Newsletter #1026

A brief issue tonight, after a weekend which saw England do a City and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, Arthur Cox’s retirement, and van Buyten’s signing for Hamburg.

EDITORIAL NOTICE

Mads (our Subscriptions lady) has kindly agreed to step in for issue 1027 as I take a break; please keep your articles coming to the usual address.

OPINION: OUR MAN IN LISBON

Long time MCIVTA contributor, Lisbon-based Simon Curtis, is doing a series of on-the-spot (Blue) reports from Euro2004 for the MCFC website.

Here’s the latest instalment: http://www.mcfc.co.uk/article.asp?article=208499&Title=BLUE+TEARS+IN+LISBON

OPINION: DVB I

Leaving aside the admittedly speculative on-pitch effects of Daniel van Buyten going to Hamburg, what really worries me here is what it reflects off the pitch at the club. Let’s put this in perspective: he went for a reported 4 million Euros, just over 2.5 million pounds. Now I know we’ve been hearing all summer that there’s no money, that Keegan will have to wheel and deal, be creative in the transfer market, but the fact we can’t raise even this amount raises big questions.

A top defender wants to stay, the manager wants him, the fans want him, if ever there was a case for finding the money from somewhere this was it. Premiership places are worth about what, half a million pounds each? So we would have to become mid-table for buying van Buyten to make simple business sense – I think most people feel he could have actually made that kind of difference.

As someone asked a couple of editions ago, where does all the money go? And can any accountants out there give us a bit of an analysis of just how bad a state we’re in… ?

OPINION: DVB II

So many City fans wanted to see DvB sign after giving us some decent displays whilst on loan. I had a feeling that things were going nowhere in our bid to sign him when Sommeil was on his way back.

I always try to look at the bright side of things and so I have to ask “Why did no top club ever jump in for DvB?” Of course in most cases the answer would be they already have decent central defenders.

My concern now will be: will another young City star be leaving the club? And would that be young McCarthy, an up and coming central defender.? City should make sure that this young lad has a contract, he could become one of our future central defenders.

It’s a pity that John Wardle and the board did not step in earlier last season with some of our signings and tell KK there is not enough money. At least then we might have had a little for this season. This coming season will prove one way or another how good a coach KK is, for now he has to get the best out of the players that he has.

Still, there’s time for another player or two to leave, and maybe a player come in before the season starts.

REQUEST: PETER BODAK

Could someone give me the playing history of Peter Bodak?

REQUEST: INTERTOTO?

I just read Dublin’s 98FM website, which has us now playing in the Intertoto Cup.

I looked on the UEFA website and according to that English teams aren’t even in the competition. Can anyone shed any light?

MCIVTA FAQ [v0304.07]

[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?

At the start of the 03/04 season it was actually a mix of two tracks: Starting with “O Verona” (from the film “William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet”) leading 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.

Currently we use a selection of different music, which seems to change each game.

[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/.

[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: