Newsletter #1509

A far more convincing performance on Sunday as the team acquitted themselves well and we came away from Anfield with a point, although deserved all three, with Bellamy again on the score sheet. A welcome result from a week that brought more talk of discipline problems and player spats.

We have match views tonight on the recent set of games, a look at the team that is forming and more opinion on the FA disciplinary rules and regulations.

Next up, the return leg of the UEFA game vs. FC Copenhagen and time to take home and away goals advantage.

MATCH VIEW I: LFC 1 MCFC 1

Many positives for Mark H to take from today’s performances versus Liverpool, especially, if compared to recent displays away from Eastlands. The overall workrate from his players was excellent and Craig Bellamy once again went a long way towards repaying his transfer fee. This guy’s work ethic and skill exemplifies everything Manchester City should aspire to emulate. A really excellent signing by Mark H, not forgetting Kompany, De Jong, Given, etc.

I have criticised Robinho, of late, but a much better performance from him today, so that was pleasing to view. He is so lightweight but when he puts in the effort he is a player who can win games for the side, no doubt about that. He needs to continue in this vein through to the end of the season, to further justify his signing for an extraordinary amount of money.

Caicedo still should be allowed more playing time, as I’ve mentioned previously. Perhaps Weiss may possibly be handed an opportunity later this week, in our UEFA game, if we are leading at some point by a healthy margin? Give the lad a chance for some experience, Mark, possibly.

It was interesting that immediately after our goal, the side visibly raised its performance several notches just for a while, thus giving us a glimpse of what Mark H is putting together, here, and it looked very competent, indeed. A fair result in the end.

One final point in that I watched United vs. Blackburn, Saturday. I assume Ronaldo shall now be receiving a 3 or 4 match ban for clearly kicking out and also making contact with the Blackburn player, after Ronaldo had been tackled? If not, then City would certainly be justified in making a formal complaint to the FA as to why SWP was dealt with differently, for acting in the same manner?

We need to hammer Copenhagen, Thursday, just to make a point. The attending fans deserve no less.

MATCH VIEW II: LFC 1 MCFC 1

City nearly did it, might easily have been a City victory; the team came out in the second half looking full of confidence. City must play the next game in the same way.

I’m very pleased with the City team performance, but not too happy that we helped the Swamp Dwellers.

Come on you Blues! In Sparky I trust.

MATCH VIEW: FCK 2 MCFC 2

I am really pleased that we put up a much better show in last night’s match against Copenhagen than we have been doing recently; at least it gives Hughes’ successor something to build on!

However, no matter how many times I watch it I cannot understand why Micah Richards didn’t stop their second goal. He was directly in line with the ball as it headed towards goal, but instead of heading it away, which at that moment would have been much easier to do, he ducked! My jaw is still on the floor! It was like he was six years old and, playing football for the very first time, didn’t want to hurt himself by heading the ball. I can’t make out from the footage whether he kept his eyes open either!

I never believe in getting on players’ backs, especially the younger ones, and those with Blue blood, but that really was unforgivable. Please, please, please can whoever does the coaching these days at Carrington, please re-acquaint Micah Richards with a football, and explain to him the basic concepts of defending? And in the meantime take him out of the firing line because he is a liability at the moment and I don’t want to see Liverpool, Villa or Chelsea destroy him completely in the next few games.

OPINION: MANAGER’S CHOICES I

Bravo! To Steve Burrows for seeing through the ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ routine of Mr Hughes. I endorse everything he says 100%.

I have bemoaned the fact the Mr Hughes did not sign a top class centre half during the recent transfer windows and the chickens came a roosting yet again not once but twice during the Copenhagen game! So unbelievably basic it makes you cry.

On a totally different subject I can also fully endorse Heidi’s review of the book ‘Allison Wonderland’ by Steve Mingle. An excellent read charting the rise of the Blues and also the fatally flawed signing of Rodney Marsh who really did cost us the title the year he arrived. And how Allison ruthlessly betrayed “Uncle” Joe Mercer whilst being in cahoots with Peter Swales.

However, for fans of my age it is spooky to read about some of the famous games that you actually attended and watched as a youngster in the Kippax (sat on the side of the tunnel nearest the Scoreboard End / North Stand). Basically a cracking good read!

OPINION: MANAGER’S CHOICES II

I respect Steve Burrows’ opinions in MCIVTA 1508, but I think that he is being a little impatient.

Just remember the transfer window only closed three weeks ago; the new players have hardly any time to settle in to a new team and a new set up.

There is every possibility that I might be saying to Steve at the end of the season, “you were right”, but I stand firmly behind Mark Hughes and I believe he will get it right, and if he doesn’t then of course he deserves to be replaced, but at least give him the chance, and get behind him at least until the end of the season;, it does not help someone’s morale to be on their back.

Mark Hughes was as a player a star striker, Mark Bowen (Asst Manager) played as a player at left back: here it should be where the main coaching should be done. Sparky the attack, and Bowen the defence; right now the defence needs to tighten up some.

Mark Hughes as Manager/Coach has got to have every player, including Brazilians, giving 100% in every game. We can all see that this is not happening; some are not giving a 100% effort and we give up too easy. Team spirit is like having a twelfth man playing for you, this is where we are lacking in my humble opinion.

The next game versus Liverpool and at Anfield is the kind of game City “might” go out and win; we can’t beat anyone else away so why can’t we go out and beat a team like Liverpool? It would be just like City.

We are still in the UEFA Cup and with the advantage of 2 away goals, now to win at home, we might yet meet AC Milan with Kaka and the Red Swine Becks, that is if LA Galaxy don’t drag him back to the USA on his big bucks contract. Beckham and his skinny missus (more meat on a butcher’s knife) wanted Hollywood and the big dollars but now want to play some serious football; might not be that easy – will AC Milan pay a lot for an ageing player?

So come on you Blues (what does silverware look like?)!

OPINION: DOUBLE STANDARDS

Happened to see the 2nd half of the Rags vs. Blackburn in the club last night.

I am now sitting back with the radio on, waiting to hear when the authorities will be summoning Ronaldo to Soho to give him a Sweep-like ban for kicking out at an opponent.

I’m not getting at Ronaldo, I wish we had him, but it will be very interesting to see what, if anything, is done. As far as I could see, at least Sweep had an awful lot of provocation and I would admit that when I played football all those years ago, it might not have ended with a little petulant swerve of the right leg!

The point is, will the mighty “World Champions” be taken to task in the same way that our player was? Watch this space!

OPINION: FA DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES

Sam Duxbury is correct insofar as the FA do have rules, or to be pedantic standard directions, concerning disciplinary procedures; the ones I cited can be found on the FA website at:

http://www.thefa.com/NR/rdonlyres/C78670E4-FC3D-4AF2-A526-59DEA094982E/148784/DisciplinaryProcedures0809.pdf

The relevant section starts on page 289 under the heading (in small print to comply with Sam’s description):

Schedule A
Standard Directions for Incidents on the Field of Play which fall within Law 12, which were not seen by Match Officials, but caught on video (serious foul play, violent conduct, spitting at an opponent or any other person, offensive, insulting or abusive language or gestures) For Players of Clubs of the FA Premier League, Football League and Football Conference National Division

… and the section on timing is further down the page

(b) Timings
(i) The Charge
A Charge under these provisions may only be issued within the period of two working days of the incident (i.e. for a Saturday/Sunday game, a Charge will usually have to be issued prior to 6pm on the Tuesday). The Charge will be accompanied by all evidence, documents and written submissions upon which The Association intends to rely.

… Discretionary options on the timing are described, in regulations, on page 301

Exceptional Circumstances
4.15 Where the circumstances of a case are such that the Chief Regulatory Officer (or his nominee) or a Participant considers that it would be impractical or unfair for a Charge to be processed in the time limits set out in these Regulations, the Disciplinary Procedures Concerning Field Offences or in any Standard Directions, the Chief Regulatory Officer (or his nominee) or a Participant may apply to the Judicial Panel Chairman (or his nominee) for an order that the relevant time limits be amended, suspended, abridged or dispensed with.
4.16 Examples of circumstances in which the processing of a charge would be impractical or unfair within the time limits set out in these Regulations, Disciplinary Procedures Concerning Field Offences or in any Standard Directions are where:
(a) there is a pending police investigation; or
(b) the seriousness or complexity of the matter necessitates a longer period of investigation; or
(c) substantial evidence needs to be obtained from non-Participants.

I’ll leave it to readers to decide for themselves whether the exceptional circumstances applied. Apparently the FA said it wasn’t due to the snow!

OPINION: FUND RAISING BLUES IN GERMANY

After having been informed about Carl Ramsbottom’s accident, which happened right after the match, Schalke vs. Man City on November 27th 2008, and feeling responsible for the do being held for all supporters following the game in Gelsenkirchen, I tried to contact his brother Andy and some days later he came over here, providing me with more detailed information about Carl’s incredible situation while still being in rehab hospital. Well, this could have happened to any other football fan too!

Therefore my Schalke branch, http://www.supportersclub.de/, and I have started a collection for him and his family in mid-January. After involving FC Schalke 04 they have supported our fund-raising campaign on the official website. I got a lot of fantastic feedback from other Schalke supporters and especially from our branch members!

Now after finishing the collection, a lottery for 2 Derby tickets, FC Schalke 04 vs. BvB Dortmund, and some auctions on Ebay, I’m pleased to let you know that we have collected in Germany 2500Euros for Carl. We all hope that he will feel better soon and being able to return to England to see his Blues again!

Last but not least it was fantastic to see how City and other supporters stood together without being bothered about supporting different footie clubs. In my opinion this is a great thing and we should give it a try to go on with it! There should be a friendly and human companionship between all supporters with a heart for everyone’s Club, and a fair way to enjoy football all together!

I would like to thank everyone so much for supporting all collections and for having brought different supporters closer together!

RESULTS

22 February 2009

Fulham                2 - 0  West Bromwich Albion  22,394
Liverpool             1 - 1  Manchester City       44,259
Newcastle United      0 - 0  Everton               47,683

21 February 2009

Aston Villa           0 - 1  Chelsea               42,585
Arsenal               0 - 0  Sunderland            60,104
Bolton Wanderers      2 - 1  West Ham United       21,245
Middlesbrough         0 - 0  Wigan Athletic        24,020
Stoke City            2 - 2  Portsmouth
Manchester United     2 - 1  Blackburn Rovers      75,000

League table to 22 February 2009 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  26 12  1  0 30  5  7  4  2 16  6 19  5  2  46  11  35  62
 2 Liverpool       26  7  6  0 20  8  8  4  1 23 10 15 10  1  43  18  25  55
 3 Chelsea         26  6  5  2 21  7  9  2  2 24  8 15  7  4  45  15  30  52
 4 Aston Villa     26  5  6  2 18 13 10  0  3 22 12 15  6  5  40  25  15  51
 5 Arsenal         26  7  4  2 18 11  5  5  3 20 14 12  9  5  38  25  13  45
 6 Everton         26  4  5  4 18 16  7  3  3 16 12 11  8  7  34  28   6  41
 7 Wigan Athletic  26  6  4  3 13 11  3  4  6 13 13  9  8  9  26  24   2  35
 8 Fulham          25  8  3  1 21  9  0  6  7  3 13  8  9  8  24  22   2  33
 9 West Ham United 26  6  1  6 18 17  3  5  5 14 17  9  6 11  32  34  -2  33
10 Manchester City 26  8  0  5 28 12  1  5  7 15 23  9  5 12  43  35   8  32
11 Sunderland      26  5  2  6 15 15  3  5  5 12 18  8  7 11  27  33  -6  31
12 Bolton Wndrs    26  5  2  6 13 15  4  1  8 16 23  9  3 14  29  38  -9  30
13 Hull City       25  3  3  6 13 25  4  5  4 18 21  7  8 10  31  46 -15  29
14 Newcastle Utd   26  4  6  3 19 20  2  4  7 14 22  6 10 10  33  42  -9  28
15 Portsmouth      26  5  2  6 18 21  2  5  6 11 22  7  7 12  29  43 -14  28
16 Tottenham H.    25  4  5  4 11  9  2  2  8 15 22  6  7 12  26  31  -5  25
17 Stoke City      26  6  4  3 15 13  0  3 10  8 29  6  7 13  23  42 -19  25
18 Blackburn R.    25  3  4  6 15 21  2  4  6 13 21  5  8 12  28  42 -14  23
19 Middlesbrough   26  3  6  4 10 15  2  2  9  8 21  5  8 13  18  36 -18  23
20 West Brom A.    26  5  2  6 18 24  1  2 10  6 25  6  4 16  24  49 -25  22

MCIVTA FAQ [v0708.01]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

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[2] What are MCIVTA’s publishing deadlines?

Deadlines for issues are nominally 6pm, Monday and Thursday evenings by email. Unfortunately we cannot accept email attachments.

[3] MCIVTA Back Issues and Manchester City Supporters’ home page

http://www.mcivta.com/ 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/.

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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: