Newsletter #1302

Tonight Don’s news round-up brings in-depth reaction to the Pompey game, and alleged incidents, news on a potential late loan signing in Belgian striker Emile Mpenza, Academy, U21 and international action and ex-Blues’ news – oh and Danny Mills.

We also have opinion on the transfer activity, lack of strength in depth and answers to Steve’s ground questions together with Points of Blue meeting notes.

FA Cup action on Sunday (televised game) away at Deepdale to Paul Simpson’s PNE. Can’t wait! Although the highly responsible Safety Officer at Preston has decided to ban City fans bringing their inflatable bananas. Does he not realise that the Cup games are supposed to have a bit of atmosphere, some fun and frivolity? And can anyone out there tell me how many people have been seriously maimed by a blow-up banana?

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

Double Job Jeopardy: If John Prescott is now known as “two Jags”, should City’s erstwhile Boss Man be known as “Two Jobs”? Yes, the controversy of SP holding the England Under-21 post at the same time as the City job has rumbled into a second week. Pearce’s predecessor, Crystal Palace manger Peter Taylor, is unhappy with the conditions of Pearce’s part-time management of the Under-21’s. Taylor resigned from his England post earlier this year, stating that the post needed to be filled full-time and he couldn’t shift his attentions between Palace and the Under 21’s. Taylor is disappointed he wasn’t offered the same terms as Pearce. “I must admit, I’m not overly impressed with that bit,” Taylor told Sky Sports News. “I packed it in because I couldn’t guarantee I’d be there for the preparation games. To me, if it was going to be Stuart doing the tournament, then Stuart should be doing all the preparation games. So if he’s not doing the game in March, I can’t really understand that. If he’s not doing March, then I’m not doing March and I could have done the tournament, so I can’t really work that one out. Something has broken down somewhere. With the amount of games I’ve been in charge with, if I had not taken any preparation games, I still think I would have known more about the players in June than any person that was going to take one or two matches.” Meanwhile, back at Carrington, Steve Wigley was insisting Pearce’s two-day absence hadn’t affected City’s preparations for the Portsmouth game. Wigley said: “The reality is that on Monday morning there were only four lads out there at training from the starting 11 because of a couple of knocks since last Saturday, plus call-ups. On Tuesday we had a few more back from injury and they worked very hard. But in an international week, your preparations for the Saturday game begin on the Thursday because everyone is away.”

Red Cass! There’s a top interview with Jim Cassell, on the BBC website this week, where he discusses the success and the history of City’s Academy. He reveals how pleasantly surprised he was when City continued to keep on funding the Youth policy, even when the Blues slipped into Division Two for that one season. He believes that such foresight is paying dividends today. For that and more (did you know Mr Cassell was a former Reds trainee?), you can find the full article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/6331937.stm.

Transfer News and Gossip

Emile Deal Sounds Mighty Real: Here was a bit of a shock – Emile Mpenza revealed today that he is on the brink of joining City after terminating his contract in Qatar. A number of Premiership clubs have showed an interest in the Belgian attacker, most notably Wigan Athletic, but the forward is to link up with SP after severing his ties with Al-Rayyan. That was the club, lest we forget, that Ali Benarbia joined after leaving City. Before moving to the Middle East, Mpenza played in the Bundesliga with both Schalke and Hamburg. The deal will initially be a four-month contract with the option to sign for a further three years at Eastlands if he impresses. The move can be processed even though the transfer deadline has passed as he is a free agent. “I make this move as revenge with respect to all those who criticised my decision to play in Qatar,” he told Bel-RTL. “At 28 years old, I am not finished and I will prove it in Manchester. To play in England is to carry out a dream.”

Harry’s Game: As we all know, when it comes to transfer dealings, Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp is as straight as a die and would never tap up a player from another club. This week Redknapp confirmed he would be in the market for Sylvain Distin – should he leave City this summer. “I like Sylvain. He’s got great pace, is good in the air, has a good left foot and is a quality player,” said Redknapp. “He will go somewhere else when he’s out of contract in the summer.”

Loving Leroy: Now let me get this straight. SP has made a number of complimentary comments about Reading striker Leroy Lita, especially after Lita scored twice against City then three days later scored for England’s Under-21 team. According to the tabloids, City therefore want to sign the player. Lita has scored 13 goals in 28 games for Reading this season and has made the most of an injury to Republic of Ireland international Kevin Doyle to become a regular in Royals’ boss Steve Coppell’s plans since the turn of the year. But the striker, a £1 million signing from Bristol City in July 2005, has only 12 months left on his contract at the Madejski Stadium after this season and has so far failed to agree a new deal.

Is Pearce ‘Avin A Laff? SP is monitoring Burnley striker Kyle Lafferty. Pearce is looking to add some competition for places up front in the summer to mix things up a little with his goal shy strikers and has been watching Lafferty with a keen eye so far this season. Lafferty has scored just 4 goals this season for Championship outfit Burnley – wow, what a goal machine! Still, that’s still more than a few City strikers I could name… It is believed a fee of around £1 million will secure the youngster’s signature. Elsewhere, it’s being said that City haven’t shelved their interest in Fulham striker Collins John, who was an alleged target in January.

Bayer Beware: Celtic are reportedly favourites to sign Bayer Leverkusen star Andriy Voronin, but City and Bolton are thought to be interested in the 27-year-old Ukrainian international, who is out of contract and available on a free transfer at the end of the season. Ex-Celtic and Borussia Dortmund midfielder Murdo MacLeod, now a Bundesliga pundit with Setanta, told the Daily Record: “There is going to be a bit of competition for his signature and it will all come down to what makes the player tick. I’m not saying Celtic are going to be fighting it out with the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United for his signature but I would expect a lot of interest in him from other Premiership clubs.”

Ex-Blues’ New

Danny Hears the Roar: “Former Australian international Danny Tiatto has signed to play with Queensland Roar for the next two seasons in a big coup for the club. The midfielder, who has captained English Championship side Leicester City for the past three years, represented Australia on 29 occasions before retiring from international football in 2005. A Melbourne boy originally, Tiatto had initially spoken with Melbourne Victory about a possible return to his home city but coach Ernie Merrick declined to sign the explosive left-footer. The 33-year old, who also made 140 appearances for English Premier League side Manchester City, said he was looking forward to returning to Australia and being involved with the hugely successful A-League.” (thanks to Ralph in NZ for this item)

Reactions and Comments

Kanu Believe It? So, another fruitless visit to Portsmouth, another stunning goal by Pedro Mendes, another chance to see Mendes stretchered off, and yet another storm surrounding Joey Barton. An average day at the office for City, you might say. Pompey had taken the lead after just four minutes, when Pedro Mendes fired in from 20 yards. City equalised midway through the second half when Italian Bernardo Corradi headed in Darius Vassell’s cross from close range. But a late goal from substitute Nwankwo Kanu gave Portsmouth victory, as the forward toe-poked in from eight yards after making the most of Glen Johnson’s run and reverse ball. The game became newsworthy when Mendes was stretchered away following a controversial tackle by Joey Barton. Pompey boss Harry Redknapp took his fury out on referee Mike Dean at half-time and was invited to spend the second half in the stands. Maybe SP’s learning the dark of management, but he claimed not to have seen the Barton challenge properly. “I’ve only seen it once in real play. I didn’t see the incident itself, I looked back and he was lying down. I don’t know how he got there,” he said. “We’ve not talked about it. I take it for granted it was unintentional.”

A Big Boy Now: Redknapp’s discussion with the ref was obviously on the fruity side – he’s been charged by the FA with using abusive and/or insulting words. Redknapp felt Barton was lucky to escape a red card and he hopes Mendes is not too badly injured. “You get a yellow for that (Barton’s tackle on Mendes) and Andy Cole gets a yellow for not walking over to the referee quickly enough,” Redknapp told Sky. “If you tell me both those incidents are worth the same punishment I’m a Dutchman. It was a fantastic goal from Pedro and for 35 minutes he was running the game. Unfortunately he got a bad tackle and when he went off it was a turning point for us. It looks like a badly gashed Achilles but we hope it’s not too bad.” SP was soon defending his number 8. He said: “Joey’s a big lad and he’s growing up. We don’t sit and bellyache about the way he’s treated by supporters on the road. He’s pretty hard nosed and thick-skinned. I see a lad who is maturing, a kid who wants to win matches and gets frustrated when he can’t. He’s a good product of our Academy. He has had a smashing week, has been in great form for us and has earned himself an England cap. As far as the challenge goes it’s about opinions. I’ll have a look at it and I will have an opinion about it.”

Bogey Nights: Pedro Mendes must love playing City. He said: “This season I do not have much luck against Manchester City. The first problem was with Thatcher and now it is Barton. It is incredible. Against City, I always score but never finish the match. City are a dangerous club for me. When I play them I need to take out a special insurance against injury. Barton’s tackle was very hard and not necessary. I never do these things and in England I always come off worst. But Barton has already given me an apology. In that way he has done more than Thatcher.” David James insisted that his former team-mate Barton was no villain. James said: “Being given a tag is part of life. If you worry about it then it becomes a problem. I first read the Calamity James stuff in 1992. But if you go out there and try to reproduce what you are good at, then it’s fine – it doesn’t matter what anyone says. I didn’t see the incident but I know Joey Barton and the one thing you will get from him is 100 per cent, but sometimes that can arguably be seen as going over the top, but he doesn’t know any other way. I would go back to referees and the perception they get of players who are highlighted by the media. Joey goes in the same in training with a tackle as if it is the real thing, like you expect him to do as an England international. But he has to learn you cannot be 100 per cent all the time – there are times when you have to take a little bit off.”

But on the Plus Side: It’d be nice to talk about the football in the match wouldn’t it? Here’s SP’s assessment on play. “We didn’t come out and compete in the first half. We’ve got ourselves back in the game after half-time, scored a good goal but then we have conceded a sloppy goal. Having looked at the video I’m very disappointed but our work after the break meant that we deserved at least a point. Give sloppy goals away, and you don’t get anything. When you are 75 minutes in and it is 1-1, you should shut up shop a little bit and say ‘over my dead body’, but I don’t think we did that.” Asked if he’d taken any positives out of the game, he replied: “Andreas Isaksson made his first start and I thought he was outstanding. Bernardo Corradi came in and he played well for me too. Jihai was back for his first start in months and Michael Ball’s played his first game for us and after the first 25 minutes he settled into his position,” commented the Blues’ boss. Of Ball he added: “It’s not easy coming here for your first game, but we’re pleased to have him at the Club and hopefully he’ll prove himself between now and the summer enough for me to say, ‘stay with us.'” City had two shouts for penalties turned down, and the first one left Pearce particularly bemused. “I think the referee was reasonably kind to Portsmouth, certainly when one of their defenders punched it off Sylvain’s forehead. Maybe he was frustrated his player hadn’t caught the ball instead. It was handball, it wasn’t a strong shout, it was a handball. There have been a few like that have gone against us this season, but that is how it goes.”

Coppers Narked: The Football Association are going to be busy after this game – they’re to be informed of an alleged incident involving (guess who) at the end of the match. Hampshire Police have stressed they are not launching an investigation, but will be liaising with the FA after being alerted by one of their officers. Pompey’s chief steward Dave Smith decided to put a bit of meat on the bone, claiming he seen what a certain recently capped England international reacted. “Joey made a couple of abusive hand gestures,” said Smith. “Unfortunately for him there was a police officer standing next to him and he saw the whole thing and reported it to his superiors.” City deny having received any such complaint and confirmed that even if one were forthcoming they would contest it vigorously. “It is disappointing that an official from another club should make such ill-informed comments,” said City spokesman Paul Tyrrell. “Mr Smith should exercise caution. We have not received a complaint regarding Joey’s behaviour. If one is received it will be robustly defended as our officials were close by the player as he went to thank our fans for their support. He made no offensive gestures.”

Squad News

Fast Track to Season’s End: It’s not been a good week for two of City’s speedier players. The Sun reveals that Darius Vassell fears he’s facing another lengthy spell on the sidelines after damaging his hamstring against Portsmouth. This could mean a chance in the first team for Daniel Sturrdige though: “If Darius fails to make it then it might nudge Daniel closer to the 16 or even the starting line-up,” Pearce said on the club website. “The one thing that he knows is that there is not an awful lot of traffic in front of him and he might get his chance.” And Kelvin Etuhu will miss the rest of the season after damaging medial knee ligaments whilst on loan at Rochdale. He’d made a good impression at ‘Dale, scoring two goals in four games. SP said: “We’ve been told that Kelvin will be out for the rest of the season, anything less than that will be a bonus. He has damaged his knee ligaments, which is a shame because Rochdale wanted to extend his loan period. He was gaining valuable experience but that’s the nature of football. It’s part and parcel of the game, there’s not a great deal you can do about it. When I look back at my time in football, I lost around three years in the 20 I played to injuries and the average player will suffer those sorts of problems. We’re disappointed because we wanted to give him some experience going into the summer, then we would have an improved player for next season. It’s a great shame for Kelvin, but we will just have to get on with it.”

It’s Good to Talk: Stuart Pearce has confirmed contract talks have opened with midfielder Stephen Ireland. The 20-year-old has broken back into the Blues’ line-up on a regular basis over the past few weeks and has become the creative force in a side otherwise badly lacking in invention. “I spoke with Stephen three weeks ago and offered him a new contract even though he has a lengthy one already,” he said. “It is a credit to what he has done this season that we feel it is the right time to talk to him. In situations like this, the ball is always in the player’s court. If he is doing well, he will get rewarded.” He also stated that City have opened talks with Nedum Onuoha and Ishmael Miller about improving their deals.

Miked Up: New signing Michael Ball made a satisfactory début at Pompey last Saturday – and he’s determined to make the most of his chance at the COMS. “I have to thank the club for the way they have handled things,” Ball said. “They have given me a chance to prove myself and I want to get on the field to show my appreciation. Getting to know the players over the last couple of weeks, what they want is more consistency. It’s been frustrating, we feel we have been playing well enough to come away with something when we haven’t, but I hope I can get into the team and help out. I’m very comfortable playing in any of three positions, as a wing-back, left-back or left-sided centre half. The manager knows that, he’s seen me play during my career, so if he wants me to play as wing-back then I will do, it’s no problem for me. I’ll be happy in any of the three.”

Oh Danny Boy:Great news for those City fans who might be worried that we don’t haveenough knuckleheads in the team, now that Ben Thatcher’s moved on – SPinsists Danny Mills still has a future at the club. Mills is currentlysidelined after suffering a stress fracture of his shin during a three-monthspell on loan at Hull this season. “Our squad is not big enough towrite anybody off, and Danny has the same chance of getting into the firstteam as anyone else,” insisted the City chief. “Danny lost his place toMicah. We have all seen what he has gone on to do, so I don’t think thatis a disgrace. He then went off to play some football at Hull and wasdoing extremely well until he got injured. This time last season, I amsure some people may have written Nicky Weaver off – but you only have tolook at how many games he has played for us this season to see what canhappen. It is the same with Danny. He has been good member of the squadhere – and once he gets fully fit, I will sit down and have a chat withhim.”

OPINION: STRIKEFORCE

With an F.A. Cup tie looming against a good Preston side managed by Paul (Simmo) Simpson, in my opinion one of the finest players on the ball in his playing days, and no doubt he still has the talent and skill to inspire his side to do the unthinkable on Sunday.

I have to ask the question: who is motivating the players at Man City? Against Blackburn, Trabelsi was concentrating on the cross, and not on Pederson who he was supposed to be marking, Jordan made a joke of an effort to tackle, giving Blackburn their third.

We have a manager who was legendary in his full on commitment to defend his playing area. However, Stuart Pearce knows very little on the art of goalscoring, neither does Steve Wigley, or Frankie Bunn.

We either have poor players or a poor coaching regime. I can see no progress being made and regardless of Stuart Pearce taking on the rôle of under-21 manager, he is proving that he cannot manage one team, never mind two. He should not be running up and down on the touchline, orchestrating his players like a puppeteer, the hard work should come in training and the players should know their duties.

It is a fact of life that a good team needs good players, a good manager and good coaching staff, we have a number of players who continue to under-perform yet they are preferred to younger players (Daniel Sturridge), who in time will get fed up of waiting for a decent run in the team (10 minutes?).

If a manager has no funds to go out and buy a proven striker then lads like Sturridge are given a chance and the senior strikers are put through their paces at training, one on ones, until they show some passion in putting the ball in the net.

The fiasco over signing Mido,a manager who commits to another team, crap coaches, crap players (Corradi) and young talent not being given a proper chance means only one outcome!

OPINION: HEADS UP

Well here we go again!

Am I the only person that notices how dispirited the team gets when a call goes against them? We should have had a penalty in the first couple of minutes. When we didn’t get it, we were dominated for the next half hour. We then dominated and scored until another decision went against us, then they scored again! It is either that or the warm up is not enough to inspire any more than 5 minutes of effort in the first half. We have a very combative team with a couple of lightweights that get hammered in midfield. It looks to me as though Micah should play centre forward. He looks more likely to score than anyone else.

OPINION: CAST OFFS

Now we are making a bold signing of Mpenza, another cast-off who has a point to prove after unsuccessful stints in different countries. I guess that he’s coming to City so that he can take advantage of the special coaching skills that we have available, with their track record of getting the best out of ordinary players?

It really is time to wake up and smell the coffee. Stuart Pearce is an honest, genuine bloke who will work his socks off to succeed, but if you don’t have the personal ability in the first place, hard work won’t suffice. The impact that he made to begin with simply came from his drive and enthusiasm, but we really need someone with tactical and man-management ability to get the best from a second-rate squad. The board must now have realised that SP isn’t the man to lead the team to success and begin moves to recruit a talented manager for next season. We don’t need to start scouring the continent as there is plenty of young talent in the British game who would improve the team’s performance radically. Paul Simpson and Billy Davies are two names that come quickly to mind.

Taxi for Mr Pearce!

OPINION: GROUNDS REQUEST I

Steve Kay asked about our game at Fleetwood Rangers, in 1892! With the help of a Red mate of mine, Fleetwood born and a resident there for many years, I can fill you in, and indeed expand it to a potted history of the great dates in their history. Thanks to Phil Reed for the following, tho’ quite why he had to capitalise our result, I don’t know.

Ahh the mighty Fleetwood Rangers, the first of a long line of failed Fleetwood clubs. If I remember correctly their ground was directly behind the North Euston Hotel on North Church St. It’s now the site of the police station and magistrate’s courts.

Some info:

1886/7 FA Cup 1st round home to Newton Heath score 2-2.
Extra time should have been played but Newton Heath players had to catchthe train back to Manchester so they demanded a replay. The refereeawarded the game to Fleetwood. Not that they progressed much further.

1886/7 FA Cup 2nd round away to Partick Thistle. 7-0 defeat.
1887/8 FA Cup 1st round home to West Manchester. 4-1 win.
1887/8 FA Cup 2nd round home to Higher Walton. 1-3 defeat.
1892 FA Cup qualifying round home to Manchester City. 2-0 WIN.

1889-90 Founder member of Lancashire League
1897-98 Joined Lancashire Combination
1899 Left Lancashire Combination

OPINION: GROUNDS REQUEST II

I do know that the Corinthians game was played at the Crystal Palace Grounds (old Cup Final venue). I have some photos from the game (definitely the old Palace grounds). There is also footage of a game purporting to be this one but that was filmed at the Valley – the footage is incorrectly labelled and has confused some fans (it is City but must be another game altogether).

Also, from the top of my head I’d say the New Brompton ground was Priestfield – Gillingham (New Brompton as was) have never moved as far as I can recall. West Manchester played at Whalley Range during early 1890s, but before that played at Brooks Bar (HQ the Northumberland Hotel).

Hope this helps. Don’t forget I’m always keen to help improve our knowledge of City!

OPINION: POINTS OF BLUE

Minutes of Points of Blue meetings

Open meeting on 30 January, Delegate meeting (Steve Parish, Dave Wallace, Gavin Cooper) with club officials (Alistair Mackintosh, Paul Tyrrell, Sara Billington) on 7 February

Ticketing

Late information regarding first Arsenal game (30 January) being at risk. Arsenal website had it before New Year as vulnerable. Is there a policy of not saying anything until something is definite (and even then it changes, e.g. Good Friday game)? So many potential changes now (Arsenal, Chelsea games already) that some guide to the possibilities would be welcome (Arsenal’s fixture site has comprehensive information; Chelsea’s doesn’t even have their possible Champions’ League dates).
Club Response: No policy of not keeping people informed of possible changes; PoB will try to pass on best practice from other clubs’ websites, but the club should be better informed than PoB what the permutations are, and (as now with the Arsenal game) will flag up potential alterations.

Suggestion that there might be some benefit for ticket priority for Cup games to those who come to Cup games (versus s.t. holders who don’t come to earlier rounds getting priority for later rounds). Did Liverpool try this and annoy s.t. holders? Commercially, it would be an incentive for people to attend earlier rounds. No great feelings on this, but worth a discussion.
Club Response: Purchase of a season ticket represents a commitment that must be rewarded with priority for tickets (no dissent from PoB delegates).

Season Ticket Prices

Some clubs reported as reducing s.t. prices to reflect TV income. More reports of lack of interest in attending matches from current s.t. holders, likely to be reflected in renewals. Uncertainty of times, and quality of product (on and off field) the frequent reasons given.
Club Response: “We understand the reasons some supporters are raising for potential non-renewals such as – quality of football, televised fixtures, illegal broadcasting of games and a general feeling amongst supporters of all clubs, but we do not agree with them. However, we also believe that our adult pricing structure (currently the fifth lowest in The Premiership) and the huge cuts we made for Under 16s and Under 21s are positive and in the last two cases, radical steps forward.” Pricing was fixed after consultation to PoB participants on e-mail list and with supporters’ organisations (actual meeting with OSC; similar meeting with CSA couldn’t be arranged but feedback was given). Club will query why twice as many home matches as away have been televised.

Changing seats for Cup matches, e.g. third tier s.t. holders on Tickets Direct required to move for one game, then not allowed to move for another. Is swapping seats for Cup games (just for the change and go elsewhere in the ground) a big time-consuming problem for the ticket office?
Club Response: swapping should be possible under normal ticket office workload – will check with ticket office. Closing the top tier produced a lot of complaints from people who did not want to move, and it would now only be used for matches expected to attract a very low attendance.

Away ticket pricing. Update needed from club on Premier League policies (and clubs’ policy to City fans after Bolton boycott); differential pricing now a big issue – how can it be justified? Even if police charge more, shouldn’t this be covered by higher attendances for those games, now there are few sell-outs? Does all the extra go on policing, or is it part demand-led pricing?
Club Response: No obvious sign that the Bolton boycott has made a difference with other clubs’ policy toward City fans. Wigan’s reduced prices (since the City game) may not have not greatly increased their sales. Categories are a commercial decision on the attractiveness of the fixture; policing charges only a small factor.

Was the allocation for Arsenal all we could get?
Club Response: No. Sales for the original fixture were initially slow so the club did not take up the possibility of taking more tickets (which were on a “no returns” basis – remembering the £50,000 paid to Birmingham for unsold tickets).

United at home: is there a risk of United fans getting home tickets for this? Perhaps only sell tickets to cardholders who’ve attended other matches?
Club Response: Attendance at previous matches would be required.

Catering

Usual complaints; no great sign of improvement. Lack of veggie food again mentioned, and where does the curry trolley get to? What went wrong with the beer tent (a feeling that it would have been good to communicate what was happening through PoB or other supporters’ groups)?
Club Response: Curry trolley only in one location (xouth-west corner tier 1 – if profitable it might be extended). Beer tent for a special function, and police would not allow use for general purposes on health and safety grounds. Again, the club will try to address complaints about particular points of sale within the ground.

Communication

Programme can’t be the only source of information, e.g. no signs up atprevious games to say Reading would be experimentally non-smoking.Are any PoB emails passed to co-ordinator? Generally, there was afeeling (on several counts) of “why didn’t they tell us beforehand?”No change on mutual advertising for shop / social club. Social clubentrance needs to look less “private” – i.e. customers thinking “am Iallowed up these stairs?”
Club Response: The Stop Smoking Campaign could not attend the Reading game tomake the “voluntary” policy more high-profile. When new laws come in nextseason, it will be enforced (another threat to the club’s licence if notenforced).
PoB emails should come to the Co-ordinator; Sara to check.
Club will look at ideas for signage at Social Club entrance.

Travel

A complaint about quality of Travel Club arrangements (organisation and quality of coaches used).
Club Response: to check with OSC (who run the travel club) about current arrangements.

Complimentary Tickets

It was felt that the covering letter (e.g. from City in the Community) was too schoolmastery in tone. You will behave, boy! There must be nicer ways of telling people what’s expected.
Club Response: The wording reflected some previous problems, but the Club would look at revisions.

Potential Investors

Anything?
Club Response: Still ongoing; not owning the stadium was not perceived as a problem. International investors tended to look for internationally-established “brands” (i.e. clubs likely to be in Europe every year).

Casino

Effect on City: competition for off-field activities, or likely to provide new custom? Car parking?
Club Response: overall expected to be beneficial; e.g. casino customers attending games, and hotel and exhibition space on site enabling greater use of City’s facilities for conferences.

Pearce and U-21s

Straw poll found only one in favour of his doing it.
Club Response: club agreed to this (but not the March games) and would receive compensation from the F.A.

Kit deals?

Straw poll on the red-and-black stripes found only one who didn’t like it (the same one!)
Club Response: sales on the red/black suggested the one was right. New deal commercially sensitive at this stage.

Other Business

PoB would meet in September, November, February and April, with dates fixed (trying to avoid potential fixtures) in advance. Present pattern for meetings to continue (open evening meeting; delegate meeting at lunchtime) but with the possibility of a delegate meeting early evening before a reserve game.

Supporters’ Trust: club still unsure of aims of the proposed Trust, and do not want merely to replicate what PoB does on an open basis. The issue of further weather protection at the ticket office was raised. Discussion about how to ensure PoB had representation from different sectors (e.g. parts of ground, supporters’ clubs) but any formal choice of delegates was unrealistic; the present open-to-all basis would be continued and publicised.

RESULTS

League table to 14 February 2007 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  27 12  1  1 35  8  9  2  2 28 10 21  3  3  63  18  45 66
 2 Chelsea         27 10  4  0 30  8  8  2  3 18 11 18  6  3  48  19  29 60
 3 Liverpool       27 10  3  0 25  3  5  2  7 15 16 15  5  7  40  19  21 50
 4 Arsenal         26  8  5  0 32 10  6  2  5 16 12 14  7  5  48  22  26 49
 5 Bolton Wndrs    27  8  3  3 20 12  6  2  5 12 16 14  5  8  32  28   4 47
 6 Reading         27  9  1  4 26 16  4  3  6 15 18 13  4 10  41  34   7 43
 7 Portsmouth      27  8  4  2 22 10  3  4  6 14 16 11  8  8  36  26  10 41
 8 Everton         26  7  4  2 20  9  3  5  5 12 14 10  9  7  32  23   9 39
 9 Newcastle Utd   27  7  4  3 23 17  3  2  8 11 19 10  6 11  34  36  -2 36
10 Blackburn R.    27  6  2  5 16 16  4  2  8 14 22 10  4 13  30  38  -8 34
11 Tottenham H.    26  8  1  4 21 16  1  5  7  9 22  9  6 11  30  38  -8 33
12 Middlesbrough   27  7  3  3 19 13  1  5  8 11 20  8  8 11  30  33  -3 32
13 Aston Villa     27  6  4  3 15 11  1  7  6 13 22  7 11  9  28  33  -5 32
14 Fulham          27  6  4  3 12 10  1  7  6 17 31  7 11  9  29  41 -12 32
15 Sheff. United   27  5  5  4 17 16  3  1  9  7 20  8  6 13  24  36 -12 30
16 Manchester City 26  5  4  4 10 11  3  2  8 10 21  8  6 12  20  32 -12 30
17 Wigan Athletic  26  4  2  7 13 20  3  2  8 14 23  7  4 15  27  43 -16 25
18 West Ham United 27  5  2  7 14 17  0  3 10  4 25  5  5 17  18  42 -24 20
19 Charlton Ath.   27  4  3  6 11 17  1  2 11  9 30  5  5 17  20  47 -27 20
20 Watford         26  2  5  5 10 14  1  4  9  5 23  3  9 14  15  37 -22 18

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: