Newsletter #1305

No action for the Blues over the weekend, so a quiet issue tonight with opinion on football talk, the opposition and supporters’ events.

The investment talk continues, with numerous speculative articles abounding, and those with access to Radio 5 Live might like to listen out tonight for some news from the Supporters’ Trust.

Finally, if anybody has news on the whereabouts of one Andy Morrison, please could they drop me a line at the usual address – he’s wanted by a group of very friendly supporters!

OPINION: CHARACTER

Just a brief observation on the vocabulary of the modern day Premiership footballer/manager. Historically the post match interviewer at many an old First Division Game was the highly-respected Brian Moore from the ITV Network. This gave rise to the famed ‘Over the Moon… Brian’ response from the victorious interviewee.

We have of course been ‘treated’ to the omnipresent avalanche of ‘Ya knows’ that litter any footballer’s diction – our own Joey Barton and Stuart Pearce being two the finest exponents in recent times. Psycho and a good many other football related individuals also have a propensity for littering their utterances with ‘As I say’ and ‘And as I said before…’ when in essence they are introducing a point for the first time.

However, the one word that each and every dumb-lugged footballer and manager has now taken to their hearts is ‘character’. Maybe they use it because it comprises more than one syllable and in the belief it makes them sound educated and articulate. I don’t know the motivation but I wish to hell they’d stop doing it.

When a team come back from 1-0 down to grab a draw, the manager, the players, Uncle Tom Cobley and all, spout off about how their team showed ‘great character’ or ‘the lads’ character shone through…’ What a load of bollocks! They’re not showing character, they’re just doing what they’re bleedin’ well paid to do – perform to the best of their ability to achieve a positive outcome from a football match. Character – my arse!

And then the football fraternity start on about ‘passion’.

Sorry, enough already – rant over!

OPINION: READING BETWEEN THE LINES

With City not having a game this weekend, I’m sure many of us who love the game will be watching other games, as is the norm with me.

The City players have enjoyed a nice break in the sun, and now it is back to training for the very important games ahead.

I have been having a close look at Reading, a new team to the Premiership and who are enjoying some success without any big name stars in their side, and being it is their first season in the league.

So this is what I have noticed: most of their corner kicks (not all) are delivered with some pace on the ball, and away from the ‘keeper’s reach, the result being more goals. Reading use the dead ball more to their advantage, and are clever with their fast breakaways. I have heard that Steve Coppell is very strict that his players train hard on dead ball situations; it is paying off.

Most of City’s corners are delivered floating into the goal area, and many give the ‘keeper time to catch the ball, killing off a corner kick, an advantage wasted.

Many of the free kicks by City seem to have no real plan other than the kick will be taken by Joey Barton. Why? It’s so predictable what is most likely to happen from the kicks; don’t think that the opposition are not studying for when they play City. I am not suggesting that Joey should not take some of the kicks, just not all of them.

I feel that City should practice and practice dead ball situations, corner kicks more and more, you just cannot do enough of this, and it has been apparent from the way City have been performing from these situations that they need to get better at doing it; you must take advantage of the situation, be it a corner kick or free kick.

With so much time between games, this is the time to do more of it in training, it will show in the results ahead.

Come on you Blues, we just want you to do better.

OPINION: DABO

I call him Bardot (Dabo, Bardot, get it?). He’s French, looks good but can’t play football!

OPINION: BLUE MOON RISING OVER SUSSEX

A Blue Moon was high in the skies of West Sussex on February 9, as the Mid-Sussex Blues held their annual celebrity dinner at The Witch Inn in Lindfield. Present were former City legend Gary Owen, Kevin Kennedy (formerly Curly Watts of Coronation Street), GMTV presenter and lifelong City fan John Stapleton and general secretary of the Official Supporters’ Club Kevin Parker. Last year, Fred Eyre and Ian Cheeseman had attended.

In little over two years of existence, the branch has grown in size and reputation to the extent that over 50 guests attended this memorable event, which included a fascinating question and answer session, a raffle, an excellent dinner and the odd drink or two! Gary in particular was in fine voice, leading a singalong that warmed the hearts of the Blues’ fans gathered over 250 miles from home. The event attracted local media attention, and was generally regarded as a great success. Pub landlord and lifetime president of the branch is Gerry Ryan, who played for Derby County and Brighton and Hove Albion as well as obtaining many Republic of Ireland caps. Gerry said he was delighted to host the event, and will be giving the branch photograph pride of place in the pub.

MSB chairman Pete Dutson said: “It’s amazing to see the progress we’ve made in such a short time. The other great thing is the number of kids who are getting involved. This should ensure that the branch goes from strength to strength in the years to come.” The branch is already making plans for the next gathering as the Mid-Sussex Blues grow in number.

There are photos here: http://www.picsnapper.co.uk/press8.htm, the branch website is: http://www.midsussexblues.co.uk/ and potential members can contact John Joyce on 07984 759487.

REQUEST: MILTON KEYNES BLUES

Milton Keynes branch will be having a meeting this coming Wednesday 28 February 2007 at the Chequers pub in Fenny Stratford, starting at 8pm.

New and current members would be most welcome.

If anyone would like directions to the venue, please contact me at the email address below.

RESULTS

25 February 2007

Blackburn Rovers      3 - 0  Portsmouth            17,343
Tottenham Hotspur     4 - 1  Bolton Wanderers      35,747
Wigan Athletic        1 - 0  Newcastle United      21,179

24 February 2007

Charlton Athletic     4 - 0  West Ham United       27,111
Fulham                1 - 2  Manchester United     24,459
Liverpool             4 - 0  Sheffield United      44,198
Middlesbrough         2 - 1  Reading               26,412
Watford               0 - 3  Everton               18,761

League table to 25 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  28 12  1  1 35  8 10  2  2 30 11 22  3  3  65  19  46  69
 2 Chelsea         27 10  4  0 30  8  8  2  3 18 11 18  6  3  48  19  29  60
 3 Liverpool       28 11  3  0 29  3  5  2  7 15 16 16  5  7  44  19  25  53
 4 Arsenal         26  8  5  0 32 10  6  2  5 16 12 14  7  5  48  22  26  49
 5 Bolton Wndrs    28  8  3  3 20 12  6  2  6 13 20 14  5  9  33  32   1  47
 6 Reading         28  9  1  4 26 16  4  3  7 16 20 13  4 11  42  36   6  43
 7 Everton         28  7  4  3 21 11  4  5  5 15 14 11  9  8  36  25  11  42
 8 Portsmouth      28  8  4  2 22 10  3  4  7 14 19 11  8  9  36  29   7  41
 9 Tottenham H.    28  9  1  4 25 17  2  5  7 11 23 11  6 11  36  40  -4  39
10 Blackburn R.    28  7  2  5 19 16  4  2  8 14 22 11  4 13  33  38  -5  37
11 Newcastle Utd   28  7  4  3 23 17  3  2  9 11 20 10  6 12  34  37  -3  36
12 Middlesbrough   28  8  3  3 21 14  1  5  8 11 20  9  8 11  32  34  -2  35
13 Aston Villa     27  6  4  3 15 11  1  7  6 13 22  7 11  9  28  33  -5  32
14 Fulham          28  6  4  4 13 12  1  7  6 17 31  7 11 10  30  43 -13  32
15 Manchester City 26  5  4  4 10 11  3  2  8 10 21  8  6 12  20  32 -12  30
16 Sheff. United   28  5  5  4 17 16  3  1 10  7 24  8  6 14  24  40 -16  30
17 Wigan Athletic  28  5  2  7 14 20  3  3  8 15 24  8  5 15  29  44 -15  29
18 Charlton Ath.   28  5  3  6 15 17  1  2 11  9 30  6  5 17  24  47 -23  23
19 West Ham United 28  5  2  7 14 17  0  3 11  4 29  5  5 18  18  46 -28  20
20 Watford         28  2  6  6 11 18  1  4  9  5 23  3 10 15  16  41 -25  19

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: