Newsletter #1687

A much needed convincing performance and result on Sunday as we trounced Hughes’ Fulham 4-1. We have match views and post match reaction tonight.

There is also some news and a please from Alex on City legend Neil Young, which I’m sure McV readers will fulfil, and send Neil all our best wishes.

Finally the Blue Santa event and thanks on a ticket request – we’ve been running them for years and it’s good to know they do work!

MATCH VIEW I: FFC 1 MCFC 4

What an awesome performance that was yesterday. It was great to see City playing such lovely football. It was top class. Full credit is due to the players and to Roberto Mancini. The passing and movement were brilliant. Carlos Tevez showed great strength and skill to turn for our opener and his link up play was exquisite. Is there a better striker in he Premier League? The best move of the game was the 24 passes that led to Yaya Toure’s goal, which added to the beauty of the third.

It was so pleasing to see the full backs push forward, with Kolarov and Zabaleta highly effective in attack and solid in defence. Zaba really deserved his goal, which was struck with some venom. He is such a good professional who gets on with his game without any moans or any fuss. He has a first class attitude and is always ready to come in and do a good job wherever he is asked to play. Indeed, this display warrants more regular selection in his favoured right back spot.

I really liked the way that we dominated our opponents physically and with our superb passing. Let’s not underestimate this victory, even if Fulham are in the bottom four. They are historically very strong at home and now that’s two wins in a row at Craven Cottage. Kompany and Toure are superb at the back, and the defending in front of them is excellent too. Not only does Nigel de Jong do sterling work to protect the back four, preventing runners from midfield getting a run at our back line, but he is a very skilful carrier and distributor of the ball. Often an attack starts with his clever use of the ball.

City may find it easier to play away from home as the opposition tend to attack us more leaving more space for us to play into. It will have helped as well that our magnificent support got behind the manager and the team from start to finish. I loved those Mancini chants and the ‘boring, boring, City’ ones.

It’s great to stuff one up our critics who were lining up to see us fall and brazenly hoping for it to happen in various media. The most disgraceful being Alan Green on Radio Five Live and the idiots on $ky’s Hold The Back Page, especially the no-mark hack, Rob Beasley from the Sun. Many City fans are already boycotting Talksport. I suggest that we extend this boycott to The Sun and The News of The World for their particularly anti-City stance. It’s time to take direct action and hit these nasty tabloids where it hurts, i.e. in the pocket.

I just want City to win, and when we do, it’s all the more pleasurable for seeing these cretins squirm. I hope that more Blues are more vocal at all our games and make Eastlands a cauldron of noise in support of our Blue Boys.

MATCH VIEW II: FFC 1 MCFC 4

Today Roberto Mancini proved that he can play attacking football: the team played crisp, fast, passing football, players moving into open spaces to receive the ball, and not often did any pass go astray.

Tevez enjoyed himself with a brace, almost getting himself a hat trick, but it was Zabaleta with his rocket of a goal that took the limelight with Yaya scoring a very nice goal from an acute angle. Fulham got a consolation goal when Gera scored.

This was a very entertaining game where every City player worked for each other and fought for every ball.

During the game I noticed Diego Maradona in the stadium with his blonde girlfriend who at the start of the game was wearing a Fulham scarf, probably given to her from the club Fulham so felt obligated to wear it as a visitor. At the end of the game there was no scarf to be seen, but I bet she felt proud of the City players Captain Fantastic and Zab from her country Argentina.

We City fans would love to see more football played like this but I know that will not always be possible, it depends on the opposition as to what tactics Roberto decides to use. But with this kind of performance from City we should not be afraid of any opposition; it’s their turn to be afraid of City.

Now that Chelsea have lost two games on the trot, the Premier League title looks at this stage of the season to be up for grabs.

I think that MCFC should play Henry Mancini’s famous “Pink Panther theme” for our Roberto Mancini as he walks on to the pitch.

OPINION: NEIL YOUNG

I’ve recently had a long telephone conversation with Carmen Young, the wife of City Legend Neil Young. Sadly, Carmen informs me that Neil has recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer and with the right treatment and luck Neil has at best 6 to 12 months to live. To add to that bad news it’s very likely Neil will have to have that famous left leg amputated at some stage in the future.

Most of us who had the privilege of watching Nelly turn out for the Blues will always remember that famous left peg. Neil will be the first to admit that his right leg was only used for standing on and if he ever headed the ball it was usually an unavoidable accident. But wow what a left peg. In today’s values I reckon that leg alone would be worth about £20,000,000 and the rest of him would be thrown in for nowt. Neil, in my opinion was the most graceful footballer to ever walk onto the hallowed Maine Road turf and many other turfs as well come to think of it.

Nelly will always be remembered for many of the great goals he scored and always coming up trumps in the important games; Newcastle 1968, Wembley 1969, Vienna 1970. For me one of his best ever goals came against Newcastle in an FA Cup replay at Maine Road in 1970 (I think) when he sped past the Geordie defence from the halfway line with all his usual grace, elegance and speed before coolly slipping the ball under the hapless and advancing Newcastle goalkeeper. Whilst that was a goal of great elegance and style, many of us will also remember the incredible power of that left peg, which hit many unstoppable shots past all the great and good goalkeepers of that time. The sheer power of that left leg belied his appearance and style of play.

One of the things that some may not know is Neil lived not much more than a corner kick away from his beloved Maine Road. He was a boyhood Blue who lived the dream and turned out for the team he had always supported. Nobody was prouder than Neil when he pulled on the light blue shirt of City, his team.

Nelly has always had the utmost respect from City fans ever since he last pulled on the shirt for us. He was the past Honorary President of the MCFC Centenary Supporters’ Association, he is still current Honorary President of the New Zealand Supporters’ branch where he is still rightly considered a hero. Neil was a most welcome guest at many supporter functions. Not long ago I had the honour of welcoming Neil and Carmen to the annual 5-a-side for City supporters at the Platt Lane Complex. Nelly handed trophies to the successful teams, he did an interesting Q&A session, posed for photo’s, signed loads of autographs spent lots of time chatting with fellow Blues. He was one of the last to leave and was still talking about football and life in general on the car park before a little reluctantly leaving Platt Lane.

Over the past 14 years I’ve been privileged to get to know Neil the man and his ever loving wife Carmen. I can say hand on heart he was one of the nicest men I have ever met and a true gentleman. He is also one of us, a Blue through and through. Neil never lived the high life or celebrity style of others but did do some of the daft things footballers of that time did, usually after a drink or five. I often think Nelly was sometimes at his happiest when amongst other City fans.

At times like this we can easily feel sorry and think there is nothing we can do. Fortunately there is something we can all do as individuals or on behalf of the City organisations some of you represent. Understandably Carmen tells me Neil is very down and Carmen herself is obviously distressed at such bad news. Carmen tells me she and Neil would welcome messages of support etc. from City fans, the more the merrier. Your messages of support, cards etc. can be sent to me and I will forward them on to Neil.

Penalty Spot
11 Thirlmere Avenue
Swinton
Manchester
M27 5XD

Perhaps in a couple of weeks a simple Christmas card would also be welcomed in the Young household. Meanwhile my love and support goes to one of the happiest and loving couples I have ever met.

THANKS

As one of the first MCIVTA subscribers back at the dawn of the internet, I have taken MCIVTA for granted like most readers with a contribution about once a decade. But I just wanted to say that whilst we have the best fans in the world, MCIVTA also has the very best subscribers in the world. I put out a request for two Juve tickets as I will be going to the game next month, and only have 4200 points and it looked unlikely they were going to drop below 4500. Nevertheless, I had to be sure as soon as possible, and within hours a fellow subscriber came to my help. Thank you Neil… and thank you MCIVTA and I promise a match review from the Juve game!

REQUEST: SANTA STROLL

The Santa Stroll course has changed and is now nearer to 4km and stays inside the grounds of Eastlands, starting on the track inside Sportcity and finishing on the gantry in the City Square. This therefore doesn’t take the route alongside Alan Turing Way and makes the event much more inclusive and easier to govern, especially as City TV will be covering the event.

To book your place and for more information click onto the link below: http://www.mcfc.co.uk/news/city-in-thecommunity/Ho-ho-ho-its-the-City-Santa-stroll

RESULTS AND TABLE

21 November 2010

Blackburn Rovers      2 - 0  Aston Villa           21,848
Fulham                1 - 4  Manchester City       25,694

20 November 2010

Arsenal               2 - 3  Tottenham Hotspur     60,102
Birmingham City       1 - 0  Chelsea               24,357
Blackpool             2 - 1  Wolverhampton Wndrs   15,922
Bolton Wanderers      5 - 1  Newcastle United      22,203
Manchester United     2 - 0  Wigan Athletic        74,181
West Bromwich Albion  0 - 3  Stoke City            24,164
Liverpool             3 - 0  West Ham United       43,024

League table to 21 November 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         14  6  0  1 17  3  3  1  3 11  6  9  1  4  28   9  19  28
 2 Manchester Utd  14  6  1  0 17  5  1  6  0 11 10  7  7  0  28  15  13  28
 3 Arsenal         14  4  0  3 17  9  4  2  1 11  6  8  2  4  28  15  13  26
 4 Manchester City 14  3  3  1  7  5  4  1  2 12  6  7  4  3  19  11   8  25
 5 Bolton Wndrs    14  3  3  1 15  9  2  4  1 11 11  5  7  2  26  20   6  22
 6 Tottenham H.    14  3  3  1 11  7  3  1  3 10 12  6  4  4  21  19   2  22
 7 Sunderland      13  3  3  0  7  3  1  4  2  8 10  4  7  2  15  13   2  19
 8 Stoke City      14  4  1  2 11  8  2  0  5  7 10  6  1  7  18  18   0  19
 9 Liverpool       14  4  2  1 12  6  1  2  4  4 11  5  4  5  16  17  -1  19
10 Newcastle Utd   14  2  2  3 15  9  3  1  3  7 12  5  3  6  22  21   1  18
11 Blackburn R.    14  3  2  2  8  6  2  1  4  9 12  5  3  6  17  18  -1  18
12 Blackpool       14  2  2  2 11 11  3  1  4 10 16  5  3  6  21  27  -6  18
13 Aston Villa     14  3  4  0 10  5  1  1  5  5 15  4  5  5  15  20  -5  17
14 Birmingham City 14  3  3  1  7  5  0  4  3  8 12  3  7  4  15  17  -2  16
15 West Brom A.    14  3  2  2  8  9  1  2  4  8 16  4  4  6  16  25  -9  16
16 Everton         13  2  3  2  9  8  1  3  2  5  5  3  6  4  14  13   1  15
17 Fulham          14  2  3  2  9 10  0  5  2  5  7  2  8  4  14  17  -3  14
18 Wigan Athletic  14  2  3  3  6 15  1  2  3  4  8  3  5  6  10  23 -13  14
19 Wolves          14  2  2  3  9 11  0  1  6  5 14  2  3  9  14  25 -11   9
20 West Ham United 14  1  3  3  7 11  0  3  4  4 14  1  6  7  11  25 -14   9

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: