Newsletter #1614

No games for the Blues over the weekend, so a quiet issue tonight. We have opinion on Shaun’s complaint that £70,000 a week is not enough, Gary’s film links and thanks for information.

OPINION: GREED IS NOT GOOD

Shaun Wright-Phillips’ contract talks have stalled and with more than 2 seasons left on his £60,000 a week contract, he has turned down £70,000 a week on a new, extended deal. Shaun’s form has been inconsistent since he rejoined us; he has had some very good games and some disappointing ones where he struggled to make an impact. The inconsistency may be down to the fact that he has taken a bit of a kicking from opposition full backs and has played some games with injuries. Many Blues have argued that his form has not warranted a new contract and a strong case can be made to suggest that when his contract expires he will be 30 and unlikely to get any faster.

On the other hand, there is an argument that supports SWP having parity with Wayne Bridge; there is no justification with him having anywhere near the same as Tevez or Bellamy. The latter two are our best players and SWP’s influence and achievements in this team since he has rejoined us fall well short of theirs to date.

A spanner was thrown into works when Ian Wright started spouting off and slagging off Garry Cook and Brian Marwood. Wright whined “But there’s these people like [football administration officer] Brian Marwood and [chief executive] Garry Cook mugging him off, treating him like a youth-team player and not someone who actually wants to be there because of what he thinks Manchester City can do.”

If Ian Wright thinks that his going to help negotiations then either he is not being realistic, or he is having one of his moments when he acts like a spoiled eight-year old, or both! He referred to Marwood and Cook as being ‘full of themselves’. Pot calling kettle is a phrase that springs to mind. Making personal comments about the people who have the ability to make his son even richer isn’t the most intelligent thing to do, and hardly helps his son to get an improved deal.

Wright bangs on about Shaun loving the club and plays the ‘loyalty’ card, talking about him wanting to ‘sign for the rest of his career’ at City. This is the same Ian Wright, remember, that advised his son to go to Chelsea in 2005: a decision which did gain him a Championship medal, albeit as a squad player rather than a regular, but it was also a decision that cost SWP his World Cup place as he was not a regular starter at Stamford Bridge. Who exactly is ‘mugging off’ who here?!

Rest assured, if Ian Wright thought that his son could get a better offer elsewhere he’d be the first to be urging him to go! Footballers almost invariably go for the best deal for themselves (like any working person), so playing the ‘loyalty’ card is a nonsense. As it stands there is perhaps only one club who could match City’s wages that might want to take Shaun: Tottenham – and they already have Aaron Lennon who is ahead of SWP right now in terms of performance. Unless, of course Birmingham decide they want to splash some of Carson Yeung’s money this summer, but does Shaunny really want to go to Birmingham?!

How many youth team players are on £60,000 a week? Er… none. Furthermore, anyone who believes that SWP is being treated like a youth player is either deluded or has been eating some strange cake in Amsterdam! He is well respected and loved at City.

Just a thought though: if it in the unlikely event it were true, then surely if Ian Wright doesn’t want his son to be treated like a youth player, maybe he should stop trying to do his bidding for him. Surely Shaun is squirming with embarrassment at his dad opening his mouth on his behalf? One would hope so.

We’re in a recession, so Ian Wright is deluded if he thinks that he is going to find much sympathy from those of us who live in the real world where we have to live with job insecurity and rising costs – that’s if we have a job. Anyone complaining about getting ‘only £60,000 a week’ needs to get a grasp of reality. You can certainly buy a lot of mugs for that money, to the point where you won’t be ‘mugged off’ due to lack of crockery.

I would love to see SWP see out his career here, but not at any price, and the club are right not to bend to unrealistic demands. I like Ian Wright, and of course he wants the best for his son, but he really would do better to keep his mouth shut, stop “mugging off” Manchester City and let SWP and his agent do the talking. That way, we may get a deal that is suitable for all parties.

Whatever, the best way for SWP to get a better deal than the £70,000 on offer is to consistently perform at a high standard which makes him a key player.

OPINION: BLUES ON FILM

Many thanks to Gary James for his article in MCIVTA 1613 with a website of some of City’s games of yesteryear.

It included the FA Cup 3rd round tie at Maine Road in 1955-56 season. This was my first game and the first time I have seen any footage of it, snow covered pitch and no goals.

I have a poor memory and I’m not one for dates… but it was 18th February 1956! With all those those rattles and flat caps it looked a different world. Was I really there?

Best wishes for the rest of the season.

OPINION: WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE

Oh dear Shaun. Seventy grand a week not enough huh? Well my dear underpaid, over worked, under appreciated so-called superstar, if you don’t like it tough! Get out on the pitch and show them you’re worth more. Better still, get a job in the ‘real’ world, and see if you can get seventy grand a week.

Okay, some players are earning more than you. Unfortunately, that’s life. You get a hundred grand a week and someone will get more and so the vicious circle continues. This all happens when people get greedy, agents get greedy, dads get greedy. I guess that only several of City’s players are earning their money: Tevez, Bellamy (if they sell him to Spurs, Cook and Marwood need to be taken out the back of the stadium and !!!), de Jong and Kompany and maybe Zab and Given.

But in saying all this, I blame the board for buying players and giving them obscene wages that they are not worth just to get the player (sounds rather like Chelsea doesn’t it?).

So Shaun, get out and show the board you’re worth what you say you’re worth. Talking is cheap – look what happened last time you chased the money!

Great result against Chelsea; must admit I only saw the first half until Chelsea scored, yelled at the TV and went to bed, then watched the replay later.

OPINION: THANKS MCV-ERS

I cannot thank you enough for opening the door for me (MCIVTA 1613) to be contacted by very nice people, who have taken time out of their busy schedules to email me with various suggestions regarding my viewing City’s matches both home and away. However, I may have to learn one of the Chinese Mandarin dialects, Iraqi or other languages used on the web sites suggested! I have been told that advice previously given prior to matches regarding sites to view on has been terminated.

I had two replies from Florida, one an English Snowbird like me who winters in Sarasota, Florida, the other one I believe lives there in Bradenton and has invited me to visit him and watch a City match! Several of the UK supporters who live away from Manchester, one in Dubai who now works there, plus others from around the British Isles. I hope you can mention them for me as I have already contacted some of them. We related how we came to be City supporters. My age means I started watching Frank Swift and Bert Trautmann and their fellow players.

So thanks to you all, a great example of hope and not despair at the way people talk and act towards each other. I will get around to answering all of them also later confirming which site I found best for me as yourselves. Was up at 6am this morning printing out their emails and also my replies. I have had some very nice background emails and as I lived in Longsight, Bredbury, Davenport, Hazel Grove and Poynton areas and am surprised at ways in which our paths have crossed.

RESULTS

7 March 2010

Everton               5 - 1  Hull City             34,682

6 March 2010

Arsenal               3 - 1  Burnley               60,043
West Ham United       1 - 2  Bolton Wanderers      33,824
Wolverhampton Wndrs   0 - 1  Manchester United     28,883

League table to 07 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 Manchester Utd  29 12  1  1 39  8  8  2  5 28 16 20  3  6  67  24  43  63
 2 Chelsea         28 12  1  1 41 12  7  3  4 24 14 19  4  5  65  26  39  61
 3 Arsenal         29 12  1  2 41 15  7  3  4 28 17 19  4  6  69  32  37  61
 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 Everton         28  8  5  2 28 18  3  3  7 16 22 11  8  9  44  40   4  41
 9 Birmingham City 27  7  5  2 13  8  4  2  7 13 20 11  7  9  26  28  -2  40
10 Fulham          28  9  2  3 21  9  1  6  7 11 20 10  8 10  32  29   3  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 Bolton Wndrs    28  4  5  5 18 23  3  3  8 14 27  7  8 13  32  50 -18  29
14 West Ham United 28  5  4  5 24 22  1  5  8 12 23  6  9 13  36  45  -9  27
15 Sunderland      27  5  6  2 19 14  1  3 10 13 30  6  9 12  32  44 -12  27
16 Wigan Athletic  27  3  5  5 11 18  3  2  9 15 35  6  7 14  26  53 -27  25
17 Wolves          28  4  3  8 10 20  2  3  8 11 26  6  6 16  21  46 -25  24
18 Hull City       28  5  5  3 18 20  0  4 11  8 39  5  9 14  26  59 -33  24
19 Burnley         28  6  4  3 18 14  0  1 14 11 46  6  5 17  29  60 -31  23
20 Portsmouth      27  3  2  8 16 20  2  2 10  7 25  5  4 18  23  45 -22  19

MCIVTA FAQ [v0910.01]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

Articles (Heidi Pickup)          : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org
News/rumour (Alex Rowen)         : 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 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/.

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: