Newsletter #1613

News and reaction from Alex tonight to last week’s game against Chelsea, there’s victory for Tueart and player news/views together with a look ahead to the Sunderland game.

We have opinion on the current progress and how we were then, a tribute to Keith Alexander and the usual requests.

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

In a League of His Own: Dennis Tueart’s famous overhead kick against Newcastle in the 1976 League Cup final has been named the competition’s greatest ever moment. In what is the fiftieth year of the tournament, supporters were invited to vote for the competition’s best moment ahead of this year’s final. Tueart’s goal went on to win City the Cup that year and he even once described it himself as “the greatest of my career”. The City legend was clearly overwhelmed by the accolade and thanked the fans who voted: “For my goal to be voted for by the people of the game, the supporters, as the number one League Cup Moment makes me feel very proud. I’m of the opinion that emotion, passion and pride is what makes football special. Football supporters are unique. They make the game what it is.”

Football League Chairman Lord Mawhinney praised Tueart’s goal as a suitable winner: “Dennis Tueart’s memorable goal is a worthy winner of this accolade. To win a cup final with a moment of such supreme skill is an outstanding feat. Fifty years is an important milestone for The Football League’s showpiece cup competition.”

It’s About Time: The postponed visit of David Moyes’ Everton to CoMS will now take place on Wednesday March 24th at 7.45. The original tie should have been played back in August but due to the Toffees’ European commitments, the fixture had to be postponed and will now take place at the end of the month.

Squad NewsSquad News

Simply the Best: Having missed a fortnight of football due to the ill health of his prematurely born daughter, Argentine striker Carlos Tevez returned to the City fold at Stamford Bridge last weekend. The presence of the former West Ham hit man spurred the Blues on to a first victory in five and Gareth Barry has emphasized just how crucial Tevez is to City’s project: “We knew how much we were missing him, as well as the fans. He gives us such work-rate and a never-say-die spirit, and for me, his equalizing goal summed up his game. He has the potential to be in the Rooney and Drogba class. His goals this season, and the way he has sometimes led the line on his own, have been brilliant, so why not?” Tevez however, believes another City player currently rules the roost at Eastlands and was only too happy to pass the plaudits that way following the fantastic 4-2 win at Chelsea: “Craig Bellamy is the best player at City. I’m very happy for him that he scored two goals, and I’m happy for the team and the supporters as well for a great win.”

Blues Must Go Fourth: It’s an old cliché to claim that being knocked out of Cup competitions provides you with the perfect foundation on which to progress in the league but it’s one that many of City’s stars have come out with this week. Following the disappointment of the Carling Cup derby days, many had tipped the Blues to reach Wembley in the FA Cup but Stoke City ended any chance of that happening and Craig Bellamy believes nothing has changed on City’s part – they must still finish fourth: “It is business as usual for us. We are trying to get the club into fourth spot. That is the objective; that was the objective at the start of the season and still is. With the quality of the players that we have, I feel we have to finish fourth. Anything else would be a very disappointing season. The win at Chelsea was a big, big result for us. We have not been playing particularly well recently but when we got going we showed we can counter-attack well, we got closer to Carlos Tevez and played much better. Every day we come into training we work hard. At the end of the season we want to be in the Champions’ League.”

Gareth Barry left Champions’ League hopefuls Aston Villa last summer because he felt that City had more ambition and he believes that the Blues are still the most capable of finishing in that fourth spot: “Hopefully we can go on and finish the season strongly. There was a lot of talk before the game about how one match can suddenly change your season, and we saw Chelsea as an opportunity. We will only have ourselves to blame if we can’t come off the back of a result like this and go into the next games with confidence. It has set up nicely for us to finish the season strongly. The main aim was always to get into the Champions’ League. That’s why I joined the club. But it’s easy to talk about that after a great win at Chelsea. There is still a lot of hard work, and some tough games, and a lot of teams vying for that fourth spot. We have to make it hard for them.”

Skipper Kolo Toure believes that it all well and good to say that City are hoping to finish fourth but he acknowledges that his side will have to become more consistent and keep pulling those big results out of the bag if they hope to be successful: “We are really strong at home and it is always tough for the team coming here. That is to our advantage and we need to make sure we don’t drop any silly points. We can go through the whole season unbeaten at home, and that’s very important. If we want to be in the top four, first of all we need to win every game we play at home. We are trying to make that happen. Then when you go away you have to pick up a few points and do our best to win, like we did at Chelsea. That kind of result can give you more belief. Finishing fourth is still right up there. We are well in the picture. We just need to be careful, and we can stay at the back until the end as long as we finish in the fourth place. We have all our focus on that, and with all the quality players that we have in the squad here, we can certainly achieve that.”

Mancini Must be Given a Chance: Before the Blues travelled to Chelsea and inflicted upon them their first home defeat since 2008, manager Roberto Mancini had been under increased scrutiny. The Italian boss was installed only days after the controversial sacking of Mark Hughes and has never really had the full backing of the media. During the club’s honeymoon period, these reports went unnoticed but as soon as the Blues hit a spell of poor form, those expecting too much too soon jumped on the bandwagon and began calling for Mancini’s head. No doubt a win the win at Stamford Bridge will have done much to aid the Italian’s cause but City stopper Shay Given explained that it is not always the manager’s fault when a club begins to struggle and acknowledged that the players must share some responsibility: “At a big club, when results don’t go your way, everyone looks at the manager. But players have to look in the mirror too and work through difficult situations. It is the players who cross the white line. They have to stand up to the challenge. Manchester City is a big club and we want to do our business on the pitch.”

A Bridge Too Far: After weeks of intense media scrutiny into his personal life, Wayne Bridge has sadly retired from international football. Despite being the victim of wrong doing, it is Bridge who will miss the 2010 World Cup having revealed that he can no longer play alongside former skipper John Terry any more. Though City supporters, who are self professed members of ‘Team Bridge’, have sought the resignation of Terry from the international scene, it is Bridge who has decided to step down in the best interests of his country: “Sadly, for the sake of the team and what would be inevitable distractions, I have decided not to put myself forward for selection. I have thought long and hard about my position in the England football team in the light of the reporting and events over the last few weeks and have today informed the management of this decision. I wish the team all the best in South Africa.”

Capello explained that the door will remain open for the City left back to return: “It surprised me, but I respect the decision of all the players. But the door is always open for him. We have time; there is still three months until I will decide my final squad for South Africa. I hope that Wayne Bridge will be with us at the World Cup, but I respect his decision.”

Gareth Barry, who had been looking forward to playing alongside club team mate Bridge at the World Cup this summer, has spoken of his great respect for the defender following his solid performance against Chelsea at the weekend: “Of course, I am sad to see Wayne has pulled out of the England squad. He is a great player and would improve the squad and team when he plays. But like many other people have said, I respect his decision. You can’t imagine yourself in that position and what you’d do unless it happens to you. Being the person Wayne is, he didn’t want to rub anything in. He used to play for Chelsea, he kept his emotions to himself and his performance was brilliant.”

Ban Four Manu: In the same week that Emmanuel Adebayor revealed that he was ‘kicked out’ of Arsenal by his former boss Arsene Wenger, the Togo skipper has been banned by the FA for four matches. Manu’ decided not to appeal against his controversial dismissal at Stoke last week and received a ban of three games for violent conduct as well as an added fourth game due to it being his second violent conduct charge of the season. Speaking of his trepidation about returning to the Emirates Stadium as a City player, Manu stressed that it was never he who demanded a transfer but Wenger who forced him out of the club: “It will be 90 minutes of hell. The fans will boo me; insult me, because, until now, they haven’t understood why I left. I shouldn’t have done that (the 90 yard sprint and slide celebration) but we are all human. I made a mistake, but who doesn’t? Arsene Wenger can never say that I wanted to leave. It was because Arsene didn’t want me any more. If Arsene has a big heart, we can go on a TV show to have a debate and he will never say I told him I wanted to leave the club. If I had really wanted to, I would have left two years ago for the money and gone to Milan or Barcelona.”

The Wright Deal: Despite being ‘integral’ to City’s future plans, the board have stated that they are in no rush to renew the winger’s contract. SWP is currently on a £60,000 per week deal that runs to 2012 but had reportedly sought parity with his team-mates, many of whom are earning six figure weekly sums. Though the club has no plans to lose their home grown talent, it has been said that SWP was offered one contract that he rejected and he will not be offered another one until the board feel that the time is right.

The Rumour Mill: Aliaksandr Hleb is hotly tipped to be City’s star signing this summer after the Belarus international admitted that his chances of staying with European Champions Barcelona were slim. Hleb, currently on loan at Stuttgart, once plied his trade at Arsenal and has revealed that given the chance to return to the Premier League, he would find it very hard to refuse: “The chances for me to stay at Stuttgart next season are zero. Barcelona will decide my future and I am open to any option. But I have shown at Arsenal that I can play in England and enjoy the Premier League.”

There has also been talk that Craig Bellamy may be offered the chance to leave City in the summer and Harry Redknapp has once again expressed an interest. Spurs may meet a stumbling block however as they would be looking for a cash only deal whereas City had supposedly said that any sale would involve swapping the Welshman with England’s Jermaine Defoe.

Another player who may be leaving come the summer transfer window is Bulgarian winger Martin Petrov. Petrov has fallen down the pecking order at City following the arrival of young Adam Johnson and with reported interest from Italian giants Juventus, the former Atletico star may request a transfer.

Post-Match Reaction

Manu Stokes Fire in Loss: The Blues’ FA Cup run came to an unexpected end last week as they were beaten by Stoke City at the Brittania Stadium. Dave Kitson’s 79th minute goal seemed to have won it for the home side before Craig Bellamy gave Citizens hope again. Extra time ensued but not before Emmanuel Adebayor was dismissed for violent conduct when his flailing arm made contact with Ryan Shawcross who was all too eager to go to ground. Ironically it was Shawcross who later put Stoke in front before Turkish forward Sanli Tuncay completed the scoring and handed Stoke a 3-1 win. Mancini felt the result was unrepresentative of his side’s performance: “I think we dominated the match for long periods. We had six or seven chances to score a goal up until Emmanuel was sent off, but I won’t say anything against my player because he played fantastically well. When a striker is being closely marked he wants to make space for himself and this kind of thing can happen – I thought it was a yellow card at the very worst. But football is a strange game because we didn’t score when we were on top and then something happens later that completely changes the game. I think that’s the best we’ve played for three or four games and I thought we dealt well with everything Stoke threw at us up until the sending off, so it’s very frustrating to come away with nothing. But I’m happy with my players and on another night, this is a game I believe we would have won comfortably.”

Versatile defender Vincent Kompany believes the Blues didn’t deserve to lose but they must not now lose sight of the league position that they are in: “The only negative thing to come out of that game is the fact that we didn’t win. If we’d taken any of our chances early on, I think we’d have beaten Stoke comfortably. We’re professionals and we are looking at things positively. We still have a lot to play for in the league and we’re at a stage of the season where we’re right in the thick of things near the top of the table and we should leave any negatives behind us. There are many teams who would love to swap places with us and be challenging for a Champions’ League spot and we mustn’t lose sight of that.”

Pablo Zabaleta believes that being out of the Cup competitions will be a great advantage to City in the long term: “We are disappointed because we all know what the FA Cup means to our fans. We played a different style at Stoke to the one we play at home because they are a tough, physical side on their own ground, but I thought we played well. We had the chances to win but it wasn’t to be. We’re out of the cups now and we need to get our heads up and concentrate on the league because there is nothing else to distract us between now and the end of the season. The competition for fourth is fierce and, at the moment, it’s between ourselves, Tottenham, Liverpool and Aston Villa. They are all still involved in various cup competitions and we have to use that to our advantage.”

Terry Not Shaken but Stirred: Although the papers will have you believed that City and Chelsea turned up at Stamford Bridge, lined up and went home again, there was actually a match played on Saturday afternoon. Of course the focus was on Wayne Bridge and John Terry and whether the City left back would choose to shake hands with the Chelsea skipper. Bridge decided it would not be suitable for him to shake the hand of his former friend and in the most dignified manner possible, ignored Terry’s offer.

Then the game began. City’s dismal first half performance allowed Frank Lampard to put Chelsea in front and in all honesty the Citizens were lucky in more way than one when Carlos Tevez’s tame, bobbling shot somehow rolled past Chelsea ‘keeper Hilario.

The second half was completely different. City came out to win the game and battled hard to go in front through Craig Bellamy. Carlos Tevez scored his second from the spot after Juliano Beletti was dismissed for denying Gareth Barry an obvious goal scoring opportunity. Bellamy completed his brace to put City 4-1 up before Barry felled Anelka in the box and Lampard dispatched a late consolation for his side.

City boss Roberto Mancini was pleased with his side’s result and happy to beat old adversary Carlo Ancelotti but also stressed that this is exactly what is expected now of his side, given the quality he has at his disposal: “This was not the best performance under my management, that was at Stoke and we lost. We dominated that game but we didn’t do so in this one. We concentrated well and squeezed the space that we allowed Chelsea when they attacked. The first half was tactical and we played well in the second half. We showed great spirit and great commitment after what happened to us at Stoke. It was fantastic that we won because it was important for the three points, for the table, for the mentality and for the future as we battle to finish in the top four. For us, winning at Chelsea should be a normality – win there, win at Liverpool … if we want to be a top team, that is how it should be.”

The boss also had special words of praise for two players who had been under the media spotlight recently: “Wayne Bridge coped well with everything that happened and Carlos Tevez was tremendous. In fact if he plays like that he can go back to Argentina every week and come back before the game!”

Ex-Blues’ News

Sacking Bears Its Mark: For the first time since his sacking last December, former City boss Mark Hughes has spoken openly of how hard he took the dismissal. The Welshman, who signed City stars Shay Given, Carlos Tevez and Nigel de Jong has admitted that he was extremely upset with the way that he lost his job and felt that he would have achieved great things with the Blues had he been given time. The last hours of his tenure were filled with rumour and speculation that Hughes was on his way out the door but ‘Sparky’ took his side out to face Sunderland anyway: “I’ve found it very difficult to watch any football. I found the sacking very difficult to take. It has been hard to watch not just City games but any games at all. We were hearing stories that it didn’t matter if we won 10-0 against Sunderland, but I wasn’t told until after the game. I was upset with the manner of the dismissal but it was the choice of the chairman. We had gone through a lot of pain to get the squad together, and we felt we had got the team to the next stage of its development. Unfortunately we weren’t given the task to take the team forward so there will always be an element of regret.”

OPINION: SHORT MEMORIES

What is it about football ‘fans’ that they have such short memories? As somebody pointed out in the last MCIVTA, it is a short time ago that we were playing the likes of Bristol Rovers, York City and have you forgotten Lincoln City and Walsall?

I was sorry to see Hughes go, more about the way it was done than the actual fact. But for God’s sake give Mancini a decent chance. Also somebody has said “look how long it the Laird of Salford to turn the Stretford Reds.”

Oh and while I am on the subject, who can remember being 3-0 up against The mighty Bournemouth at half time and ending up 3-3 at the final whistle when a win would have seen us promoted from the old Second Division? And this was at home at Maine Road.

OPINION: LIES AND STATISTICS

Any argument or discussion is usually all about opinions, emotions and prejudices…

So in order to pour cold water on all of the above, there is nothing like throwing in a few hard indisputable, irrefutable facts and usually (except when arguing with the missus of course) this usually shuts things up and ends the argument.

This examination of the facts should allow us all to comment to the neutrals, detractors, pundits, press and anyone who says to you is it Hughes or Mancini.

Let’s examine Mark Hughes’ last 10 Premier League games vs. Roberto Mancini’s first 10 Premier League games in charge. This is usually enough for people to make their minds up and enough time to consider an impact; remember, this is Premier League only. For this discussion I have removed the FA Cup/Carling Cup. People can make their own minds up on them.

I have tried to make this of course a controlled experiment under lab conditions so please no objections over validity.

Five home games and five away games for each manager. Three “tough teams” in each batch of 10.

• Hughes had Liverpool away (D) Spurs away (L) Chelsea home (W)
• Mancini had Liverpool home (D) Everton away (L) Chelsea away (W)

So on the “tough” game test there is little to choose between them. One could argue Liverpool were poor at Anfield; we went ahead and should have won. Liverpool at home should be marginally easier. One could argue that Chelsea were a tougher prospect at Eastlands than they were at Stamford Bridge with Terry gate and Hialrio (us) in goal but an away win is harder (statistically) than a home win. Are Spurs better than Everton (arguably but Everton now have Arteta/Jagielka back)? How we wish we had played them first game of the season as now they are looking like late gatecrashers to the 4th spot party.

So I would contend that in the 10 Premier League games either side of Mancini taking the reigns, the games are reasonably even in terms of difficulty.

Ladies and Gentlemen: The Facts!

Observations

• Three times the amount of wins (6 vs. 2): round 1 to Mancini
• Seven more points (2 points/game vs. 1.3): round 2 to Mancini
• One more defeat: round 3 to Hughes
• No discernible difference in the Goals Scored stakes: round 4 evens
• Goals against (2 goals/game under Hughes and only 1 clean sheet vs. 0.4 goals per game under Mancini, with 5 clean sheets): round 5 to Mancini

As Harold Wilson said once to a heckler: “Madam, I can only give you the facts; what I can’t do is give you the intellectual apparatus to interpret the facts.”

Now bring on Sunderland, Fulham, Everton and Wigan. We need 9 points from March. If someone offered me victory against Spurs, Villa, Everton and the Champions’ League 4th spot but a heavy defeat at home to the scum, I’d take it now.

Enjoy the rest of the season.

OPINION: TRIBUTE

Keith Alexander (1956-2010)

I would like to pay tribute to Keith Alexander, the manager of Macclesfield Town, who sadly passed away this week, aged 53.

I didn’t know Keith personally but have been well aware of him as player and a manager. The tributes that have been paid to him this week confirmed the impression formed from interviews that he has given: that he was a gentleman and a truly passionate Football man. The recurring theme from those who have worked with him and met him are that he was a genuine football man was truly honest and totally dedicated to his profession. Tellingly, he was a man who always made time for the fans, as countless tributes have stated.

He was involved in football for 35 years, starting as a player at his home town club, Notts County, before moving to play for several non-league clubs and he was one of the scorers when Lincolnshire club Stamford won the FA Vase in 1980. He was a tall, powerful centre forward, and his talents earned him a contract in the Football League at the age of 31 when he signed for Grimsby Town. He went on to score 26 goals for the Mariners, before moving on to Stockport County and then Mansfield Town, before retiring in 1995. He also played international football for St Lucia.

Alexander managed Lincoln in two spells, where his team made the play-offs four years in succession. He also managed Peterborough, Ilkeston Town and Northwich Victoria. He had a spell as Director of Football at Bury and was very well respected in Football. From 2008 he was manager at Macclesfield Town whom he has been instrumental in keeping in the Football League, which is a great achievement in itself, given Macc’s budget being one of the smallest, if not the smallest in the Fourth Division. This earned him a new contract that would have taken him until 2012. His teams were known for their commitment and directness. He’d just got back from a battling performance in a 1-0 defeat at Notts County on Tuesday night when he passed away, but he was optimistic for the future.

Rest In Peace, Keith. Sincere condolences to his family.

Here are a few of the tributes to him from fellow football fans and people in the game:

Andy Scott, vice chairman of Macclesfield Town, said: “We are all devastated, I was with him after the Notts County game and had a drink and I commented how he had a spring in his step. I know it can be said a lot but Keith was an absolute gentleman. He was courteous and friendly and giving and just a wonderful man. He had his critics but we really thought we had a manager who could lead us up the league and be successful. He was always positive, full of beans, he was generous and giving and was one of the kindest men I have ever known.”

“RIP Keith from a Grimsby Town supporter. He was a down to earth bloke with a no nonsense work ethic both as a player and a manager, he will be sorely missed. Let’s have a minute on Saturday for the Football League to reflect what a top bloke he was.”

“A fine man, honest, hard working, passionate about the game and always a gentleman. RIP Keith and my thoughts are with his family.”

“Over and above being the absolute professional in everything he did, Keith was one of the nicest guys you could ever wish to meet,” said the Lincoln City chairman Steff Wright.

“Keith was a splendid man, a real gentleman and an absolute privilege to work with,” said Mike Rance, chairman of Macclesfield Town, where Alexander managed his final game on Tuesday evening.

“Devastated. He gave us at Lincoln something to be really proud of. A top,top man, you will be sorely missed big fella. Condolences to your family. R.I.P.”

Harlow Town supporter: “When Macclesfield came to Harlow last season I was impressed with the friendly nature of Keith, he seemed such a nice man. So sad he died before he could show his true potential as a top class football manager. Such a shame only the good die young.”

“He was a larger than life character – an absolutely superb human being,” was his Macclesfield assistant Gary Simpson’s tribute.

REQUEST: BLUES VIEWING ONLINE

I am a 76 year old man who has supported Manchester City since he was a child living in Longsight and walking to Maine Road since he was 7.

I currently live in Old Colwyn, North Wales and have hip and heart health problems. In the winter I have been staying in Florida and saw all of City’s matches from Xmas until last week when I returned to the UK. Over there I used Fox Soccer TV and also Setanta Broadband.

Can you direct me towards information on watching matches on TV or Broadband? I have not signed up for Sky as I would only see an occasional City match on TV and also my money would be wasted whilst I was in Florida.

I originally emailed the Supporters’ Club asking them for help but have been ignored.

REQUEST: BLUES ON FILM

I’ve posted on various sites information about old City footage and thought it would be of interest to MCIVTA subscribers.

Basically, there’s lots of quality City footage out there from the 1920s onwards. Film exists of City games involving Meredith, Johnson, Cookson, Fletcher, Pringle, Hamill etc. from the 20s; Cowan, Doherty, Swift, Brook, Toseland, Tilson and so one from the 30s.

There’s film of Bert Trautmann talking at the 1956 homecoming parade (before his ‘broken’ neck was identified), Sam Cowan talking at the 1934 parade. Bert saving 2 penalties against Blackburn in 1950. League Champions City playing Germany in the Berlin Olympic Stadium in 1937. Helen Turner at the 1969 FA Cup Final in colour. Lots of great stuff.

Bert’s homecoming – http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=40435
Meredith’s last game – http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=20423

Some of my other favourites:

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=28234 – Famous Football clubs.
Make sure you have the sound on. This is great City footage from 1934. If you’re related to Wilf Wild, Frank Swift, Eric Brook, Ernie Toseland, Matt Busby, Fred Tilson (Carl – you’ll like this) you will enjoy this. It also shows a perfect looking Maine Road. When you see the stadium back then you realise what stature the club had. 84,569 filled the place about the time this film was made. No history? Look at how old the players look (especially McLuckie!); all of them were 20s or early 30s (Swift was the youngest and does look very young).

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=2888 – 1932 Introducing Manchester City.
The guy speaking is City manager Peter Hodge. The voice at the end who says Peter Hodge’s name is Wilf Wild I think. Wild’s on the film, as are most City stars of 1932. The game they are referring to is the 1932 FA Cup semi final. We lost in the last minute to Arsenal (footage appears elsewhere).

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=25162n 1926 FA Cup semi-final vs. United at Bramall Lane (we wear blue, United have the red V).

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=24601 1926 FA Cup tie vs. League Champions Huddersfield.
The game was watched by 74,789 at Maine Road and the film shows a packed Kippax and the Platt Lane goal.

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=3424 City vs. Walsall 1933.
After about 50 seconds of film Brook scores at the Platt Lane end. The crowd was only 52,085 but there are loads sat on the touchline. I’m not convinced the crowd was only 52k because the ground capacity was about 85,000 and there are more around the pitch than in the 74k crowd vs. Huddersfield.

Basically, anyone can use the Pathe site to search for footage but copyright must be strictly observed. If anyone’s interested I’ll be happy to post further links/details of other footage on here.

Finally, a word on my books. The distribution company who supply Waterstones & Amazon have just received the last 200 copies of “The Big Book Of City”. This means the book is likely to run out at some point over the next few months. With Easter and Father’s day coming up demand could be high. Amazon seem to be the cheapest seller at the moment, though signed copies can also be ordered from http://www.manchesterfootball.org/ (or “James Ward Publishing” on Facebook).

“Joe Mercer, OBE: Football With A Smile” will be published in late April, and anyone who has subscribed should receive progress details shortly.

RESULTS

League table to 03 March 2010 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Chelsea         28 12  1  1 41 12  7  3  4 24 14 19  4  5  65  26  39  61
 2 Manchester Utd  28 12  1  1 39  8  7  2  5 27 16 19  3  6  66  24  42  60
 3 Arsenal         28 11  1  2 38 14  7  3  4 28 17 18  4  6  66  31  35  58
 4 Tottenham H.    28  9  2  3 30  9  5  5  4 20 18 14  7  7  50  27  23  49
 5 Manchester City 27  9  4  0 30 14  4  6  4 22 21 13 10  4  52  35  17  49
 6 Liverpool       28 10  2  2 33 12  4  4  6 12 16 14  6  8  45  28  17  48
 7 Aston Villa     26  7  5  2 23 10  5  4  3 14 11 12  9  5  37  21  16  45
 8 Birmingham City 27  7  5  2 13  8  4  2  7 13 20 11  7  9  26  28  -2  40
 9 Fulham          28  9  2  3 21  9  1  6  7 11 20 10  8 10  32  29   3  38
10 Everton         27  7  5  2 23 17  3  3  7 16 22 10  8  9  39  39   0  38
11 Stoke City      27  6  4  4 20 17  2  6  5  7 15  8 10  9  27  32  -5  34
12 Blackburn R.    28  8  4  2 21 12  1  3 10  9 33  9  7 12  30  45 -15  34
13 West Ham United 27  5  4  4 23 20  1  5  8 12 23  6  9 12  35  43  -8  27
14 Sunderland      27  5  6  2 19 14  1  3 10 13 30  6  9 12  32  44 -12  27
15 Bolton Wndrs    27  4  5  5 18 23  2  3  8 12 26  6  8 13  30  49 -19  26
16 Wigan Athletic  27  3  5  5 11 18  3  2  9 15 35  6  7 14  26  53 -27  25
17 Wolves          27  4  3  7 10 19  2  3  8 11 26  6  6 15  21  45 -24  24
18 Hull City       27  5  5  3 18 20  0  4 10  7 34  5  9 13  25  54 -29  24
19 Burnley         27  6  4  3 18 14  0  1 13 10 43  6  5 16  28  57 -29  23
20 Portsmouth      27  3  2  8 16 20  2  2 10  7 25  5  4 18  23  45 -22  19

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[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/.

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: