Newsletter #782

Another issue, another victory. Our 2-0 win (Goater scoring twice taking his tally to 28) by a 10-man City over Millwall on Wednesday night sees us edge 6 points ahead.

Tonight contains Don’s excellent news summary, some fabulous reports from Ipswich, Millwall and even Costa Rica, plenty of opinion and the usual hatful of requests.

Anybody off to Wimbledon on this weekend, please consider sending your review in.

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

Mr Keegan Goes to Toon: As soon as Newcastle were pulled out of the hat on Sunday for a home draw in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup, the football Gods of course arranged an emotional return to St. James’ Park for KK. “These things happen in the cup, but I’m not sure if it’s a good draw or not. I love Newcastle and I’m getting to love Manchester City,” said Special K in a manner scarily reminiscent of Howard Kendall. “We will go there and if their players get a video of us playing Ipswich they will know we have earned the right to play them. I will enjoy the day, win, lose or draw, and if we lose I will say to Bobby Robson that I hope he wins the Cup. I think their fans deserve it more than any other supporters in the country.” One of Keegan’s major signings at Newcastle, Alan Shearer is also looking forward to the Messiah’s return. “Kevin will get the reception he deserves,” said Mr Charisma, “People still love him up here, and rightly so. Everybody must be aware of my feelings and respect for Kevin Keegan, and I still speak to him on a regular basis.”

Changes for TV: Not surprisingly, the BBC have chosen Prodigal Kev’s return to Newcastle as one of their live televised games on Fifth Round day. The tie will now take place on Sunday, February 17, with a 7pm kick-off live on BBC1. This means that Saturday’s scheduled appearance on ITV Digital, against Stockport, will have to be re-arranged. Travelling fans face another horrendous schedule if they want to reach St. James’ Park, not that City will be protesting too much on the fans’ behalf perhaps – they will probably make approx. £750,000 from the TV broadcast.

FA Youth Cup: City now know their opponents in the fifth round of the FA Youth Cup. Following their defeats of Burnley and Gillingham in previous ties, City must travel to Everton. The City youngsters will travel to Goodison Park next Wednesday, February 6.

Reserves’ News: The Blues’ second string took on an awesomely strong Leeds team at Ewen Fields last week, and only lost by the odd goal in seven. City’s scorers were Chris Shuker, Terry Cooke and Paddy McCarthy. Jeff Whitley made steady progress in his recovery from injury, and must have been pleased to play for 80 minutes of the match.

Croft Call-up Not for Proffitt: City’s teenage winger Lee Croft has been called up for England’s under-17 squad, who will face Slovakia in a friendly at Stevenage Borough’s ground on February 13. Sadly there is no place for Croft’s colleague Dorryl Proffitt, who had featured recently in coach Dick Bate’s squad.

Transfer News and Gossip

Bromby Stays? Leigh Bromby is no nearer to joining City, if press reports are to be believed. City supposedly had Bromby watched again in the Worthington Cup semi-final last week, but a Sheffield Wednesday spokesman said “We have turned down two bids from Manchester City for Leigh Bromby. It is up to them if they are to make a renewed offer.” The player himself is in no rush to move, saying “I’m just happy at Wednesday. Terry Yorath has said he doesn’t need to sell and I’m quite happy at Sheffield Wednesday. I’m learning my trade, it’s a good league and it’s always a test.” Premiership clubs Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Southampton and Liverpool are still showing interest in the 21 year-old.

Sun Goes Down on Chinese Deal: City’s attempts to sign Chinese defender Sun Jihai have come to nought. KK was still making optimistic noises on Monday about the player joining City this week, but the deal seems to have collapsed. The first doubts about the deal came from the player himself, who was quoted last Friday as saying; “Quite frankly, I’m worried about my price tag. My agent keeps finding clubs in England and Italy, but the biggest problem is that my price is marked too high. I really don’t mind where I play, whether in Italy or England. All I can do is wait and see.” City were dealt a further blow when Newcastle United announced that they had formed an alliance with Sun’s club Dalian Shide. Newcastle chairman Freddie Shepherd brokered the link-up on a recent visit to Dalian in a deal that would give Newcastle first refusal on Dalian’s players. It was no surprise when it was announced on Monday of this week that City’s attempt to sign Sun had failed, as the Blues refused to meet the fee of £2 million demanded by Dalian.

Clarke Back at the Double: It’s “Buy One, Get One free” time at the Shay. Halifax’s Chris Clarke has been invited back to train for a few days with City, starting on February 5, but this time he’ll be bringing his twin brother Matt with him. The twins began their careers at Wolves before Mark Lillis took them to Halifax in 1999. Current Halifax boss Alan Little said “Manchester City approached us about having Chris back and I think they’d had an eye on Matthew. It was suggested by someone that he was playing as well as Chris – if not better – and City have seen an opportunity to have a look at both. They will go together and that might possibly help both of them.”

Midfielders Linked: The Sunday papers believe City are looking to strengthen the midfield, and have linked the Blues with both Igor Biscan of Liverpool and Cardiff’s Graham Kavanagh. Biscan played regularly for Liverpool last year, but has hardly featured this term, while former Stoke City man Kavanagh has been scoring regularly for Cardiff this season, including the winner for the Bluebirds in the FA cup against Leeds.

Everton After Festa: City have been joined in their pursuit of Italian centre half Gianluca Festa by Everton. Both clubs are supposed to have made enquiries about the Middlesbrough defender, who is out of contract at the Riverside in the Summer.

Dickov Loan Off: Sheffield Wednesday manager Terry Yorath enquired about borrowing Paul Dickov from City last week, as the Owls had injury problems ahead of the Sheffield derby on Tuesday night. It is said that City rebuffed Yorath’s advances, especially with Paulo Wanchope currently away – Dickov was one of the substitutes at Portman Road on Sunday night.

Charvet Move Collapses: After a bright start this season, Laurent Charvet has once again faded from KK’s plans following a serious injury. Now fit again, Charvet was on the verge of a move to (believe it or not) Marseille, when the deal fell through because of the player’s wage demands. It is said that Charvet was prepared to halve his current salary, but this was still beyond the reach of the former European Champions. Charvet told L’Equipe: “We have tried to find a solution but this is not that easy. In Manchester I have a really good contract, I worked hard to get it and at 29 I cannot accept just anything. I am going back to England but the negotiations are not over for good. I still have some hope to sign with Marseille.” The move would have given Charvet a chance to link up with another Slapheaded French reject from English football, one Frank Leboeuf, a former Chelsea team mate (thanks to Ben Gardner for the quotes).

Ex-Blues’ News

Colosimo to Belgium? Simon Colosimo is set to join Belgian club Genk on trial, according to this week’s reports. Nothing has come for Colosimo from links with Stoke City in England and Perth Glory back home, so Colosimo is trying his luck with the Belgian League leaders. If Colosimo signs, he will join up with a fellow Australian, Josip Skoko.

Reactions and Comments

Keegan’s Ipswich Analysis: Whilst obviously delighted at City’s destruction of Ipswich last Sunday, Boss Kev was not completely content with the City performance. Keegan said: “We were poor in the first half and were lucky to be ahead at half-time. The front two didn’t hold the ball up enough and that put us under pressure. In the second half we played much better and I was pleased with everyone, although Richard Dunne and Stuart Pearce were excellent all game.” This view was backed up by two goal Shaun Goater. “The Gaffer had a go at myself and Darren (Huckerby) and he was right in everything he said,” stated the Goat, “You want to prove you can do better and are capable against Premiership opposition. I think we responded in the right way. I felt I let the side down a little in the first half so it was good to get those goals. I must say the fans helped me too. I don’t usually hear much but they lifted at just the right moment.” Stuart Pearce was full of praise for his manager. In his after match TV interview, Psycho said “He puts confidence in players – people want to play for him. Whoever’s come in this season has enhanced the team. Ipswich allow you to play because they are a good footballing side and I thought we knocked it around well today. We’re doing okay at the moment, our priority is the league, but it’s nice to stay in the cup.” Ipswich manager George Burley had no complaints over the result – “It was a disappointing performance from us in the second half,” said Burley, “but credit to Manchester City – they deserved it on the night.”

Keegan Praises Board: Kevin Keegan was keen on Monday to praise the backing he has received so far from City’s Board of Directors. “Last night’s win was not only great credit to the players but to the chairman and directors of the club for keeping the big squad and not forcing me, when I came in, to get the wage bill down.”

Weaver Returns: The major selection surprise on Sunday was the inclusion of Nicky Weaver ahead of Carlo Nash in goal. Boss Kev gave a typically opaque explanation to the press: “I brought Carlo into the side in the game at Blackburn for the Worthington Cup. Nicky had been doing very well. I could have possibly blamed him for just one goal of those we had conceded when he was playing. I told him I wanted to take a look at Carlo and so I just reversed it against Ipswich. Carlo was probably our best player at Watford but I wanted to give Nicky a chance. I think we have two excellent goalkeepers, there is very little to choose between them and they both have different strengths which is normal. Nicky did a great job against Ipswich. He didn’t let himself or the team down and he has given me a problem for Wednesday.” Weaver was sympathetic towards his ‘keeping colleague. “Carlo has done nothing wrong and I am sure he feels very frustrated but I wasn’t made any promises about staying in the side if I did well, so now I will have to wait and see. The manager told me I was playing the day before the match and told me to do myself justice. Hopefully I did that.”

Ten Men Win Again! KK was understandably jubilant following another amazing win at Maine Road last night when City beat Millwall 2-0, especially after Ali Benarbia was sent off after 8 minutes for an alleged elbowing incident. Keegan said: “If any team is playing better football than us at the moment, I would pay to watch them. I don’t think I’ve seen a match quite like it either as a player or on TV. We could have scored three goals in the first seven minutes then missed a penalty. We must have created between 15 and 20 chances. Our willingness and our commitment was unbelievable. There were no passengers on the bus. I am so proud of my team and even if we had lost 1-0 I would have still felt the same.” Keegan added, “One of their lads said he thought we’d had 16 players. Every one of them played like two men.” Millwall manager Mark MgGhee thought that City were “awesome”. He went on, “They were simply different class – 2-0 was a good result for us. But we were prepared to lose, and that’s why we played as we did instead of defending. Unless something undermines their progress, I can’t see anybody getting close to City with their pace, technique and quality of passing.” On incurring the seventh red card of the season, KK said City have now picked up seven red cards this season but Keegan insisted: “We are not a dirty team. We are not a physical side. Ali had to go but it would help if we could keep 11 players on the pitch for the full game.”

Ali Misses Out: One unfortunate side effect of Ali Benarbia’s sending off against Millwall is that the Algerian midfielder will miss the chance to show off his skills on BBC television. Ali will have to serve a three match suspension, which will include the FA Cup tie at Newcastle. He will also miss the league games at Walsall and Sheffield Wednesday at Maine Road. This correspondent was at Maine Road last night, and can confirm that no Lucozade bottles were injured in the incident.

Squad News

Tiatto Contract Talks: The manoeuvrings have begun between City and Danny Tiatto, as the Australian seeks to negotiate a new contract. Danny’s agent, Frank, is expected in Manchester this week to begin discussions. Tiatto is reportedly unhappy about the arrival of Niclas Jensen, and is keen to negotiate a new deal. It is suggested that Tiatto will leave the club this season if an acceptable offer is not made. City on the other hand wish to keep the Aussie, and claim that Jensen’s arrival is merely a squad strengthening exercise and not an attempt to replace Tiatto. Interested clubs are thought to be Aston Villa, Ipswich Town, Newcastle United and West Ham United.

Better Howey News: It seems Steve Howey’s injury may not be as serious as first feared. Despite a visit to a specialist, and a spell with his injured foot in plaster, Howey has received better news this week. “I don’t think it is as bad as we first thought,” said Kevin Keegan. “I think we have a chance of getting him back in the next fortnight as the bruising on the foot is coming out. It was severely bruised but the physio is saying now that instead of the six weeks which he first thought it might be down to four. He has been out for two already so we could have him back in a fortnight which is good news.” This would put Howey back in the first team picture from mid-February.

Negouai’s Back: There was a surprise inclusion on the bench at Portman Road on Sunday. Christian Negouai was back in the first team squad for the first time in two months. Negouai endured an interesting start to his Maine Road career, what with “Le main de Dieu” against Rotherham, a sending off in the Worthington Cup, followed by a series of minor injuries. Boss Kev ain’t about to give up on the 24 year old just yet. “Christian’s biggest problems are two-fold in that he has to quickly learn the language because, to play the position we want him to play here, he needs to understand fully what we are asking of him and I think, to be fair to him, he didn’t grasp that too well,” reckoned Kev. “Secondly, he has to get himself a little bit fitter because he has had niggly injuries and had to come off a couple of times and we have had to take a bit of a pull on him. No-one should write him off, though. I still feel he is a very exciting talent but not one who is going to jump straight into the first team and catch the eye from day one. You have to have some of those type of players even though we have spent £1.5 million on him. You also have to remember that Kevin Horlock has come in and done fantastic in that rôle and that’s really what has pushed Christian back. I am not disappointed with that, I am delighted because I like Kevin as person and as a player in that position where he has found a little niche for himself. It is up to Christian Negouai and the others who want to play there to improve.”

Lucy and Chop Latest: Costa Rica continue to progress in the Gold Cup competition in Miami. They are now through to the semi-finals following a 2-1 victory over Haiti. The winning goal was scored in Golden Goal time, although our Paulo failed to score in the match. Costa Rica will face South Korea in the next round. Lucien Mettomo meanwhile finally started an African Cup of Nations game for Cameroon on Wednesday. He certainly made an early impression, bursting through from the back to score the first goal in a 3-0 victory against Togo. Cameroon have won all three of their group games, so will play either Egypt or Zambia in the Quarter Finals.

MATCH REPORT I: MCFC 2 MILLWALL 0

It’s well known that Kevin Keegan has a love for Horse Racing but surely he doesn’t have a plan to handicap City for each home game? For the second home game in succession, City found themselves down to 10 men after less than 10 minutes.

This time it was Ali Benarbia who saw red, ruling himself out of the Newcastle cup game in the process, flinging his elbow at Marc Bircham after being tugged back whilst surging forward after his pass to the flank. His manager described it a ‘classic sending off’ and it is true to say there was little argument from the Algerian’s team mates as he walked down the tunnel. However, unlike 2 weeks ago, when Tiatto was dismissed, the City team were not rattled and immediately knuckled down and produced a performance of total domination despite the numerical disadvantage.

As for Bircham’s role in the incident, it is worth noting that this is the second time in 10 days that he has caught an opposition elbow in the face leading to an early bath. Is this the unluckiest footballer of all time, or is his niggling, kicking and tugging style so antagonising to the opposition that he draws a reaction from them? Whatever, football as the beautiful game is certainly alien to him.

City had been unchanged from their victory at Ipswich – which was hardly surprising – and they started where they had left off. Prior to the sending off they had already created 4 chances, the best of which fell to Shaun Wright Phillips who shot wide when clean through when he really should have hit the target. Seven more chances came and went in the next 20 minutes whilst Millwall had just a Naylor header to trouble the City defence.

On the half hour, a glorious Berkovic lobbed ball played through Wright-Phillips again giving him a free run on goal. He was toppled by Livermore for a clear cut penalty. Mysteriously, the inconsistent referee chose not to discipline the player guilty of a clear professional foul.

Pearce placed the ball on the spot but his shot to the left of Warner was well saved and held by the Millwall ‘keeper. The penalty was not a particularly bad one, but the ‘keeper has guessed correctly and got down well. Pearce should have just wellied it like he did in ’96!

Despite the setback, City still provided all the attacking verve, Huckerby dribbling and running at pace causing Darren Ward all sorts of trouble, but always running out of steam when he reached the business end. He missed a great chance when City broke from a rare Millwall attack after Wright-Phillips and Berkovic had between them brought the ball the length of the pitch. Later, Wright-Phillips’ manful attempt to stay on his feet (in the 40th minute) may have denied Pearce the chance to make amends from the spot, and later again he shot wide. It was no surprise that it was the Millwall manager who made 2 substitutions at half time.

The second half saw Millwall changing their shape to try and take a stranglehold on the midfield, and certainly it made it more congested. City’s fans got a little anxious at Weaver’s short throws out to Wiekens and Pearce but Millwall had so many people behind the ball this had to be the tactic in order to draw them forward to create space behind the back four for City’s runners to move into. Whilst City adapted to the new way of playing, the game found a state of flux, City having much possession without threatening.

Eyal Berkovic was the architect of City’s good work, dropping deep to pick up the ball, passing accurately and running intelligently into space, and moving into the final quarter, City began to attack again.

Huckerby’s tireless efforts again produced rewards as his hassling of two Millwall defenders gave him the ball. Again he accelerated down the left, this time squaring for Berkovic to blast over from 12 yards. City had to be on their guard though, to avoid falling to the classic away sting and to a 1-0 defeat – Cahill provided a timely reminder when he failed to convert a good cross with 18 minutes left.

Five minutes later, Pearce brought the ball out of defence unchallenged, the ball eventually finding its way to Wright-Phillips on the right. He jinked past his marker yet again, this time to shoot against the inside of the post. No matter, for there to net the rebound from no more than a yard was the arch-poacher Shaun Goater. Euphoria. A deserved lead for the only team truly trying to win the game.

City defended solidly again, until with 3 minutes left Huckerby again broke away to shoot. Yet again it was blocked, only to fall back to the City striker’s feet. He squared cleverly across defence and ‘keeper for Goater to place into the empty net from distance – 2 yards this time! And that was the game won.

City now look down on the rest of the league with a 6 point cushion. They have won 7 consecutive games (2 of which were with 10 men). They have scored 70 league goals. They have an incredible team spirit. Three years ago they were at their lowest ebb. Now their supporters feel as though they’ve never had it so good.

MATCH REPORT II: MCFC 2 MILLWALL 0

I can’t get to see City very often but as fate would have it this game gave me the opportunity to take one of my lads for his first ever visit to Maine Road. And what a performance from the lads. From the adversity of going down to ten men and missing a penalty to eventual and well deserved victory. We both left the ground feeling very proud of the team.

I had forgotten how bad the traffic could be in Manchester and we ended up parking close to the Stockport Road end of Dickinson Road and walking the rest of the way. The conditions were great for football. There was no sign of the high winds and rain of the last few days.

The team lined up much to everyone’s expectation with Weaver still retained in goal, Dunne, Wiekens and Pearce at the back with Wright-Phillips and Jensen operating as wing backs, Horlock, Berkovic and Benarbia in midfield with Goater and Huckerby up front.

City started very brightly and their incisive passing was cutting Millwall to ribbons. The best early chance fell to SWP who got clean through on goal with plenty of time only to put his shot wide of the post with only the goalkeeper to beat. Still it only appeared to be matter of time before we scored. Then to my horror a red card for Benarbia for elbowing an opponent. I didn’t see the incident myself as the ball was gone but the guy sat next to me saw it and predicted a red card. Unfortunately he was right and the pessimists around me were beginning to talk about hanging on for a dour goalless draw. The optimists talked about the ten heroes of the Norwich match.

Millwall must have fancied their chances against a ten man City and for a short period tried to take the initiative but this gave us a chance to hit them on the break and we created several more chances with SWP again shooting wide and Huckerby going close on a number of occasions. Millwall then realised that even with ten men City were the superior side and took every opportunity to waste time. Ward was booked for a foul on Huckerby who ran at the Millwall rearguard incessantly all night long, was a constant thorn in their side and City’s main route to goal.

On the half hour a great jinking run by SWP, who had moved inside to cover the absense of Benarbia, saw him brought down in the box and Pearce stepped up to take the penalty. The usual power was missing from his shot as he appeared to scuff it and the ‘keeper saved. It looked like our best chance had gone with half time fast approaching and the energy sapping effort of playing a man down bound to take its toll the longer the game progressed.

The second half saw City still playing good football to feet with very little of the long hit and hope. On several occasions with Millwall forwards pressing Weaver rolled the ball out to Wiekens on the edge of the City box and let the players thread the ball up to the other end. Wiekens was calmness personified in this situation and he was very impressive. Dunne, Pearce and Jensen also defended competently and played their part in some good possession football. We used an offside trap with great effect when we had to.

I was a little concerned with Weaver, who seemed a bit more panic stricken than the rest of the team on occasions and a couple of times he spooned his clearances and created problems when there otherwise weren’t any. Although he kept a clean sheet and provided a couple of good saves he doesn’t seem comfortable on the ball and I think Nash might be back in favour soon.

Horlock had a good game both in ball winning and passing but most of the creative play came through Berkovic as expected. His switch play was outstanding but he tired a little late on and lost the ball on a couple of occasions having created some dangerous attacking positions. SWP was everywhere and was involved in the best chances. If I had to name a man of the match it would be SWP but that would be a little unfair to the others as it was a “team” performance.

Up front, while Huckerby was constantly running at the defence at every opportunity and creating a fair number of chances, Goater was making himself available and a few opportunities went begging as Huck took on one too many and the move broke down.

We got our well deserved lead with about a quarter of an hour to go when Goater prodded home after another jinking run and shot by SWP. Millwall were never in it before or after. After the goal some brilliant movement and passing saw us play keep-ball and create even more chances. The Goat got the second after a good pull back from Huckerby on the left. And there were still more chances after this as Millwall fought in vain against a wonderful City team effort.

Final score 2-0. And a wonderful first game for my son to see. I can still remember my first game. City beat Bobby Moore’s West Ham and Neil Young scored two goals. Now what year was that?

MATCH REPORT ‘LIVE’ I: IPSWICH TOWN 1 MCFC 4

Perhaps on a slightly different track to most match reports, I won’t go into great detail about what happened in the Ipswich game, just the scheme from the point of view of someone who was there. As an exile living in Ipswich the draw for the 4th round was brilliant for me, and the inevitable phone call some 30 seconds after we came out of the hat confirmed that I would be getting a visit from friends for that weekend.

The day of the match started nervously, there was a real feeling that we had the ability to turn over Ipswich but by the same token they could easily find the form that they’d recently enjoyed in the Premiership and make it another false hope. A couple of swift pints before the game in the Golden Lion in the centre of town whetted the appetite for the game with both Ipswich and City fans mixing freely; it also provided my first taste of the song ‘The sh*t went out of the FA cup, down by the Riverside…’ a personal favorite of mine, that didn’t seem to catch on in the ground for some reason.

And so we wandered towards Portman Road, lots of blue visible, but most of it from the home side until we got close to the away section of the ground. And then we saw the hordes from City, a magnificent sight augmented by the few who had chosen 5-foot tall inflatable bananas to accompany them to the match. Another welcome sight. Everyone was in good spirits which was a far cry from the scenes here 6 months before and there was some light hearted banter flying around. It’s exactly this which makes going to away games so much more enjoyable for me than the trip to Maine Road, everyone is there to enjoy themselves rather than being there to be entertained.

Anyway so much for my personal soap-box, into the ground a brief episode of standing on the stairs next to Curly Watts and out to my seat. Fortunately, it was suitably close to kick off that we didn’t have to put up with Suffolk’s ‘community radio’ style of PA system as it was drowned out by the atmosphere being made by the City fans, and so the game started.

Couple of scary moments in the first half, couple of decent saves from Weaver, a second of dread when I thought Holland’s cross/shot had actually found the net rather than the side netting off Weaver. Then there was the moment that changed the game. I’d said before the game what I thought the result would be and I said, whoever scored first would win. The corner was awarded, I haven’t seen it on telly yet, but from my vantage point, a mere 120 yards away it looked like a blatant corner. Over it came and, I think everyone knows what happened next. For me there was a brief moment of disbelief. City don’t score goals like that. Especially not in big cup games. Especially not to make it 1-0. But everyone else was going metal around me so I thought I’d join in. The air was buzzing, a mix of disbelief, relief and tension. 48 minutes to hold out. Then there was my mate stood next to me, gutted that I’d talked him out of putting a fiver on Berkovic to score the first goal at 12-1 on the way to the ground. The whistle went for half time and everyone trooped off to a great ovation.

What happened in the 2nd half was, simply stunning. If we’d been a bit fortunate to go in a goal up we absolutely bossed the 2nd half. I honestly didn’t even have the nagging doubt that this was City and one wasn’t enough. I knew we would score again and I saw no way for Ipswich to get back into it. The Goat was having a bit of an off day, a continuation of his recent form as I see it, but just as there were a few dissenting voices starting to creep into the crowd the chant of ‘Feed the Goat’ went up. Personally I thought I could see his confidence rising as we sung that and sure enough five minutes later he scored. Queue huge celebrations. Twenty-five minutes to go and I was certain we were in the 5th round. Ipswich made a few changes and with about 15 minutes to go we started our usual trick of messing about with the ball at the back.

Ipswich duly scored after offering a couple of scares. Obviously doubts now started setting in. The old City was clearly back, we’d let in another before Ipswich scored a winner in injury time. But I was wrong, Weaver saved from Armstrong (although I’m convinced that he should have come and tried to claim the cross that was in the air for ages) and we went up the other end and the Goat finished it. Game over, Ipswich were a beaten side and it was just a question of how many we’d get before the ref halted the game, it was 1 more, but could easily have been about 3.

Absolutely fantastic performance from the team (especially in the 2nd half) and great atmosphere from the fans, Ipswich supporters were silent again, like they were last year but, frankly, I really don’t care. The only problem with the whole day was finding a pub that would let us in after the game which took us a while, but the beer tasted sweeter than normal and so it was worth the walk.

MATCH REPORT ‘LIVE’ II: IPSWICH TOWN 1 MCFC 4

A trip to Ipswich and back in a day is always a bit daunting but on Sunday night even the A14 didn’t seem that bad as the adrenalin was still pumping after the super second half show.

Was it the fact that this was a game we could have lost without spoiling our season that from 15 minutes before kick off the atmosphere was superb? Loads of singing, humour, a scattering of bananas and flags and the noise etc. kept going until the team disappeared down the tunnel at the end of the game.

I guess most people who weren’t there saw it on telly and probably saw more than me, as I was jostled around by a very vocal expressive guy doing Magnus Pyke inpersonations.

So a few thoughts:

The first half probably belonged to Ipswich and they could have had a couple before Eyal’s super strike from a ‘dodgy’ corner as their prat of an announcer reminded everyone at half time in an effort to rouse the decibels of the young farmers in the crowd.

It didn’t work as Super City controlled the second half and outclassed an Ipswich team that were disappearing out of sight. We should and could have had the game sewn up before the second goal. Nice to see Goater doing what he does best and it should be a confidence booster for him.

Darren, Darren bags of pace but can he be infuriating when he reaches the box as he doesn’t always appear to take the simplest and easiest option. But what the heck, every time he gets the ball you feel things might happen.

It would be crass to give marks for such a good team effort. To keep the same formation at 2-1 with time running out (let’s dig in and save it) is a credit to KK and the two late goals were just reward for the new City and more importantly a pleasure to watch.

Special mention for Jensen – hard to think that was his first full game as like all the rampant Blues in the second half he fitted in and helped scare the s**t out of Ipswich.

Have I heard correctly Newcastle Sunday 7.0pm! From one end of the country to the other. We should all get free TV licences for a year for providing super prime-time viewing for the despairing Reds.

Cautionary note. This Wednesday is more important than last Sunday – so it’s back down to earth and let’s carry on with the main objective. Promotion before the last game of the season.

Final note. I agree with the correspondent from last week. We are enjoying some of the best football seen at Maine Road for a good few seasons. How anyone can leave 10-15 minutes before the end is beyond belief. The likelihood of seeing a goal (or more) has to be worth more than an early pint or a quick dart down Wilmslow Road.

MATCH REPORT ‘TV’ I: IPSWICH TOWN 1 MCFC 4

It is so hard not to get carried away, but the second half performance brought the superlatives from the pundits in the studio. It really can’t get much better than this, can it? City lined up with a major shock as Weaver replaced Nash, no doubt someone knows more about this than me but it came as a surprise to see Nicky between the sticks, particularly as Carlo hadn’t really done anything wrong in the matches he’d played. The only other changes from the Watford line-up saw Jensen come in for the suspended Tiatto and Huckerby in for Paulo ‘Gold Cup’ Wanchope.

The first half saw City playing some nice football, but without a lot of penetration. Though it wasn’t all Ipswich and entertaining as it was there wasn’t a lot of goalmouth action. The pace of Huckerby and SWP was causing Ipswich some problems at the back, and even Goater managed to skin the centre-half before running the ball out of play for a goal kick. It was Ipswich who created the first decent chance and what a chance it was. A long ball over the top caught Dunne and SWP flat-footed, Reuser ran onto the ball with only Weaver to beat but he managed to scuff his attempted chip-shot wide of the post. It was felt that Weaver did well to stand on his feet and put Reuser off (I’m not sure but he still looks a little bit on the Dunny side!). Weaver was again called into action as he kept a near post shot out with his feet and it looked as though Ipswich would eventually gain the upper hand.

However on the stroke of half-time a ball down the left saw Benarbia (I think, could have been Berkovic) play the ball off Jensen’s ar*e for a corner… yes Mr Poll who was unsighted had decided the ball had come off an Ipswich defender. Oh how funny it would be if we scored now – Mick McCarthy and Motty (BBC’s commentators) had already said there would be some debate from the Ipswich players if we scored. Ali wandered over the left-hand corner flag and lobbed one of those deep corners to the edge of right-hand side of the box (similar to the one against Bradford that Horlock scored from) where Eyal volleyed it right-footed into the corner of the net. “What a goal!” – was my more printable response to the goal (this saw the cat disappeared from its deep sleep off into the kitchen!). After watching the replay it was noticeable that the Ipswich ‘keeper got a left-hand to the ball that deflected it past a defender who was stood on the post, but who cares, what a time to score. So, 1-0 at half time and although we didn’t deserve to be leading, equally it would have been harsh to go in behind.

The second-half was all about the joyous football we’ve witnessed week in, week out in the First Division. Those City supporters (me amongst them) who were unsure of the ability of playing 3-5-2 against Premiership teams were given a little taster of what next season may bring. To be fair to Ipswich they looked like a team that were not so long ago bottom of the Premiership. Goater had a shot that was saved by the ‘keeper but Bramble managed to clear the resulting Huckerby shot off Goater for a goal kick. City were beginning to look menacing with Berkovic in particular pulling the strings and it came as no surprise that we increased our lead.

Jensen started the move with a good run down the left, his ball inside saw Ali weight a perfect ball to the Goat who was duly fed with a shot past the ‘keeper and into the right-hand side of the net. Cue frantic scenes in the living room (the cat was now wisely in the kitchen) including the fortunate knocking over of an empty bottle of Guinness. It was at this point my phone rang, from an non-City fan who wanted to know who excited I was – being a Sunderland fan I think he wanted to know what the feeling was like 🙂

2-0 and we were looking very handy, but it was Ipswich who seemed motivated into doing something about the scoreline. With a couple of substitutions Ipswich really brought the game to City with one shot over the bar, and a world class save from Weaver who threw himself to his right to pull off a point-blank save that saw Stewart smash the rebound off the crossbar. But within minutes Ipswich were back in the match as a long strike from Marcus Bent (possibly going wide) caught Pearce in the face and flew past Weaver for 2-1.

Oh visions of it all going pear-shaped swamped my mind, but this is New City and with in minutes we’d restored our 2 goal cushion. It was Huckerby whose pace and shot caused Marshall to make a great save, but the resulting rebound shot up in the air and presented Goater with a free head-in (a bit like a tap-in only with his head) for 3-1. Huckerby completed the scoring after Ali set him free (this time he’d managed to stay on-side) and with a one-on-one with the ‘keeper he coolly rounded him before shooting into the empty net… off with the shirt (Huckerby’s not mine) and even as a man you have to be impressed with his six pack (or should that be envious?).

The scores, if I can try to withhold my excitement and not give them all 10.

Weaver 7 – Made some good saves and his goal kicks were better, still not convincing (maybe Nash beat Keegan at tennis during the break in East Anglia?).
Jensen 7 – Made some good runs and some good crosses, but doesn’t seem to like to get forward as much as Tiatto.
Pearce 7 – Had a quality game, but didn’t really have too much to do.
Wiekens 7 – Was impressive but only in patches, even Motty singled him out for praise.
Dunnylad 7 – Not one of his more commanding games, still excellent going forward.
SWP 7 – It was a nearly game for Shauny, nearly got in a couple of times from decent balls by Berkovic.
Horlock 8 – Really does work hard, often picks up the pieces and gets City motoring again.
Benarbia 10 – Too slow, gives the ball away by pi**ing about with the ball, doesn’t track back? who cares he’s pure class, had a major hand in 3 of City’s 4 goals.
Berkovic 10 – Outstanding, his goal was pure quality, constantly running and giving/receiving the ball.
The Goat 8 – Glad to see he got back on the score sheet, with the first goal giving him the confidence to be there for his second.
Huckerby 9 – Caused Ipswich all sort of problems, if only someone could stop him running offside! The problem is that because he is so often caught offside when he was clearly onside during the second-half the linesman gave him offside.

Bring on the Toon.

MATCH REPORT: COSTA RICA 3 SOUTH KOREA 1

Two goals from “El Chop” in the final 15 minutes helped secure The Ticos a 3-1 victory over the World Cup co-hosts South Korea to meet USA in the final of the Gold Cup on Ground Hog day this week-end. Kevin Keegan must be pleased that in the same evening even though they were over 7500 miles apart both his strikers bagged a victorious brace while the Incredible Huck ripped into Scumwall like Tyson at a press conference.

A warm evening in Southern California as the Koreans kicked off in a virtually empty Rose Bowl stadium against the ‘much improved’ central American team Costa Rica. The opening exchanges were fairly uneventful as we could actually listen in on the conversations the crowd were having. The Koreans had a free kick from 30 yards that was well struck, on target but well saved.

Much of the fist half was a fairly slow and lacklustre affair (sound familiar?) with the action locked in the middle third of the park with the odd break away. The prissy referee and linesmen were giving offside decisions in favour of the defensive teams when clearly (as I felt and so did the cameras) that the players were very much onside. This stifled the game a little and the handlebarred Freddy Mercury look-alike mustachioed Mexican referee did little to improve matters.

Ronald Gomez looked useful with his scurrying charges down the left; he crossed, harried, puffed and grunted without endeavour. His one-two exchanges with Paulo were tasty but they came to naught. Ordinarily the CR defence of Martinez and Castro was marshalling the Koreans to the odd break so it was a surprise they let Cha in to the box with a one on one on the goalie but it was well smothered. Korea then began to take control and had more near misses. This was turning into a good game but the Koreans will rue their misses.

Then against the run of play in the 37th minute Paulo was fed on the left wing, took the ball into the box, unselfishly tried to cross to a team mate in a better position but the Korean defender raised his arm (to move out of the way); the ball definitely struck the arm but Freddy Gonzalez (my nickname for him, no flames please) blew his whistle (which was well hidden in his huge paintbrush tash), pointed to the spot and the penalty was given. Not fair, the Koreans surrounded the referee, obviously not many of them could speak Spanish but even a complete novice at charades could tell they pointing to the fact that the ball hit the arm. The taker was Medford (who must have took the shortest run up in penalty kick history); he sauntered up and leaned back in a lazy ‘couldn’t give toss, it’s only a PK in the back garden with the kids’ type of way, ballooned the ball over the bar into the emptiness of Row Q behind the goal. Justice was served.

Then a few minutes later a free kick to Costa Rica about half way in to the Korean half in the right flank was chipped beautifully into space for Medford to make amends as he crossed the ball nicely into the path of Gomez who, on the edge of the six yard box, beat his marker to sweep the ball into the net; 1-0 and 4000 odd Ticos went mad. The goalie Kim had been impressive until then but unfairly and definitely against the run of play Paulo and his teammates took a single goal lead in at half time.

The second half game began like the first, very much like a typical sketch from Saturday Night Live on US Television, i.e. slow, drawn out, painful and not very funny to watch. Then some nice interplay between Wanchope and Gomez interspersed with some busy play by the Koreans whom were beginning to show some class, in particular Sun Yung Cha and Choi Jin Cheul and goalie Kim will be names to look for in June. I would not be at all surprised if some of them appear in the English leagues next year.

Gomez fed Wanchope again with 3 on 3 with our man bearing down on goal but Kim came out bravely to take the ball from his feet – well saved young man, English scouts should look him at more closely. SK missed the chance to level the score since Cha was cruelly denied a chance on goal by again the pernickety linesman who again ruled against the attacker.

[I would change the offside rule so that you can be forward of the last line of defence by as much as one yard but must be less than 3 yards from any defender in any direction]

The tempo picked up; the crowds were sensing anxiety, can CR strengthen their lead and put the match safe or will the Koreans get a much deserved equalizer? With 15 minutes to go, cometh the man cometh the Chop as Maurice on the left channel on the corner of the 18-yard box crossed the ball nicely into the penalty area where Paulo was lurking with his marker. The ball arced its way to just outside the 6 yard box and Paulo got behind the defender and neatly volleyed home with his first touch. Kim got a hand to it but the force of the shot took it home. It was 2-0 and the Ticos started to play pass around stuff. The crowd started to chant Ole as each pass was completed; they had done enough, or so they thought.

Then with 10 minutes to go the Koreans took a the ball down the right channel, the ball was headed over nicely by a CR defender to put it in the path of Choi who then hopelessly overran the cross, miss kicked it badly and fell over. So while in a crumpled heap on the floor the ball bobbled back off a defender’s legs right into Choi’s path and while lying on the floor somehow with a scissor kick bundled it over the line. It was now 2-1 and we were in for a grandstand finish. No sooner had the cameras shown the replay of Korean the goal for the 3rd time and El Chop had done it again and it was game over.

A speculative long ball from midfield had Paulo advancing towards goal leaving two defenders in his wake, the ball bounced nicely once and just in front of the advancing Kim from 15 yards Wanchope volleyed home again, a very well taken goal and nicely put away. One more scare as the Koreans had a shot saved off the line by the impressive defending of Castro who jumped up, chested the ball upwards and as cool as a polar bear’s ar*e he hooked the ball away to safety. Once again there was time for Paulo to do another run on goal, this time one against three defenders; he managed to get hold of the ball to make a connection but the final shot was again well saved by Kim. And so it ended 3-1 to the Ticos and they meet USA on Saturday in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final (a prize awaits anyone who can tell me what CONCACAF stands for and why South Korea are playing in the tournament in the first place).

It should be a mouth watering World Cup as I was surprised at the level of fitness, endeavours and skill of the Koreans they might stand a chance of progressing to the second phase and the names to watch out for are; Kim, Choi and Cha.

As for the Ticos, their casual play is sometimes a tad painful to watch but Gomez (who plays for the Greek team OFI Crete), Martinez and Castro were very entertaining with their touches of class, as was Paulo but to give him some criticism as he does so often he drifted in and out of the game but thankfully he drifted back in to the game twice at the right time and made the crucial difference between the sides – finishing!

If this is the standard of play for the unseeded 2nd/3rd tier of teams in the World Cup then it bodes well for a good summer in the land of rising sun and the democratic ‘dog eating’ republic of South Korea.

It is fair to say that this report would not be written, nor would I have watched the game had it not been for our man Paulo being involved but I think McVittee is the sort of vehicle where interest in this game would be more than minimal. I also have to mention that Costa Rica is my favourite country I have ever visited and I may pen a travelogue on some of the visits I have made to the “Rich Coast” and the warmth of the people that inhabit the central American republic but I will save that for the Summer if McVittee pickings are slim.

OPINION: RAM-PANT CITY?

Hehe, boy you’d think we were Watford fans the amount of hornets I stirred up. Sorry folks I still disagree with you and have to say I think Keegan agrees with me. In both his signing of Jensen and his pursuit of Sun Jihai, Keegan has made specific comments to the Premiership quality of the players.

I’m thoroughly pleased and excited that we are doing so well this season and it is great to see us take the scalps of teams like Ipswich. However, I think that our success and the ability of our manager mask some fundamental problems with the squad. I don’t believe I ever said that Derby was a better team, what I stated and still believe is that they have better players in their squad than we do. Ultimately a great manager, an attacking philosophy and some decent players only take us so far. Where that is is promotion to the Premiership as Champions.

I’m more concerned with next year.

OPINION: RAM-BLINGS

In my reply to the ‘Derby County’ email of Wallace Poulter, I wrote:

Yes, it is a dream to see the football we are currently playing. Only some of you want us to be cr@p. You glory in it. Well I don’t – I love my team, I’ve followed them through thin and thinner and now we have the manager who can take us to the promised land and I for one am f’ing delighted.

Apologies to Wallace about this. These comments were written very quickly in my enthusiasm after the Ipswich game and they were not directed at him, but against the whingers who I have had the misfortune to sit near recently of which one happened to be in the pub where I watched the Ipswich game. Top of the league and playing the best football City have played in years, yet these people still find something to whinge about. What are these people on?

OPINION: NEW YEAR REGIME

Imagine my horror as I arrived at David Lloyd’s gym in Cheadle yesterday and gaze into my wallet to find no card. Ok I reason, I’ll sign in the visitor’s book. So now imagine my further surprise and delight when above my humble scrawl is that of 22 heroes all listing their company membership name as MCFC.

What pleases me further is that above the childish mark of Ali and the stylish note of fitness coach Osario is the keenest, and first to arrive member of the academy – pieman himself Richard Dunne. Upon enquiring at reception I am told he arrived early and left late – maybe a slimline Dunny for the Millwall game then? Or maybe the bar was open early as he turned up with Weaver!

We will soon see but sadly the squad had left by the time I arrived so no early news you guys! Come on you Blues!

OPINION: RED & BLACK STRIP I

I enquired about red and black shirts via the club website just before Christmas.

Q When are you going to start selling red and black striped shirts? I’m sure you will sell thousands of them.

A Thank you for your message. We have previously stocked the red and black third shirt as a limited edition around 18 months ago. It has since sold out and will not return into stock in the future.

A less than positive response and a missed opportunity to make a few quid. I’m sure our money-grubbing neighbours take a more entrepreneurial approach to merchandising.

OPINION: RED & BLACK STRIP

Yes these shirts do exist in some form, although they are disappointingly not displayed in the online shop.

My dear old mum, having just returned to the UK from my place in Perth Oz, has managed to get hold of one from somewhere and it is currently winging its way down under in time for my birthday (thanks mam).

And yes it is by far the best away strip we’ve ever had.

OPINION: ARCHIVE REPORTS

In MCIVTA 780 you asked for comments on “Ken Corfield’s City Diary” and whether we wanted his “match reports from the 60’s” repeated?

Frankly no. Though I’m 44 and my grandfather from Salford started converting me to City in the mid to late 60s, I personally have no interest in the “glory days” on a match by match basis. I can read all I want on this period in the excellent “Manchester, the Greatest City” or “Blue Moon Rising”.

While I appreciate the effort in contributing to a newsletter I feel these are just “re-types” from someone who has access to original reports.

[Anyone else got an opinion, we’ve had quite a few pro so far – Ed]

REQUEST: WARRINGTON OSC BLUES MEETING

City legend and King of Maine Road Colin Bell will be special guest at the next meeting of The Warrington MCFC Official Supporters’ Club which takes place on Thursday 7th February at The King And Queen in Padgate.

There will also be a raffle for a signed City ball. All Blues welcome. Members £1, non-members £3.

I’ve heard that the new City away strip for next season is going to be based on the first shirt to be worn at Maine Road; could anyone enlighten me on what it looks like?

REQUEST: GOOD HOME WANTED

A big clear out at my company turned up a few old Man City programmes. I’m not a collector of these things, but if anyone wants them, please let me know. It would be nice for someone to give them a good home. I’m not sure if they are worth anything, but if you want to make an appropriate donation to charity, I think that would be fair enough.

The matches/dates are:

18.09.68 vs. Fenerbahche
30.10.68 vs. Ajax
04.11.87 vs. Middlesbrough
26.12.87 vs. Leeds
21.03.90 vs. Chelsea

REQUEST: SONGTIME

Words for the song “You got me Singin’ the Blues”

Watching the Ipswich match on the telly (long distance), I think I heard the City fans sing the ol’ Dave Edmunds (I could be wrong here!) song You Got Me Singing the Blues. Is this an Ipswich song or have we found a new song for the songbook?

Anyway, I can’t get it out off my head. I’m whistling it on the way to work, singing it in the shower etc. but I don’t know the words and it is driving me crazy.

Anyone able to tell me the words?

REQUEST: CREWE TICKET

I would like to get hold of one ticket for the rearranged Crewe game. If you can help please contact:

REQUEST: TV IN BERLIN

I will be in Berlin the weekend of the FA Cup 5th round (February 17th). Does anybody know of anywhere that will be screening the City match?

REQUEST: TV IN ITALY/VENICE

Does anyone know any pubs / bars / hotels etc. in Venice where I can watch the Newcastle game? Apparently in Italy there is a 24hr BBC channel where they will be showing the game. If any Venice based Blues could help, it would be great.

REQUEST: PERTH BLUES

This new and rapidly growing branch of the ISC is having a family BBQ day on Sunday 3rd Feb at Clarko Reserve, Trigg Beach starting at 1.00pm. If there are any Perth Blues still out there who have not caught up with the rest of us yet, then get your backsides down to Trigg on Sunday. After all it’s great to be Blue at the moment and we can all have a beer or ten and wallow in it.

So come on bring your bathers and surfboards and get down there. Just look out for the gathering of Laser Blue, you wont be able to miss it.

If you need any further info then call Colin or Lorraine on 93003096 or 95612158.

REQUEST: VANCOUVER BLUES

Can Vancouver-based Blues intending to watch the Newcastle game live on telly send me an email and we’ll plan a get-together somewhere in the city. Five of us (and one sad Ipswich fan!) watched the Ipswich match in the British ex-servicemen’s association yesterday and hopefully we can have a larger gathering for the 5th round tie.

RESULTS

Recent results from 28 January 2002 to 30 January 2002 inclusive.

30 January 2002

Manchester City       2 - 0  Millwall              30,238
Nottingham Forest     0 - 1  Portsmouth            26,476

29 January 2002

Barnsley              1 - 0  Wolverhampton Wndrs   13,825
Bradford City         0 - 1  Preston North End     15,217
Crewe Alexandra       1 - 0  Norwich City           6,285
Crystal Palace        1 - 3  Coventry City         16,197
Gillingham            3 - 3  Stockport County       7,217
Rotherham United      1 - 1  Grimsby Town           6,098
Walsall               2 - 1  Wimbledon              5,388
West Bromwich Albion  1 - 0  Birmingham City       25,266
Sheffield United      0 - 0  Sheffield Wednesday   29,364

League table to 30 January 2002 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 30 12  3  1 40 13  7  1  6 30 25 19  4  7 70 38  32  61
 2 Wolves          30  8  3  4 22 13  8  4  3 24 14 16  7  7 46 27  19  55
 3 West Brom A.    31 10  2  4 19  7  6  4  5 16 16 16  6  9 35 23  12  54
 4 Millwall        31 10  2  3 30 15  5  6  5 20 17 15  8  8 50 32  18  53
 5 Burnley         28  8  4  2 29 19  7  2  5 21 21 15  6  7 50 40  10  51
 6 Crystal Palace  31 11  1  4 38 17  5  1  9 17 27 16  2 13 55 44  11  50
 7 Norwich City    31 10  4  1 24 11  5  1 10 18 29 15  5 11 42 40   2  50
 8 Birmingham City 31  9  2  4 27 12  4  6  6 18 24 13  8 10 45 36   9  47
 9 Coventry City   30  7  3  4 20 12  7  2  7 17 18 14  5 11 37 30   7  47
10 Preston N.E.    30  6  5  3 26 14  6  5  5 19 24 12 10  8 45 38   7  46
11 Gillingham      31  8  4  4 30 17  4  3  8 17 28 12  7 12 47 45   2  43
12 Watford         29  7  4  4 28 20  4  3  7 15 15 11  7 11 43 35   8  40
13 Nottm Forest    31  7  7  2 19 11  2  6  7 13 17  9 13  9 32 28   4  40
14 Sheff. United   31  4  8  4 21 20  5  5  5 11 15  9 13  9 32 35  -3  40
15 Wimbledon       29  5  6  3 20 15  5  3  7 25 26 10  9 10 45 41   4  39
16 Portsmouth      30  7  1  6 25 22  4  5  7 18 25 11  6 13 43 47  -4  39
17 Bradford City   30  8  1  7 36 29  2  5  7 16 28 10  6 14 52 57  -5  36
18 Barnsley        31  7  6  3 29 23  1  5  9 14 32  8 11 12 43 55 -12  35
19 Crewe Alex.     29  6  5  3 12 14  3  3  9 17 28  9  8 12 29 42 -13  35
20 Rotherham Utd.  29  5  8  2 20 18  2  3  9 15 26  7 11 11 35 44  -9  32
21 Sheff. Wed.     30  4  5  6 19 24  3  5  7 11 22  7 10 13 30 46 -16  31
22 Walsall         31  7  3  6 22 20  1  3 11 12 30  8  6 17 34 50 -16  30
23 Grimsby Town    31  4  5  6 14 19  2  5  9 12 32  6 10 15 26 51 -25  28
24 Stockport C.    31  1  1 13  9 30  1  7  8 19 40  2  8 21 28 70 -42  14

MCIVTA FAQ [v1.7]

[0] MCIVTA Addresses

 Articles (Heidi Pickup)        : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

 News/rumour (Don Barrie)       : djb1305@yahoo.co.uk

 Subscriptions (Geoff Donkin)   : subscriptions@mcivta.city-fan.org

 Technical problems (Paul)      : paul@city-fan.org

Comments concerning this FAQ should be sent to David Warburton using the address: mcivtafaq@warburton.org

[1] MCIVTA Deadlines

Deadlines for issues are nominally Monday and Thursday evenings.

[2] MCIVTA Back Issues and Manchester City Supporters’ home page

http://www.uit.no/mancity/ 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.

[3] Club Web Site

The official club web site can be found at http://www.mcfc.co.uk/

[4] Supporters’ Clubs

Manchester City FC recognises three supporters’ clubs: The “Official Supporters Club” (http://www.mancity.net/osc/index.html); the “Centenary Supporters’ Association” (http://www.callnetuk.com/home/sef/) and “The International Supporters’ Club” (http://www.mcfc.co.uk/extra/fanzone/isc.asp)

[5] Fans’ Committee

The Fans’ Committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. It has its own website, http://www.mcfc-fans.com/ containing info about forthcoming meetings as well as minutes from previous gatherings.

[6] City of Manchester Stadium Progress/Web Cam

The latest information regarding the progress of our new home can be found at http://www.commonwealthgames.com/

[7] Match Day Broadcasts

Live match commentaries and archives of games, reports and interviews can be found here: http://www.mcfc.co.uk/comment.asp. An alternate live commentary service, hosted by Yahoo, is located at: http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/foot/audio/live/schedule/index.html. GMR Saturday Sport is also available live online between 1-3pm, and 4.45-6pm at http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/sport/index.shtml

[8] City on TV

City’s games when broadcast on TV are generally carried by ITV Digital; http://www.itv-digital.co.uk/company/home/publocator/locator.html provides a list of pubs that will be showing the games.

Granada television also has the rights to show a small number of games from the North West region. As Sky now carry ITV regional services these matches can be watched outside the intended region by “adding” channels to your Sky Digital receiver. Under “services/system setup” enter the following details: Frequency 10.891 – H – 22.0 – 5/6. Select “find channels” and you will be given a list of the available ITV regions. From here select the regions you want to add. In order to view the channels you have added, you have to make your selection via “services/system setup/other channels”.

[9] Goals on the Net

http://www.citygoals.com/ has available for download, usually within 24-48 hours of a game being played, all the goals from City’s matches.

[10] 01/02 Season Match Day Theme Tune

The music the teams run out to at Maine Road this season is “Nightmare”, by Brainbug, and is available on the Positiva label.

[11] Acknowledgements

Thanks go to John Arnold for providing the information regarding match day music and to Ian Bell for pointing out the alternate live match commentary service.

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, heidi@mcivta.freeserve.co.uk

Editor: