Newsletter #1576

Back to business at the weekend for the Blues as we faced Wigan away and emerged with a point, which sees us settle in 5th place for now.

We have opinion on the game tonight, the defensive blues and I would normally say the usual requests although Hilary’s is certainly a first!

Apologies for the delays in transmission last week due to problems with the distribution software.

MATCH VIEW: WAFC 1 MCFC 1

I am not going to question Alan Wiley the referee, about his fitness like Fergie has done; what I question is his eyesight.

Zabaleta, who has just won his place at right back did not deserve the first booking; his second booking was a little silly being he had already got the first yellow card. I have to sympathize with him after fighting to get the right back position back.

SWeeP was taken down in the area; it was a blatant penalty, with Wiley close up to see it all.

I am just pleased that City do not have Wiley as referee for every game that is played; no other comment needed, or Wiley might take my pen from me.

Wigan is not the best place to visit, and it wasn’t for Chelsea who lost 3-1 earlier in the season; they too were down to ten men in their game on Sept 26.

Wigan always raise their game against City; the answer should be that City raise their game to win.

Collectively not the best game that City have played; in truth some players appeared off form, and maybe a little dull after the international games, and injuries.

One player that an international game did not affect was Petrov, who scored two goals for Bulgaria and still had a decent game today. We must give credit too to Wigan who put in a very lively performance.

The man of the match was our “Rottweiler”, Nigel de Jong; he was tackling all over the pitch, and once again lived up to his name Rottweiler.

Our goal was well taken as Tevez, who ran his socks off, passed the ball to Martin Petrov who calmly let the ball roll over to his left foot, and wham! it was in the back of the net.

Superman came on towards the end of the game but even with some kryptonite he was not able to win the game.

Santa Cruz has still got to impress me; I know that it’s still early after his injury, so I will be patient.

Overall, disappointed that we did not get a win that would have moved City up to third place, but happy that we came away with a point; we still have games in hand, so we must win them to move up the table.

Come on you Blues!

OPINION: DEFENSIVE WOES

Come on Ernie, take your sky blue sunglasses off for a minute! Our defence is s***e. The full backs have been caught out far too much; if it wasn’t for the best ‘keeper in the league, who knows where we would be?!

Just because a person plays for England doesn’t necessarily make him a good player. I played enough football to know that some coaches have their favourites at the expense of others. I agree with you about Zab, Nedum and Toure. Lescott is overpriced, thanks to that canny Scotsman, and I don’t think any better than Dunnie, and Bridge and Richards have been a disappointment, to say the least.

I think back to the great defenders we have had in the past, and cringe at what we have now to a certain extent. The emphasis seems to be on attack at the expense of defence. I’m not saying all is gloom and doom, but to be a genuine contender, we have to be a lot better defensively.

Watson, Booth, Pardoe, Donachie, Book to Richards, Bridge, Toure, Lescott; not on the same park defensively.

A good start to the season; fix the defence and we’ll have an even better one.

REQUEST: BLUES TRAVEL FROM SCOTLAND

Hi, if anyone travels regularly from Scotland to any City matches please could they get in touch with a view to travel share – help to cut the cost!

REQUEST: AMSTERDAM BLUES VIEWING

My mates and I are going to Amsterdam next week so unfortunately we will miss the Scunthorpe game. Are there any Blues out there who get together to watch the games?

REQUEST: WASHING DAY BLUES!

Help! I can’t be the only person ever to have done this but I can’t get the club to reply to my e-mail or even answer the phone so I’m turning to my fellow fans for help. My seasoncards accidentally went through a 40 degree wash. They look none the worse for wear but will they still work? I’ve read about RFID laundry tags which can survive 250 industrial washes but are the MCFC ones as robust?

RESULTS

18 October 2009

Blackburn Rovers      3 - 2  Burnley               26,689
Wigan Athletic        1 - 1  Manchester City       20,005

17 October 2009

Aston Villa           2 - 1  Chelsea               39,047
Arsenal               3 - 1  Birmingham City       60,082
Everton               1 - 1  Wolverhampton Wndrs   39,319
Manchester United     2 - 1  Bolton Wanderers      75,103
Portsmouth            1 - 2  Tottenham Hotspur     20,821
Stoke City            2 - 1  West Ham United       27,026
Sunderland            1 - 0  Liverpool             47,327

League table to 18 October 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   9  4  1  0 11  7  3  0  1 10  2  7  1  1  21   9  12 22
 2 Chelsea          9  4  0  0 10  1  3  0  2  9  7  7  0  2  19   8  11 21
 3 Tottenham H.     9  3  0  1 10  5  3  1  1 11  8  6  1  2  21  13   8 19
 4 Arsenal          8  4  0  0 17  4  2  0  2 10  7  6  0  2  27  11  16 18
 5 Manchester City  8  3  0  0  8  3  2  2  1  8  6  5  2  1  16   9   7 17
 6 Aston Villa      8  3  1  1  7  4  2  0  1  5  3  5  1  2  12   7   5 16
 7 Sunderland       9  4  0  1 13  7  1  1  2  4  6  5  1  3  17  13   4 16
 8 Liverpool        9  3  0  1 15  4  2  0  3  7  9  5  0  4  22  13   9 15
 9 Stoke City       9  3  0  2  6  5  0  3  1  2  6  3  3  3   8  11  -3 12
10 Burnley          9  4  0  0  7  2  0  0  5  2 17  4  0  5   9  19 -10 12
11 Everton          8  2  2  1  8  9  1  0  2  2  3  3  2  3  10  12  -2 11
12 Blackburn R.     8  3  1  1  8  6  0  0  3  3 11  3  1  4  11  17  -6 10
13 Wigan Athletic   9  2  1  2  5  8  1  0  3  4  8  3  1  5   9  16  -7 10
14 Bolton Wndrs     8  0  2  2  5  7  2  0  2  6  6  2  2  4  11  13  -2  8
15 Wolves           9  1  1  2  3  5  1  1  3  5 10  2  2  5   8  15  -7  8
16 Fulham           7  1  0  2  2  4  1  1  2  4  6  2  1  4   6  10  -4  7
17 Birmingham City  9  1  1  2  2  3  1  0  4  4  8  2  1  6   6  11  -5  7
18 Hull City        8  2  0  2  4  7  0  1  3  4 13  2  1  5   8  20 -12  7
19 West Ham United  8  0  1  2  5  7  1  1  3  4  6  1  2  5   9  13  -4  5
20 Portsmouth       9  0  0  5  3  8  1  0  3  2  7  1  0  8   5  15 -10  3

MCIVTA FAQ [v0910.01]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

Articles (Heidi Pickup)          : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org
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Technical problems (Paul)        : paul@city-fan.org
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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. You can also follow on www.twitter.com/mcivta to get the latest updates.

[4] What is the club’s official web site?

The official club web site can be found at http://www.mcfc.co.uk/ and the official club Twitter page at www.twitter.com/mcfc. The club also has a facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/mcfcofficial

[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.mancitycsa.com/) 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.mcivta.com/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: