Newsletter #1899

Sorry everybody! It was all my fault. I attracted the wrath of the footballing Gods by relaxing in my seat, sitting back and thinking “This is the first time I’ve ever enjoyed a two-goal lead for City at Wembley”. Less than 30 seconds later, Demba Ba was twisting through the air… you know the rest!

A stunning first hour was replaced by a very nervous final 30 minutes in what was a genuinely compelling cup tie.

Well done to all the team. Yaya got man of the match but you really could have picked any one from the 11.

Wigan in the Final on May 11th. No complacency – let’s start with tonight’s game.

FA CUP SEMI FINAL VIEW

I was extremely nervous watching the FA cup Semi Final vs. Chelsea on TV.

Chelsea are a team with many match winners, and even though we have had favourable results against them in recent times, they are capable of beating anyone on their day. You only have to see the way they performed against United in the previous round.

I so wanted David Silva to be fit, as he offers us so much in attack, and once the team was announced, I thought to myself this is going to be a lot harder today… and had fingers crossed. City started off very well and had Chelsea on the back foot for long periods in the first half, creating numerous chances before Nasri finally broke the deadlock, after a great run by Yaya. We then had a couple of decent chances to double our advantage, with first Tévez, then Kompany failing to hit the target from close range.

I was hoping we were not going to regret Kompany’s miss, and what a great feeling when Agüero scored with a great header at the start of the second half… 2-0… “come on City” I shouted.

This however, gave Chelsea the impetus to attack and they started to get a foothold into the game and were looking dangerous. I was pleading at the TV, “City please don’t concede a goal soon, or else we will blow this game… remember they pulled back from 2-0 down against United!” City were now only playing on the break, and every time we lost possession cheaply I was getting very nervous. With the clock ticking down, Chelsea brought on Torres, and immediately launched a “hopeful” ball into our box, and Demba Ba out-muscled Nastasic, swivelled and shot past Pantilimon, with the ball going in off the far post… 2-1… out of absolutely nothing. Ba had done virtually nothing till this moment, and yet here he had brought Chelsea back into the tie. I just could not believe it (I am sure Mancini must have been raging!).

City were now getting more ragged, and Chelsea more fluent, with Ramires, Mata and Hazard having lots of the ball. All we were doing was playing on the break, and not really making the most of the counter attacks… were we going to regret these wasted opportunities? The long ball was starting to cause havoc in our defence – why? Both Kompany and Nastasic were looking awful with any high ball, and Torres and Ba were looking to run in on to these passes; thankfully Pantilimon was coming to the rescue on several occasions, and one in particular when Clichy gave up and Demba Ba looked favourite to score!

I was shouting at the TV, “City why are you doing this to us… why can’t we just win this match comfortably?” Time and again, we were guilty of some cynical fouls in trying to stop Chelsea, and Kompany in particular used every part of his body to stop the Chelsea forwards. Agüero was a very lucky boy not to get a straight red card for his two footed jump on Luiz (it really looks like he will be punished retrospectively).

Torres was then body checked when nearly through on goal – and we got away with it again. How we needed fresh legs, especially up front, as Agüero was getting tired and frustrated.

With a few minutes left, I was just counting down the seconds, and thankfully every ball seemed to end up in the great hands of our ‘keeper. “Blow the final whistle” I was shouting!

If I am totally honest, City were excellent in the first half and totally dominated that period, and probably deserved to be two goals up. However, the second half belonged to Chelsea, and we were guilty of a lot of cynical fouls and used too much rough tactics, mostly out of desperation. I can see Agüero getting a 3-match ban for his awful stamp; as much as I love him, he was wrong! Yaya in the second half was playing in bursts, and at times, looked like he could hardly walk back; he is a big unit! Clichy was giving the ball away too often and Nastasic and Kompany looked dreadful every time the ball was lobbed over the top.

I thought Barry, Milner and Pantilimon all played very well and were the major reason we won.

The result is all that really matters, and we now have a real chance of a trophy this season, but must not take Wigan lightly – on their day they can beat anyone!

Roll on Wednesday… get another win.

Come on City!

CHELSEA 1 MANCHESTER CITY 2

City deservedly won this exciting, keenly contested FA Cup Semi Final against Chelsea to reach our second Final in three seasons. Whilst we certainly merited the win, the Cup holders made us work to the very end and we had to endure a nervy climax.

David Silva as expected was not fit to take any part in this game, and Sergio Agüero came in alongside Tévez up front in an orthodox 4-4-2 formation. As in our other FA Cup games this season, Costel Pantilimon came back in between the posts.

City were the better team and threatened to overwhelm the FA Cup holders in the first 20 minutes with our trademark intricate passing game and we nearly took an early lead when Barry’s drive was touched goalwards first by Yaya Touré then by Agüero only for Cech to make a brilliant reflex save to push the ball round the post. We were moving the ball quickly as a team and Chelsea struggled to handle it.

In a lovely one touch move, Agüero and Barry freed Tévez who was thwarted by the evergreen Cech from a tight angle. Then, Milner’s Agüero’s close range attempts were blocked by Ivanovic. For 20 minutes it was all City as Yaya Touré dominated the centre of midfield, ably assisted by Barry who had too much strength for Mikel and Ramirez, and Milner and Nasri tucked in from the flanks as City’s fluid football held sway. Yaya was awesome, and the key figure in City taking the initiative and going on to win the game. He held the ball and patiently timed his passes well as City threaded the ball through tight gaps progressively. City were also quick to close down space for Chelsea. Indeed, Chelsea were not taken lightly but finally they got into the game and won a free kick 25 yards out on the right. Pantilimon was caught in no man’s land, the ball was cleared to Hazard who volleyed his goal-bound effort into the ground and Kompany headed the high bouncing ball off the line.

It was City though who deservedly took the lead in the 35th minute. Yaya Touré drove forward in one of his thrilling runs down the inside right channel then fed Agüero whose deft touch played in Nasri who tried to play a return pass. The ball rebounded off a Chelsea defender to the French midfielder, and given a clear sight of goal, he forcefully drove home to give City a well merited lead. The ecstatic City end was bouncing with chants of “Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na Samir Nasri”, and it wasn’t long before Roberto Mancini was saluting the City fans after his name was chanted with gusto.

Chelsea tried hard to hit back and Mata curled wide after Oscar’s cross. However, it was City who had the lion’s share of possession and chances. Agüero forced another save from Cech as the action was end to end. After we dealt with one Chelsea attack, Milner showed great tenacity and strength to shrug off Ramirez, break thrillingly and his angled goal-bound shot was parried by Cech. Kompany snatched at the rebound, slicing it wide.

The second half was barely two minutes old when City doubled the lead. Milner found Barry on the right and from his left-footed in-swinging cross, Sergio Agüero looped a header into the top right hand corner of the net. Even the great Cech had no chance with that one. Hugs, po-going and massive cheers filled the West end of Wembley, which is fast becoming the City end. Out came some City fans from the concourse, some still clutching pints, to join in the celebrations. There was no mal intent – just fans wanting to enjoy the moment. Thankfully and sensibly the stewards adopted a conciliatory approach, ushering late drinkers back downstairs. It was probably no coincidence that stewards in our end were wearing light blue jackets, and a rather burly one was looking rather bemused when one City fan gave him a big hug. After feeling the hate on the previous day, the stewards certainly got a little bit of lurrrv whether they wanted it or not! One City fan seemed to be intent in hugging every one.

Two-nil up and in full control, surely we were on our way to the Final, we thought.

We might have had a third when Yaya powered forward on one of his barnstorming runs down the centre with Tévez free on his right, but instead of playing the ball in front of Tévez, his final pass forced his team mate to slow down and the chance was gone. Kompany thundered a shot over on the hour as City were intent on going for more goals.

Benitez, who had previously been serenaded with “You’re just a fat Spanish waiter” (what’s he ever done wrong to us!) by City fans (he would have got far worse from the Chelsea fans) then made a change and on came Torres to play up with Ba. It paid immediate dividends as City suffered a momentary lapse of concentration in midfield, giving Luiz too much room to deliver a long, diagonal ball. Kompany and Torres both challenged for it but the ball sailed over their heads to Ba, who swivelled and struck a volley in off the right hand post for 2-1. The previously silent Chelsea fans roared their approval as our relaxed celebratory demeanour changed to nail-biting tension in an instant.

Chelsea grew in stature and their trio of playmakers, Hazard, Mata and Oscar, instigated tormenting periods of possession as City were forced onto the defensive. Hazard was particularly impressive and led the way with some excellent, intelligent passing.

Mancini brought on Garcia for Tévez to stiffen midfield. It was a slight surprise as Nasri had become less of an influence after a good first half. Despite a lot of good defending, Chelsea’s trickery gave them a real threat and Pantilimon had to extend his telescopic arms to deny Mata a chance to score.

Hazard and Clichy did seemed to be in a wrestling match at times and our man sometimes came off second best. One such time was when Hazard showed good strength to roll Clichy, who was trying to let the ball run out (a rare mistake by our man) on the bye line, and crossed for Ba but Pantilimon thankfully saved.

Chelsea mixed up intricate interplay of their three playmakers with a succession of long, diagonal high balls that were headed away by Kompany or safely gathered by Pantilimon. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, Mancini battened down the hatches, bringing on Lescott for Nasri to give us a five man back line.

We had to endure the tension of a dangerously placed free kick after a Kompany foul that earned him a booking, but Luiz blasted it over the angle of post and bar. Agüero had a chance to score from Yaya’s cross but it was saved and City saw out the game.

It was a day when both teams can take credit for making it a very exciting game. Both sets of fans were a credit too and there was no hint of trouble. City deservedly won and whilst we were mightily relieved we gleefully celebrated reaching our second FA Cup Final in 3 seasons. Personally, I still cannot believe it has happened to us!

Goals:
City: Nasri 35, Agüero 47;
Chelsea: Ba 66

Att: 85,621

Ratings:
Pantilimon: Vital interventions using his telescopic arms and body to maintain our lead. His handling was perfect save for one cross he came for and totally missed in the first half. One kick went straight into touch, otherwise decent enough distribution: 7
Zabaleta: Lion-hearted, disciplined, dependably standing up to his man, and covering expertly: 8
Kompany: Made an important clearance off the line in the first half and was an assertive presence. Made several important headed clearances to avert the danger, especially when Chelsea tested us with crosses in the last quarter. Caught under the ball in the build-up to Ba’s goal and TV replays later showed he was lucky that his tug of Torres’s shirt was out of view of both referee and linesman. Still a vital presence and leader. 8
Nastasic: Read the game as well as ever, like his partner, good on the ball. Allowed Ba a little space to turn for their goal: 7
Clichy: Severely tested by Oscar and Hazard and won most battles but one mistake allowed Hazard to present Ba with a good opportunity: 6
Milner: A warrior and intelligent distributor as ever, his consistently high performance levels are being recognised by the manager: 8
Yaya: An absolute colossus in central midfield. Showed his sense of responsibility to drop into the back four when Kompany made a run forward. His strength means he can hold a ball for as long as he wants. His athleticism is well suited to an expansive pitch and an open game like this one. He might have supplied a better final ball at the end of one of his long, lung bursting runs after the break, but his domination of midfield was one of the decisive factors in this game: 9 (Man of the match)
Barry: As important as he ever has been in our midfield. He covered a lot of ground in support of Yaya and passed the ball very well, including the cross for Agüero’s goal. Deserves a contract extension: 8
Nasri: Took his goal well, showed good quality and worked hard before fading as a creative force half way through second half: 7
Tévez: Involved in a lot constructive link play, combining particularly well with Agüero to give Chelsea a real test. He works so hard as a creator and when putting defenders under pressure when they are in possession: 7
Agüero: Took his goal really well and it was a measure of his fitness and work rate that he lasted the full 90 minutes. Indeed, he worked and competed hard, especially with Luiz! TV reruns showed that both could have seen red after an incident in the second half. Luiz shouldn’t be getting on his high horse, though, because his use of his own forearm. He has previous for domg this – and his flailing feet are highly provocative: 8
Subs:
Garcia (for Tévez 72): Stiffened midfield. One very good sliding challenge broke up a Chelsea move: 6
Lescott (for Nasri 86): Played his part with a headed clearance and talking when it was all hands to the pump: n/a

Best Oppo: Hazard: The one that got away, he was Chelsea’s chief creator and a real menace. With his low centre of gravity and strength he is no longer easily knocked off the ball as he was when he first arrived here, and thus has the wherewithal to hold the ball for longer: 8

Refwatch: Foy: For once he had a decent game: 7

Footnote:

Thankfully, in the interests of peace, and a good day out, it will be Wigan and not Millwall who will be facing us in the FA Cup Final on May 11th.

Catering staff were happy to have civilised fans to deal with after being on the end of appalling racial abuse from Millwall fans (witticisms like “You f***cking black c***”), attempts to pass off counterfeit bank notes, and false accusations of being short changed. You know the sort of thing: “I gave you a twenty pound note” when they gave ten. The staff did not feel protected by the Metropolitan Police who were undermanned. Toilets were damaged and damage was done to seats. Two Millwall rival gangs numbering approximately 200 had been fighting amongst themselves in the seats (there are a handful of such verminous Millwall gangs who try to be top dogs), staff and Police were attacked. It took Police reinforcements from outside the stadium to eventually take control and make ten initial arrests.

Thank God we got Chelsea and not United or Millwall at Wembley. What a contrast this was to two years ago when we beat United. If there was any trouble there certainly wasn’t a hint of it, and the Chelsea fans seemed to take defeat very well.

Dedicated to the 96 who died at Hillsborough on April 15th 1989.

BUDWEISER SPONSORSHIP

On May 23rd 2013 the post-season game at the Saint Louis Cardinals Stadium has some interest behind it. Manchester City versus Chelsea, there could very well a good reason why these both teams have been picked to play – Saint Louis being the home of Budweiser, the sponsors this season of the FA Cup. Now Chelsea are out of the FA Cup, but City go on to the final; at least one of them would make it to be overwhelming favourites to win the Budweiser FA Cup.

The FA Cup Final now being City versus Wigan, I feel confident that City will not take Wigan lightly, who always seem to have better form at this time of the year to escape relegation. For Wigan to win the FA Cup would be the greatest achievement in their history, in fact just getting to the final is Wigan’s greatest achievement.

It is very possible that Manchester City will take the Budweiser FA Cup to the home of the sponsors; to have beaten Chelsea might have another meaning come May 23rd 2013.

Roberto Mancini has learned in the past that every game deserves to produce the best from City and an early goal in the final will make Wigan come out and play for a goal. The final not being until May 11, will give Silva time to be 100% fit. There are still important League games to play, and City cannot hold back until the final; there’s still a lot to play for. Whilst Wigan still need the points yet again this season to escape relegation. We might be some points behind the Evil Empire, but who as City supporters cannot say that this is not an exciting season!

Long may Roberto Mancini be the manager/coach and with his coaching staff of City. Win the Budweiser FA Cup, and I will toast City with a Budweiser!

Come on City! In Mancini I trust!

P.S.: Not forgetting now there will be a second post-season game versus Chelsea in NY Yankees’ stadium!

P.P.S.: Great news – the FA will not review any action taken against Kun Agüero, after all Sergio was only trying to get a wasp that might have stung Luiz. As Fergie would have put it: “He might have killed the poor boy”.

EARLY MORNING JETLAG

A dose of early morning jet-lag after flying to London from Vancouver ahead of the Chelsea semi-final allowed me to skim through the latest MCFC annual report. It has been on my reading list for months. I am not an accountant but part of my day job involves analysing companies, and considering the long debates about financial fair play, etc., I was interested to check out City’s high-level revenue and cost data. On the revenue side, ticket sales per season are setting records (£22 million), but they are only one-quarter of the revenue from all TV rights. Even the UEFA TV rights alone match all ticket sales! The obvious conclusion is that we, as the punters in the stands (I am a season ticket holder), provide loose change, and are probably more important as a source of colour and noise for the TV spectacle.

Another way to look at it is that our growing financial insignificance probably protects us from huge ticket price hikes, unlike at Arsenal, so long as our benefactor is channelling funds into the club.

Another conclusion is that one disappointing signing, where a decent quality player signed for £20 million or so is a flop, can wipe out a whole season’s revenue from ticket sales, and I’m referring to revenue, not profit. Two other revenue statistics worth repeating are that hospitality (boxes, conferences, etc.) generate half the revenue of ticket sales, and the largest source of cash inflow is described as “corporate activities”, which will be sponsorship/naming rights.

The latter is six times ticket sales, and 50% higher than TV revenue. Without this money we would be Villa. On the cost side of the ledger, it’s shocking to see the payroll at ten times ticket sales. Ten times! The total is roughly £200 million per year. Wow. Ticket sales, hospitality and TV rights do not come close to covering the wage bill! It is obscene, and unsustainable, and I’m in favour of a salary cap on moral and competition grounds, as in North American sports, to curtail an ultimately damaging arms race that longer term has to hurt the game/fans, e.g. Rangers in the Scottish Third Division, Portsmouth now in the relegation zone of the third division, Coventry could lose access to their stadium, etc. However, one positive side to the huge Abu Dhabi investment into City, besides the quality on the pitch and the trophy-winning memories for the fans, is the huge transfer of wealth from the oil fields of the UAE, to the wasteland that was inner city East Manchester (I grew up in Gorton and it was a working class utopia in the 1970s and 80s compared to Beswick) and the Inland Revenue. Citizens, fueled by the media, moan about the taxman and government waste when it comes to expenditure, plus football players’ ridiculous salaries, but a large cut of the £200 million wage bill at City goes towards income tax.

Don’t knock it – the tax revenue funds numerous public services and community/transportation infrastructure, plus it reduces pressure on raising tax revenue from other sources, such as the labour or consumption of you and I. Football is a growth industry sector in the UK economy.

MCFC today employs 500 people, which is a sizeable number in its own right, but if you divide the total payroll by an ‘average’ salary in the UK or North America, it’s equivalent to employing more than 6,000 people!

I read elsewhere that nearly 1 million overseas visitors attend English matches during a season, spending at least £100 per match on average. Who else would buy those daft two-team scarves and badges? For the anti-tax/libertarian fans, you’ll be pleased to know that City as a business will never pay a penny in corporation tax because it has more than £400 million in loses to carry-forward that can be used to offset earnings, assuming the club ever makes a profit. As a business, City should have imploded, so be thankful that the nice people from the UAE continue their foreign aid project that ultimately has made every reader of this publication deliriously happy. I still get goose-bumps every time I see, hear or even think about Agüero’s winner on 13 May 2012. It just happened again!

Hopefully today’s game will generate another round of lifelong positive memories. It’s now 6 AM and time for a nap before a fry-up then a lunchtime pub gathering in Harrow with exiled Blues from the St Albans-Harpenden area.

I will stay in the UK for a week and take in the Wigan home game (whole family attending for my mother’s 70th birthday, which may get a mention in the match programme) and Spurs away before jumping in a taxi directly from WHL to LHR. I hope to make the post-season Chelsea matches in the US in St Louis and New York in late May. The St Louis tickets sold out very quickly so if anyone has a spare, I’m a buyer, and we can meet up in the city before kick-off for beer and ribs!

WOW!

Wow! What a match this afternoon, eh?

Whilst I’m sure Chelsea feel a bit gutted, I’m equally certain that everyone else would agree that overall the better team won it – albeit even though we survived no shortage of seriously bottle-twitching moments towards the end.

The time between Chelsea scoring and the final whistle lasted, I believe, approximately seven hours, and took three years off my life!

It is now 8:10pm on Sunday. An hour and ten minutes ago the wife finally scraped me down off the ceiling. I’m not even going to try an unbiased match review – I’ll leave that it the hands of those better at it, like Phil B. – but I’d like to give 9s and 10s all over the show.

I do, though, have to give a massive thumbs up to Pantilimon. I was hoping, prior to the match, that Mancini would put aside sentimentality and go with our No.1 for such a massive match. Well, Costel stepped up to the crease in no small measure today. Good for him, great for us!

Cheers each, and happy day.

P.S. Has anyone else noticed that Wembley seems to be our second home over this last couple of years?

ITV. OH DEAR!

Well done lads. Great game. Great performance. Bit squeaky bum at the end but we deserved it. I’ll leave others to comment on the game. I’m writing about something that happened after the game.

I was disgusted with everybody’s favourite presenter Adrian Chiles’ comments following Roberto Mancini’s interview after the semi-final. I’m not the biggest Roberto Mancini fan but Chiles’ comments were at the best sarcastic and at the worst racist.

Below is my complaint to Ofcom. I urge you to also complain and get this horrible man off our screens.

https://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/tell-us/specific-programme-epg

“I wish to complain about Adrian Chiles and his racist comment following the above game when, following an interview with Roberto Mancini he sarcastically said ‘I can’t understand a word he says, can anybody help me?’ I found this comment to be demeaning to a man who has learnt to speak another language, something I wonder whether Mr Chiles himself has managed. It is this sort of crass comment that alienates our attempts to make Britain a multi-racial society.”

FINAL TICKETS REQUEST FROM AFAR!

Hi, my name is Tony Higginson and I live in regional western Australia. I am a life-long City fan and attended my first game at the age of 5 years. I have no ticket for the final but I have booked my flight home. I will stand outside of Wembley if necessary and cheer from there. Alternatively, if you have a spare ticket available please keep me in mind. I’m sure that there will be many requests of this kind, but few from so far away.

SPURS TICKETS AVAILABLE

Hi all,

Unfortunately I won’t get to the Spurs game so I have 1 adult and 1 junior ticket available. It’s probably possible to upgrade the junior ticket to an adult at the office before the game if someone is looking for 2 adults.

AND FINALLY… Wonderful Wembley or is it?

Wembley is fast becoming a very happy second home for us (three FA Cup wins in a row now, hopefully we can make it four). But is it right to play semi finals there? The traditionalist in me says this game should have been played at Villa Park. From a cost and time point of view it isn’t convenient for us northerners in particular. Train travel is extortionate and for Wigan fans there was no scheduled train to get them home after a 5:15pm kick off (like the final will be), so there would have been hotel costs for pie eaters not going by coach or car. Playing semis there also takes away from the uniqueness of getting to Wembley for the final itself. Some of the Wembley magic is chipped away by playing semis there.

On the other hand, if you love visiting London, it’s another excuse to enjoy it. Playing at Wembley also allows each club to have more tickets, which is surely a good thing. Wembley is no doubt a great stadium with excellent viewing positions (with very few exceptions).

Whatever we may want or whatever the logic of it, Wembley it is as the FA have to pay off bills for building it. The stadium certainly has its merits, but the catering is limited, ordinary and vastly over-priced. The FA may be locked into a contract with Budweiser but there was no option to buy bitter or Guinness and they had laughably run out of Smirnoff Ice in the Wigan vs. Millwall match (hardly the biggest attendance). Where is the planning? It’s not as if they haven’t known there have been two big matches on. It was opportunity lost for them to make more money to help pay off their debts. Ok most fans drink in pubs like The Green Man away from Wembley where the prices are not quite as expensive but it would be nice to have a choice. It is no surprise though and very typically short sighted of the FA. For years the fans have been the last consideration. Plus ça change…

Personally, I can’t stand the taste of Budweiser (if I want to drink US beers I will enjoy Blue Moon – it’s lovely! – one of the Samuel Adams brews or if it is lager, Huang’s). Like the alcohol, much of the music played pre-match was the usual one-size-fits all rubbish: the ubiquitous clichéd Paradise by the ever boring Coldplay and that song with all the yelling and caterwauling by Florence and the Machine (which one you may ask). Like the Budweiser: mass produced rubbish that leaves a nasty taste (other mass produced rubbish is available). At least there was an performance of one track from Sheffield’s very decent Reverend and the Makers and Coventry’s The Enemy. If they really wanted to get the fans onside, they could have had one of the many decent Manchester bands like The Black Lights, and a band from South West London for the Chelsea fans.

Wembley had this roving Mancunian reporter (I think that was the accent he was trying to put on) who was dressed as if he was a Noel Gallagher clone, except he didn’t have a hair out of place – a sort of “Designer Manc”. The way he said “Citeh” was as if it choked him, suggesting his allegiances may have lied elsewhere. I didn’t really see the point of Designer Manc as he didn’t ask anyone any interesting questions and couldn’t write or play a tune. What a waste of money.

Talking of which, bills or no bills, there is no justification for playing the Final at 5:15pm, for all the inconvenience that will cause. There is just one domestic fixture at 12:45pm that day. It’s all about the FA making money and treating the fans shabbily yet again. They are supposed to serve the game, and they fail yet again.

RESULTS AND TABLE

16 April 2013

Arsenal               0 - 0  Everton

14 April 2013

Newcastle United      0 - 3  Sunderland            52,355
Stoke City            0 - 2  Manchester United     27,191

13 April 2013

Arsenal               3 - 1  Norwich City
Aston Villa           1 - 1  Fulham                37,011
Everton               2 - 0  Queens Park Rangers   34,876
Reading               0 - 0  Liverpool             24,139
Southampton           1 - 1  West Ham United       31,984

League table as at 16 April 2013

                        P / GD / Pts
 1 Manchester Utd      32 / 40 / 80
 2 Manchester City     31 / 30 / 65
 3 Arsenal             33 / 29 / 60
 4 Chelsea             31 / 28 / 58
-----------------------------------
 5 Tottenham Hotspur   32 / 15 / 58
-----------------------------------
 6 Everton             33 / 14 / 56
 7 Liverpool           33 / 19 / 50
 8 West Bromwich Alb   32 / -1 / 44
 9 Swansea City        32 /  1 / 41
10 Fulham              32 / -4 / 40
11 Southampton         33 / -7 / 38
12 West Ham Utd        32 / -9 / 38
13 Newcastle Utd       33 /-17 / 36
14 Norwich City        33 /-21 / 35
15 Sunderland          33 / -8 / 34
16 Stoke City          33 /-13 / 34
17 Aston Villa         33 /-24 / 34
-----------------------------------
18 Wigan Athletic      31 /-20 / 31
19 QPR                 33 /-25 / 24
20 Reading             33 /-27 / 24

MCIVTA FAQ [v1112.01]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

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[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

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[4] What is the club’s official web site?

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[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: