Newsletter #1034

The main news over the weekend is the impending signing of Danny Mills from Leeds, who is due to complete negotiations today or tomorrow. Keegan states he is still looking for a forward to join the reserves, despite letting Elliott go to Sunderland.

Opinion tonight on the Royle ruling, Vuoso, Sky and a couple of requests.

OPINION: VUOSO

Does anyone know how much we have actually spent on Vuoso? It’s almost certain that the deal would have been based on payment up front followed by bonuses (as is the Anelka deal, as was Fowler, so it’s pretty standard). The talk of us throwing away £2.5 million on the player is simply inaccurate and helps to paint an unfair picture of the way the money has been spent. Seeing as the lad never even played for us, let alone scored a goal, there would have been no outside bonuses paid.

And how can JR claim that there was no drinking culture at the club? Did Nick Weaver just suffer from water retention?

OPINION: ROYLE FLUSH I

Just thought I would add my opinion into the debate surrounding the Joe Royle situation – Joe did his best for City and it was a bit of a shock when he was sacked even after we were relegated. Whatever people’s opinions of him are now, he left the club in a massively improved state than what he inherited from a succession of imbecilic managers.

He whittled away the dead wood and installed a team spirit, whilst at the same time creating a bond between the fans and the players.

Having said that, he was clearly not up to the task of keeping us in the Premiership, but it could be argued that he was a victim of his own success, as finishing mid-table and consolidating in Division 1 in the season that we won promotion would have been 100% acceptable for all City fans.

But the point I am trying take make here is not about JR, it is about our legal team. I cannot believe that a PLC did not clarify beyond doubt that we were not liable to pay JR the full £750,000 rather than the reduced amount. What on earth were they thinking? I can visualise the conversation that JR refers to as a belts and braces conversation between one of City’s hierarchy and the Premier League. I think that the court ruling was absolutely correct, and I hope that JR enjoys spending the money on his retirement. After dragging our great club up by the bootlaces, he deserves it.

And please let’s hire some decent lawyers next time we do something like that eh?

P.S. I can’t believe that the meeting held to decide JR’s future was held… in an Indian restaurant in Rusholme. Give me strength!

OPINION: ROYLE FLUSH II

This is a highly malodorous mess in which a miscellaneous assortment of opportunism, incompetence, legal niceties and the real world all combined to create a legal and moral morass, from which no side emerges with any credit. In the end I believe that the behaviour on both sides was legally flawless and uniformly morally bankrupt.

It seems that JR’s contract was linked to MCFC’s legal status as a Premiership club. While everyone knew that City would be back in the Nationwide (again!) after the Chelsea game, until such time as certain formalities were concluded, City was still legally a Premiership club. JR argued in effect that even if you are served with an eviction notice, you are entitled to live in the house until the notice expires. Therefore, having been ejected before the eviction notice expired, JR was legally entitled to payment based on City’s Premiership status.

However, JR’s primary responsibility was for the team’s results, and where it mattered – on the football field – he had demonstrably failed to secure MCFC’s position in the Premiership. Based on his results, JR deserved to be sacked. While MCFC was not formally relegated until after JR actually was sacked, the chances that City would be allowed to play in the Premiership in 2001/2 were about the same as The Sun being voted in as the Quality Newspaper of the Year in the city of Liverpool. To a limited extent I can understand JR’s annoyance at being given the bum’s rush, but, on balance, his court action appears to smack of opportunism and be inspired by sour grapes. Whatever the circumstances of his sacking, morally JR had not earned compensation at the Premiership rate.

And what about MCFC’s haste to be rid of JR? Why the hurry? Was it because our Kev would not move in before our Joe had moved out? Fair enough, but just like JR’s, MCFC’s behaviour was legally correct and morally bankrupt when it sought legal advice from the Premier League just hours after the Chelsea game. What was wrong with MCFC and JR getting together over the weekend to come to a decent and amicable settlement?

In the end, neither side emerges with any credit. However, I am not at all surprised that JR won his case – in the surreal world of the law, what is written down does not necessarily have to have any connection with the real world, and MCFC clearly jumped the gun. I sincerely hope that MCFC thinks seriously before throwing good money after bad, in pursuing this odious and shabby case to appeal.

OPINION: SKY VIEWING I

Nice to see that Lance Thomson is provoking some healthy debate, and he does have a fair point about what the majority of our supporters want, I too am a season card holder and 3pm Saturday’s are so much more convenient for my travel. However, by contract City are going to be televised a minimum or set number of times during the season (like it or not!), and I’m not asking for more, but would expect to see a schedule that gives a balance of when televised and where; we don’t currently have that.

It’s also worth noting that this forum was primarily set up to keep exiles in the information loop, although many of us in the UK are now subscribers. Due to distance, many of the exiles rely on TV coverage and the odd expensive trip home, perhaps referring to them as armchair supporters is a bit naughty.

OPINION: SKY VIEWING II

In response to the conundrum posed by Lance in the last issue, why don’t Sky televise matches played at 3pm on Saturday afternoons? I’ve never understood why this isn’t done. I know there’s an argument that attendances would be lower, but doesn’t this apply to a televised match played at any time? Also if Sky were to pay a substantial sum to the club to compensate for the lower attendance, everyone would be happy! This would please the supporters who attend the match and the armchair/pub/foreign-based supporters.

OPINION: RITCHIE CORRECTION

As a City and Metros supporter I just thought I’d let you know that Paul Ritchie will not be signing for the Metrostars. The BBC, Edinburgh Evening News and others had reported that he did, but not even 24 hours later the story changed. The BBC story was amended with the following quote by Ritchie: “I have discussed it with my family and decided it is not the right move at this time.”

REQUEST: CAR SHARE

Two exiled mancs aged approx 50, looking for 2 like minded souls in the Weston Super Mare area or along the M5 corridor, to share the driving to home and away games. If interested please call Garry on 01934 521092 or 07980780143.

REQUEST: ARIZONA BLUES

I will be relocating to Phoenix, Arizona in the next couple of months. Are there any Blues based in Phoenix that get together for games and or beers?

REQUEST: MORE BARGAIN SHIRTS

Anyone looking to buy City shirts should check out http://www.football-is-us.com/ where the latest shirts can be bought for 32 dollars, about £18 depending on exchange rate, including delivery.

[Apart from the ones they show currently are last season’s – Ed]

BLUE HUMOUR

What with the imminent arrival of Danny Mills to the City squad, I was thinking that had we have signed Dominic Matteo as well; the City back four would have boasted an Englishman, an Irishman, a Welshman and a Scotsman. Whoever said City’s defence was a joke?!

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: