Newsletter #1303

A well fought victory on Sunday sees us through to the quarter finals of the FA Cup for the second season running. After today’s draw we now face either Arsenal or Blackburn (away) on the weekend of 10 March.

Some negative news from the weekend in that Tim Flowers has been appointed assistant to Ian Dowie at Coventry; that will be a real blow to the City coaching set up.

Tonight we have match views of the 3-1 win at Deepdale, comments on ticketing and news of more changes for the Arsenal (league) fixture.

OPINION: VICTORY AND PASSENGERS

Firstly, great win at PNE, very welcome and let’s hope it acts as a morale booster to push on and get the requisite points needed for Premiership safety ASAP. Now I don’t want to be a killjoy when we are celebrating a good FA Cup win but amidst all of the positives I cannot but see one big negative.

It’s nothing personal but with each and every passing week I am becoming increasingly enraged by the total ineptitude, lack of application and downright bone idle performances of one man – enter stage left Ousmane Dabo. Surely I cannot be alone in analysing his pathetic, lazy, lacklustre and downright p**s-taking displays week in and week out? He is a complete passenger in our team. He hardly ever plays a forward pass and invariably presents the ball to the opposition. He is slow, never applies himself, never ever breaks into a proper run and for a man of his physique is alarmingly weak in the tackle. On his recent displays e.g. PNE, Portsmouth, Reading and Blackburn he, along with Stephen Jordan who has been equally pathetic in recent times, should be shown the door.

As a City fan of 37 years I am all too aware of the failings and limitations of my team over the past four decades but one thing City fans will always respect is a trier. Dabo is the complete opposite, a player who seemingly goes out of his way to be quite that: out of the way, never demanding the ball from a team mate, never looking to create space, never backing up a colleague.

I wonder if he has the respect of his team mates? I wonder what our wonderful manager sees in, and I quote “The best Bosman of the Summer”?

I would genuinely like to open a debate on the skills and attributes of Mr Dabo and would be interested in other people’s views on his contribution. I could be in a minority but I somehow think not!

On a more positive note it’s good to see Corrardi is making progress and the signing of Mpenza could bring much-needed pace and finishing power to the front line. However, having played only 70 games in, is it five seasons, I hope he hasn’t come to occupy the vacant treatment table that was previously the domain of one Claire Reyna.

Next up revenge, I very much hope, over the pie-eaters.

OPINION: PRESTON (PRE GAME)

The game versus Preston later today is likely to be City’s most important this season. This is a game we simply must not lose. Excuses from any member of the club must not be tolerated.

Further progress in this best-of-all competitions is essential – albeit, for the good faith in Stuart Pearce to continue; especially after the quite dismal results to bring in at least one quality striker during the recent transfer window.

Failure in this match should have huge repercussions within the club – at all levels. A loss to Preston is not acceptable. If this occurs, it should be a time for all to face the wrath of the fans.

OPINION: CITY’S ‘LOGIC’

From the recent PoB meeting:

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)

Why not put them on open sale quicker and see what happens? Strange logic – the season tickets holders who live in Manchester don’t want them so Citycard holders in the south-east won’t either?!

REQUEST: ARSENAL INFO

I’ve been using Arsenal’s direct mail service for news on the ever moving fixture. Might be of use to anyone else waiting to make travel arrangements. Send blank email to: <mailing(at)arsenal.co.uk>.

Latest explanation:

Please note that the above fixture, which had originally been provisionally dated for Wednesday 28th February, has now been postponed. This is due to unforeseen maintenance work resulting in Arsenal Underground Station being closed from 18 February until 2 March.

A new date for this fixture is expected to be announced during the week beginning 19 February.

Additionally, if anyone has any tips for the getting there and back from Manchester, they’d be gratefully received. Someone normally drives, but no volunteers this time.

A return train ticket has been a minimum of £125, and involves leaving the game early, which is not an option! The coach services do not come back until the next day.

Whatever you do, stay Blue!

REQUEST: TICKET PRICE PETITION

Football Fans Launch Petition Against “Rip-Off Ticket Prices”

Football fans throughout England and Wales have launched an on-line petition against rip-off ticket prices in the game.

Commenting on the petition launch, FSF Chair Malcolm Clarke, a Stoke City supporter, said, “Supporters in this country are sick to the back teeth of being ripped off. My own club has just had a game at St Andrews against Birmingham City moved from Saturday at 3.00pm to Sunday at 11.30am with eight days’ notice. Despite this surreal kick-off time for a professional football match we were still expected to pay £30 a ticket in the Stoke end for the privilege. It’s absolutely shameless. I’ve made an official complaint about this to both clubs and the League.”

“It’s simply not good enough. Now we have Peter Kenyon at Chelsea reported as saying that the club has no intention of lowering ticket prices as his players will be demanding big pay rises. Sorry Peter. Get real. Here on planet Earth most people view professional footballers in the Premier League as being paid enough already. I think most people would be able to get by on the average salary of a Chelsea first-team squad player. Anyway Chelsea and every other club in the Premier League are going to receive extra millions in broadcasting income next season. It’s time this was shared out with the fans. The new money coming into the Premier League from next season is worth around £30 per admission over three seasons. The Premier League clubs could afford to let most fans in for nothing and still be as well off as they are today.”

The on-line petition calls for:

• A League wide away fans’ ticket price of no more than £15
• A League mandated freeze on all matchday and season ticket prices
• The use of television facilities fees for broadcast games to lower ticketprices to compensate for fixture moves and inconvenient kick-off times

Clarke commented, “Although the proposed changes are targeted at the Premier League initially, the petition is for all supporters, whether they support a club in the Conference or lower, the Football League or the Premier League. Ticket prices in this country are far too high at almost all clubs at all levels.”

The petition can be found on the FSF website at: http://www.fsf.org.uk/petitions/away-tickets/

RESULTS

League table to 18 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: