Newsletter #227

Oh dear, we have problems.

Ashley’s modem has taken a lightning strike and has not taken it very well (it’s broken). For this week, and until Ashley can lay hands on a modem, I have the pleasure of putting MCIVTA together. If anyone in the UK has a spare modem they can lend or even donate, please contact me so that we can arrange somthing (it seems that the modem has to be a UK model because of compatibility and legal issues). Ashley’s at his wits end. If anyone has sent material to Ashley that isn’t in this edition, please re-send it to me.

Thanks again to those outside the UK who have made offers.

Thanks, Steve (sbolton@buxtonrd.u-net.com or Steve_Bolton@tandn.com)

MATCH VIEW

Hello everyone,

Isn’t it nice to know that so little changes? The Maine Road stadium is still surrounded by those neat two-up, two-down terraces… and the team are still capable of playing atrocious football.

Name any attributes that ensure footballing success – teamwork, passing ability, forward thinking, and sheer hard graft, and City lacked it. What we were treated to was a performance which lacked commitment from most of the players. A perfect example was when Gio had the ball and found himself fighting off five Barnsley defenders. Where was the support? The rest of the team were spectators as much as those in the stand. To be honest I would not blame him at all were he to go to a large Premiership club, since at City he is not given the support to allow him to achieve anything.

Quite often the sheer lack of effort and commitment by the team was sad to watch.

To cap it all, we lose through a sloppy back pass. Sigh. It’s not as if Barnsley played particularly well but we were awful. I shudder to think what would have happened had we been playing a Liverpool or a Newcastle.

I can’t say I care who the incoming manager is, so long as the team are made to work for their money and play as a team with some amount of coherence. This has to happen soon, before we end up fighting for our lives at the bottom of the first division.

What summed it up was a T-shirt I spotted someone wearing walking down Princess Road – ‘Great Fans, S**t Team’.

And here’s the good news: I’m shortly moving from Sussex to Leeds where I will be at University. It means I’m that much closer to Maine Road and can suffer on a more regular basis! Any other Blues in Leeds (or even in the University) e-mail me, and if you’ve got a room going, all the better! Perhaps there’s a branch of the Supporters’ Club there?

P.S. To those intrepid souls on the bus with the sign in the back saying ‘Cheltenham and Gloucester Man City Supporters Club’ – they don’t deserve you, but it was great to see your commitment!

NEWS – INJURY UPDATE

Alan Kernaghan is expected to be out for four to six weeks following the cartilage operation he had after his knock in the Charlton game. Scott Hiley is likely to be out for at least six months after damaging the ligament attached to the patella (knee cap).

NEWS – ANNOUNCEMENT

In an interview on GMR on Saturday, Colin Barlow said that there would be an announcement regarding the new manager in the next few days. There is a board meeting early this week, so a decision could well be made then. It now looks very unlikely that Ray Wilkins will be taking the job as he has gone to work for Alan Smith at Wycombe – as a player.

NEWS – MORE TAKEOVER TALK

There has been more takeover speculation this weekend; firstly the man behind the Arab consortium has been named as Prince Al-Waleed, who has in the past bailed out EuroDisney and has a major stake in Canary Wharf in London. GMR reported on Sunday that he was considering a full takeover due to the lack of response from City but it was later reported that he was losing patience and may turn to another club. The second rumour is that Wigan Athletic chairman David Whelan could also be preparing a bid to take control of City.

OPINION

I enjoyed the reprinted article Paul Howarth used to illustrate (excellently) the point about how soon we are ready to forget the realities of the recent past. I have no doubt that should United go through an even relatively protracted mediocre spell, the “Ferguson must go” headlines will start to abound. As history teaches us, the one thing we learn from history is that we never learn from history.

I think City need to concentrate on the future and forget dead issues. Look at what is available and use some common sense, something only rarely spotted in the vicinity of Maine Road’s boardroom for many years. If Asa is a good coach (which in my biased opinion, he is) then leave him to coach and look for an available experienced manager. IMHO Ray Wilkins would be worth considering and would bring a level of cool-headed rationality to the currently unhealthy introverted atmosphere at Maine Road. Whoever is appointed, I hope that he or she (just to be politically correct), brings some integrity to the place and manages the job with dignity, pride, and passion as befits Manchester football. Success will inevitably follow if the backing is there from a board of directors who will perform their required support function and not meddle in the day to day running of the team.

It’s still early days this season and so much can still be accomplished. If City are playing like crap and still getting results, there’s something to be happy about at least (however after reading the match reports, I’m glad I haven’t had to watch them!).

OPINION – NO WONDER PEOPLE LAUGH AT US!

I know our club is in disarray and the best thing that has happened in the short term to City is Oasis… But please, enough is enough. I don’t mind hearing them before, during and after the match but when I rang up for my Vale tickets and heard a very dodgy recording on the ticket line answer machine I burst out laughing. Distortion central…

I was kind of embarrassed for us.

OPINION

First of all, this is the first thing I’ve submitted since I provided the info for issue one many moons ago, but I can’t keep quiet any longer so here goes!

It is strange, but even though we are going through an absolute disaster at the moment, my support for the club has grown even more stronger. We are a strange breed at Maine Road, despite adversity we stick with the club through thick and thin – it would be nice if some people at the club in the past could have shown us the same respect. I digress though. I really cannot see a natural successor to take over at Maine Road at the moment. Nobody in the UK wants to go near the job and who could blame them? I think we may have to look abroad to get someone with some credentials who would be daft enough to take up the challenge. Alan Ball has left the club in one hell of a state. Players are drained of morale, some of our better players were sold, or nearly sold, and there is an atmosphere of doom hanging over the Academy. How dare any one person (or people) do this to the club that I love? On Tuesday night I was working at The Pulse (local radio station in Bradford) on the sport programme in the studio. I’ve never felt so low all night having to read 1-0 to Charlton on Teletext. The sad thing is that when we scored our winner I ran around the station and got myself locked out because I felt the need to do a ‘lap of honour’ (Ok, so I’m a dozy so and so!). The thing is that I shouldn’t be expecting nothing from City each match. We are a big club, we were unlucky to go down last season, yet after 4 games this season it looks more like we are destined for division 2 as opposed to the Premier League. I hate to say it and I have stuck up for him in the past, but I blame this on Mr A. Ball.

Look at the squad we have now. There is very little strength in depth, players are at a low ebb morale wise and people just seem shell shocked. It is strange, but I say let people like Creaney play because I would rather have 11 players who want to wear the Blue shirt and fight for those fans than 11 over paid / inept blokes who don’t want to do anything for their wages. I’ll be glad when Edghill returns as I think he is another lad who is a fighter. Foster showed the right qualities on Tuesday by all accounts. Symons is a good defender but he needs a settled set of players with him. I would honestly stick Kernaghan with him. Big Al has never been allowed to settle properly, give him a chance this season and I think we will do well with him. As for the midfield, we need to have a tough tackling fighter in there. Lomas is a workman, but he needs support. I think we have some good strikers at the club, but the likes of Rösler, Dickov, Creaney etc. need a settled midfield behind them who will actually play them balls that they can do something with. I’m pleased to have Dickov on board, I’ve seen him play a few times for Arsenal and he always looked useful even when everyone else was having a bad day. He is the sort of player we need in the middle of a crisis like this. Rösler must be ecstatic that Ball has gone, I just hope he gets a chance to bag a few goals for us again. Creaney too deserves a chance. I’ve never had a problem with him. I’d stick him on the same list as Kernaghan – never given a chance, so never produces the goods. If nothing else, I’ll stick up for the lad for his winner against Charlton. Selling Quinn was a huge mistake as he was a model professional, a good influence on the younger players and most of all he was a grafter. I wish the bloke all the best at Sunderland as he may not have been the most skilled player at Maine Road in recent years, but I don’t think anyone put more effort in for the club and most of all for the fans.

As for the future, it doesn’t look too good. As fans we can’t do too much to influence who the next manager is, who we sign etc. but we can help those 11 lads out on the pitch. Ok, so they have played bloody awfully so far this season, but after recent weeks I am not surprised. Get behind those lads and shout your lungs out for them. Getting on their backs will do them or the club no good (BTW, this is a bit of patronising statement in some ways as I seldom get to watch City at Maine Road as I am usually working, but the sentiments remain the same). Yeah, they are getting paid (and pretty well at that) to play football, but they are only human and we need to help them through this as much as we want them to play well.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the luck we got against Charlton might be a turning point for us in some respects although I won’t be holding my breath. I’m sending my Xmas list in early to Santa this year. All I want is a half decent manager who can get the club on an even keel again. After all, it is the least we deserve.

I NEED SOME ANSWERS!

Here are one or two questions I’d like the answers to.

1. has anyone found out whether Sidney, or Tetley Tea are Blues?(Re the ad running on English TV where a cartoon man called Sidney comeshome from a match after his team, who play in blue and white having lostand looking very down (could it have been our Liverpool game) only to havea smile put back on his face with a cup of Tetley Tea, to the song “ALovely Day”, by Bill Withers)
2. When is the next MCITVA footy game? (I need to know so I can book myplace on the iron lung)
3. Where was Immel for the Charlton goal?! Why do we not drop him?Why did we not buy a goalkeeper instead of a shot stopper?! (Sorry got allserious again!).

Lastly. has anyone else heard the new song by Mensware called “Come On”? If you get chance to listen to the words they must have been written about MCFC and I feel we could get a good footy song out of it!

OPINION

Let’s face it: We are a very, very poor side.

The team lacks any shape, balance, spirit, fight, pride, effort, leadership… Just think of any positive adjective and this team of ours doesn’t have it. Ball’s team must be destroyed quickly before we sink even lower. At the moment we cannot compete in this s**t division never mind the Premiership.

Immel/Dibble, Frontzeck, Summerbee and Clough are just not good enough. Rösler and Lomas don’t seem up for the fight. Phillips, Brown and Whitley may develop into good players but not in this team. On Saturday, only Kit Symons and John Foster came away with any credit at all.

Where do we go from here? We need a complete change of direction. Franny must appoint a new manager immediately. We need a new man with new ideas, new tactics and a new backroom staff. Now that Ball has gone we have to start again from scratch.

On the playing side the new manager will need to bring in a goalkeeper, two full backs, two midfielders and a new genius to replace Kinkladze. I know it, I’ve said the unspeakable but I’m afraid that Gio has to go. His sale is the only way that we can generate sufficient money to start to recover from AB’s handywork. It’s only a matter of time before Kinky decides to leave (who can blame him) anyway, so we must cash in now because his value is falling as we speak. In the closed season Ball said that he was worth more than Shearer. In the Sunday Mirror this week it was reported that Celtic are preparing a £3 million. If we wait much longer we may not even get that!

Does anybody out there know any way to rebuild our team without selling the best player I have ever seen at Maine Road? I desperately hope that FHL does!

What’s happened to the Arabs? Is there a Blue Jack Walker out there? What’s Michael Knighton doing? Help!

*** STOP PRESS ***

I have just returned from visiting friends in Budapest and was told an interesting titbit. The manager of FC Honved, Mr. Petemolc Shubtill has been approached by City to manage the team. Although he’s unknown to me, my friends say he has a good pedigree, taking Honved from the third into the first division in four seasons. He wants to leave for financial reasons.

Shubtill admires the British game and learned English while studying at Manchester University. Franny has been reported in the Hungarian media, saying that several Eastern European players have recruited to the UK and that the selection of an East Europe Manager is the next step in this trend.

Keep an eye on the UK media when this story breaks, and remember where you saw it first!

Up the City!

OPINION – NEW MANAGER

Speculation seems to be continuing at such speed that by the time this opinion piece is circulated a nwhole new batch of names may be in line for the job. However, it seems to me that though it may be very nice to pretend Cruyff or Kenny would come to Maine Road it seems unlikely to say the least. One name which has however not been mentioned yet is that of Terry Venables. Yes why not El Tel for the job? I read in the paper this morning that he may be off to QPR. He’s only taken the job at Pompey as a stop-gap and seems to be doing all sorts of stupid media stuff to keep his name in the public view. He has a track record of managerial excellence and some of it on a shoestring. He’s a sound organiser – which seems the biggest single thing we’re lacking at present – and knows the game.

The only reasons I can think of as to why he hasn’t been suggested are because:

1. He’s got all these legal things to sort out and has this reputation asa bit of a fly character (which didn’t stop his old mate Stroller beingfavourite with everybody)
2. He’s already got a job at Pompey (which jhasn’t stopped us approachingKendall who appears to have a much better job than Venables)
3. He wouldn’t come to City as they’re a mess (fair enough I suppose butwhy Pompey and maybe QPR?)

Of all the names around he must be the best who is available. If the deal we offered Graham was so good then El Tel would jump at it (he’s always had a wekness for a bit of cash) and it could be Christmas trees all the way.

Maybe I’m missing something and there is a deep reason why either FHL or City fans don’t like him. If so fair enough (though it didn’t stop us approaching the hated Kendall). He’s got to be a better long term bet than Hartford – hasn’t he?

REQUEST – OXFORDSHIRE BLUES?

Are there any MCFC supporters in the Oxfordshire area who meet up occasionally is discuss the dire straits of our once great team? If so, please let me know.

MATCH VIEW – JUVE HERE WE COME… NOT

In the face of all the recent evidence when I entered the ground on Saturday I really believed I would soon be witnessing our second home win. I don’t know why but I always think that every game I am about to witness will be the turning point in our current fortunes and City will at last dazzle me with their silky ball skills – this will sound very familiar to a lot of City fans because I know I am not alone in suffering this affliction.

As is often the case, I left feeling disappointed but optimistic. The key word here is optimistic. City were a much improved side. I am not saying we are ready to face Juventus in the Champions’ League but I no longer believe we are a side prepared to roll over and slip effortlessly down the Nationwide League.

The biggest improvement was at the back. Altogether a different level of competance. I am not sure if this should be attributed to an outstanding début by Jeff Whitley, a good solid performance by Foster or a changed playing system. Mainly because I was unable to fathom exactly what system was being employed. Other than when they scored the first goal Barnsley never really threatened (I am still refusing to acknowledge their second goal ever happened!).

In the middle of the park it was another story. Steve Lomas, despite making some excellent tackles and expending a lot of energy, is totally unable to pass the ball at all (except on the odd occasion when it happened to go directly to the feet of a Barnsley player!). His school report would read B for Effort and D for Progress. Clough had a good game and showed a little more ability distributing the ball than he has done in recent weeks. When Cloughie grabbed the (IMO) much deserved equaliser after a period that saw about five city attacks almost without reply, it seemed so easy. I thought we would see a complete rout and we would come away with a handful of goals. Alas this was not to be and City seemed to settle back into mediocrity (but still looked more dangerous).

The introduction of Buster Philips should have been the end of Barnsley, but I am sure that anyone who was in the Kippax will agree he is not getting the ball early enough. He seems to hang around shouting for the ball for ages before Kinky or Clough decide to pass it to him by which time the opposition have taken steps and closed him down.

That’s about all I wanted to say, other than to call the referee a complete fool. On two separate occasions a Barnsley player went down (No. 8 I think) for about 5 minutes; did the Barnsley players kick into touch – no. Only when we had won the ball did Clough kick into touch. Then they had a few minutes waiting for the stretcher, then a couple of minutes waiting for the ‘injured’ player to hobble off, then the magic sponge produced its usual miraculous recovery. On both occasions the player went down during a sustained period of City attacking (I think). It all seemed a little too convenient for me – I hate cheating even more than I hate United. On a final, final note to the Daily Star reporter who said this, ‘Barnsley were fit, organised to the point of regimentation and highly efficient.’ I would like to say Bollocks! I still can’t believe we lost!

MATCH VIEW

City 1 Barnsley 2

                        Dibble
Summerbee       Foster          Symons          Frontzeck
                       Whitley
        Clough          Lomas           Kinkladze          
           Rösler                  Dickov

Subs:- Phillips, Creaney, Ingram

There’s not much worse than being in the same division as second-raters like Barnsley… apart from losing at home to them.

As we all know, we deserved nothing on Tuesday night against Charlton – well against Barnsley we were perhaps unlucky to get nothing. That said, we were still pretty abysmal.

Driving to the game, listening to GMR, I heard that Dibble was in for Immel – the sad thing was I was quite pleased as I was getting a bit sick of watching the ageing German’s pathetic attempts at rudimentary kicking and catching. We all know the cliché about him being a great shot-stopper… well if he caught a few more crosses, commanded his area and kicked the ball more than 10 feet away he may not have to be such a great shot-stopper. I digress.

Following our injuries on Tuesday, Foster was moved into the centre of defence, the mediocre Frontzeck was back and a début was handed to 17 year old Jeff Whitley. At least we have dropped the very silly sweeper system which made everyone nervous.

As for the game, it wasn’t a classic. The first half saw Barnsley start brightly, City came into it more and more until we were actually dominating for quite long periods. Rösler missed the customary few chances, a little run from Kinkladze had everyone cheering, Frontzeck kept on passing to their players… usual stuff really. Dibble looked quite solid, a couple of good saves early on and he looks so much better than Immel at kicking out the back passes. I know he’s not great but then again we haven’t got many great players have we?

The second half was more scrappy with Barnsley the dominant side for much of it. Eventually the lightning fast Clint Marcelle broke away from Whitley (who had been probably our best player) and knocked the ball over Dibble to put Barnsley one up. Clough pulled one back from a Lomas cross – we looked like getting the draw which would have been fair, given our first half display. It wasn’t to be – Whitley scuffed a back-pass to Dibble which fell to Marcelle… 2-1 to Barnsley.

Although we played better than Tuesday, we lost. We need a manager fast. Apparently Colin Barlow has been quoted as saying things will be happening soon on that front, well I hope so. If City want to be considered as one of the bigger clubs we have to start thinking a bit bigger than we are at the moment.

“Forward with Franny” seems like a long time ago.

Dibble – Not much to do, but looks so much more commanding than Immel and he can kick (unless he sees black and white stripes).
Summerbee – Still very slow but a great crosser of the ball – I just don’t think that overall he is making enough of a contribution.
Foster – Quite solid in an unfamiliar rôle – went off injured halfway though the second half.
Symons – Had a much better game than Tuesday – solid.
Frontzeck – More hair than talent.
Whitley – Very good début – worked hard and looked a good prospect.
Clough – Scored, but doesn’t inspire me as a pivotal midfield player.
Kinkladze Did very little but then again he hasn’t all season – doesn’t look at all happy in this division (at this club?). Maybe £10 million isn’t such a bad idea.
Lomas – Poor game – he’s trying but it’s not happening for him at the moment.
Rösler – Misses chances – falls over – huffs and puffs – looks pissed off at referee – falls over – misses another chance – throws arms in air in disgust – huffs and puffs (repeat to fade).
Dickov – He does remind me of Walsh. Runs and chases all day. He actually let a couple of half chances slip away – Uwe must have given him a few tips.

Phillips (replaced Frontzeck) – Gave us some width and put a few good crosses in – at least things look like they might happen when he’s got the ball.
Creaney (replaced Dickov) – Let’s face it, the free kick on Tuesday night was the exception rather than the rule.
Ingram (replaced Foster) – Didn’t look too bad although his distribution was pretty appalling.

OPINION – LEE’S CREDIBILITY TAKES A DIVE (WELL HE USED TO)

Wilko has resigned. Another one to cross off the list (I hope). What’s Franny doing in Spain? Chasing Cruyff, or otherwise trying to mend his somewhat damaged reputation; it strikes me he has done his credibility no good by:

1. Taking the whole of the previous close season to appoint Ball.
2. Apppointing Ball.
3. Not sacking him at the end of last season, so that we would have hadthe whole close season to get a sensible manager, and not give ABsufficient time (well, it only took 3 games) to p*** off most of thesquad, clobber morale, get Niall to go, and send 30,000 loyal and trueBlues spiralling into doom and gloom.

I guess otherwise, he hasn’t done too badly :-))). Mind you, it would not be a good thing if Franny were to jump ship at this point – I guess, and hope, he is too proud to do so, and would not leave, unless pushed, until he had re-established himself in the fans’ eyes. I hope.

Spotted this whilst reading Fred Eyre’s ‘Kicked Into Touch’ (worth buying if you see it at a jumble sale); Fred was brought up in Blackley, and was an apprentice at City for a very short while, in the McDowell/Poyser days {if you think it’s a shambles now, it wasn’t far short then}. He then went on to play for just about as many non-league clubs as there are, including Oswestry Town, under Alan Ball Senior. Fred writes of Big and Little Ball …

I really looked forward to playing for Alan Ball, he had impressed me enormously whenever he deputised for Harold Hassall on my coaching course by his sheer professionalism and knowledge of the game, and it was little wonder that his son Alan had inherited these qualities from his Dad.

Hmmm. I think we may have to beg to differ on that one.

NEWS

Another manager has become available for consideration – Howard Wilkinson. Wilko was sacked by Leeds on Monday after Saturday’s 4-0 defeat at Elland Road against the Rags. Wilkinson took over at Leeds in 1988 when they were in a very similar position to where we are now. He took them to a League Championship, a few trips into Europe and the League Cup final last season. Of course, there’s now also a vacancy at a top Premiership club so we’ll see if our mate George Graham is interested…

A few players took knocks in the defeat by Barnsley on Saturday: Andy Dibble pulled out of training with a hip injury and may not be fit to face Port Vale. John Foster is definitely out with a groin strain and Nicky Summerbee is doubtful with a hamstring strain. Scott Hiley will probably be out for the rest of the season and Alan Kernaghan will be unavailable for a month or two due to the injuries they sustained in the Charlton game. Better news for Ian Brightwell though, who may return after missing two games with an achilles strain. Asa Hartford is still looking for loan replacements but there’s no sign as yet of anybody joining City.

No less than three possible takeover bids have been mentioned over the weekend.

1. From the Arab consortium, who have now named the man behind the bid andmay thus get to talk to the board now,
2. From the Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan, whose personal fortune isreckoned to be around £130 million, and, wait for it…
3. From some current shareholders in Manchester United! It’s possible thatthis may be something to do with the Elliot Rashman story from last week,though the nightmare scenario of them wanting us as a nursery club is also apossibility. Surely not?

Francis Lee commented on the takeover rumours today, saying that he had made confidentiality agreements with no less than 6 possible investors in recent months (so that they could be shown the books) but nothing further came of any of them. Indeed, one was said to have broken the agreement and made statements in the press about City’s financial state.

In a separate interview, Sheffield United chairman Mike McDonald said he’d been approached 3 times in the last year about investing in City. He thought it was rather sad.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH

The ball boy’s called Corrigan.

I feel as though I should be ducking the stones when I say this, but does anybody want to vote for a player of the month for August (did the ball boys make any clean catches?)? Matches covered to include Ipswich, Bolton and Stoke.

As usual 1st choice 3pts, 2nd choice 2pts and 3rd choice 1pt.

P.S. I agree with Paul Howarth’s comments re- Peter Reid in MCIVTA 226. I even think George Graham would have been the wrong man due to his pedigree of producing boring teams and the fact that he was proven corrupt. With today’s prima-donna players the manager needs to have the balance of discipline and gregarious personality, not to mention being a superb tactician. I can think of Ruud Gullit and maybe Joe Royle who fit this category. Obviously we are not going to get either of these two, but what about bringing John Deehan back. He seems to be doing a reasonable job at Wigan and recently said on GMR that he loved the club.

BLUE HUMOUR

Q:

Whathave Man City and Italy got in common?

A:

They both change leaders every year.

RESULTS

Full-time score for Sunday, September 8 1996

READING                 2-0    OXFORD UNITED

Full-time scores for Saturday, September 7 1996

BRADFORD CITY           0-2    NORWICH CITY
GRIMSBY TOWN            2-1    SWINDON TOWN
IPSWICH TOWN            1-3    HUDDERSFIELD TOWN
MANCHESTER CITY         1-2    BARNSLEY
OLDHAM ATHLETIC         0-2    SHEFFIELD UNITED
PORTSMOUTH              1-1    PORT VALE
QUEENS PARK RANGERS     0-2    WEST BROMWICH ALBION
SOUTHEND UNITED         5-2    BOLTON WANDERERS
STOKE CITY              2-2    CRYSTAL PALACE
TRANMERE ROVERS         1-0    BIRMINGHAM CITY

Full-time score for Friday, September 6 1996

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 1-0    CHARLTON ATHLETIC

Up to and including Sunday, September 8 1996

Team                  Played   Won  Drawn Lost     For Against   Points
Barnsley                 4      4     0     0      10     3        12  
Norwich City             5      4     0     1       7     3        12  
Stoke City               5      3     2     0       9     6        11  
Bolton Wanderers         5      3     1     1       9     8        10  
Tranmere Rovers          5      3     1     1       7     4        10  
Wolverhampton Wanderers  5      3     1     1       6     3        10  
Huddersfield Town        4      2     1     1       7     5         7  
Reading                  5      2     1     2       7    10         7  
Swindon Town             5      2     1     2       6     6         7  
Queens Park Rangers      5      2     1     2       6     7         7  
Portsmouth               5      2     1     2       5     6         7  
Crystal Palace           5      1     3     1       6     5         6  
Port Vale                5      1     3     1       5     5         6  
MANCHESTER CITY          5      2     0     3       5     6         6  
Bradford City            5      2     0     3       4     5         6  
Ipswich Town             5      1     2     2      10    10         5  
West Bromwich Albion     4      1     2     1       4     3         5  
Southend United          5      1     1     3       7    12         4  
Sheffield United         3      1     1     1       6     5         4  
Grimsby Town             5      1     1     3       6     9         4  
Birmingham City          3      1     1     1       5     5         4  
Oxford United            5      1     0     4       6     7         3  
Oldham Athletic          5      0     1     4       5    11         1  
Charlton Athletic        4      0     1     3       2     6         1

WWW MANCHESTER CITY SUPPORTERS’ HOME PAGE:
http://www.uit.no/mancity/

MCIVTA ADDRESSES:
Contributions: Stephen – sbolton@buxtonrd.u-net.com
Subscriptions: Adam – Adam.Houghton@sheffield.ac.uk
Club Questions: Stephen – sbolton@buxtonrd.u-net.com

Thanks to Leo, Alison, Ben, A.T. Leo, The Mole, Euan, Ken, Roger, Mark, Tony, Stuart, Garry, Scott, Matt and Jeremy.

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.

Editor: