Newsletter #1366

A rather turgid affair on Tuesday night as City scraped a last minute winner from Samaras to go through to the last 16 of the Carling Cup. We have a match report tonight thanks to Phil.

News also of misdemeaning Blues, which appears to be a recurrent theme, Fulham reaction, Blues past and present links north of the border and captaincy challenges.

Plenty of opinion on squad requirements, MCFCTV, old time Blues and the usual requests.

Finally, we have another MCIVTA competition about to start for a signed copy of the Goat’s biography; you can find out more here and on the website.

Next up, Newcastle and the potential return of one Mr Barton.

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

Court Shorts (1): This may have to become a regular feature in this News Summary. Let’s start with this week’s batch of court news. A Thai court decided on Tuesday to suspend a corruption case against Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife. The nine-judge Supreme Court for Political Appointees panel said the case against the couple, for whom arrest warrants were issued in August, would restart only when prosecutors brought them to court. “The court decided to suspend the case and the trial will resume when the two defendants are found,” chief judge Thonglor Chomngam told reporters. “Although the plaintiff has claimed that the extradition process will take about 90 days, there is no clear indication when the two defendants will be presented in court,” he said. Thaksin’s lawyer Noppadon Pattama applauded Tuesday’s decision. “We’d like to thank the court for giving preliminary justice to both defendants,” Noppadon told Reuters. Pojaman bought land for 772 million baht (12 million pounds) from a unit of the Bank of Thailand at a 2003 auction in which other bidders dropped out. The AEC wants the court to annul the deal, return the land to the central bank and confiscate the money involved.

Court Shorts (2): In other legal news – Dietmar Hamann will appear in court next month to learn his fate over a series of driving charges. The 34-year-old German was due before magistrates in Macclesfield on Thursday after being convicted earlier this month of careless driving, failing to stop after an accident, failing to supply information to police and failing to report an accident. Hamann, of Alderley Edge, Cheshire, crashed his £70,000 Porsche Carrera into a fence in Styal, near Manchester Airport, in October last year. He fled and was found by police a mile and a half away and, although an officer told the court at a previous hearing that the player’s breath smelled of alcohol, he was not breathalysed (who’s a lucky boy then, Didi). The hearing was adjourned because Hamann’s solicitor was not available and magistrates were stuck in traffic (no irony there then). Hamann will appear at Macclesfield Magistrates’ Court on October 22.

Keeping It Real: Prior to the Fulham game, S-GE was doing his best to manage the expectations of City fans, following the club’s best start to a Premier League season for years. “It would be fantastic to keep this position until the end of the season but it is not very realistic,” he said. “If you ask any football expert, none of them would say we will be second in the league. I am happy with where we are but if I am being honest I am also surprised. We will try to stay here but, while we are good, I don’t think we are that good.” Eriksson also confirmed that he does not have a date for assistant Hans Bakke’s return. “There’s a family sickness and I don’t want to speak about it,” declared Eriksson. “But we hope soon he will be back here. I’m quite sure but I can’t tell you the date, unfortunately, for obvious reasons. But he will be back.”

Special Attention for Sven: Jose “The Special One” Mourinho left Chelsea last week, and the speculation and rumour has kept the British sporting press busy ever since. On Monday morning, the papers were sure that Sven was about to be approached about taking over at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea have previous for courting SGE. Back in 2003, when he was England manager, Sven was caught en flagrante with Chelsea representatives. And last weekend, Sven was shown on TV (gasp) sitting quite close to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich at Old Trafford. Mr. E moved to quell this speculation. “I had to sit where they told me to sit,” the Swede told Radio 5live. “Most football people in the world wanted to see that game. It has nothing to do with Abramovich or Chelsea. If I have a free Sunday afternoon and it’s Manchester United-Chelsea, it should almost be criminal in my job not to go to see that match. Of course I wanted to see it.” He also said he content at City. “I have a three-year contract here,” he said. “No, I don’t know anything about the situation in Chelsea.”

Transfer News amd Gossip

Darius Due North? There’s been very little in the swirling miasma of transfer speculation of a City-related nature this week. The only snippet I can offer is that Celtic are keeping tabs on striker Darius Vassell. Parkhead boss Gordon Strachan is set to strengthen his squad in January, with the sale of Kenny Miller to Derby County leaving his squad short in the striking department.

Ex-Blues’ News

Karim Carin’ for Career: Former City midfielder Karim Kerkar has turned down St Mirren because the SPL club was only willing to offer him a short-term contract, and he cited his experience at MCFC as the reason why. “I played in a friendly win against Derby County and put in a good performance,” he said. “But they only wanted to sign me up until January. The contract they were offering me was nothing special.” His decision to reject the contract has angered St Mirren manager Gus MacPherson. But Kerkar, who was last with Al-Wahda in the UEA, told the News of the World: “Scottish clubs don’t take risks and they just offer very short-term contracts. It’s all well and good to sign up until January, but what would I do if I got injured just before then? I had that sort of misadventure at Manchester City. I signed for six months with the option of four further seasons, but I got injured in December. I did not want to make the same mistake again, because I am 30 now. A couple of other Scottish clubs want to give me a trial, but they are in the First Division, so I prefer to bide my time and wait. I don’t want to sign something too quickly and pass up a good opportunity. Besides, I could join any club in France as I am a free agent – and there are plenty of teams in difficulties.” MacPherson had voiced his displeasure at Kerkar’s decision on his club website. “Karim Kerkar agreed a deal with us last Friday,” he said. “But, come the following day, he had a change of heart. The player has been left knowing in no uncertain terms just exactly what our feelings are in regard to his U-turn. The frustrating part is that he had agreed on everything and was coming into the club to sign the deal, but he didn’t show up. By all accounts, he did the same thing with St Johnstone.”

Fowl Deeds at The Hawthorns: There was a veritable convention for former City players (plus a current one) at the Hawthorns on Tuesday night, where Cardiff City visited West Bromwich Albion. The visitors raced to a four goal lead in the first half hour, two were scored by Robbie Fowler, with another from Trevor Sinclair. The home team gave a modicum of respectability with a brace from City’s on-loan forward Ishmael Miller either side of half time.

Saint Lucien: If things had worked out differently at Norwich, Lucien Mettomo might have been playing against City on Tuesday. Instead, Southampton have completed the signing of the Cameroon defender, on a short-term contract. The 30-year-old has agreed a deal until the end of the season after impressing on trial in the last two weeks. Saints boss George Burley said: “He is maybe not quite fully fit because he has been out of contract and has not had a pre-season. He has played in different countries as well as in the Premiership with Manchester City.” Mettomo had been training with Norwich earlier this month but Canaries’ boss Peter Grant decided not to offer him a contract because of concerns about his fitness (thanks to Matt Thomas). Meanwhile, Kiki Musampa, a free agent after leaving Trabzonspor in Turkey, is currently training with Sunderland. Manager R. Keano Esq. confirmed: “Kiki is with us and he’ll possibly play in the reserves next week. We’re always looking for players. People are looking at the transfer window in January, but there are one or two players out there who are not contracted to any club so it would be wrong of us not to go down that road. These contract situations can be a minefield but as far as we’re concerned, Kiki would be available to play. We’ll see how it goes – how the lad settles in and how his fitness levels are.”

After-Match Reactions and Comments

Managing Fulham Can Damage Your Health: Martin Petrov had been threatening to score in most of his games for City this season – well he broke his duck in impressive fashion on Saturday, in a see-sawing 3-3 draw with Fulham. The former Atletico Madrid wideman scored two and created the other for Emile Mpenza as City twice came from behind before throwing away a lead themselves. Simon Davies and Hameur Bouazza twice had the home side ahead, but Petrov (2) and Emile Mpenza looked to have turned the tables, before Danny Murphy’s last equaliser. But the point was enough to move the Blues back up the table into second, while Fulham are fourth from bottom, two points clear of the relegation zone. Both teams’ managers agreed that the game was a good spectacle for the fans, but not good from a boss’ perspective. “If you are watching the game, it’s entertaining,” said Sven. “But if you’re in my clothes, then you are not happy with some of the decisions we took when defending. We created good occasions, played good football for long parts of the game but we should have made better decisions with some of the goals we conceded, it’s a pity,” Eriksson told Setanta Sports. “We need to go on working, we need to defend better. Normally we score very few goals but today we scored three and usually it is difficult to score against us but today two of them were too easy.” Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez expressed similar feelings, insisting it is bad for his health managing the Cottagers right now. “It shows all the sides of us. We are entertaining, we score goals, we concede goals, we go into lead and we can’t finish them off. It’s entertaining football but nearly gives me a heart attack and you only get a point for it. We give up goals too easy, something we are trying to rectify. I’m not sure if we are elated or dejected. We are a decent side, we gave Man City all sorts of problems. It’s interesting but I’d be happier going home with three points and not just one.”

Dunne Disappointed: City captain Richard Dunne agreed with his boss, admitting he was leaving Craven Cottage ‘disappointed’ despite coming from behind twice. “It’s a very tough place to come so we would have been happy with a draw but to have taken the lead we are disappointed,” he said. “We worked hard to make sure a point was the least we got. It’s great to play in this side, everyone wants the ball, everyone’s passing and moving, but after taking the lead, not taking the three points was a bit of a disappointment in the end. It was nice to come back in, especially after the lads won last week. This is a strong squad and there’s a fight for positions, I think players will come in and out over the season but hopefully performance levels won’t drop.” On the way the Blues’ back line have been playing the ball out of defence, Richard added: “The manager is working on that part of our game, the midfield know where to go and we know what to do with the ball. You can come out and play with it, which takes pressure off other people. Further up we have the flair players who can run at defenders and create chances. We’re playing really well at the moment, second is a lofty position for us but we feel we deserve to be there. We’ve got a few home games coming up in the league and if we can get a win over Newcastle that will really boost our confidence for the ones afterwards.”

Blood Rush: Of Martin Petrov, Sven said: “He normally scores goals, I don’t know how many shots he has had during the season, and he has been in a few good positions, but today he took his chances. They were two nice goals, I’m happy for him, he needed that. I think he’s a great player, and he’s an important one for us. He has pace, good technique and a great shot, I’m very happy for him.” Eriksson defended Micah Richards after the player clashed with American striker Clint Dempsey during the game. The full back only received a yellow card but many pundits claim he should have been sent off. However, Eriksson claims that it was just a ‘rush of blood’ from the promising defender. Eriksson said: “Football would be perfect if nobody ever reacted. That is just what happened but Micah is a young player learning new lessons every day. This won’t be a problem for him.”

Sam Late Strike: The Quarter Finals are only one game away. Georgios Samaras netted a last-minute winner on his first appearance of the season to give the Blues a victory over Norwich in the Carling Cup on Tuesday. Chances were at a premium with Michael Ball going close with a free-kick while Norwich’s Lee Croft was off target against his former side. The home side finished strongly and both Kelvin Etuhu and Rolando Bianchi went close. As injury time beckoned, Samaras raced on to an Etuhu through ball to seal a place in the last 16. “I am pleased that we are through – but if I said we played excellent football, I would be a liar,” was the curt but accurate summary provided by Sven. Most of the reports concentrated on the goalscorer, who has rarely featured this term. “Georgios has a contract here and he has a future here,” commented Eriksson. “If he carries on playing like that, I will use him. The goal is fantastic for his confidence and I am really pleased for him because he has not been playing for us. He told me at the end of August that he wanted to stay and fight for his place, which is exactly what he has done. He has never complained and never done anything stupid in training. He has always worked hard and been extremely positive. I heard there were clubs in Spain, Portugal and England who inquired but I don’t know if they were really good offers or not. I did speak to some players when I came here and told them I couldn’t give them much football. One of them was Georgios. I told him if he found a club willing to discuss things with us that would be okay but he likes the Premier League and he wanted to stay. The goal will be good for Georgios’ confidence and all of the players are very happy for him.” Samaras said “I’m not trying to prove anything, I’m just trying to play my own game, help my team to win, improve myself and keep looking forward. I’m very happy that I’ve played a full game and I hope I get more chances to play. I was just focused on the ball, but I knew that I would score. I’d had that feeling before the game so I’m very happy. I’ve just been focussing on my football, I’ve been training hard, I knew that my chance would come and it was up to me to take it. I’ll keep going and keep working hard. Other players might worry, but I stay really calm, don’t get stressed, play my own game and enjoy it. Whatever happens, I have confidence in myself and I just keep trying.”

Canaries Croak: The dramatic ending was somewhat tough on Norwich. “The result was a big disappointment but not the way we played,” said Canaries’ boss Peter Grant. “It can be a cruel game sometimes, but if we were going to lose I would rather lose it playing that way. I felt the very least we deserved was to take it into extra-time. We looked the most threatening. We moved the ball well and created chances. Maybe we could have been a bit more clinical – but that is all.”

Squad News

Micah and Sven – The Truth: Micah Richards was interviewed on BBC Radio5 last week, and was in good form. He was asked for his views on new boss Sven. Richards revealed: “Before the United game last month Sven said to us: ‘Don’t worry, you are better than them.’ We all looked at each other wondering what he was talking about but we came in as 1-0 winners. Sven gives you that belief. He makes you believe you are the best, that you can go out and play football with no fear. People don’t understand how good Sven is. He is out there on the training ground and while Stuart Pearce was more of a shouter, when Sven says something you know what he means and you get on with it. Sven is always smiling but when he speaks he means business. When you look at his club record no one can argue with it. Getting stick when you are England manager goes with the job but people forget he had a good record.” He also spoke of his pride at being asked to captain City against Aston Villa last week. “I wouldn’t say I was expecting it but, when we had a pre-season match in Sweden and Dunney was injured, I was captain then – so I was kind of hoping this time but I didn’t know for sure,” Micha stated. “Eriksson didn’t really say a lot to me about it. He only told me the day before the game and just said: ‘you are captain – make sure you are ready’ in a jokey sort of way. It was a nice feeling but the captain’s armband is just on loan really – Dunney has been class for us all season and he will lead us out against Fulham on Saturday. Hopefully I will become City’s permanent captain one day, but I don’t think I am ready for the job just yet!”

Young Talent Signs Up: The previous weeks haven’t been good for Stephen Ireland, what with the fiasco over his website entries, and the mess he got himself in withdrawing from his country’s squad. So it’s good to report that things have looked up this week for Stephen – he has signed a new five year deal with City. “I am very settled at the club and the support I have received from my partner, family and everybody around me has been fantastic. The events surrounding my withdrawal from the Ireland squad last week have been well publicised and are not something I want to dwell on. However, I want to reiterate my regret over what happened. I received some very upsetting news when I was told by my partner that she had suffered a miscarriage and unfortunately became swept up in an unforeseen series of events on an issue that was deeply personal to us. At no time did I realise that an issue which should have been private and confidential between my partner and I would receive so much media attention – but now it is time for me to move on. I would like to thank everybody who has sent me messages of support over the last few days, including fans of City and Ireland. The understanding shown to me by Sven Goran Eriksson, the City players and backroom staff has been fantastic. I am glad to be back training at City and looking forward to being part of the squad to travel to Fulham on Saturday. I have been more satisfied with my form this season than at any time since I broke into the first team squad. There is such a positive great mood amongst our squad and we are all completely focused on maintaining our excellent start to the season.” Sven was pleased enough. “I’m very happy he’s signed,” he said. “He’s a very, very good footballer and one coming from the Academy, so that’s one more we have the long-term. That’s good for the Club and good for us. I think that he will play a very good football match for us on Saturday, he’s training very well.” Another young Blue has signed a better deal this week – Kasper Schmeichel has signed a new four-year deal. “It’s great to have everything put to bed now so I can concentrate on my football, I’m delighted,” Schmeichel told the club’s official website. “Everything’s gone well this season, so to get this sorted out as well is really pleasing.” City boss Sven Goran Eriksson hailed the news of Schmeichel’s new deal. “Kasper has been very impressive since I came to City, and I’m delighted that he has committed his future to the club,” noted Eriksson. “I’m very happy with him. He is another one from the academy we are signing up on a long-term basis. That’s good for the club. Some of his decision-making has not always been right but you expect that from a 20-year-old. The fact is he has kept four clean sheets out of six and you can’t argue with that.”

New Boys Done Good: Full back Javi Garrido is happy with his first weeks with the club. “I wanted to play by moving to a different club. At Real Sociedad there were three or four players in the same situation as me,” said Garrido. “When I left Sociedad, I knew I was leaving behind friends and family. But in life, I wanted to learn a new culture, make new friends and obviously learn a new language. These are the things I want to benefit from the new move. Obviously, I have got a family and everything there, so there were mixed emotions for me. Because the club were relegated, the economic situation meant that they needed the money. I wanted to play and come to Manchester and they needed the money so it worked for both sides.” He added: “For me, I didn’t have to think too much about the move to the Premier League. I was aware of Manchester City’s situation and I had a lot of offers from other clubs, but with Sven-Goran Eriksson’s reputation as a good coach and I knew they were signing a lot of international players as well, that is what attracted me to Manchester City.” And Rolando Bianchi has hailed the creative influence of midfielder Elano. “Elano is very important for the strikers,” he said. “He reads the game brilliantly and can pick a pass. His supply is crucial. We are a team that likes to pass the ball so good team work is vital and if myself or Emile plays as a lone striker more emphasis is put on that part of my game but I have done it many, many times in Italian football so I am comfortable with it. If you make the right decisions and have the right mental sharpness and eye for an opening you can be very successful in England as well as in Italy even playing on your own up front. You don’t have to be scoring all the time to make a vital contribution to the side. We have a lot of intelligent, technically gifted players in the squad, clever footballers who can exploit runs from the strikers and goal scoring positions.”

MCIVTA COMPETITION

Signed Shaun Goater “Feed the Goat” Book

MCIVTA are pleased to bring you the first part of the October 2007 MCIVTA Supporters’ Quiz. The quiz will run through MCIVTA and our website: http://www.uit.no/mancity/ over the next couple of weeks.

The prize for the lucky winner is a signed copy of Shaun Goater’s biography “Feed the Goat” kindly donated by Sutton Publishing. Goater was a true City legend, who made the most out of his career after moving to a struggling City side in 1998. City were doomed to play in the third tier of English football but Goater soon became a crowd favourite and his scoring abilities saw him net 102 times in 209 games for the Blues, including 28 league goals during the 2001-02 promotion season.

To win the book you will have to answer 6 questions, three presented in this issue of MCIVTA and three presented in next week’s Thursday issue. The participant with the most correct answers wins the competition. If more than one participant has all the answers right (or there is a tie for the winning position) a draw will be made by the jury to decide who the winner is.

To submit your answers and view the competition rules, please go to the MCFC Supporters’ Homepage at: http://www.uit.no/mancity/ and follow the instructions to enter the competition. Answers must be submitted by Thursday 4 October 2007, 12:00 BST.

QUESTION 1:
Which former City player had T-shirts saying that his “grandad bombed Old Trafford”?

QUESTION 2:
Which English clubs has Shaun Goater played for?

QUESTION 3:
Who was the 5th Captain to lift a trophy for City at Wembley Stadium?

MATCH REPORT: MCFC 1 NCFC 0

City laboured against an enthusiastic but struggling Norwich side as Sven rang the changes, nine in all, in this League Cup tie. Thankfully we were spared by Georgios Samaras’s last minute winner from having to sit through another half an hour of this dross. Samaras raised his hands to the heavens in a prayer of thanks after his goal. He wasn’t the only one. City vs. Norwich was the first game at Maine Road that my dad brought me to in October 1980 and is therefore a special fixture for this particular City supporter. Paul Power scored the winner that day and I was hooked thereafter. This latest clash with the Canaries had the same scoreline, but neither the game nor the atmosphere bore any resemblance to that Saturday afternoon back at dear old Maine Road as a noisy City crowd fervently cheered Johnny Bond’s City to victory and away from the foot of the old First Division.

The game started off with City trying to impose themselves on the Canaries. Michael Ball went close with a well struck free kick that was tipped away by a stretching Norwich goalkeeper. Bianchi hit a shot into the side netting and was wayward with another. Geovanni tried to get City going but the movement and speed wasn’t there to read his clever passes. City certainly weren’t having it all their own way. An injury and suspension hit Norwich still carried a threat with Cureton blazing over and Brown glancing a header wide. Otsemobor forced Joe Hart to make a diving save from a free kick. It certainly wasn’t impressive by the Blues, and it was no surprise that it was goalless at half time.

The second half didn’t bring any improvement. City huffed and puffed to no real effect but most of this fringe squad didn’t make a case for inclusion over the first team. Fernandes certainly showed lung bursting energy but he failed to impose himself. Like Michael Johnson, he too would benefit from playing alongside an older head. Stephen Ireland, who has featured more in the first team, normally an incisive passer, also worked hard but misplaced balls more than he should have.

Otsemobor and the returning Lee Croft, who was clearly relishing his return to City, formed a threatening partnership down the right with Onuoha and Logan having to make blocks at full stretch from their crosses. Other than that, the City defence, led by Richard Dunne, who had asked Sven to let him play, was largely untested in the second half.

Up front for City, Samaras was willing and able but he glanced a header well wide from a corner. The out-of-touch Bianchi’s body language was not as positive as his Greek team mate and he was labouring. If anyone wonders why Sven is choosing Mpenza over Bianchi then it was very obvious on this occasion. There are conflicting reports as to how well the young Italian is settling in Manchester after a bright start, but he looked low on confidence here, especially when failing to take advantage when clean through in the last minute. He will need some careful man-management.

Changes there may have been, but there can be no excuses. Current economics of football make it hard even for a Championship side to cope with the reserves of most Premier League sides. On this occasion there was little to choose between these teams, and on a cool Autumn night that was very disappointing. Indeed, there was little to cheer as City failed to impose their superiority throughout.

That all said, it was great to see some youthful promise at the end of this awful match as Sven brought on youngsters Kelvin Etuhu and Ched Evans. Evans astutely chested a lofted pass into the path of Bianchi who hit his shot over. Kelvin Etuhu could be about to follow in the footsteps of two outstanding young right wingers to emerge from City’s youth. There’s shades of the power of David White’s running and the trickery of Shaun Wright-Phillips in his play. He also demonstrated their shooting power with a fine snapshot from long range that just cleared the bar. He topped that off with the incisive slide rule pass down the inside left channel that Samaras coolly converted. You could almost touch the relief all round.

OPINION: SWEET SIXTEEN

A last minute goal by Georgios Samaras gets City through to the last 16 of the League (Carling) Cup. It’s nice to see Samaras back into action after being out for so long, an almost forgotten player. It was Samaras who scored the winner, a very important goal. City supporters must encourage Georgios from now on, for he needs to get his form and confidence back.

Sven did an Arsenal kind of thing, playing some younger players with a mix of others for this fixture against Norwich City.

We must feel a little lucky that it did not go to extra time, having scored the winner with a last gasp goal. Whilst Norwich go home feeling kind of sad, we all know that feeling only too well.

We are now in the sweet sixteen for the draw to be made at lunch time on Saturday Sept 29 for our next opponents.

I think most of us are hoping for a trip to the new Wembley Stadium, but that is just a dream right now, let’s win our next game first.

Come on you Blues!

And come on Samaras – you can do it!

OPINION: MCFCTV.COM

In response to Gareth Croke, I have subscribed to MCFCTV.com for about 5 years, and found it an excellent service, that is until last Saturday and the game against Fulham. As usual I logged in, and clicked on the ‘live commentary’ link, which just seemed to bring up another webpage, with no way to access the commentary!

I have written to MCFCTV.com about this, but haven’t heard from them yet.

They seemed to have cocked up the subscription renewal as well, having taken an amount for the current year, only to want to take another subscription in October for the new service, which seems to be twice the amount I have previously been paying.

Living in the southwest, and being totally blind, I have been reliant on MCFCTV.com to hear the games, as I am on this publication for all the news etc, and I am grateful to both, but a bit worried now that the commentary service might begin to get offered in a way not accessible to people such as myself, who use special adaptive software to read their computer screens. If their changes to the website means that they have hidden the listen link in a graphic, then my software will be unable to see this, as it is a text reading programme, and can’t handle graphics with links embedded in them.

Finally, just for accuracy, the commentary originally was provided by Century radio, then when they became the station for Trafford Red Socks, was contracted to Radio Manchester [or GMR as it then was] and for the last 2-3 seasons, comes from Magic 1152.

[post Norwich game]

An update to my earlier message. I am happy to say that I was able to hear the commentary for the game against Norwich [even if it was a dreadful game!]

That just leaves the question of subscription to sort out; it seems that the previous company hosting MCFCTV charged my credit card £20 on my old renewal date in August, and the new company intend to take £39.99 on the 14 October. Trying to sort this out is meeting with nobody taking responsibility for it.

OPINION: MIDFIELD GENERAL

I’ve only seen a couple of the games this season but certainly for the United, Villa and Fulham games the one person, despite his professional and personal challenges at City (and I wish him the best at Newcastle, but not next Saturday, eh Joey?), I miss is Joey Barton. He would have been the one player to make us excellent, not just good – so far.

And I’m stuck apart from the obvious Gerrards, Lampards etc. who is a decent enough character with excellent football skills and ability to turn a match and rally a team like Joey.

Let’s face it, on the field last season he was pretty regular at being the “star” if there was one on the day.

There’s no grit in the middle – he left a hole, not yet filled.

OPINION: ‘KEEPER DILEMMA

I agree with Philip Van Gass that Sven is making a serious mistake in not playing Isaksson.

I watched him play against Denmark and he was first class on the ground and also in the air. Nothing against Schmeichel, he has been a revelation in Isaksson’s absence but he’s also been very lucky. That mis-punch against Dempsey’s head in the last minute against Fulham could have easily cost City all three points and he didn’t look that organized against the free kick on Fulham’s second goal. Kasper is definitely a ‘keeper of the future but we have a top class international ‘keeper in Isaksson who won’t stick around much longer if he doesn’t get a chance.

OPINION: FILTER

After reading the most recent issue I was wondering if anyone could come up with some sort of filter to screen out some of the miserabilists who subscribe. I’m sorry, Steve Kay but I just don’t agree with anything you say. After last season, I’d have judged this season a success if occasionally during games, City managed to pass the ball to each other. They’ve done this and more and the team barely knows each other.

I was glad of the information Simon McDonagh provided and it seems a shame that he has to write a small novel on his legal /ethical position.

As for the away strip, it used to be an alternative when colours clashed on the road. Now it’s the automatic choice and the so called 3rd strip is used when there’s a colour clash. This shameless greed and many other instances like it is perhaps one of the reasons why attendances are down in most of the Premiership outside the top four. Heidi you have my sympathy, keep up the good work!

OPINION: STAY AWAYS

I’ll go along with Joel Perry and say to people like Steve Kay, stay away. I think most of the pundits have expressed the opinion that we have played some entertaining football so far and I agree. The great Bill Shankly said that he judged how good his team was by the number of games that they won 1-0.

If we win 25 games 1-0 at the end of the season what will you say then Steve? I don’t think everything is smooth at the moment but it’s a step in the right direction.

As usual there are lots of city fans who have a glass that’s half empty! If you know what I mean. Looking forward to a 3,000+ mile trip to the Newcastle game where a 1-0 will be just fine.

OPINION: OLD TIME BLUES

Pamela Haynes’ posting in MCIVTA 1359 refers to an old Evening Chronicle picture of a 1930’s City team.

It must be the 1934 Cup winning team. The side lined up in the now old fashioned formation as follows;

                    Swift
               Barnet    Dale
        Busby   Cowan (Capt)   Bray
Toseland   Marshall   Tilson   Herd   Brook
Reserve:  McLuckie

Jimmy McLuckie had been the regular left half, but injury allowed Jackie Bray to take his place in the league team and subsequently the Cup Final. As this was in the days before substitutes, I can only assume that McLuckie was on stand-by in case of pre-final injuries.

I was weaned on this team by my father, who was at Wembley that day.

REQUEST: SPARE SEAT OFFER

Fellow sufferers!

I live a couple of hundred miles from Eastlands but have been a season ticket holder for longer than I care to remember.

I am in the top tier of the East stand and when MCFC are on Sky and/or involved in a midweek game, family and cost make it almost impossible for me to attend. If anyone is interested in using this ticket on these occasions, please feel free to get in touch and I’ll endeavour to sort something out. Newcastle and Sunderland are the next two to present a problem.

RESULTS

League table to 26 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 Arsenal          6  4  0  0 11  2  1  1  0  4  2  5  1  0  15   4  11  16
 2 Manchester Utd   7  3  1  0  4  0  1  1  1  2  2  4  2  1   6   2   4  14
 3 Manchester City  7  3  0  0  3  0  1  1  2  5  5  4  1  2   8   5   3  13
 4 Liverpool        6  1  2  0  7  1  2  1  0  4  1  3  3  0  11   2   9  12
 5 Newcastle Utd    6  2  1  0  4  1  1  1  1  5  4  3  2  1   9   5   4  11
 6 Chelsea          7  2  1  0  4  2  1  1  2  3  6  3  2  2   7   8  -1  11
 7 West Ham United  6  1  1  1  4  3  2  0  1  5  3  3  1  2   9   6   3  10
 8 Aston Villa      6  3  0  1  7  3  0  1  1  0  1  3  1  2   7   4   3  10
 9 Everton          7  1  1  1  3  3  2  0  2  5  5  3  1  3   8   8   0  10
10 Blackburn R.     6  1  1  1  2  2  1  2  0  3  2  2  3  1   5   4   1   9
11 Portsmouth       7  1  2  0  4  2  1  1  2  4  6  2  3  2   8   8   0   9
12 Wigan Athletic   7  2  1  0  5  1  0  1  3  3  6  2  2  3   8   7   1   8
13 Middlesbrough    7  1  2  1  7  6  1  0  2  2  5  2  2  3   9  11  -2   8
14 Birmingham City  7  1  1  1  3  3  1  1  2  4  6  2  2  3   7   9  -2   8
15 Sunderland       7  2  0  1  3  3  0  2  2  4  8  2  2  3   7  11  -4   8
16 Reading          7  2  0  2  4  6  0  1  2  1  5  2  1  4   5  11  -6   7
17 Fulham           7  1  2  1  9  9  0  1  2  3  5  1  3  3  12  14  -2   6
18 Tottenham H.     7  1  0  2  6  6  0  2  2  4  6  1  2  4  10  12  -2   5
19 Bolton Wndrs     7  1  1  2  6  6  0  0  3  2  6  1  1  5   8  12  -4   4
20 Derby County     7  1  1  1  4  4  0  0  4  0 16  1  1  5   4  20 -16   4

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: