Newsletter #1780

Well MCIVTA 1780 is a comedy sandwich!

Top layer is a YouTube clip. If you never watch another YouTube Clip in your life, then make this the last one!

Bottom layer, well most clubs are judged by the strength of their bench. We can now be judged by the strength in the front row of the boardroom.

The filler, some lively debate around the singing section, a report of what sounds a stunning evening down in Sussex, more thoughts on Micah’s England plight and some seasoning from Dave Wallace.

You can wash it all down with some Blue Moon beer… yes really – read on my friends, read on.

EPIC FUNNY: HITLER’S VIEW OF DERBY DAY MASSACRE

The esteemed readers of MCIVTA may enjoy this YouTube clip showing Hitler’s view of the derby day massacre. I think it complements Walter Smith’s reaction beautifully.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54oQPsaCd70

Best regards and come on you Blues!

ARTICLE: WHAT ARE CITY DOING?

I’ve got to agree with Martin Hunt’s comments in MCIVTA 1779. I currently find myself having many a schizophrenic moment. On the one hand I never felt we were going to get anything other than a win against QPR; strange considering the way the game unfolded. On the other hand I’m looking at the table thinking ‘Three more wins and we should stay up!’; now it’s not even December, what is wrong with me? I guess old habits die hard!

We cannot expect to win every game and I was nervous of Joey and Sweep; old players usually come back to haunt you. But what would be the fun of having the title by Easter? Nothing to play for, boring. Although I remember looking forward to that situation a couple of years back with Premier League survival being secured.

Let’s enjoy the ride, as Martin suggested, and let’s never turn into those Rags who bemoan everyone else’s good fortune. Unlike many Rags out there who’d like to see City buried in the depths of the football pyramid, I’d like to see ManUre staying prominent in English football, as long as it is one place behind us!

Stay true, stay Blue!

ARTICLE: RICHARDS

I have been reading with interest all the media backlash from Micah Richards’ exclusion from the England side, coupled with comments from Capello that the current England team is useless and has no chance in the coming Euro 2012 tournament.

First off, why is this bloke still in charge of the squad? Obviously his past-due date was the 2010 World Cup. And secondly, what is his problem with Micah? He has never given Richards a fair chance since taking over the squad from McLaren yet surely he has attended enough City games this season to be impressed with Micah’s form? The guy City should be lobbying is Stuart Pearce! As a former City player and manager, and current assistant to Capello, surely Pearce has some clout with Capello? Puzzled why Pearce is not more supportive.

Either way, I hope Silva absolutely terrorizes the England right back and that Richards gets his chance. Now if we could just field all six City players, England might have a chance at the finals!

ARTICLE: SINGING SECTION I

In response to John Caley’s article (MCIVTA 1779):

Point 1, I disagree. I don’t doubt that there were problems in the organisation. Perhaps that is why the club are calling it an ‘Experiment’. I’m sure that they’ll learn from the feedback and correct the errors. I seem to remember someone a few weeks ago saying that he didn’t know about the trial. What planet were people on, that didn’t know that that was going to happen?

Point 2a, disagree again. Just because the away fans would be on the third tier, doesn’t mean that there won’t be verbal exchanges (banter). And as for missing out on the Poznan, if you remember, the whole of level 3 East Stand was given up to the Poznan fans as well as the South Stand away section. They too were doing the Poznan, albeit a watered down version, when they scored (Ed – Pretty sure they invented it John!).

Point 2b, prices and location for away fans. Sorry, disagree again. This verges on point 3, but for me the South Stand upper and lower are ‘Prime’ seats and should ONLY be given to home fans. I don’t give a monkeys about making things nice for away fans because their clubs don’t give a flying hoot about visitors to their grounds. Not interested in the least if it creates a better ‘atmosphere’. Best seats for City fans for me.

Point 3, finally, I agree on something that you’ve said. You cannot artificially create an atmosphere from a singing section (comes back to the prime seating thing for me).

ARTICLE: SINGING SECTION II

Response to (and in agreement with) John Caley’s post:

John Caley, you have my full empathy and understanding and I can only say that I feel fortunate that my previous location and my present one is not affected by any of this. For those who are, I’ve argued against a specific ‘singing section’ in my club questionnaire, because if it was me in your shoes, I’d want people who are not affected to speak up for me.

Firstly, the idea of a singing section is straight out of the mind of a middle manager in some marketing company who got into football circa 1990 because of Gazza, Nessun Dorma and the idea that football was suddenly stylish because a World Cup had been held in Italy. Ugh!

It isn’t the fault of the current MCFC administration, who have brought us some absolutely great ideas. It comes from a long-held wider belief, a rose-tinted nostalgia that erases memory and leads the thinker to hark back to the pre-Prem era and delude him/herself that all matches used to be 100% noise and fire and brimstone and thunder. They were not. Maine Road, Anfield, White Hart Lane, OT, even when terraces were the norm, fell under a hush now and again during a lull in play. It is the game and the game only that stirs a crowd. A crowd is a mass animal and will stir without any contrived nonsense.

I remember hearing a Wales international on the radio, a crucial last qualifier where it was win or go out; it was maybe six to eight years ago. The atmosphere ‘created’ before the game was so intensive, with so many fireworks, loud shouting people orchestrating chanting on microphones and loud music, that when the game started, the crowd settled and eventually went quiet because, frankly, Wales didn’t deliver and I remember wondering whether, if they had just let the nerves of the crowd show at the start then this would have then manifested itself in noise as the desperation took hold.

Why do you think we made so much noise at Wembley in the FAC SF against United – the nerves forced the noise out of our lungs, that’s why! It’s the same after games. Orchestrated music, telling fans what to sing, it’s rubbish, you need a bit of quiet sometimes at certain junctures, just before, at half time, and afterwards. At Wembley, they play We Are The Champions and Rockin’ All Over The World but what would you have rather had? That? Or would you have preferred to sing Blue Moon and City ‘Til I Die and the Zabaleta tune to the sound of Do The Conga. I know which I’d like.

ARTICLE: Mid-Sussex Blues Legends Night 4/11/2011

On Friday, 4th November, the Mid-Sussex branch of the OSC had their annual Legends Night.

We were joined by such luminaries as Tommy Booth, Paul Lake, Richard Edghill and Dave Watson. John Stapleton, celebrity City fan and friend of the branch came along and Susan Bookbinder also joined the panel as the superb compère for the evening.

As per previous legends nights, the evening was superbly organised by John Joyce and ably assisted by his wife Julie, Rod Cummins and Mark Seacombe. The start of the event was slightly delayed due to the late arrival of a couple of our guests but this gave the rest of us a chance to take advantage of the cheap beer provided by our hosts at the St Francis Sports and Social Club in Haywards Heath.

Following some smashing food, the panel settled down for the Q&A, which, as in the past, has always proved very lively.

Tommy Booth was the star of the show, probably due to the fact that he had arrived early and spent the afternoon in the hotel bar where he was staying! Tommy is a master of delivering a long tale timing the unexpected punch line that 3 or 4 times brought the house down.

The question of who was hardest, Tommy or Dave Watson, was asked and following a heated but comical debate the general consensus came down on Dave’s side, purely due the fact that he once conducted an interview for TV whilst having his eye stitched up!

Paul Lake, after signing many copies of his fantastic book, brought a bit of reality to the proceedings with his description of the highs and lows of his career. Sadly it was one of the downs that prevented this true City great from achieving his promise.

Richard Edghill bravely told us how he dealt with the stick he received from City fans during his time at City. Listening to him talk about these times and how he dealt with these problems proved, in my eyes, that here was a man much braver and committed than some who have donned the sky blue shirt, and one more recent who refused to!

John Stapleton always adds his reporting skills and sports knowledge to our debates and the lovely Susan Bookbinder also contributed to the general banter and kept the discussions lively, flowing and interesting.

With the formalities finished, an excellent raffle was drawn. The money collected went to Paul Lake, to be passed to the CITC fund.

Many drinks and feisty discussion discussions followed well into the early hours. It was interesting to hear some of our legends’ thoughts on the John Terry affair! I have not yet mentioned the true star of our evening. The F.A. Cup!

T

he Cup had come along with two large friends, the two Craigs who were perfect gentlemen all night. The look on the faces, both young and old, of the 80 or so who had come along to our evening was great to see. Many photos were taken with a small charge levied, which further filled Paul Lake’s CITC pockets by over £300. It was great to see grandparents, parents, sons, daughters and partners gathered around the F.A. Cup with smiles on their faces. Thanks to the club for allowing the Cup to come all the way down to deepest Sussex for us to bask in its beauty!

As I’ve just mentioned, we had just short of 80 people at this year’s legends night, the eighth if I’m not mistaken, and by far the best, which all my recent e-mails seem to confirm.

Thanks once again must be given to John Joyce, who brought the whole evening together and arranged for our quests to attend. The committee also helped JJ pull this night successfully out of the hat and, on behalf of all those who attended; I would like to thank all of them for a great night that was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. Roll on next year!

P.S. If anyone is interested about reading about our branch, you can reach us at http://www.midsussexblues.co.uk/.

ARTICLE: GLOBAL DOMINATION (Well… Cardiff Bay at least)

Interesting to note Martin Hunt’s pleasant experience (MCIVTA 1778) in The Promised Land bar in Cardiff last week.

After finally getting my Us and Them book (ad will appear later) off to the printers on Friday night, then enjoying the trip and result at QPR, we journeyed to South Wales after the game to my daughter’s in Newport.

On the Sunday we spent time in Cardiff Bay and whilst it wasn’t the hottest day of the year absolutely no Rag shirts were spotted. A first. Maybe, just maybe…

ARTICLE: BLUE MOON BEER

Was out a few days ago and had a Blue Moon beer (very nice).

I looked it up and they do a whole range of “Blue Moon” Merchandise. They ship to the UK ($16 postage), for 2 T-shirts.

Not sure if you would like to add the link below to the next newsletter (Ed – Please note age validation required): http://www.bluemoonstore.com/store/cat/BMMen/BM+Mens

Keep up the great work 🙂

ARTICLE: NEWSLETTER STYLE

A Personal Request

Is it possible to put the name of the poster at the top of their posting rather than at the bottom?

Some posts are quite long but you have some regular posters and I like to know who wrote the post as I’m reading it. It takes a while to page down unless it’s a short one.

Just an idea.

(Ed – Let me know your thoughts; happy to oblige if folk agree with John)

TICKET REQUEST: NEWCASTLE

Any chance of a spare ticket for November 19th? Just found out I’m not working that day now and the flights are still cheap from Belfast!

AND FINALLY…

Don’t know if you or our news man are NewsNow junkies, but this splendid story just popped up!

http://www.thenational.ae/thenational/news/uae-news/man-citys-chairman-scores-a-hat-trick

RESULTS AND TABLE

League table to 09 November 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 City 11  5  0  0 16  2  5  1  0 23  8 10  1  0  39  10  29  31
 2 Manchester Utd  11  5  0  1 18  9  3  2  0 10  3  8  2  1  28  12  16  26
 3 Newcastle Utd   11  4  2  0 10  5  3  2  0  7  3  7  4  0  17   8   9  25
 4 Chelsea         11  4  0  1 15  9  3  1  2  9  6  7  1  3  24  15   9  22
 5 Tottenham H.    10  3  0  1 10  7  4  1  1 11  8  7  1  2  21  15   6  22
 6 Liverpool       11  2  4  0  8  5  3  0  2  6  5  5  4  2  14  10   4  19
 7 Arsenal         11  5  0  1 12  4  1  1  3 11 17  6  1  4  23  21   2  19
 8 Aston Villa     11  3  2  1 10  6  0  4  1  6  9  3  6  2  16  15   1  15
 9 Norwich City    11  2  2  1  9  7  1  2  3  7 11  3  4  4  16  18  -2  13
10 Swansea City    11  3  2  0  8  1  0  2  4  4 14  3  4  4  12  15  -3  13
11 QPR             11  1  3  2  5  9  2  0  3  5 11  3  3  5  10  20 -10  12
12 Stoke City      11  2  2  1  5  4  1  1  4  3 15  3  3  5   8  19 -11  12
13 Wolves          11  2  1  3  8 10  1  1  3  4  8  3  2  6  12  18  -6  11
14 West Brom A.    11  1  1  3  3  5  2  1  3  6 11  3  2  6   9  16  -7  11
15 Sunderland      11  1  2  2  9  7  1  2  3  5  6  2  4  5  14  13   1  10
16 Fulham          11  1  3  2 11  9  1  1  3  3  6  2  4  5  14  15  -1  10
17 Everton         10  1  1  3  5  7  2  0  3  6  8  3  1  6  11  15  -4  10
18 Bolton Wndrs    11  1  0  5  9 17  2  0  3  9 10  3  0  8  18  27  -9   9
19 Blackburn R.    11  1  0  5  6 13  0  3  2  7 11  1  3  7  13  24 -11   6
20 Wigan Athletic  11  1  1  3  5  8  0  1  5  2 12  1  2  8   7  20 -13   5

MCIVTA FAQ [v1112.01]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

Articles (Philip Alcock)         : 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.

Philip Alcock, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

Editor: