Newsletter #997

The reserves were in action tonight against the Rags in a 3-3 draw, with goals from Bradley Wright-Phillips, Joey Barton and Paddy McCarthy, and our U19s have topped the Academy league so the future’s looking good. Time now for the first team to replicate some of these performances, and what better place to start than next Sunday.

Tonight we have Don’s news round-up, opinion on the van Buyten will-he-won’t-he, how to survive and the usual requests.

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

Oil’s Well That Ends Well: City made an unexpected appearance in a Sunday tabloid this weekend, and oh lumme what an appearance. According to The People, Libya’s Colonel Gaddafi is targeting five Premiership clubs – Leeds, Villa, Everton, Bolton and (you’ve guessed it) MCFC – for a possible takeover. The Colonel has £20 million burning a hole in his pocket, and wants to invest it in England’s top league. I cannot confirm another rumour that the Editor’s next Q&A with a new chairman may be taking place in Tripoli.

From Russia With Love (and Roubles?): Roman Abramovich and his entourage were not the only Russian delegation in town last weekend. City played host to a party of directors from Moscow club Torpedo Metallurg. The trip was arranged following last year’s world trawl for investment by Managing Director Alistair Mackintosh. You may remember that the other Macca visited a football expo in Moscow, and also made trips to the USA and China. “This is all part of a long-term policy to increase awareness of City on the world stage,” explained City’s MD. “We’ll be sharing all sorts of ideas. They are a very ambitious club, in a similar way to us at City. Torpedo are backed by a company who are major players in the world metals market and, as a club, have one of the best youth structures in world football.” Early reports suggested that investment might follow, but the club website state that the only discussions so far concern a possible youth tournament involving City, Metallurg and Chelsea. President of the Moscow side, Yuri Belous, said “I am very grateful to my friends at Manchester City, particularly Alistair Mackintosh, for being so helpful. I wanted to see all the elements of a football club being run. I was interested in the stadium and also wanted to see the link up between the club, the Premiership and the television companies and how contracts are discussed and made. It was very beneficial. We also looked at the training ground at Carrington and set up for the youth players at Platt Lane. Both were very impressive and something that we can utilise at home, I’m sure.”

The Chairman’s Other Q&A: Don’t know if John Wardle felt the need for some pre-MCIVTA 1000 practice, but a he took part in a Q&A session this week in the M.E.N. Wardle was asked whether KK ‘s job was in jeopardy, to which he replied: “We all accept we have had a poor season and Kevin Keegan has accepted that in his various comments. It would be a natural thing to assume that the manager is under pressure but I can say the manager is not under pressure from me or the board. I am confident that the manager will turn results round.” He was asked about the steps being taken to improve the atmosphere on match days at the COMS. “We are looking at this all the time and have spoken to lots of fans asking for their ideas, because it is they who at the end of the day create the atmosphere. Having said that, the players can help too. They are already doing that with the style of football they are playing and the fans recognise that. If we turn this into victories then the stadium will bounce.” The Chairman also denied that David Bernstein might one day make a return to the club in some capacity.

The Boys Done Good: The Republic of Ireland’s under-21 side won the Madeira International Tournament at the weekend, helped in no small part by Glenn Whelan and Willo Flood. The Irish triumphed with a midweek defeat of Italy by a single goal, followed by beating the hosts 4-0, aided by a goal from Willo Flood.

Transfer News and Gossip

Bidding Bye Bye to Buyten? KK believes that he will be beaten to the permanent capture of defender Daniel van Buyten. “He is terrific player and I don’t think we will keep him at the end of the season as I feel he will go to a big club at the end of the season,” said Keegan after the Chelsea game. “The deal we have is not tight and other teams are sure to nip in. Anyone who has watched him today can’t fail to have been impressed.” Van Buyten seems to reinforce these views that appeared on teamtalk.com: “I left l’OM because the club had financial problems and it could carry out a good deal. But I am only loaned in England. The Marseille president has already telephoned me to say he hoped to re-examine me in three months. Moreover, if the club had wanted to definitively transfer me to Manchester City, I would not have accepted. Currently, I am simply enjoying the experience.” The player was once courted by U*/@*d and Arsenal, so there are real fears that van Buyten will be heading for pastures new. At about the same time as this report came news that Everton defender David Unsworth was being linked again with a move to City in the summer. According to the Daily Star, the defender has turned down a new contract offer from the Merseyside club. Unsworth’s contract expires at the end of the season and he would be available to City on a Bosman free transfer. Surely City aren’t considering losing a young international class player for a cheaper, older option? You can only hope that KK is trying to galvanise the board into sorting out a deal, although last summer’s transfers suggest otherwise. Today’s rumour mill has suggested that Roman Abramovich likes the look of Van Buyten, so don’t rule out a move to Chelsea this summer.

Other Nuggets: The Sunday People writes that KK is keeping tabs on Hibernian’s 21-year-old striker Derek Riordon. A fee of £400,000 would secure the player. City and Charlton have joined Real Betis and Real Mallorca in the chase for Arsenal striker Nwankwo Kanu. According to the News of the World, all four clubs have registered their interest in the Nigerian international. Kanu’s contract expires in the summer and he will be available on a Bosman free transfer.

Ex-Blues’ News

Royal Goat: Shaun Goater decided not to play for Bermuda last weekend in a World Cup Qualifier, preferring instead to cement his place in the Reading side. “Let’s get one thing straight – I really want to play for Bermuda in the World Cup qualifiers,” commented Goater in his column in that august organ, The Royal Gazette. “I have always wanted to play but when discussions about me coming back first started I had been dropped from the Reading side and I was anything but the first name on the team sheet. It really is quite simple, it wasn’t a good time for me and going back to Bermuda would have harmed my chances at my new club. Contrary to what people in Bermuda were probably thinking, I wasn’t an automatic choice at my new team and that upset me. If I had gone away at that stage – and the gaffer said I could – I wouldn’t have been missed. I didn’t want to come home without him thinking ‘when is Shaun coming back’; if I had come back at that stage it would have been a case of ‘I think he’s back on this or that date’ and that is not what I wanted – I wanted to be missed. But things have worked out well for me at Reading, I have got back in the goals and my form has picked up so I can now relax and risk leaving. Unfortunately because of the injuries we have picked up, the way the fixtures have fallen – and because of the scheduling of flights – I would have missed two games for my club and the gaffer wasn’t going to allow that. We are playing against Sheffield United on the Saturday and then Preston on the following Tuesday and, because I would have to fly back through America, the gaffer didn’t really think I would be in any fit state to play the next day.” The Goat wasn’t missed though – Bermuda managed to scrape up a 13 (that’s thirteen) goal lead in the first leg of the tie.

So Happy Together: Portsmouth play Arsenal in the FA Cup sixth round, and Eyal Berkovic is in line to face the Gunners. Berkovic sounds like he’s back in love with his current boss (and former gaffer at West Ham) Harry Redknapp, as Eyal hasn’t yet said he’s a big baby. “Harry creates the atmosphere for me. He understands my game. He understands exactly what I can and cannot do. He gives me the freedom to enjoy football so that I have a clear head and can do my stuff. Many managers don’t give you that freedom, they don’t give you the independence to do whatever you want to do. [Like who, Eyal?] Harry trusts the players, treats us like adults, and so you give him a lot of respect.”

Give Me Just a Little More Time: Georgi Kinkladze took part in his first game for Bolton this week, a 2-0 reserve team win over Birmingham City at the Reebok Stadium. According to the M.E.N. Kinky looked “fit and sharp”, while “three slide-rule through passes” from Kinky “set up great second half chances for Henrik Pedersen”. The Georgian said: “I would like to play for Bolton but I can’t say anything else at the moment.”

Reactions and Comments

Eid Don’t Believe It! Well, it happened again. All reports suggest that City outplayed Chelsea, spurning chance after chance, then allowed Eidur Gudjohnsen to slot home the only goal of the game with less than 10 minutes remaining. KK was left bemoaning his luck, yet again. “Claudio Ranieri came up to me after the game and said [At this point KK adopted a fake Italian accent not heard since Joe Dolce’s “Shaddup You Face” hit the top of the UK charts in early 1981] ‘You play fantastically well, we were poor. You lost, we won -football, it’s crazy’. Then he walked off,” said the Boss Man. “We haven’t played any better than that all season, especially when you consider the opposition. It is difficult to go into the dressing room and say well done after another defeat but the players couldn’t have done any more. We are the unluckiest team in the world at the moment in that stadium. It can’t go on like this and it won’t, but the players are playing with a confidence that belies the position we are in. The atmosphere was tremendous and we were fantastic, but the results are not there. We have won two from 13 and that is not good enough, but we would have one of the best records if we had had the rub of the green. We are being dealt some tough cards, but if we keep playing the way we are then it will come right.” The manager bemoaned the three chances that went begging at the start of the second half when Robbie Fowler could have got a hat-trick. They came in the space of three minutes of the restart and the boss admitted that if one of them had gone in it could have changed the game. “I think the lad James Hayter at Bournemouth got the fastest hat-trick during the week, well Robbie could have equalled it. There was one very good chance which he will be disappointed about. It was on his left foot after a great ball from Shaun Wright-Phillips. Most of the work had been taken out of it though he still had to finish. Robbie himself would have expected to convert the chance from there. The other two were instinctive and again on a good day in a team that is winning games they would have dropped the right side of the post. It’s disappointing and hard to take but I was proud of the players. Daniel van Buyten, who was fantastic again, must wonder if he’s ever going to get a win bonus. If our luck continues like that we are going to get sucked into relegation trouble,” admitted Keegan. “Looking back at our performances, we should have the best home record in the league but we have only won twice. I can believe this result because it has happened to us so often this season. At least Chelsea scored their goal, Middlesbrough didn’t even do that when they came here.” Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri gave City due credit for their show against his team: “Manchester City have more shots on goal than virtually any other side, so we knew what to expect,” he said. “The players were a bit tired after the game in Stuttgart on Wednesday but they battled hard and showed a lot of character to come away with the victory. The goal obviously came at a really good time for us. I don’t know what it is about Manchester City though. They seem to have the same problem against us as we have against Arsenal.”

Squad News

Deputy Arni: City’s FA Cup goalkeeper, Arni Arason, would like to be David James’ deputy on a permanent basis. “I really like it here,” said Arason. “But it’s a decision I will have to make when the time comes. I don’t even know if the club want me to stay, so I’ll just have to wait and see. It’s a great club and I’m enjoying my time here. It will be a difficult battle with David James to be first choice. But I will have to try to take my opportunities when they come and then see if City want me or not. The fans have already been amazing towards me and it really helps. The deal to come here happened very quickly. My contract with Rosenberg expired at the end of December and I was looking for a new club. I almost went to Austria, but City came in and the thought of joining them excited me. It was a week before the club offered me a contract and I’m really happy to be here. I’d had approaches from other clubs while I was at Rosenberg, but I enjoyed playing for them so never talked to anyone else.” And speaking of goalkeepers – Nicky Weaver was 25 this week, and celebrated by returning to Carrington for rehab on his damaged knee. “Nicky is nine months to a year away. He is coming in to Carrington now and has had the cast on his leg scaled down so to speak,” explained KK. “The cast is not as strong as it was immediately after the operation so that gives him a bit more movement. He is pain free now. It was a very painful operation and he was in a lot of pain for a few weeks. He is now really on his way back. It is a long road but for him but he is now in and around the lads again and that is a psychological boost, a major plus. The weeks will fly by. It might not seem it to him but they will, so I suppose we are looking at Christmas for him.” KK has yet to make a final decision on long-term goalkeeping cover, and will not do so until the season is over. “We will definitely have to look for cover for Nicky and we will do that in the summer. We have solved it at the moment as we have David James, Arni at number 2 and young Kevin Ellegaard. Kasper Schmeichel is of course out for the rest of the season. I have some thinking to do, but don’t need to do too much thinking about it at the moment.”

Shaun’s The Wright Stuff: No less than two ex-England coaches have been praising the form of Shaun Wright-Phillips this week. Terry Venables was quoted as saying: “A lot of people think the door to Euro 2004 has closed but I think it may be about to open for Shaun Wright-Phillips. I’ve watched him this season and he has never failed to impress. He is quick, strong, tough in the tackle and has shown that he can finish superbly. Most importantly, he is at home playing wide and that has become a vulnerable position for England. For England to live up to their potential in Portugal, we must be able to adapt our plan of attacks down the flanks. He could fill in at right-back, too, and has the potential to follow his stepfather by pulling on an England shirt.” Shaunie’s club manager agrees. “The one person who has got to push his claims is Shaun Wright-Phillips himself and he did that on Saturday against Chelsea,” mused KK. “His performance was outstanding against an England full-back in Wayne Bridge. He had the better of him. If Shaun ever improves that final ball into the box – and he will because he is only 22 – it is all there for him. He is a wonderful player and his contribution alone was worth the three points.” The player is pleased with the progress he has made. “This is the most I have ever scored in a season. I’m pleased with what I have got so far but I am not stopping yet. I want to get as many as I can get. I like playing on the right because it favours me as it is my natural side,” concluded Wright-Phillips.

Whither Wiekens? City’s Mr. Loyalty, Gerard Wiekens, is facing up to the fact that career at City may be over. The Dutch defender joined the Blues in 1997, and has played in three different divisions. He has hardly featured in the first team in recent season, with the exception of the UEFA Cup tie with TNS, and more memorably in the shackling of Ruud van Nistelrooy on November 9, 2002. “I know I will face some big decisions in the future months. I don’t expect Manchester City to renew my contract and the situation I am in now I have to look for a new club,” said Wiekens. “I am thirty one years of age now and I want to play football for the final three or four years of my career. The decision is then where to go, to stay in England and get a club close to where I live, to move within England or go back to Holland. At the moment I am not sure what clubs are interested in me I think in the next couple of months I will have to make those decisions. There have been a few rumours and Ipswich have been mentioned but nothing has been concrete and they have not contacted me. I want regular football. That feeling after playing a game of football and then driving back in your car having won is an unbelievable feeling. I haven’t had that feeling for eighteen months now.”

OPINION: WHAT DOES IT TAKE?

It appears to me that City are at a crucial stage in our history, let alone our current season. First season in our excellent new home, circa £60 million in debt and only 3 points above the drop zone. If we go down this season the consequences would be dire.

Defeat by the Reds in a couple of weeks would not on its own be a disaster; admittedly we’d all be gutted for many days, but coupled with a win from either of Portsmouth (play Everton on Saturday) or Wolves (play Aston Villa on Saturday) would see us above the psychologically worrying relegation zone on goal difference alone.

On paper we have a relatively easy run in to the end of the season, but judging on this season’s results to date this looks rather more ominous than encouraging – we’ve taken a grand total of 7 points from the 27 available so far from the 7 other teams that occupy the bottom 8 with City, that’s less than 1 point a game!

So whatever it takes we need to get something out of next week’s game against ManUre. We can’t improve Fowler’s accuracy, we can’t stop Distin from making the obligatory cock-up, we can’t improve SweeP’s or Sun’s crossing but at the very least we can add our unbridled passion to the mix. This means 90 minutes of all-out (and loud) support for the boys in Blue.

After a badly timed holiday (which resulted in missing Chelsea at home) I’ve just been catching up on the excellent MCIVTA. Clare’s short story about her wedding day at Eastlands/CoMS (congratulations Clare) got me thinking that we must now all stand up and be counted. If there is anything else you can add, then you owe it to yourself and City to do your bit.

Clare, you’d better get the dress out again; you never know it might be that vital ingredient that we’ve been missing.

Come on you Blues.

OPINION: BIG DAN OR BIG DAVE? I

Over recent weeks and months I have stopped myself from writing in from fear of it being a knee jerk reaction to another loss. Unfortunately, this is one loss I don’t think I’m ready to deal with. I have just read a quote attributed to KK which basically says City are not a big enough team to keep hold of DVB. What a complete joke. Who are these bigger clubs? The Rags, the spoon army, the scousers? C’mon, these are teams we want to be competing against. And the rumours this morning suggest we’re trying to sign David Unsworth from Everton. No disrespect to the lad, but what a waste. Another ageing free transfer whose quality is questionable. This is not the sign of a club and manager with ambition. This is the sign of a club desperate to balance the books.

This situation actually highlights another problem we may be staring at. I’m beginning to get the impression, come the summer, there will be little or no funds for squad strengthening. If this is the case, then our two most prized assets are surely going to be in the shop window. SWP and Anelka. As a City fan I find this pretty unacceptable. Mr Keegan should have thought long and hard about the money he was splashing last season, and what impact it was going to have should we fail to reach the dizzy heights of the UEFA Cup this season. Whilst all the talk has been of Anelka leaving, there’s just as good a chance that SWP will be taken from right under our noses. Watching him mesmerize Wayne Bridge just highlighted how good he is, and must surely have alerted several ‘big’ clubs. Probably the same ones that will take DVB as well.

Frankly, there’s a lot at stake at the moment. We have the nucleus of a very, very, very good side, but should we disrupt that? Well, you only need look at West Ham and what price they paid for selling the likes of Ferdinand and Lampard two years ago. Admittedly DVB isn’t a City player… but surely we should be making noises to try to keep him, not conceding so early in the piece that he won’t stay because we’re not big enough.

Sorry for being so negative.

OPINION: BIG DAN OR BIG DAVE? II

Keegan has stated van Buyten is unlikely to be at City next season. The situation being other clubs are now taking notice how good this player is, clubs who have the funds to pay big money for such a player. In reality if he helps us stay in the Premier League he will have done his job for us, and he will have had his opportunity to show his skills to other clubs.

The rich clubs all have a head start in the Premier League, they have the players to compete in Europe, and that means more cash to get even stronger and buy such players as van Buyten. Maybe a new investor will show up to help City?

I think that Kevin Keegan has done a very good job for City considering how much cash he has had to buy players of quality. Not all the players though have been a success, but which other club have bought players that never were a success? It’s happened to everyone. The players that KK has put on the field have played some brilliant football, trouble being the finishing, I know a lot was bad luck, it will soon be that we scored a “lucky goal” That would be a change!

I know that KK is just being honest about the van Buyten situation, but maybe it’s best left until the end of the season, we don’t need any bad news right now.

Let’s concentrate on the next game against the Rags, and practice our finishing. After that, one game at a tim; all clubs at the bottom are fighting for survival, it’s not that easy, let’s keep anything negative away from the players, they now have to give their best for their own pride and for City. We have to continue to give our support to KK and the team.

I predict a win against the Evil Empire, a win that will lift all City supporters.

Come on you Blues!

OPINION: BIG DAN OR BIG DAVE? III

Perhaps in the light of Kevin Keegan’s comments that he thinks Daniel van Buyten will move on to a “bigger club” next season, perhaps there could be some way us fans could campaign to keep him, or at the very least let the man know how much we want to keep him here. At least I want him to stay, as I was impressed with him the moment he touched the ball against Birmingham. Put it this way, would you want David Sommeil back?

[Sommeil’s still in the UEFA Cup 😉 – Ed]

OPINION: ATMOSPHERE

I don’t think the lack of atmosphere at home games is anything to do with the new stadium, in fact I think that this problem goes back a lot further than that. Let’s face facts, the atmosphere wasn’t that great at Maine Road in the last few years.

I think that the problem started when the old Kippax was dismantled, don’t forget that this was largest popular “ends” in the country, with nearly a third of the ground singing. When the Kippax was dismantled, all the fans from there migrated to other parts of the ground, with the hard core singers assembling in the North Stand. When the new Kippax was opened, some migrated back, but most stayed in the North Stand, and were separated from the Kippax singers by the away fans.

I honestly think that the club has missed an opportunity by repeating this mistake; the away fans are again inbetween the 2 singing sections of the crowd, therefore, chants that start in one area don’t carry through to the next.

Imagine if the away fans had been put at the other side of the stand next to the main stand, there would be chants that started behind one of the goals, and carrying all the way round to the other one with no natural opposition in its way, in effect 30,000 people singing. As things are, when a chant or song starts, it dies before it can catch on in the next section.

I don’t know whether it is too late now to review the seating arrangements; I hope not, because this club have the fans who can create an atmosphere to match any ground in the world.

Keep the faith.

REQUEST: DERBY TICKET

I’m not the first and won’t be the last to request one ticket. Based now in Hertfordshire, I don’t get the chance to return to Manchester on a regular basis. However, I happen to be in Manchester on 14 March for a family celebration and would love it if I could see the match. I’ve supported City for over 40 years and recently witnessed the Spurs cup game and the infamous Millwall game.

REQUEST: DENTON BLUES

Our next meeting is on Monday 8th March, 8pm start, when our special guests will be Doug Smith, Head of Ticketing at MCFC, and Sara Billington, Operations Manager at MCFC. All OSC members welcome. For further details please contact me directly.

REQUEST: CORRESPONDENTS WANTED

We currently run a voluntary Correspondents section (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/et/corr/correspondents?league=ENG.1&cc=5739) to give a fan’s view of a particular club and I was wondering if you knew of anybody who would be interested in taking up the position of Manchester City Correspondent?

Some of our existing Correspondents use the page to air their views and help promote their own websites (e.g.: Leeds, Leicester) and I was wondering if any of your users/regulars would be interested.

REQUEST: GORNIK PROGRAMME

Desperately seeking the ECWC Final 1970 vs. Gornik Z programme. If you have one or know of one for sale please make contact. I need it to complete my collection of post-war City Cup Final programmes.

REQUEST: BLUES VIEWING IN CHINA

I am going to be in Wuhan, China for the derby game. I know it is a long shot, but is there anyone out there who will be able to keep me company and stop me annoying the guys in the next hotel rooms with my shouting at the telly?

REQUEST: BLUES VIEWING IN TASMANIA

MCIVTA 996 had a request from Steve Horton about if any Blues in Tasmania will be watching the derby – I don’t know but the people at the Tasmania soccer website might: http://www.soccertas.org.au

RESULTS

3 March 2004

Birmingham City       3 - 1  Middlesbrough         29,369

League table to 03 March 2004 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Arsenal         27 11  2  0 26  9  9  5  0 27  9 20  7  0  53  18  35  67
 2 Chelsea         27  8  2  3 22 10 10  2  2 26 11 18  4  5  48  21  27  58
 3 Manchester Utd  27  9  3  2 30 13  9  1  3 21 12 18  4  5  51  25  26  58
 4 Newcastle Utd   27  8  3  3 23  9  2  9  2 15 19 10 12  5  38  28  10  42
 5 Charlton Ath.   27  5  3  5 21 22  6  4  4 17 12 11  7  9  38  34   4  40
 6 Liverpool       26  6  2  4 18 13  4  7  3 20 16 10  9  7  38  29   9  39
 7 Birmingham City 26  6  4  3 17 15  4  5  4 11 14 10  9  7  28  29  -1  39
 8 Aston Villa     27  7  4  2 19 12  3  3  8 13 20 10  7 10  32  32   0  37
 9 Fulham          27  7  3  4 22 16  3  3  7 17 22 10  6 11  39  38   1  36
10 Tottenham H.    26  7  2  5 28 23  3  2  7 11 19 10  4 12  39  42  -3  34
11 Bolton Wndrs    26  3  7  3 15 14  5  3  5 17 26  8 10  8  32  40  -8  34
12 Southampton     27  6  4  4 16 11  2  5  6 11 16  8  9 10  27  27   0  33
13 Middlesbrough   26  3  4  6 11 16  5  3  5 17 18  8  7 11  28  34  -6  31
14 Everton         27  6  4  4 21 15  1  4  8 12 24  7  8 12  33  39  -6  29
15 Blackburn R.    27  3  3  7 20 24  4  4  6 19 20  7  7 13  39  44  -5  28
16 Manchester City 27  2  7  4 17 16  4  2  8 19 23  6  9 12  36  39  -3  27
17 Portsmouth      26  6  2  5 23 15  0  4  9  6 25  6  6 14  29  40 -11  24
18 Wolves          27  5  5  3 17 22  0  4 10  7 30  5  9 13  24  52 -28  24
19 Leicester City  27  2  7  5 14 23  2  4  7 23 28  4 11 12  37  51 -14  23
20 Leeds United    27  3  5  6 15 22  2  2  9 11 31  5  7 15  26  53 -27  22

MCIVTA FAQ [v0304.06]

[0] MCIVTA Addresses

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

 News/rumour (Don Barrie)         : news@mcivta.city-fan.org

 Subscriptions (Madeleine Hawkins): subscriptions@mcivta.city-fan.org

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

 FAQ (David Warburton)            : faq@mcivta.city-fan.org

[1] What are MCIVTA’s publishing deadlines?

Deadlines for issues are nominally 6pm, 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] What is the club’s official web site?

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

[4] What supporters’ clubs are there?

Manchester City FC recognises three supporters’ clubs: The “Official Supporters Club” (http://www.mancity.net/osc/); the “Centenary Supporters’ Association” (http://www.reddishblues.com/CSAWebsite/CSA.htm) and “The International Supporters’ Club” (http://www.mcfc.co.uk/article.asp?article=111845&Title=International+Supporters+Club&lid=Membership).

[5] Where can I find out about the 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] What match day broadcasts are available on the web?

The GMR pre and post match phone-in is available on the web at http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/gmr/sport_intro.shtml.

Live match commentaries and archives of games, reports and interviews can be found at http://www.mcfctv.com/, whilst an alternate live commentary service, hosted by Yahoo, is located at http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/foot/englandprem/cal/index.html.

[7] Where can I find out if City are live on satellite TV?

http://www.satfootball.com/pl.html provides a listing of Premiership games being shown on UK domestic and foreign satellite channels. Useful sites for North American viewers are http://canadatvsoccer.tripod.com/Fixtures.htm, http://www.foxsportsworld.com/named/FSW/Index/Soccer, and http://www.soccertv.com/.

http://www.foxsportsworld.com/content/view?contentId=1288602 also provides a guide to pubs in the USA showing football.

[8] What’s the music the teams run out to?

It’s actually a mix of two tracks. It starts with “O Verona” (from the motion picture “William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet”) and leads in to “Barber’s Adagio for Strings (Ferry Corsten remix)” by William Orbit. The first part is available on the movie soundtrack (volume 2) and the second is included on a variety of CDs such as Kiss House Nation 2000, Galaxy Hit Mix, Cream Live, Ibiza Chill and Dance Nation 4.

[9] Do we have a Usenet newsgroup?

Yes we do: uk.sport.football.clubs.man-city is our home on usenet. If you are not familiar with usenet, a basic explanation is available here: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,289893,sid9_gci213262,00.html

[10] Do any squad members have their own web pages?

There are a number available and direct links can be found at http://www.uit.no/mancity/players/

[11] Can I buy shares in the club?

Yes you can: Shares in Manchester City PLC are traded on OFEX. The latest prices can be on found the OFEX web site http://www.ofex.com/ (registration required) or in the business section of the Manchester Evening News.

[12] Where can I find match statistics?

Statistics for the current season are available from the club site, but for a more in-depth analysis try http://www.mcfcstats.com/ or http://www.citystat.net/.

[13] Acknowledgements

Thanks go to Damian Quinn, Stephen Webb, Roger Haigh, Martin Price, and Adrian Howarth for the Satellite TV info.

DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in MCIVTA are entirely those of the subscribersand there is no intention to represent these opinions as being thoseof Manchester City Football Club, nor of any of the companies anduniversities by whom the subscribers are employed. It is not inany way whatsoever connected to the club or any other relatedorganisation and is simply a group of supporters using this mediumas a means of disseminating news and exchanging opinions.

Heidi Pickup, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

Editor: