Newsletter #1666

News tonight from Don, who is making a return to cover for Alex on City’s World Cup bid, the final transfer window round-up, ex-Blues’ news and a new deal for Weaver, and an international summary.

We have a belated view on the Liverpool game, more on the biased reporting and the usual requests.

Return to action with the visit of Rovers this weekend.

Finally, thanks to those who organised the evening with Gordon Taylor tonight, which Phill advertised in these pages recently at CoMS; it was a great insight into what is going on in the world of football and the chance to grill the man for his candid opinions.

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

Garry Goes for a Semi: Apart from reporting Wayne Rooney’s (ahem) dalliances and the betting proclivities of the Pakistan cricket team, the News of the World have said that City want to take over the World – OK, just the World Cup actually. If England are successful in bidding to host the 2018 tournament, the NotW said that Garry Cook told visiting FIFA official that City would hope to be the venue for a semi-final. There are plans afoot to increase the COMS’s capacity to 75,000, which would make City’s ground eligible for such a fixture, and as the report said “City have risked infuriating rivals United by pinching the World Cup semi-final from Old Trafford in 2018.” Let’s hope this isn’t one of Mr. Cook’s “let’s sign Kaka” moments and there is some realistic chance of these aims being achieved.

Transfer News and Gossip

We’ve Not Got Robinho: You may recall that when he left Real Madrid, Robinho made darned sure he burned all his bridges at the Bernabeu. He’s had his can of petrol and his box of matches out again this week, as he bleated about the horrid time he had in Manchester. Having joined AC Milan on transfer deadline day, the 27-year-old stated, “I don’t want to talk about City. I just focus on enriching my victories with Milan. I am not looking for any particular personal vendettas. I just want to get back to winning with a team.” He then proceeded to talk about City. It was all the fault of his two City Managers you see. And the weather. “My destination was Chelsea with Luiz Felipe Scolari but, at the last moment, City appeared and I accepted. I did not decide the transfer. Correspondence is always between clubs and I am not responsible for what anyone will pay, but Mark Hughes called me and insisted I joined the club. He was decisive in my move. At the beginning it was positive, but England is a hard country and I had problems adapting,” he said. “Having Elano and Jo in the squad was a real bonus. They helped me to adapt but then Elano left; I still don’t understand the motives behind his exit. Neither Hughes nor Mancini understood me. Perhaps they only believed in the sporting side of things but that wasn’t enough for me,” he said. “There was a lack of contact between the players and the club. It was much like an office to training and goodbye, to a match and goodbye. I am Brazilian and I can’t offer my best performance if I’m not happy in every aspect of life. That was my problem. I am a special footballer and I need to be happy when I’m playing. That was the case at Real Madrid but never at City. After Mark Hughes left and I don’t think that Mancini had confidence in me. Going on loan to Santos was the best solution because, if I’d stayed at City, I would not have played in the World Cup. The loan was very successful. I recaptured my love of football, won a title and confirmed my place in the Brazil team. It was an excellent experience and they tried to extend my loan, but City had made up their minds to sell.” The Brazilian whinger (sorry) winger also slammed City’s ambitions of becoming a bigger club than the Traffordites as well as castigating the Manchester weather. “When I arrived, the directors at City told me that, in a couple of years, we would overtake United, but the time has passed and nothing has changed. Manchester is a sensational venue for football but an awful place to live… the winter, the cold and the dark nights. It’s very hard for a young Brazilian. The Premier League is one of the best in the world, without a doubt. The stadiums are always full and the atmosphere is incredible. But not every footballer is able to play in England. The character can be difficult for a foreigner.”

Chelsea Aid: Just to cap off the Robbie news this week, it’s been reported that his true love Chelsea put in an eleventh hour loan bid for him, but City wouldn’t sell to a rival club. The Sunday Mirror said that Chelsea made a cheeky bid for the Brazilian, proposing that City subsidise some of his reported £160,000 a week pay packet. A ‘senior Chelsea source’ was quoted saying: “We did make an initial enquiry about Robinho but for some reason City didn’t want to do business with us and thought the offer we tabled was unacceptable.”

Not a Frey Day: With Shay Given’s future uncertain till that pesky transfer window clanged shut, the press decided to link City with not one, but two Italian goalkeepers. But Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastien Frey was not approached over a deadline day move to City, according to his agent. “This is the football world, including false rumours and denials; everyone feels entitled to speak, even if they don’t know the facts,” Frey’s agent Giovanni Branchini. “There wasn’t any offer from Manchester City for Frey, it didn’t arrive to me and – from what I know – neither to (Fiorentina’s sporting director, Pantaleo) Corvino.” And Cagliari’s shot stopper, the Italian international Federico Marchetti, has fallen out big style with his club, and is been told he won’t play again by Cagliari President Massimo Cellino. “I cannot use him for Cagliari this year because he made unfortunate statements and expressed his desire to leave in a public interview,” Cellino told Tutto Mercato. So that means that Arsenal, Chelsea and City are now said to be in the frame for him.

Computer Love: Apart from signing City’s no.10, AC Milan also grabbed striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Barcelona. The Swedish international said why he had headed for Northern Italy, rather than for gold-encrusted Citadel in Manchester. “I chose to go to Milan because it is a computer programmed to win titles”, Ibrahimovic was quoted as saying. “City must still fight against Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal, clubs that have been years in the making.” He wasn’t daft enough to rule out a move to join Mancini’s men at some stage. “Manchester City is an option for the future”, he said. If Ibra does condescend to join the Blues any time soon, perhaps he could replace Emmanuel Adebayor, if one report is to be believed. Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho is said to be preparing a January raid for Ade. According to the Spanish AS newspaper, Mourinho has targeted the Togolese man as an ideal player to boost his crop of strikers.

What a Bor for Roque: Roque Santa Cruz was never the same player after this correspondent loudly and repeatedly informed him what a lightweight he was on a freezing January night at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke, earlier this year – but RSC has had a second indignity of the year to deal with, if reports are to be believed. He nearly joined Lazio last week, but a Lazio source said last night: “Capello’s friend Edy Reja got cold feet and decided he had too many strikers already with Mauro Zarate, Sergio Floccari, Pasquale Foggia and Tommaso Rocchi all available. Lazio didn’t want to anger their own fans so they deliberately starting leaking a story that City and Santa Cruz were asking too much money from their point of view. But the real reason the move broke down wasn’t the money, it was all about Edy Reja changing his mind.” Which is all very conspiratorial of course, but there were other sources claiming that this deal might be resurrected in the January transfer window. The things you do to avoid Stoke… And in yet another Italian link – City just missed out on signing new Roma striker Marco Borriello. Borriello left AC Milan to join Roma on a season long loan this summer, but City had tried to sign the striker before Roma’s interest. However, the 28-year-old did not want to move to Eastlands because he wanted Champions’ League football. His agent, Tiberio Cavalleri, said: “Roberto Mancini called me personally. We talked, he wanted Borriello at Manchester City, but then I explained to ‘Mancio’ that Borriello wanted to play in the Champions’ League, while his team is in the Europa League.”

Super Mario – Left in Peace: Get this! Mario Ballotelli has already been linked with a move back to Italy a full (by my calculations) 7.75 minutes into his City career – a new record. A move to AC Milan for Super Mario was hardly dismissed by his agent Mino Raiola. But next day, the we could clearly hear the sounds of a reverse by Raiola – “Mario Balotelli? He has five years of contract with Manchester City, and I don’t think now is the time to worry about where he will go next,” he said. “Let’s leave Mario in peace.”

Leeds Lead: We may have just been discussing a million billion pounds worth of football talent, but remember; City are still only on a par with Leeds United. That’s the view of former City reserve midfielder Adam Clayton, who made his loan move to West Yorkshire permanent last week. “Leeds is a massive club – just as big as Manchester City. It’s definitely a place and an environment where I can learn and get better as a player,” he told the club’s official website. “Everything at Leeds is geared up for the Premier League, the stadium, the facilities, the tremendous atmosphere, the fans, so I think it is definitely somewhere that I can grow and develop as a player.” Aw, bless.

Ex-Blues’ News

Eager Weaver at Wednesday: It’s good to report that a former City hero’s career is showing signs of an upswing. After a few wilderness years amongst lower league teams in England and Scotland’s Premier League, Nicky Weaver has enjoyed a decent start to his career at Sheffield Wednesday, the club he supported as a boy. Wednesday sit on top of League 1, and Nicky has been talking about his dream move to his hometown club. “Once I’d heard from Wednesday, I just wanted to sign for them. From first contact to actually signing was probably three weeks; a really long three weeks. Every day I kept waking up thinking ‘I hope today’s the day’. What’s good is that in every league match we’ve had the same back four. We’ve got a blend of youth and experience. It seems to be working at the minute and we’re keeping a few clean sheets. I’ve not really been overworked in too many of the games, so that’s been pleasing for me. I’d like to spend the rest of my career here. I’ve just had a little baby, so it’s worked out perfect to move home after leaving aged 16. It couldn’t have come at a better time for me.”

Crunch Time: Nicky Summerbee has been talking about the state of play at his old club. “It’s an exciting time at City,” said the son of Mike. “They’ve basically crunched the kind of progress that normally takes five or 10 years into two. And there’s no reason why they can’t challenge this season. They need to get a Champions’ League spot, because that will give them the platform to take things on. The biggest hurdle for City will be picking up that first trophy. If they get that, then there’s no reason why they can’t go on to really big things.” As he was a winger like Dad, it’s no surprise who Nicky lists as his favourite current City player. “I do like Adam Johnson. Wingers open games up, and he’s a very exciting player. He can play on either flank and he can attack a defender on the outside and cross the ball or cut inside. That keeps defenders guessing. Adam’s also prepared to run at players, which is something you don’t see enough of in modern day Premier League football. It’s always good to see a winger do that.” Buzzer Junior plied his trade with City between 1994 and 1997.

Forward, Says Frannie: In the Evening News this week, Francis Lee has commended the current owners of the club for their investment in the project that is City. “I think it’s great,” said the former playing Great and Chairman. “Everybody seems to be knocking them, saying they’re spending too much money – but they are only doing what Chelsea and United have done for years. Those two clubs have dominated the transfer market since the start of the Premier League. They’ve been the most successful because they’ve been able to get the best players. If you’ve got the best players then you will win things. I never thought I’d see the day when City could out-muscle United and Chelsea in the transfer market, but when you’ve got owners with bottomless resources, you’ve got a chance. When you look at the quality of the squad now, it is very strong. They will take a hell of a lot of stopping to get into the top four this season. It’s been a long time since they won anything, but I’m very confident that run will end this season. I don’t know how many of this team would have got into our title-winning side, but I know I would have loved to have played in this team as well.” Frannie couldn’t help comparing how things have changed from his days leading the club in the mid-90s. “A big problem when I was chairman was the £16 million we needed to build a new stand. It doesn’t sound like a lot of money now, but back then it was enormous. It was four times our turnover. The better players were on about £10,000 a week contracts then – nowadays I hear they get that if they’ve got a pair of boots.”

International Blues’ News

The first tranche of international matches took place last Friday. England beat Bulgaria 4-0, thanks in no small part to a series of crucial saves by Joe Hart, and a goal by substitute Adam Johnson. The game began with a healthy Blue and ex-Blue contingent on the pitch – England started with Hart, Gareth Barry and James Milner, while Bulgaria sported our old chums Valeri Bojinov and Martin Petrov. AJ came on after 74 minutes and soon slotted away a peach of a goal. Afterwards Joe revealed the secret of his technique – copying Kasper Schmeichel. “I try to stand big. I’ve stolen the technique from Kasper Schmeichel, who I worked with for a bit and it’s working for now. Luckily the ball hit me. I’m feeling good at the moment, trying to keep the momentum rolling but there’s so much I’ve got to improve on. It’s nice to get the victory but it’s gone now. We’ve brushed it aside and will start again on Tuesday against Switzerland.” England boss Fabio Capello praised Hart, saying “Hart is playing very, very well. He made two fantastic saves. He is the England ‘keeper and he is playing very well.” So he played well, then. And a clause in Joe’s transfer from Shrewsbury kicked in, earning the Shrews £500,000 for JH making his competitive début. Johnson could barely contain his delight: “It was massive for me on Friday, scoring my first goal in my first competitive game. The goal on Friday was the highlight of my career. As a kid you dream about scoring at Wembley for England. That was definitely the career high for me. I just hope there are a few more. Coming on and getting the third goal was massive for me. I will just keep trying to do well for my club and force my way in.”

Elsewhere, Shay Given saw his first piece of competitive action as the Republic of Ireland came back from Armenia with a 1-0 victory. Given and the Irish defence survived a 10 minute onslaught when the game was 0-0. Afterwards, Shay said: “We are really pleased with the way we have started. Hopefully we can get three points against Andorra on Tuesday night and that will set us up for next month, which is a tough month. We said before the game (against Armenia) that if we have got ambitions to win the group, we had to come here and get three points, and that’s not an easy thing to do. People say, ‘Armenia, you should beat them no problem’, but I think teams will come here and find it difficult. A clean sheet and three points, we are happy with that.” Vincent Kompany played in Belgium’s 1-0 defeat in Germany, a result that left the City man frustrated. “It’s disturbing to lose as we had played well,” he said. “We must use this to get a good performance in Turkey on Tuesday. They did not leave much space for the Germans, we were well organised. It’s a shame. We stood up to the third best team in the world, but in the end we were beaten.” Nigel de Jong was present for Hollland’s 5-0 stroll against San Marino, while David Silva scored the 4th goal in Spain’s 4-0 away win in Liechtenstein.

Round two of the internationals took place on Tuesday, and City plus Shrek had a comfortable 3-1 victory against the Swiss in Basel. It certainly felt like a City fest, because by the end, there were six Blue Boys on the pitch for England. Barry, Hart and Milner again started, and they were joined at kick off by Joleon Lescott. Adam Johnson repeated his feat on Friday – replacing Theo Walcott and scoring – and then ickle Shaun Wright Phillips made a late appearance. Gareth Barry was asked about this City presence, and said: “It was brilliant for the club to have so many players on the pitch – and shows the quality we have got at City. It is great to have a core of English players. You have seen the top teams over the years, the Chelseas, the Manchester Uniteds, have had that spine of English players and been successful. We’ve got to work hard and hopefully we can achieve something like that.” Both City goalies conceded on Tuesday – Shay Given was playing for the Republic of Ireland against Andorra, but the home team prevailed 3-1. Vincent Kompany lost with Belgium again, this time 3-2 in Turkey, and Nigel de Jong won again as the Netherlands won 2-1 against Finland. One website I checked had Vincent and Nigel as the Flops of their respective matches – I must’ve stumbled on a secret Red site! Captain Carlos scored the comedy goal of the week as he helped Argentina beat Spain 4-1. Tevez was on hand when Spain’s ‘keeper Pepe Reina tried to dribble the ball away from his goal, but only succeeded in falling over. This left Carlos scuttling away and sticking the ball into an empty net.

Squad News

Nige is Nice: City fans’ favourite pitbull, Nigel de Jong, has been gracing the Sunday Mirror with his thoughts this weekend. Nige earned a bit of a worldwide reputation during the World Cup Final, after recreating a Hong Kong Phooey move on Spain’s Xavi Alonso. But fear not, he never meant it! “I don’t regret anything. I never intended to hurt him.” He feels that the experience of playing in South Africa was a positive one: “And after such a great World Cup I came back to the dressing room of Manchester City as a different player. Well, that’s how it felt. I had just played in the final of the World Cup. It gives you a different status. The lads at City said they were impressed with the Dutch team’s performances out there in South Africa. That was really nice.” And de Jong said he’s not too fussed about missing a personal meeting with Sheikh Mansour, City’s 12-year-old owner, who dropped by the stadium for the first time, for the Liverpool game. “I don’t think that is abnormal. The Sheikh has installed people at the club who take care of everything on his behalf. That is the way he works. I do know what he looks like, as I have seen pictures of him before” de Jong said.

A Fine Set of Toures: …is the name of my Fantasy League team this season, but you probably didn’t need to know that. It features the Ivorian brothers, so let’s have this week’s Toure talk. Kolo has been musing on his loss of the City captaincy to Argentina’s no.1 Oasis fan, Carlito Tevez. “I was made captain of Manchester City by former manager Mark Hughes immediately after my arrival from Arsenal,” Toure told Sport Ivoire, “When Roberto Mancini took over, I continued playing that rôle till the end of the season and everything went fine. At the beginning of the new season, Mancini came to me and said he wanted to take the important decision of naming Carlos Tevez the new captain so he can get more involved in the set-up, like Diego Maradona did after he became the captain of Napoli. I accepted and Tevez took over, all in the name of peace and progress for our club.” He also dismissed rumours of Emmanuel Adebayor being disheartened at his lack of a regular starting place so far this season. “We are all top players here. When you play for a top club you need to fight for your place. Adebayor had a difficult season last year but he is working hard. He was nearly killed so he needed time to get over that. He is happy at City and you will see a much better player this year. I’m sure he will be one of the best players in England this season – he will be back to his best.” Meanwhile, Vincent Kompany says he “cannot understand” Barcelona’s decision to sell Kolo’s brother the Blues. “Toure is a natural born winner and he will add so much to our team,” said Kompany. “I cannot understand why Barcelona let him leave. He has a big challenge to help us become one of the best teams in the Premier League and Europe. He is so important because of the great experience that he has and gives us something which we have lacked in the team.”

Magic Johnson: Human hulk Michael Johnson’s return from a knee operation is being spurred on by the prospect of playing alongside the Sky Blue Galacticos. He’s on course to return to full training in the next couple of months and is targeting a playing return, possibly by December. “It’s going well. I saw the surgeon two weeks ago and he said about six to eight weeks before full training,” Johnson said on mcfc.co.uk. “Getting full fitness from there is another step but December doesn’t seem that far now, everything’s getting a lot closer for me. I’m out there getting fit, and that seemed a long way off back in February. I’m not rushing it but a game before December would be a bonus, really.” He can’t wait for the challenge of playing alongside the calibre of player now in the City team. “It will be great to play in a really good team. It’s easy to forget that we were just a mid-table team not too long ago. We had some decent players, in fact some very good players, but as a team we were doing average. Now when you see the way we played against Liverpool – things are just looking so good. It would be so easy to play in this team. Having those sort of quality players around you makes it easier.”

Bring It to Jerome: We might get to see one of Bobby Manc’s summer signings in a competitive game on Saturday. Jerome Boateng is in line to make his first start for City next weekend. Boateng is expected to face Blackburn on Saturday after finally recovering from a tendon injury in his left knee. He missed City’s opening three Premier League fixtures after aggravating his injury (I’m not making this up) in a collision with a drinks trolley on a plane. He is expected to be in contention to start against Rovers.

Bal’s Up for an Op: Mario “Would You Accept a Lift Off this Man” Balotelli has been told he needs knee surgery after struggling with the injury in the opening weeks of the campaign. “The Italian’s injury is to the lateral meniscus,” according to City’s website one of the two most crucial structures in the knee, and medical wisdom is to try to encourage the problem to heal without recourse to an operation. “It was hoped that the symptoms would settle down, but once Balotelli began to step up his recovery programme this week, it became clear that action would need to be taken.” Balotelli could be sidelined for up to six weeks.

Gooner Wind Up Arsenal… It’s nice that Emmanael Adebayor isn’t enraging his former employer any more. No wait… asked if City are now bigger than Arsenal, Ade replied “Yeah, it does feel like that. With the great new players we’ve got we have a wonderful chance to make history. But it’s all about results. If we can win ten games in a row, people will class Manchester City as bigger than Arsenal,” he concluded.

OPINION: LIVERPOOL REVISITED AND REPORTING WOES

Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness, Sammy Lee, Stan Boardman, Bruce Grobbelaar can you hear me? Your boys one took one hell of a beating. The 3-0 victory over City was a very special result and a terrific performance that made a real statement of intent. For City fans who were at Maine Road in the late 70s and early 80s, playing the mighty Liverpool was a truly harrowing experience (between 79/80 and 82/83 the home results were 0-4, 0-3, 0-5 and 0-4 and I’m glad that I only saw the last two of them live), so this latest result was extra special for some of us. The performance was so good and City really bossed the game, bar for short spells when Gerrard and co huffed and puffed. Every City player can take credit for a job well done.

With my wife having just given birth to our son, I didn’t manage to get to the latest Liverpool game. I settled for watching it on TV, which leads me neatly onto…

Martin Tyler, who gets my idiot of the month award for his crass comment as City led 3-0 over the once mighty Liverpool: “You’ve got to feel sorry for the reputation of Liverpool Football Club”. Oh really? I didn’t realise that the reputation of a football club had emotions and that it is mandatory that we must all get out the hankies and shed a tear or three. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve no particular beef with Liverpool but why should we feel sorry for their “reputation” or indeed Liverpool themselves?

They’ve had their days in the sun, many times over, and often at our expense. What is wrong with someone else enjoying a little success? The über sanctimonious Tyler is clearly upset that the establishment is being shaken to its core. The easy days of the $ky four when the rôle of journalists and commentators like him was just a matter of stringing together a set of easy clichés and putting clubs like City into neat little boxes marked “hapless losers” are coming to an end, and people like Tyler don’t like it.

In 2nd place is Sunday Torygraph journalist Duncan White who in reporting the Tottenham game had a dig at the size of City’s squad and stated that what Mancini doesn’t seem to realise is that he can only fill 11 names in on the team sheet. No, stupid, we know it’s an eleven a-side game, but it’s a squad game nowadays.

You know, long season and all that, challenging on several fronts, especially qualification for the Chimps League Gravy train. Oh, sorry, I forgot, City aren’t supposed to be able to compete with the $ky Four. We should know our place.

Silly me.

3rd place goes to Stephen Ireland. Now I like Stevie and I am sorry that he is no longer with us. He has an immense amount of talent and had that one brilliant season two years ago when he couldn’t stop scoring and creating goals. This has been tempered, however, by his rather immature outburst and swipe at City, saying that he was joining “a proper club”. Not the best reaction from someone who should be grateful to Manchester City for giving him his big break in football, and looked after him in some pretty difficult times for a rather mixed up young man. Stevie of course doesn’t speak from a position of strength, especially as he was the one looking for a move in the early part of the summer, after a wretched season when he consistently underperformed. I will watch Match of the Day with interest when Villa concede goals to see whether a certain follicly challenged midfielder has tracked his runner back towards his own goal, and whether the goalscorer has run behind Stevie’s back, rather like Scholes sadly did last season. I shall be looking to see whether Stevie has done a “proper” defensive job. Despite the disappointment with his departure and the manner of it I will nevertheless wish him all the very best in his future career.

OPINION: EGYPTIAN BLUE

Or Good Morning if you’re not in El Gouna, Egypt as I am at the moment.

I’ve not been idling my time whilst here. I checked up on my mate Hisham who I converted to a Blue whilst here in January. He met us down-town resplendent, and looking very proud, in the City shirt I sent him with TEVEZ and 32 on the back. He works around one of the pools and lagoon at the Movenpick hotel. It’s great to hear him wandering round singing Carlos Teveh is a Blue, I City till I die, and Gary Neveel and his brother.

The first thing he told me when we got here was there was a United fan by the pool reading a United magazine. I said “is he from Manchester?” Hisham said “No, I asked him. Why does he support Man United if he is not from Manchester?” Anyway Hisham says to this guy “Can I please have your magazine when you have finished it”. The guy says “Of course, would you like to read it”. Hisham replies “No, I would like to spit on it”. My work here is done.

When I was here in January I drew a big City badge in the sand. That has of course since gone. However, Hisham would not let me rest until I did another “bigger and better” one to reflect our bigger and better club. If anyone is in the slightest bit interested you can see the pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/46709061@N05/

Now we think we’ve got problems with the neighbours. After dinner in a restaurant last night we were watching Egypt versus Sierra Leone (which I thought was money you borrowed to buy a car) in an African Nations Cup qualifier. The manager was talking to us about their World Cup play-off match against Algeria and the bad blood between them. I said “You really don’t like Algeria do you?” Without batting an eyelid he said “We like Israel more than Algeria”. Now that’s serious.

If anybody is coming out to El Gouna and staying at the Movenpick please make sure you look out for Hisham. Ask any of the staff, they’ll know him. He’d be thrilled to bits to be looked up by ‘fellow’ Blues, and of course he’ll look after you with sunbed reservations and extra towels.

By the way he may be a contender if it all goes pear shaped for Roberto Mancini. There is a big playstation football tournament here and Hisham is through to the semi-final playing some very creative and attacking formations with his City team. We’re hoping to go and see him in the final before we leave.

Right, back to the sun.

OPINION: SHEIKHEN NOT STIRRED

It seems that soccer doesn’t mean that much to me now. Multi million pound signings, multi million pound wages. I wonder if the sheikh could send a couple of billion over to Christchurch, New Zealand, where we a being destroyed by mother nature.

A couple of our biggest signings would help rebuilding parts of the city, which look like a disaster movie. For the first time in my 61 years I was petrified with fear, something you don’t like to admit.

So next time we get biased reporting, biased referees, biased Reds, Blues, just sit back and think for a moment, is it really worth it? In a minute COMS could be flattened to oblivion such was the magnitude of the earthquake. It sort of puts things in perspective.

Still shaking (the city and me).

REQUEST: KING OF THE KIPPAX

The next issue of King Of The Kippax fanzine number 181 should be in the outlets on Friday (Aleef, kiosk corner of Cross Street and Market street and the wonderful Urbis shop) and on sale at the Blackburn home game on Saturday (before the three away games on the trot!) for £2.50.

Joe Hart is on the front cover, there’s a chart on what we have to do to get to 86 points (3 down already!), the usual regulars, the media (but just missed the 6 England internationals, Adam’s goal, 2 in 2, and what do they pick up on? Rooney’s first goal in half a year), Dortmund and Romanian trips, Big Joe and new big Joe piece, Joe Mercer book review, Ken Barnes tribute, 90/91 season fan’s reflection, goodbye to Robinho and much more to make up the 48 A4 pages. By post you can obtain it for £3.20 including P&P from: (cheque to) King Of the Kippax, 25, Holdenbrook Close, Leigh, Lancs, WN7 2HL. It’s our 22nd anniversary this month.

Incidentally we saw the preview of the City film Blue Moon Rising last night, which is absolutely brilliant, and it’s out soon. Don’t miss it.

REQUEST: SIERRA LEONE UPDATE

MCIVTA subscribers may be interested in reading about the handover and activities in Sierra Leone following the appeals and donations made. You can find more here http://sierraleonemcfc.blogspot.com/

REQUEST: CHARITY DINNER

We still have individual places available for our dinner on Friday 1st October so please contact me direct if you are interested. There are also sponsorship packages available at very reasonable rates if you would like your company to promote a fantastic cause and also generate some positive publicity.

As well as the celebrities mentioned below we also have Frank Stapleton (United, Arsenal and Eire), Tony Book (Mr Manchester City), Dennis Tueart (City, Sunderland and England), Paul Lake (City) and Neil Pointon (City, Oldham and Everton) attending as well as others still to confirm.

There is also an online auction as well as more information available at http://www.challenge4change.org/events/sportsdinner.aspx

The auction and raffle has some great items, which are not all sport related and I am extremely grateful to those who have made these donations. There will also be other items added over the next few weeks.

It will be a great night so if you want a great Friday night out please book your place(s) now.

If you can’t make it please pass on to any colleagues / friends you think may be interested.

RESULTS AND TABLE

League table to 07 September 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          3  2  0  0  8  0  1  0  0  6  0  3  0  0  14   0  14   9
 2 Arsenal          3  1  0  0  6  0  1  1  0  3  2  2  1  0   9   2   7   7
 3 Manchester Utd   3  2  0  0  6  0  0  1  0  2  2  2  1  0   8   2   6   7
 4 Aston Villa      3  2  0  0  4  0  0  0  1  0  6  2  0  1   4   6  -2   6
 5 Bolton Wndrs     3  0  2  0  2  2  1  0  0  3  1  1  2  0   5   3   2   5
 6 Birmingham City  3  1  0  0  2  1  0  2  0  4  4  1  2  0   6   5   1   5
 7 Wolves           3  1  1  0  3  2  0  1  0  1  1  1  2  0   4   3   1   5
 8 Newcastle Utd    3  1  0  0  6  0  0  1  1  1  4  1  1  1   7   4   3   4
 9 Manchester City  3  1  0  0  3  0  0  1  1  0  1  1  1  1   3   1   2   4
10 Sunderland       3  1  1  0  3  2  0  0  1  0  1  1  1  1   3   3   0   4
11 Tottenham H.     3  0  1  1  0  1  1  0  0  2  1  1  1  1   2   2   0   4
12 Blackpool        3  0  1  0  2  2  1  0  1  4  6  1  1  1   6   8  -2   4
13 Liverpool        3  1  1  0  2  1  0  0  1  0  3  1  1  1   2   4  -2   4
14 Fulham           3  0  1  0  2  2  0  2  0  2  2  0  3  0   4   4   0   3
15 Blackburn R.     3  1  0  1  2  2  0  0  1  1  2  1  0  2   3   4  -1   3
16 West Brom A.     3  1  0  0  1  0  0  0  2  0  7  1  0  2   1   7  -6   3
17 Wigan Athletic   3  0  0  2  0 10  1  0  0  1  0  1  0  2   1  10  -9   3
18 Everton          3  0  1  0  1  1  0  0  2  0  2  0  1  2   1   3  -2   1
19 Stoke City       3  0  0  1  1  2  0  0  2  1  4  0  0  3   2   6  -4   0
20 West Ham United  3  0  0  1  1  3  0  0  2  0  6  0  0  3   1   9  -8   0

MCIVTA FAQ [v1011.01]

[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?

The Official Supporters’ Club and the Centenary Supporters’ Association have merged to become the Manchester City Supporters’ Club (http://www.mcfcsupportersclub.com/). The club also recognise the Manchester City Disabled Supporters’ Association (http://www.mcdsa.co.uk/).

[6] Where can I find out about Points of Blue?

The committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. Points of Blue appears on the club website under the “Fans” heading (http://www.mcfc.co.uk/Fans).

[7] What match day broadcasts are available on the web?

Live match commentary can be found on the club website. The Radio Manchester pre- and post-match phone-in is available on the web at http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/manchester/hi/tv_and_radio/.

[8] Where can I find out if City are live on satellite TV?

http://www.satfootball.com/pl.html provides a listing of Premier League games being shown on UK domestic and foreign satellite channels. Useful sites for North American viewers are http://msn.foxsports.com/, http://www.soccertv.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: