Newsletter #1050

A very short issue tonight with opinion on James following England’s 2-2 draw at the weekend, Macca who is claiming he wants to return to Spain, Wanchope and the atmosphere.

We’re back in action on Saturday as Everton visit.

OPINION: JAMES

I couldn’t care less about international football or the English national team. As long as David James is doing it for City I really couldn’t give a s**t how he does for England, in fact he can save his mistakes for the national team.

Two weeks into the season and already it’s international break. Next week there’ll be more moaning about the season being too long (and we all know who from). Flapper Seaman never got the abuse James is getting but he was rubbish for most of the last 4 years he played for England. He only got in the team ’cause Arsenal had a fantastic defence. As soon as he was behind the England defence, or worse, ours, he was pants.

Come on David, screw England, we pay your wages not that bunch of t**sers at Soho Square.

OPINION: EL MACCA

I’ve been a bit hesitant about submitting anything to MCIVTA this season because I didn’t renew my City season ticket – so haven’t seen any matches this season. The travel to and from CoMS from Bristol on our wonderful road network was wearing in the extreme even though it was shared by my pal and I. But reading at first a brief article on Teamtalk concerning McManaman and then following it up by reading the whole story in the Daily Telegraph made me want to see if any other MCIVTA subscribers had read the same thing. Interestingly it’s not been picked up by Manchester Online – yet.

In it McManaman shows what a poseur he is. He claims he’d like to go back to Spain to end his career because he’s appreciated there! It strikes me that there is something radically wrong with football when this waster can ‘earn’ a reputed £30,000 per week – yes, fellow readers £1.5 million per year – for doing very little. I wonder what it would take to have a few of these freeloaders sacked. His injury record is appalling (if that was illness he’d probably be hearing from his HR department if he were in regular employment).

It will be interesting to see what will happen if the City supporters get access to his Telegraph interview. Strangely enough Fowler was reported on Teamtalk as saying he’s not the player he was – yes, I think most of us have noticed that! What do other readers think of the wages these guys are paid these days? Yeah, I know footballers have a short working life – but then if one earns in excess of £1 million per year how many years does have to work? Most of us who are on reasonably good pay (say £35,000 per year) do not earn much more than £2 million after working for 40 years!

[Begs the question what is stopping him then! – Ed]

OPINION: WANCHOPE

I too am disappointed with the sale of Paulo – he was popular with the majority of the fans and he could never be faulted for his work rate and his ability to confuse the opposition (and the supporters!). I agree that the fee also seems small given what we paid for him and his pedigree at both club and international level. It doesn’t seem to make sense especially as all he wanted to be able to do was his best for City and in light of his performances towards the end of last season. I am a Keegan fan, but if I am to be critical of the manager it is that we seem to have squandered a lot of money in the transfer market with signings and sales that do not seem to make much sense.

OPINION: ATMOSPHERE

I am always interested in reading contributions about the atmosphere issue, and it seems the debate is still alive after a year, so I guess nothing has been done by the club. I remember suggesting the introduction of a stand dedicated to chanting fans in an attempt to recreate a new “Kippax”.

I sympathise with the frustration Andrew Lowrey felt. Leaving the ground before the final whistle is a bad habit I noticed whenever I was lucky to be at Maine Road/Eastlands. And if I could understand traffic problems at Maine Road, the City of Manchester Stadium doesn’t look as if it can cause similar problems; maybe if the Metrolink is ever stretched there things will change.

But I can’t really blame the fans. I haven’t seen City play this year, but the beginning of this season sounded to everyone like the continuation of the last one. Who knows, maybe it was wrong to panic after raising just one point in three games, but it is also wrong to get too excited after the hammering of Charlton. My opinion is that the City fans were right in showing no change in their leaving the ground before final whistle. To the fans at the stadium this probably meant that 4-0 hasn’t changed the way things have been for 12 months (awful, considering the money invested/wasted… there’s another debate for you). It’s a step forward. It can be, but it’s nothing else.

As soon as we understand City are having a good season, more fans will stay until the end, the average attendance will increase and the atmosphere will benefit from it (even though I’m strongly convinced the club should do something about it).

REQUEST: DENTON BLUES

The next meeting of Denton OSC takes place on Monday 13th September when our special guests are Brian Horton and Ian Brightwell. Meeting commences at 8pm, Denton Con Club.

For further details, please contact me direct.

RESULTS

League table to 05 September 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          4  2  0  0  8  3  2  0  0  8  2  4  0  0  16   5  11  12
 2 Chelsea          4  2  0  0  3  1  2  0  0  3  0  4  0  0   6   1   5  12
 3 Bolton Wndrs     4  2  0  0  5  1  1  0  1  2  3  3  0  1   7   4   3   9
 4 Tottenham H.     4  1  1  0  2  1  1  1  0  2  1  2  2  0   4   2   2   8
 5 Middlesbrough    4  1  1  0  4  3  1  0  1  5  5  2  1  1   9   8   1   7
 6 Aston Villa      4  2  0  0  6  2  0  1  1  1  4  2  1  1   7   6   1   7
 7 Everton          4  1  0  1  3  5  1  1  0  3  1  2  1  1   6   6   0   7
 8 Charlton Ath.    4  2  0  0  5  1  0  0  2  1  8  2  0  2   6   9  -3   6
 9 Manchester Utd   4  1  1  0  2  1  0  1  1  1  2  1  2  1   3   3   0   5
10 Manchester City  4  1  1  0  5  1  0  0  2  1  3  1  1  2   6   4   2   4
11 Portsmouth       3  1  1  0  5  4  0  0  1  1  2  1  1  1   6   6   0   4
12 Liverpool        3  1  0  0  2  1  0  1  1  1  2  1  1  1   3   3   0   4
13 Fulham           4  1  0  1  2  2  0  1  1  4  5  1  1  2   6   7  -1   4
14 Birmingham City  4  1  0  1  1  1  0  1  1  1  2  1  1  2   2   3  -1   4
15 West Brom A.     4  0  2  0  2  2  0  1  1  2  3  0  3  1   4   5  -1   3
16 Southampton      4  1  0  1  4  4  0  0  2  1  4  1  0  3   5   8  -3   3
17 Newcastle Utd    4  0  1  1  2  3  0  1  1  4  6  0  2  2   6   9  -3   2
18 Norwich City     4  0  1  1  2  5  0  1  1  3  4  0  2  2   5   9  -4   2
19 Blackburn R.     4  0  2  0  2  2  0  0  2  2  6  0  2  2   4   8  -4   2
20 Crystal Palace   4  0  0  2  1  5  0  1  1  2  3  0  1  3   3   8  -5   1

MCIVTA FAQ [v0405.01]

[1] 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

[2] What are MCIVTA’s publishing deadlines?

Deadlines for issues are nominally 6pm, Monday and Thursday evenings bu email. Unfortunately we cannot accept email attachments.

[3] 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.

[4] What is the club’s official web site?

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

[5] 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).

[6] 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.

[7] 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/.

[8] 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/.

[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] Where can I find a list of City-related websites?

Try Wookie’s Lair: http://www.wookieslair.com/modules.php?name=Web_Links

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: