Newsletter #1362

Don’s news round up brings details on international Blues, Sven’s dilemma, Thaksin’s tribulations and potential signings.

We also have opinion on the next derby, players past and present and the usual requests.

Finally, good news for any Sky subscribers who don’t yet have the sports packages, you can apparently watch us for free on Sunday (subject to certain conditions obviously). Further details are here: http://sports.sky.com/offers/skysportsweekend.htm

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

Suits You, Sir: I’m not saying that it’s been a quiet newsweek or anything, but the Sun was desperate to impart the following story to the world: Sven is struggling to find a new place to house his 150 suits. So far none of the plush Cheshire properties he has looked at has fitted the bill, so he’s thinking of getting a mansion tailor-made too (geddit?). Someone said to be a ‘club source’ said: “Sven takes pride in his appearance and has a collection of very expensive bespoke suits that he has built up over the years. He has kept his England blazer and club colours from all the teams he has managed. He is being really picky about his new house. He has very high demands. He has knocked back a lot of properties already because they don’t meet the specifications he expects. Now he is starting to hunt for sites where he could have a place built specially for him.”

Let’s Be ‘Avin’Yer! City will take on Norwich city in the third round of the Carling Cup, at the COMS on Tuesday 25th September. Let’s hope that the curse of the returning old boys doesn’t strike, as both Darren Huckerby and Lee Croft are regulars for the Canaries. “It’s great for me to go back to my old club and see a lot of players I haven’t seen for a while. It’ll be a nice occasion,” Croft said. “With Sven having been England manager it’s good to go and play against one of his teams. It will be a tough game but, as all the lads have asked me, it will be a nice stage to play on, a really nice stadium, against one of the better teams in the league at the moment. It’s especially nice for me and Darren, ex-players with Manchester City, to see a few old faces. I speak to quite a few of them, Micah Richards and Stephen Ireland and the young lads I grew up with. Sven’s put them in the spotlight and they seem to be carrying on doing well.” It’ll be the first meeting of the clubs since a Premiership fixture in February 2005, when a last minute Robbie Fowler goal give City a 3-2 win at Carrow Road – although the game is best remembered by fans for the extraordinary half time performance of Delia Smith, Norwich director and TV cook, who attempted to rally the home crowd with shouts over the tannoy of “Come On! Let’s be having you!” and so forth. Ms. Smith denied having hit the cooking sherry at half time that night.

Doubly Arresting: A second set of arrest warrants have been issued against Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife – basically for not responding to the first warrants put out a few weeks ago. The Shinatwatras are the subject of a police inquiry into the couple’s alleged violation of stock-trading laws. Last month saw the country’s Supreme Court issue a first warrant after the pair failed to return home to answer corruption charges relating to a land sale. Thaksin is accused of abusing his position by helping his wife buy land from a state agency at a favourable price. The Department of Special Investigations (DSI) have also been looking into allegations that Thaksin and his wife Pojaman concealed their assets in a firm, SC Assets Co Ltd. The DSI said a second warrant had been sought as the couple had repeatedly failed to appear in Bangkok to hear the charges.

International Blues’ News: Going into last weekend’s and mid-week’s batch of international games, Sven was able to announce that Andreas Isaksson had recovered from a broken thumb. “I’m very happy that we have three very good goalkeepers all fit again,” Eriksson said. “We need him, of course we need him. Whether he comes into the team or not for the next game, I don’t know, he hasn’t played any games this season. It’ll be interesting to see on Saturday if Sweden play him or not in their qualification game against Denmark. If he doesn’t play there he might play on the Wednesday in their friendly against Montenegro.” You may have a difficult choice to make against Villa on Sunday Sven, because Isaksson played the whole 90 minutes against Denmark (keeping a clean sheet), and for the first half of the Montenegro game. Micah Richards was on England duty this week, and he seems to have struck up a good understanding with some chap called Shaun Wright-Phillips down the right wing, during England’s pair of 3-0 home victories at Wembley against Israel and Russia. And even better – Micah powered home a header to score England’s third versus Israel. Nedum Onouha also scored for his country – but at Under-21 level, where England beat Montenegro 3-0 over the weekend. Joe Hart was in goal, while Michael Johnson was an unused sub. Three days later the Under 21’s beat Bulgaria 2-0 in Sofia. Hart and Onouha again played the full game. Vedran Corluka’s Croatia enjoyed that twin victorious feeling, beating Estonia 2-0 then Andorra 6-0. Georgios Samaras made a substitute appearance in Greece’s 2-2 draw with Norway in Oslo, a result that sees his country stay top of Group C. Martin Petrov endured missed fortunes this week, as he played in Bulgaria’s 2-0 away defeat in Holland, but then helped his country beat Luxembourg 3-0. He scored a penalty. Stephen Ireland opened the scoring for the Republic of Ireland in Slovakia on Saturday, but the home team scored in the last minute to secure a 2-2 draw. Richard Dunne also played, and was present for his country on Wednesday as Ireland lost 1-0 to the Czech Republic in Prague. Stephen Ireland was not considered, as he had to fly home due to a family bereavement. Elano meanwhile was naughty boy midweek for Brazil, as the playmaker came on as a substitute in his country’s 3-1 win over Mexico in Boston, but he was sent off for a reckless challenge.

Transfer News and Gossip

I Think They’re On Loan Now: The transfer window clanged shut since last we met, and although no new faces arrived at the COMS, some tired old ones shuffled away, albeit on loan deals. Paul Dickov moved to Crystal Palace until the end of December, for instance. He was pleased at the prospect of first team football. “My chances at City were restricted,” admitted Dickov. “I spoke to Sven and he told me as much as he liked having me around the place, he knows what I am like as a person and as a player and I need to be playing football. When you are signing players for millions then the manager is going to play them and I completely understand that. I have got a lot of time and respect for Sven for being honest with me. I had a full pre-season though I haven’t played as many games as I would like to have,” he said. “I had a rubbish season last year in terms of injuries – it seemed to be one thing after another. I made sure I worked as hard as I could over the summer to get myself right and I think it has paid off.” Palace boss Peter Taylor was delighted with the capture of Dickov, who should make his competitive début in the Championship match at Norwich on September 15. Taylor said: “Paul has played in four pre-season friendlies for City, and will be with us for the next two weeks, so there are no worries about his fitness. I have spoken to a few managers who have worked with him, and he will be just what we need.” Bernardo Corradi joined Serie A side Parma on loan until the end of the season, and – woe woe and thrice woe – he doesn’t want to come back! Corradi is relishing the prospect of playing for Parma again and he hopes to do enough to secure a permanent deal at the end his loan move. “When I arrived at Parma two years ago I knew it was a one-season affair on loan and dreamed of winning back my place in the Italy squad for the World Cup,” Corradi told the Italian press. “Now my ambition today is to do so well that at the end of the season I can ask Manchester City to leave me here permanently. England was an experience that allowed me to mature and know myself a little better. It will be useful for my time here as well. I know everyone here, so it’s like returning to my family home and I am so happy to be here again.” I should just correct an item from the last summary – in my haste to get rid of Danny Mills, I suggested that he was on loan at Charlton till June. Sadly, it’s only up to Christmas.

Love This Club: Georgios Samaras is still at City, and apparently we all misunderstood his agent’s comments a few weeks ago, which to me sounded suspiciously like “Middlesbrough are a big club – please please please come and sign my boy.” But we were wrong. This week Samaras pledged his future to the club. “My future at Manchester City has been the subject of enormous speculation over the period of the last three days,” read a statement. “I wish to clarify the situation by stating that I am fully committed to the club and that I have never expressed any views regarding my departure from it. I have the determination, dedication and perseverance to assist my team when I am asked to. Manchester City is my home and I have nothing but enormous appreciation for the board, the manager and the fans for the support they have given me throughout.”

No Suree: Suree Sukha’s hopes of becoming the first Thai to play in the English Premier League have hit a setback after his application for a work permit was rejected by the British government. Full back Suree had impressed Manchester City on a two-week trial, but the Home Office refused him a permit as Thailand are ranked outside FIFA’s top 70 and he had not played in 75 percent of their international matches, the Bangkok Post reported on Saturday. Reports now suggest that Sukha may get a chance to play for Swiss team Grasshoppers. Suree said he welcomed a move to Switzerland but had not given up hope on City.

Camara Shy? On transfer-window-shutting-day (or Friday 31 August as it was known) there were strong rumours that City were about to make a surprise £3 million move for Wigan Athletic striker Henri Camara. The Senegal striker has not been a regular in the Latics’ line-up recently, and Sven was said to be keen to add to his striking options. Yet this deal did not materialise, so Mr.E will be making do with his current squad till the New Year sales. Not to worry though – SGE is content with the squad at his disposal. “I am happy with our situation at the moment. Maybe we will do something in January,” he confirmed. “We have a good squad and I do not want to bring players in just to build the numbers up. That would be wrong. We will see what happens between now and January.”

Klaas Warfare: The transfer speculation doesn’t stop just because the window’s shut. No siree. There could be a battle on between those darn Reds and MCFC for the signature of Dutch striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar, according to the Sunday papers. Huntelaar’s currently at Ajax, and the Amsterdam giants’ failure to reach the Champions’ League group stages this season could force them to sell the Holland international hitman, despite the summer sales of Ryan Babel to Liverpool and Wesley Sneijder to Real Madrid. City have also been linked with a number of big name moves as well. For instance, how about a loan swoop for Argentina star Juan Riquelme? The 29-year-old midfielder is on loan at Boca Juniors from Villarreal, but could be tempted by an £60,000-a-week offer from the Blues. The Sun reported that Riquelme is keen on a move to the Premiership and would relish playing for Sven. The same paper also claims that City are planning a January swoop on Chelsea, and will move for two England internationals – Wayne Bridge and Joe Cole. They also reported that Sven had made an audacious triple swoop for Cole and Bridge and Shaun Wright-Phillips this summer. It was in the Sun, so it must be true.

Bres Stroked fpr the Future: Sven-Goran Eriksson still harbours hope of luring Mark Bresciano to Eastlands. He’s a long standing admirer of the combative Australian and tried to sign him from Palermo prior to the close of the transfer window. Bresciano visited Manchester and looked all set to join an influx of foreign stars to City, only for the two clubs to fail to concur on a payment structure. And although the move floundered, Eriksson is nevertheless still confident that it could be resurrected. “We were always interested in him,” Eriksson told the M.E.N. “He might be a possibility. But it is too early. Let’s wait for a couple of months then see exactly what we need.” Some reports suggested S-GE did try to sign another midfielder, namely Thiago Motta from Barcelona. The Swede offered to double Motta’s Barcelona wages, but the Boss was left ‘stunned’ when this offer was rejected. The Brazilian turned him down in favour of a move to Atletico Madrid.

Brum Bound? Darius Vassell could be on his way back to England’s second city, if reports from the Midlands prove to be accurate. The former Aston Villa winger is being targeted by Birmingham City in the January transfer window, apparently. He’s specialised in scoring against Villa of course, so he’d be a hit at St. Andrews if he could keep that hit rate up!

Two More to Consider… And in other news, City and Arsenal are circling Torino for winger Alessandro Rosina. Turin sources say both Premiership clubs are ready to offer £10 million for the Italian youngster, who is locked in new contract talks with Torino. So clearly this story hasn’t been put about by the player’s agent, to squeeze more wages out of Torino, has it? Meanwhile the Barcelona daily El Mundo Deportivo says Chelsea, Tottenham and City have all made contact with representatives of Barcelona whizkid Giovani dos Santos, while them in Stretford have also made tentative enquiries.

Ex-Blues’ News

Trab’s Travails: =Two former Blues were hoping to impress prospective new employers this week, but it appears that neither has been successful. Norwich took former Cameroon central defender Lucien Mettomo (remember him from the Divison 1 days?) on a week’s trial. At the time, Norwich manager Peter Grant said: “He comes with great credentials, having played at the very highest level.” Having been released by Swiss side FC Lucerne, Mettomo was hoping to earn a deal with the English Championship side. Alas, it wasn’t to be. This week Grant stated that he wasn’t offering the 30-year-old a contract, because of concerns about his fitness. “He’s a week or two away from fitness as he’s not played any games,” Grant told the Canaries’ website. “I can’t afford to bring in another guy who won’t be able to play.” Meanwhile a more recent Blue recruit was trying his luck in France. Hatem Trabelsi expected to join Le Mans a couple of weeks ago. Le Mans chairman Henri Legarda claimed the club is close to agreeing a deal with the full back. “Trabelsi is our priority,” he told L’Equipe. “Now we want to meet him to find out if he really wants to join us.” But this deal also failed to materialise, after the Tunisian international failed to agree personal terms. “We decided to break off talks about signing Hatem Trabelsi,” said a Le Mans spokesman. “The coach and directors reckoned that the player’s current situation did not fit in with the club’s recruitment policy,” whatever that means.

After-Match Reactions and Comments

City Win the Derby – Again: City completed a double of sorts as it was the turn of the Reserves to beat the Stretford Reds. After last month’s triumph at the COMS of the First XI, City’s second string completed a rather nice pair of wins by beating United 3-1. City’s team contained a number of players with first team experience, including Michael Ball, Jihai Sun, Ousmane Dabo and Emile Mpenza. The Reds took the lead on 51 minutes, but a trio of gaols in the last eight minutes ensured the deserved victory for City. The goals were scored by Mpenza, Clayton and Grimes. The game was also notable for the return to action of Kelvin Etuhu, who had been out since January with a bad knee injury. Reserves’ coach Kenny Jackett commented: “It was a very good victory and three late goals. The players’ response was excellent when we went one behind. It was pretty even and could have gone either way. I was very pleased with the response from the players, it was the correct one and we came back very strongly. It was an enjoyable night and a good result for the boys in the end. I felt the senior pros did so well,” he added. “Getting those lads coming in to a reserve group like this, such as Michael Ball and Jihai Sun, they were excellent – not just in their performance but their attitude and the way they handled the kids. That sets good standards for the younger players to play to.” City: Martin, Logan, Breen, Ball, Williamson, Sun, Laird, Dabo (Clayton 56), Moore (Etuhu 73), Mpenza (Marshall 89), Grimes. Unused subs: Hartley (GK), McDonald.

Too Beautiful: The last time City kicked a ball in anger, Benni McCarthy scored the only goal as Blackburn Rovers beat the Blues at sodding (sorry) a sodden Ewood Park. McCarthy struck from close range in the first-half after Kasper Schmeichel parried a header from Roque Santa Cruz. The ball twice struck the City woodwork, Rovers missed several openings and Schmeichel made several saves as the home team dominated. Blackburn’s Tugay and then City skipper Dunne saw red in the second half after picking up two yellow cards apiece. Sven clearly thought his boys needed to be a bit nastier when faced with such robust opponents. “We had difficulty keeping the ball and creating chances in the final third,” Eriksson said. “We were too beautiful today, not dangerous. In many ways this was the easiest game we have had this season, so it was disappointing that we lost. It seems stupid to say but it was easier than I thought it would be,” he continued. “We didn’t create anywhere near enough chances even though we had plenty of possession. We expected a very aggressive Blackburn but we didn’t get that. In the last third we were not good at all and I took Michael Johnson off to try to give Rolando Bianchi some help. I am not worried by the results of the last two league games because I know I have a good team that will develop. It was a concern that we didn’t make more chances. We were more beautiful than dangerous and that is not good. You do not get points for possession.” Blackburn boss Mark Hughes appeared to think it was another straightforward day at the office for his team: “We were about our business of getting at them from the start to the finish. Our passing was incisive, and we caused them a lot of problems. Tugay is disappointed with himself for his sending off for two silly bookings, but his team-mates rallied round and made sure we got the points.”

Squad News

Sign Up Micah! Micah Richards still hasn’t signed a new contract, and every barnstorming performance for England makes Micah a very desirable commodity. It has been claimed that Richards could be delaying signing a new contract over an agents row. The Mail on Sunday says agents have been complaining about Jerome Anderson hijacking players put into City. Now the talk is that Thaksin Shinawatra’s favourite consultant is having trouble with client Richards, whose delay in agreeing a new deal is said to be down to wondering whether he should have different representatives. But City’s implacable manager is convinced that his prized defender will be signing on soon to the Blue revolution. “I know that discussions are going on but nobody has told me it is done yet. But it will be done.” Well that’s good enough for me. Micah, writing in his blog on BBC sport website, sounds like he wants to commit to a longer stay. Richards said: “I am very happy at City. Hopefully we will have something signed very soon. I am just waiting for my dad who is in Africa setting up a soccer school. We have got talks with City as soon as he gets back in the next two weeks.”

Thanks, Boss! Martin Petrov is enjoying playing for Sven, a manager who encourages attacking play. “It obviously makes a player feel better when he knows the manager admires his talent. He is one of the big reasons that I wanted to come here and I like the fact that we are encouraged to move the ball forward quickly and attack whenever possible,” said Petrov. “It is comforting to think that the manager thinks so highly of me and has said those nice things about my influence on the pitch. But first and foremost the most important thing for me, and the rest of the foreign players that are here, is to adapt to life and work in England as quickly as possible. We are doing that with every second and every minute we have at our disposal thanks to our team-mates and the staff at City. What I can say already is that City is a happy club where the players are treated very well. I don’t know about me being a leader. First of all I have to prove on the pitch that I deserve a place in the side and justify that such a great and famous manager has put faith in me after bringing me from Spain.”

Corluka Going Straight Down the Middle: Richard Dunne is suspended for City’s next fixture, away at Villa, and S-GE is expected to use the opportunity to take another look at Vedran Corluka at centre back. The 21-year-old played in that position at Bristol City, and Eriksson said: “He’s a very good central defender. He’s very stubborn, not that aggressive, but is more elegant and solves all the problems. Sometimes you have the feeling ‘is he quick or not?’ because he’s doing exactly what he needs to do and nothing more – that is good. He’s another one who is just 21-years-old.”

Boj Job by Nedved: SGE has revealed that striker Valeri Bojinov hopes to return from a cruciate injury before Christmas. The Bulgaria international damaged his knee in the derby win over United but he could return in double-quick time to boost the City boss’ options. Eriksson told the MEN: “Bojinov told me he would be back in three months. We will have to see.” Meanwhile, Pavel Nedved, star man at Juventus, convinced Bojinov to join Sven’s City revolution, the Bulgarian has revealed. “I had no doubts this was the right club for me,” Bojinov said in the City Mag. “I only had to speak with Pavel Nedved at Juventus who said, ‘Don’t give joining Manchester City a second thought. I worked under Sven-Goran Eriksson at Lazio and he is a great manager and he will make you a better player. It will be a great move for you.'”

Can You Make the Team, Fernandes? Gelson Fernandes was buoyed by making his competitive début against Bristol City the other week and is hopeful of continuing his run in the first team. “It was very nice that we won and it was very important for me to begin with a success,” said the midfielder. “People say that I am in competition with Didi Hamann for a midfield rôle, but we are all in competition with one another not just us two. Didi is a great player. He has a lot of experience and I like that because he works with me and takes me to one side and speaks with me. He tells me how I can do better and how to read a game more clearly. Hamann is a winner, he has experience all over the world in competitions and everyone has great respect for him.”

The Son Also Rises: Kasper Schmeichel will be rewarded for his early-season form with a new three-year deal by City. The club have moved swiftly to reward the 20-year-old Dane by trebling his £1,500 weekly wage. He has been sent out on loan to Bury and Falkirk in recent seasons but grabbed his first-team chance following injuries to Andreas Isaksson and Hart. He kept three clean sheets against West Ham, Derby and United and saved a penalty from Robin van Persie against Arsenal. And I’m grateful to Our Drew for sending me these pearls of wisdom on the subject young Kasper. They were said by Jamie Redknapp, now a Sky Sports pundit, proving he’s inherited his brains from his dad. “I think Peter Schmeichel will be a father-figure for Kasper.” Nice one, Jamie…

OPINION: THE FEBRUARY DERBY

City take on United at Old Trafford on 9 February, which will be United’s first game after the 50th anniversary of the Munich tragedy.

There will undoubtedly be some commemoration of this, probably including a minute’s silence.

It will be shameful if a few mindless City fans make a disturbance during this with the usual Munich jibes.

How about City, United and the local press emphasising in the next few months that City also lost a great servant of the club on that night: Frank Swift.

Forget what Shankly said. Life and death is more important than football.

[Couldn’t agree more Joel, as some will remember a couple of seasons back MCIVTA was the catalyst for several supporters’ groups and publications in getting together on this: http://www.uit.no/mancity/mcivta/11/87.html – Ed]

OPINION: PLAYER VIEWS

Bojinov: My thoughts were exactly the same as Andrew Downie’s. How on earth has anyone but a club or family member been able to obtain this information from the surgeon? Unbelievable, as was the article.

Micah: Every great player needs a nickname and since Micah comfortably qualifies as a ‘Great’ player already, how about ‘Beast’. Not ‘The Beast’, just ‘Beast’ Mainly because he is a BEAST in capital letters.

Would like to hear the crowd shouting BEAST whenever he gets the ball. Come on, let’s hear it for the BEAST.

OPINION: LEGENDS OR DEAD LEGS?

I think one of the reasons why I enjoy MCIVTA so much is because of the diverging opinions expressed therein. My own current slant on the mini-debate around Tueart is as follows.

His own legend is built around a fair number of goals scored for City as a player. We sanctified him for the memory of a single goal scored on the last occasion we won anything of note. The goal was a good goal, scored on a significant occasion but not extraordinarily good. If you want to see really good goals then take a peek into the Jimmy Greaves, Marco van Basten, Dennis Bergkamp, Georgie Best or Pele catalogues.

Dennis Tueart was a good player. As a player, and a goalscorer, he was a marked man who had to take care of himself. I would never class him a thug. When thinking of thugs then the names Hunter, Bremner, Giles, Tommy Smith and Chopper Harris spring to mind. Thugs are Crerand, Buchan* and Burns* right through to the current generation of Ferdinand and Brown at the Swamp. Worthy of note from the academy of evil – Keane.

Tueart as a person is also, it seems, a man who you could take or leave according to how you found him on the day. I have never met him, I only go on hearsay when I’ve heard he could be brutally abrupt when dealing with fans.

Dennis is basically a hard-nosed businessman who has worked hard for City behind the scenes, I prefer to be non-committal if questioned about how much of his efforts were on his own behalf.

I don’t believe we should be too emotionally uptight about how Dennis is being treated nowadays because he has found himself at a level far detached from the level of City fan in the street. He is at the niveau of his business peers and they have decided his fate.

Footnote* Buchan and Burns were the collective thug unit that destroyed the career of the player who above all others having worn the sky-blue, he who deserves to be sanctified, Colin Bell. Colin would deny the honour.

Greetings Blues.

REQUEST: BLUES VIEWING IN PRAGUE

I am on my stag-do in Prague at the end of September, can anyone recommend a decent bar near Wenceslas Square to watch the Newcastle game?

REQUEST: REDDISH BLUES

Reddish Blues’ first meeting of the new season will be next Wednesday, 19 September, at The Ash Hotel, Manchester Road Stockport starting at 8.00pm (doors 7.00pm) when we’ll be having a “Media Night”.

Our confirmed guests for the evening are Ian Cheeseman and Fred Eyre from BBC Radio Manchester, Chris Bailey from the Manchester Evening News and Channel M will be sending a film crew down as well. As always, everyone is welcome and membership is available on the night.

REQUEST: FULHAM TICKET

Desperately seeking ticket for Fulham. If you can help please call 0790 873 8897 or email below.

REQUEST: PROGRAMMES UP FOR GRABS

I have a collection of 700 Manchester City programmes from 1960s to 1990s including Charity Shield, Cup Finals, European and Testimonials, which I am looking to sell on. No prices set, just make me a reasonable offer!

If you are interested in purchasing some or all of the collection, then email below for the full list.

RESULTS

League table to 11 September 2007 inclusive

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

MCIVTA FAQ [v0708.01]

[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 Points of Blue (formerly the Fans’ Committee)?

The committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. Points of Blue appears 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] 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/.

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: