Newsletter #1761

With the international break on until next weekend, a mini-edition tonight. We have a look at the tactics involved and a couple of requests.

OPINION: STOP BEING SO DEFENSIVE

I agree wholeheartedly with Keith Sharp’s concern over Mancini’s reluctance to go for the jugular. City are now clearly capable of prevailing in the Premier League and in Europe. We are a formidable attacking force with significant depth. But we won’t succeed if Mancini loses his nerve, especially during games against the bigger clubs both at home and abroad. Two, and even three goal spreads, are insufficient against some teams. Sit back and let them come at you and you’ll pay the price.

I have been heartened by Mancini’s early willingness to unleash his forwards but, like Keith, I was disheartened to see him retreat instead of continuing the forward thrust. We should have torn Spurs apart and banked some valuable goals. Instead, we gave them an unnecessary glimmer of hope. Mancini has bought well but he needs to overcome his defensive instincts.

REQUEST: REDDISH BLUES

The next meeting of the Reddish branch is on Wednesday 7th September at Reddish Working Men’s Club, Greg Street, Stockport.

The meeting starts at 8.00pm (doors 7.30pm) and our confirmed guests for the night are: Paul Lake, Gary Owen and the FA Cup.

Copies of Paul’s book, “I’m Not Really Here” will be available on the night.

As always, the meeting is open to everyone and membership will be available on the night.

REQUEST: MAINE ROAD FC

Hopefully regular readers will recall that I posted a plea a few weeks ago. The original proposed sponsor of Maine Road F.C.’s change strip had to pull out at a late stage due to unforeseen circumstances and we were looking for someone to come to the rescue at short notice. MCIVTA is indeed a powerful medium! I had a really positive response from a number of sources, but pride of place must go to the “Didsbury Blues” branch of the City Supporters’ Club who have not only covered the cost of the strip, but have a number of members who are so taken with the design that they will be buying replicas from us. If you would like to see the red and black strip, just go to http://www.maineroadfc.com/. There are some pictures on the News pages and more in the Gallery section.

MCIVTA subscribers didn’t stop there though! As the shirts had been covered, another well known scribe who has contributed over the years to both the MCIVTA newsletter and ‘King of the Kippax’ decided he would be happy to sponsor some much-needed tracksuit tops for our players (we had some, but not enough!). The design of these can be seen in the ‘Merchandise’ section of the club’s website. These have been ordered and should be available to team members shortly.

Well done you Blues, guaranteed never to let us down!

If anyone is unsure about how Maine Road FC originated from a City Supporters’ Club in Rusholme, then please once again visit http://www.maineroadfc.com/ where you’ll find the history under the ‘About Us’ tab.

Thanks MCIVTA!

RESULTS AND TABLE

League table to 30 August 2011 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   3  2  0  0 11  2  1  0  0  2  1  3  0  0  13   3  10  9
 2 Manchester City  3  1  0  0  4  0  2  0  0  8  3  3  0  0  12   3   9  9
 3 Liverpool        3  1  1  0  4  2  1  0  0  2  0  2  1  0   6   2   4  7
 4 Chelsea          3  2  0  0  5  2  0  1  0  0  0  2  1  0   5   2   3  7
 5 Wolves           3  1  0  0  2  0  1  1  0  2  1  2  1  0   4   1   3  7
 6 Newcastle Utd    3  1  1  0  2  1  1  0  0  1  0  2  1  0   3   1   2  7
 7 Aston Villa      3  1  1  0  3  1  0  1  0  0  0  1  2  0   3   1   2  5
 8 Wigan Athletic   3  1  1  0  3  1  0  1  0  0  0  1  2  0   3   1   2  5
 9 Stoke City       3  0  1  0  0  0  1  1  0  2  1  1  2  0   2   1   1  5
10 Bolton Wndrs     3  0  0  1  2  3  1  0  1  5  3  1  0  2   7   6   1  3
11 Everton          2  0  0  1  0  1  1  0  0  1  0  1  0  1   1   1   0  3
12 QPR              3  0  0  1  0  4  1  0  1  1  2  1  0  2   1   6  -5  3
13 Sunderland       3  0  0  1  0  1  0  2  0  1  1  0  2  1   1   2  -1  2
14 Norwich City     3  0  1  0  1  1  0  1  1  2  4  0  2  1   3   5  -2  2
15 Swansea City     3  0  2  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  4  0  2  1   0   4  -4  2
16 Fulham           3  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  2  1  4  0  1  2   1   4  -3  1
17 Arsenal          3  0  0  1  0  2  0  1  1  2  8  0  1  2   2  10  -8  1
18 West Brom A.     3  0  0  2  1  3  0  0  1  1  2  0  0  3   2   5  -3  0
19 Blackburn R.     3  0  0  2  1  3  0  0  1  1  3  0  0  3   2   6  -4  0
20 Tottenham H.     2  0  0  1  1  5  0  0  1  0  3  0  0  2   1   8  -7  0

MCIVTA FAQ [v1112.01]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

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

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://www.bbc.co.uk/news/england/manchester/.

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

http://www.satfootball.com/ provides a listing of Premier League games being shown on UK domestic and foreign satellite channels. A useful site for North American viewers is http://msn.foxsports.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://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/Usenet

[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] Do any squad members have their own Twitter accounts?

A list of genuine player accounts is maintained at http://twitter.com/#!/MCFC/players

[12] Where can I find match statistics?

Statistics for the current season are available from the club site, but for a more in-depth historical 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: