on 1 January. But the Wales Under-19 international is already training with the Swans and can play for their youth and reserve sides. Evans left Swansea for Manchester City three seasons ago, but has decided to leave in search of first-team football. “My first two years at Man City were fine and I really enjoyed my football,” Evans told the Swansea City website. “It was great experience. I played in the FA Youth Cup final last season – and I also played for the reserves on a regular basis. But things changed for me this season and I just wasn’t enjoying it. Man City wanted me to stay and were phoning me all the time to come back. They even offered me a two-year pro contract, but it wasn’t for me. My future’s with my hometown club.”

Ex-Blues’ News

Uwe the Viking: You think the managerial roundabout’s swirling only in Britain? Think again! I’m grateful to Kjartan Aanestad, who informed me (a day before the news websites) that Uwe Rösler was back in football management. Uwe has been appointed by Viking Stavanger, replacing Tom Nordlie who left Viking to coach Lillestrøm after they sacked Uwe! Kjarten also informs us that Stavanger’s Sporting Director is Egil Østenstad, who played on loan for City rather unsuccessfully during Joe Royle’s reign. Uwe has a three year contract with his new club, prompting our former striker to state; “I wasn’t expecting to get another good job in Norwegian football so quickly. I am proud to think that Viking wanted me.”

Willie Make it As a Number One? Millwall have appointed caretaker boss Willie Donachie as their new manager on a permanent basis. City’s former player and coach took charge after Nigel Spackman’s sacking in September, and since then the Lions have moved out of the League One relegation zone. “We knew he would prove a safe pair of hands but we wanted to be certain he was the right man to take charge long term,” said chairman Stewart Till.

Reactions and Comments

Corr Blimey – What a Show: Bernardo Corradi ended his goal drought last Saturday as City side struck three first-half goals to cruise past disappointing Fulham. Corradi volleyed home strike partner Georgios Samaras’ header for his first goal of the season after 12 minutes. He then turned home Joey Barton’s pass before the Merseysider slid in the third seconds before the break. Substitute Collins John lobbed home a neat finish for Fulham after 62 minutes, but City were worthy winners. It was the first goal City have conceded in more than 10 hours of football at Eastlands this season, but hardly took the gloss off an impressive display. “We have created a lot of chances over the last few weeks and not put them away and today we could have had five or six,” mused Psycho. “It’s a shame we conceded one. To go in at 3-0 up the main thing was to keep their feet on the ground. We still created enough chances to win the game by four, five or six, but they went up the other end and made it a bit difficult. The forwards have taken a bit of stick for not scoring, but they have replied the way I wanted them to and I’m pleased for Bernardo especially. He has great qualities, he is very professional in his outlook and great to have around the training ground. It is difficult to pick a negative out of the performance, the midfield pair and the two centre-halves were excellent. I thought Trabelsi and Reyna were outstanding today, Claudio shut the opposition down extremely well and that’s part of his game that you would say is probably not his strength.” Pearce said: “There is a confidence in this team at the moment and the fact we have conceded just one goal in seven matches at home is a pleasing one.” One thing about Fulham’s boss Chris Coleman is that he wears his heart on his sleeve – TV coverage clearly showed Coleman’s anger rising as his team capitulated in the first half. Once he’d calmed down, he told reporters after the match: “It was not that we lost but the manner in which we lost,” he said. “We never got out of the blocks, we have been good on our travels this season we have only last one game and that was Manchester U****d at Old Trafford. This was never going to be an easy game, always going to be tough – but we never gave ourselves a chance. I just think the first 45 minutes we weren’t there – we have been hard to beat this season, but we just weren’t there in the first 45. We have had a good season so far considering some of the things that have happened to us, we weren’t good today and we won’t get results if we don’t play to our max. It was never going to be pretty but fair play to them, they were in among each other and that’s the only positive I can take out of that.”

King Corradi and the Scouse Sir: Never mind all this match analysis malarkey – what the press really wanted to know was – why, after scoring each of his goals, did Bernardo Corradi uproot a corner flag and use it as a sword up Joey Barton’s shoulders, appearing to confer a knighthood on the Scouse Scampster? Any explanations? “When we signed him on the compilation tapes he’d been a bull-fighter, so I was expecting that to come out,” offered SP. “And now he’s gone and knighted Joey Barton. If Joey gets a knighthood before me I’m leaving the game!” he quipped. And what did ‘King’ Corradi have to say for himself? “It’s something like me saying, ‘you are my soldier’, because we all fight together!” laughs Bernardo. “When you score, it’s not easy to keep quiet and you have to decide what to do when everyone is coming to you! It was a nice feeling.” More seriously, SP was obviously pleased for his Italian striker to finally hit the back of the net for City. “I’m delighted for Bernardo, as I am for the rest of the strikers because whoever plays up top is playing for the team, not for themselves. Bernardo took his goals extremely well and I’m delighted for him. It’s not easy fitting in when you are from a different country, people expect you to fit in straight away and everything will be rosy in the garden. It does not always work that way, and it takes time to settle in. Historically Italian players are very professional – I know that from working with Paolo Di Canio and I see the same traits in this player. Bernardo wants to work hard and he cannot understand why he gets a day off in the week. When I give him a day off he comes in and works. I am pleased he has got his reward for working hard.” The double goalscorer commented “I’m very happy because you know that when work hard during the week you want to see the result, and for a forward scoring goals is the best result you can have,” says the 30-year-old. “The last time, when I came off the bench, I had three chances to score. When you are a forward you can sometimes score some lucky goals or try shooting from everywhere and not hit the target. That’s the life of a striker. It is not easy having played in Italy for 12 years, coming here a lot of things are different like the food and the lifestyle. It’s not easy to get used to it, but if you work hard it will happen, so I’m very happy. When you score goals there is always a lot of hard work from behind to help you – Joey scored his goal from a great pass from defence. When we lose we lose together but when we win, we win together as well.” Joey Barton praised Corradi’s efforts, and told Sky PremPlus: “He was desperate to score but he hasn’t had the rub of the green. He showed what a class finisher he is, you don’t play for top clubs without being a good player. We’ve been knocking on the door in previous games, and this has been coming.”

Squid News

Decrepit Mills: Danny Mills has returned to the club after sustaining a stress fracture of his shin whilst on loan with Hull City. The City right-back’s loan deal at the KC Stadium was due to end after last weekend’s fixture with Stoke City, but the defender has moved back early to Manchester following his injury. Hull however haven’t ruled out re-signing Mills in the future. “It is terrible news for Danny and for Hull City,” Tigers’ chairman Adam Pearson told the Yorkshire Post. “I spoke to Danny this morning and he is very disappointed, but hopefully he will be back playing again by January.” He added: “Danny has been fantastic and a credit to himself and Hull City. We would have loved to keep him and maybe in the future he will come back. He is one of the best loan signings we have made and we had been hoping to extend his stay for another month. Unfortunately, that will not now happen, but we wish Danny all the best.”

Stur Crazy to Play Again: At the other end of the scale, in terms of age, talent and fitness, is one Daniel Sturridge. And it’s good news on that front, folks, Danny is fit again and raring to go. He told the club website that “I had a hamstring injury before that as well so it’s counted me out for a while. I’m feeling fine now, I’m just trying to get my sharpness back because I have been out for so long.” He made his comeback in last week’s Reserve derby, and he’s reported no ill effect. “It felt good because having been out for so long, so to get that amount of time out on the pitch in a real match was a bonus for me. I’m just happy to be playing again.” Could he soon be ready to force his way into the first team squad? “I’m always ready for the call, I’ve been working hard in training and if he thinks I’m ready to play then I think I could do a job for the team. If the opportunity comes I’ll be there to take it with both hands,” he asserts.

Getting the Needle: City have sent perennial injury crock Sun Jihai to Germany in an attempt to cure his troublesome hamstring problem. The China international is yet to appear for the Blues this season after suffering the injury at the start of pre-season training. SP has now sent the player to a specialist in Munich, who has previously treated a number of City players including Claudio Reyna, in an attempt to solve the ongoing injury worry, which could be related to Sun’s back. “Every time Sun tried to come back, something happened that set him back a bit more,” confirmed Pearce. “At the moment he is having a course of injections in Germany that we are hoping will solve the problem. There have been so many false dawns we don’t want to put a timescale on his recovery, we just hope it works.”

Ham’s Hamstring Hope: Dietmar Hamann has recovered from his hamstring injury and looks set to face former club Liverpool this weekend. The German international has been on the sidelines since injuring his hamstring during that vile 4-0 defeat at Wigan last month but is now ready to return. Trevor Sinclair and DaMarcus Beasley are both set to miss the game so Hamann’s return is a timely boost to the squad. Apparently. “He has been back in training since last Thursday and looks very good,” SP told the club website. “He’s looked after himself while he’s been out and it’s a case of getting some fitness for him and the more days the better.”

OPINION: DEAL OR NO DEAL?

I think it is inevitable that one of the big four clubs will come cheque-book in hand to scoop up Micah Richards, so why don’t City do the obvious and cook up a deal with Chelsea to get Shaun Wright Philips back?

SWP is still good enough to play for England, would be a devastating addition to City’s attack and would compensate in goals for what we would lose with the loss of Micah.

Surely Richards is the bait we can wave at Chelski and City could probably also get a few roubles out of them to find a replacement. Better to be in control of the situation and accept the inevitable.

OPINION: CITY PODCASTS

Just to add to Peter’s info about City podcasts – for those not using iTunes you can also access these podcasts on the club’s website http://www.mcfc.co.uk/. From the homepage menu, select “Fanzone”, then “City Multimedia” and finally “Podcasts”. I’m surprised they hide it away like that, be much better placed with a link on the main page I reckon.

OPINION: PAYING THE PRICE

Does Weaver get dropped now for letting one in…?

REQUEST: LIVERPOOL TICKETS AVAILABLE

Due to unforeseen circumstances, I have two (away) tickets for Liverpool going spare. If anyone is interested, please contact me by email asap.

REQUEST: UK TRIP ADVICE FOR ROVING CANADIAN

The wife and I are planning a trip over to the UK in the Fall of 2007 (our first time abroad) and was hoping for some advice in that regard.

Basically, I know the fixture list isn’t released until, what, June? However, we would like to plan the trip as soon as is possible. We plan on being in England for about 15 days or so.

What would be a good time to come over? It would be ideal to watch City at CoMS, but we’ll attend an away match if necessary.

Would like some advice as well on good pubs in Manchester (and London), and any suggestions on places to stay, things to do, etc. We plan on visiting London, Manchester (if only to watch City!), and possibly seeing distant relatives in Wales. We may or may not spend a day or three in Ireland, as well.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

RESULTS

League table to 22 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  13  5  0  1 13  2  6  1  0 16  4 11  1  1  29   6  23  34
 2 Chelsea         13  6  1  0 14  3  4  0  2  9  4 10  1  2  23   7  16  31
 3 Portsmouth      13  5  1  1 12  4  2  1  3  7  7  7  2  4  19  11   8  23
 4 Arsenal         12  3  4  0 13  4  3  0  2  7  3  6  4  2  20   7  13  22
 5 Aston Villa     13  4  2  0 10  3  1  5  1  5  6  5  7  1  15   9   6  22
 6 Bolton Wndrs    13  3  1  2  5  5  3  2  2  7  7  6  3  4  12  12   0  21
 7 Everton         13  4  2  1 11  5  1  3  2  6  6  5  5  3  17  11   6  20
 8 Reading         13  4  1  2 10  9  2  0  4  5  9  6  1  6  15  18  -3  19
 9 Wigan Athletic  12  3  2  1 10  6  2  1  3  6  7  5  3  4  16  13   3  18
10 Liverpool       13  5  1  0 13  3  0  2  5  1 12  5  3  5  14  15  -1  18
11 Fulham          13  3  1  2  5  5  1  4  2  9 14  4  5  4  14  19  -5  17
12 Manchester City 13  4  3  0  7  1  0  1  5  3 14  4  4  5  10  15  -5  16
13 Tottenham H.    13  4  1  1  7  4  0  3  4  3 11  4  4  5  10  15  -5  16
14 Middlesbrough   13  4  1  2  6  7  0  2  4  4  9  4  3  6  10  16  -6  15
15 Blackburn R.    13  2  2  3  8  9  1  2  3  3  8  3  4  6  11  17  -6  13
16 West Ham United 13  3  1  2  7  6  0  1  6  2 10  3  2  8   9  16  -7  11
17 Newcastle Utd   13  1  2  3  5  7  1  2  4  3  8  2  4  7   8  15  -7  10
18 Sheff. United   13  1  3  3  7 10  1  1  4  1  8  2  4  7   8  18 -10  10
19 Watford         13  1  4  1  7  6  0  2  5  3 13  1  6  6  10  19  -9   9
20 Charlton Ath.   13  2  1  3  4  6  0  1  6  5 14  2  2  9   9  20 -11   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: