Newsletter #1665

International action so no recent match news for the Blues, but we do have opinion on the media bias, an ex-Blue in Canada and more on the parking. The usual requests are here including Salzburg trip.

OPINION: COMMENTARY BIAS

Was anyone else appalled by the Match of the Day 2 commentary on the Sunderland versus City game?

I was irked two weeks previously by Alan Hansen’s comments after the Spurs game, but laughed that one off as it came from the man who said United’s kids would never win anything and nine months later they won the Premier League!

But against Sunderland I just felt it was a complete hatchet job.

For those who didn’t watch it, halfway through the highlights, the camera panned along the bench to show five or six substitutes sat glumly watching the game. The commentator used this as ‘evidence’ that not all is well with the players on the bench and questioned how Mancini will keep them all happy over the coming nine months.

I found this a typical piece of what I call ‘stitched up journalism’; the story was written or requested beforehand and all they needed was the evidence to back it up. So a camera is duly dispatched to simply record the activities on the bench. For 89 minutes, there may have been laughter, smiles, chatting and joking but not a sniff of this is shown during the highlights, because it is not the story they want to run with. But for a fleeting moment, all of the subs are sat there ‘glum looking’ and the camera captures this and hey presto! there is the story…

Mark Bright, in the daily free newspaper Metro, picked up on this in his column on Tuesday and ran with a similar non-story, reinforcing the alleged ‘unhappiness’ in the camp peddled by the Beeb. Poor and lazy journalism at its worst. Sadly, I doubt this is the last of its kind we will see or read this season… it’s time to batten down the hatches and prepare for the storm.

OPINION: TERRY DUNFIELD

I thought MCIVTA readers might enjoy this article on former City player Terry Dunfield, who has signed with my local club, Vancouver Whitecaps. He speaks quite a bit about his time at City.

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Dunfield+excited+back+home/3468152/story.html

OPINION: PARKING WOES

I note that in subsequent MCIVTAs that a couple of contributors have drawn my attention to a posting about parking on the web-site. In my defence, I would say that I looked at the Club News on the Monday, the first page was covered in a plethora of promos for the Blue Moon café and I didn’t bother going back any further in history.

Surely it should have been in a more prominent position leading up to the match? Also, given the price hike, it is obvious that the club knew that parking would be at a premium, yet didn’t take the opportunity when sending out the season tickets to include some info.

I have yet to receive a response to my letter to the Club, which isn’t very impressive. Still, there’s time yet before the next match.

REQUEST: SWINTON BLUES

The next meeting of the Swinton branch is this Wednesday 8th September.

Venue: Clifton cricket club, Manchester Road, Swinton M27 1GZ.
Kick-off: 7-30pm
Special Guests: Paul Lake, Ambassador for CITC and City legend; subject to confirmation, Paul will be accompanied by 2 former team mates.
Entrance for non-members of Manchester City Supporters’ Club is: Adults £2.00, OAPs £1.00, Juniors 50p.

Free admission for members of Manchester City Supporters’ Club. Supporters can join the Swinton Branch and the Manchester City Supporters’ Club on the night for only Adults £5.00, OAPS £2.00, 16s and under £1.00.

REQUEST: SALZBURG TRIP I

£195 one night stay in a City centre 4* Hotel going at 17.30 on Wednesday the 15th of September, return 9am 17th of September. Corp coach, ferry and hotel. Match tickets an additional £21 if required.

We currently have 12 places left, for more details ring Arnie on 07773 718495.

REQUEST: SALZBURG TRIP II

FC SALZBURG versus MANCHESTER CITY
Thursday 16th September
Kick Off 19:00CET

Depart Manchester Flight No. VIK 897 07:45 hours
Arrive Salzburg 10:55 hours, transfer to hotel
Remainder of day in Salzburg is free time and make your own way to stadium.

Friday 17th Coach transfer from hotel to airport,
Flight No. VIK 898 departs Salzburg 15:40 hours, local time, arrive back into Manchester 17:00 hours.

For your information, our hotels are:
Hotel St Virgil – http://www.virgil.at/Hotel.5.1.html
Amedia Hotel – http://www.amediahotels.com/

Cost per person £349.00 includes flights, taxes, hotel and airport transfers, no match ticket included.

Also, we can offer the option of flight only at £285.00 per person, inclusive of taxes but this price is strictly flight only, no hotel or transfers.

Bookings can be made from Manchester office on 0161 775 7500 or London office on 0844 887 1447; out of hours 07544 913 842.

RESULTS

League table to 05 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: