Newsletter #1106

Tonight we have a round-up of all things happening post the Spurs game, latest on the rumoured moves, match report, a view to the future and the usual requests and opinion.

No action this weekend due to international games, a handful of Blues called up, so a happy Easter break to everyone out there.

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

Call Me Gaffer: Inevitably the majority of this week’s City press coverage concerned the manager’s post, with more details seeping out about players’ dissatisfaction with KK’s methods, with reports of SP’s improvements and with yet more speculation on next season’s supremo. The Sunday People wrote that the board are split over who should be KK’s permanent successor. Votes for Alan Curbishley and Sam Allardyce have been registered, although the Charlton Athletic manager gave a Martin O’Neill-like vehement denial this week. “I take the Man City speculation with a pinch of salt. I’m not going to say that I’m flattered, like Iain Dowie did. I did notice that my name cropped up because they’re £62 million in debt and they wanted someone who could deal with that. I’ve done that already,” added Curbishley, who took over at Charlton when they were close to bankruptcy. “And I don’t need to do it again.” Yet the majority of City’s board are said to favour Pearce, whose revamping of the players’ training is already being viewed favourably. Pearce admitted he had “cranked up” the tempo of training and David James highlighted the differences, explaining: “Effectively, we’ve had four days’ training and each day it’s been on specific areas, i.e. defending, midfield or attack. It’s just focus, focus.” Asked what training was like under Keegan, James added, simply, “Five-a-sides”. Joey Barton was keen to thank Keegan publicly for giving him his first-team chance, revealing that the former England manager had not been back to say his farewells. He said: “He did a lot of things, he turned the club from a First Division side to a mid-table Premiership side and, regardless of people’s opinions, anyone who takes a step back and looks at it has got to say Keegan has done a lot of good for the club. He didn’t come to the training ground – everyone has their own way of doing things – and it’s unfortunate because I would have liked to thank him for everything he did for me.” Joey wins the prize for this week’s best SP story. “I asked him the other day what I have to call him now he is the manager,” the midfielder said. “I asked him if I could still call him Pearcey or Stu. He said ‘everyone else can call me Pearcey but you have got to call me Gaffer’. So I call him Gaffer. You don’t mess with Stuart Pearce!”

Badly Drawn Boys: On Monday City’s Reserves were held 1-1 at home by Wolverhampton Wanderers. On eight minutes John Macken gave the Blues the lead with a curler from the edge of the box. Macken had the chance to double his and his side’s tally, but saw his penalty saved. City were left to rue this miss as well as a handful of others, as Wolves equalised in the second half thanks to Leon Clarke. The match was also notable for the return of Geert De Vlieger. The Belgian shot stopper kept goal in the first half, and was replaced after this trouble free workout by Nicky Weaver at half time. Team: De Vlieger (Weaver 46), Warrender, Collins, J D’Laryea, Sommeil, Bischoff, Croft, Negouai, Macken (Miller 77), B Wright-Phillips (Bermingham 66), Ireland. Subs: Richards, Bennett.

International DJ: David James is hoping he can reclaim his England place for this week’s World Cup qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan. “My goal is to play in the World Cup but I don’t pick the side and all I can do is perform for City and hope that in some way that is going to influence selection,” James said. “I know from the past that in general the influence on selection is what happens at international level, which arguably is right. It’s a case of me trying to reproduce my best every week. It is a cliché but all I can do now is work hard in training and do all the psychology stuff. I have to remain positive and perform and make sure I’m ready if and when I’m called upon again. The great thing from the Austria game is that I’ve learned from it. I didn’t think I’d say that because I didn’t want to be in that position but the experience genuinely has been a learning curve and now I’m ready for the next go.”

Transfer News and Gossip

Gunner Go for Sweep: The press still contend that Shaun Wright Phillips will be sold this summer. As usual, Arsenal are said to be leading the charge (although a bid of £10 million, as per the Mirror, wouldn’t buy much of our prize asset surely?), and now we’re treated to speculation that the mighty Barcelona are sniffing around. Barça’s Director of Sport, Txiki Beguiristain wouldn’t however be drawn on the Catalan giants’ summer targets. “Barça are a club who are doing a lot of work and are following many players in Europe, not just one or two,” maintained Beguiristain. “It is still too early to talk about defining our targets.” Such stories brought forth furious denials from the club. John Wardle said he had spoken to Sweep and “He told me he just wishes that the transfer talk would go away. He says he’s fed up with people asking him if he’s going to stay or go. Shaun said he is a Manchester City player and he is happy to stay here. We aren’t looking to sell Shaun Wright-Phillips at this stage. I am happy he is here and let’s hope that doesn’t change.” Unsurprisingly Gaffer Psycho was of a similar mind. “I would prefer the best players to stay here, and I think I can improve him. He is an extremely good player, who could play anywhere in the world – but as far as I am concerned he has a big future here.” Of SWP’s injury status, Pearce said: “We are trying to get Shaun back as quickly as possible without putting him under undue stress. He will come back when it is right for him to do so, no quicker, no later.”

The Flashing Blade? The only other piece of transfer tittle-tattle I can find this week concerns another potential departure. Sheffield United are said to be keeping tabs on Christian Negouai. The Blades have recently been watching the Frenchman in the reserves.

Ex-Blues’ News

Splashing the Cash for Nash: We have word on the fate of a trio of City’s Division One Championship squad. Preston North End have signed City’s former goalkeeper Carlo Nash on a three-and-a-half year contract from Middlesbrough. The 31-year-old started his career with Clitheroe before going onto play for Crystal Palace, Stockport and City. The deal could cost Preston up to £175,000 overall.

Sky Blue Goat: He couldn’t resist the lure of playing in a Sky Blue shirt, could he? Shaun Goater has joined relegation threatened Championship side Coventry City from Reading in a loan deal that lasts to the end of the season. The 34-year-old has been frozen out by the Royals (managed by failed City boss Steve Coppell) with just 18 minutes of first team action since October. “I want to be playing – it’s a chance to jump into the melting pot with Coventry’s situation,” mused the Goat. “The way my situation at Reading was carrying on, it was more and more apparent that I wasn’t going to play for the first team.” Meanwhile City’s former skipper, Steve Howey, looks set to join Hartlepool United for the rest of the season. The 33-year-old aims to bolster the Pools’ promotion push from League One, where they are currently fifth.

Reactions and Comments

Spurs Give City the Elbow: Robbie Keane came off the bench to pinch a late winner as Tottenham wrecked Stuart Pearce’s managerial start at White Hart Lane. City had gone behind to a 14th-minute goal from Jermain Defoe after Nedum Onuoha had gifted possession to Andy Reid. But Claudio Reyna struck a minute before the break and the goal appeared to have earned City a point until Keane’s winner six minutes from time. The game ended in controversy with Joey Barton forced to leave the field for treatment with blood pouring from a head wound after complaining he had been elbowed in an off-the-ball incident as Keane scored. On Monday Spurs Thimothee Atouba was charged with violent conduct as TV replays appeared to show the Cameroon international elbowing Barton in the face off the ball. The incident was missed by the referee but the English Football Association charged Atouba on Monday after viewing video evidence. Pearce did not think it had much bearing on the outcome. “I never thought I would say this as a manager, but I didn’t see it,” he said. “Joey has got a cut on his eye and feels that Thimothee Atouba elbowed him or something of that nature. But these things happen in the game. I can’t condone it, all I can do is organise my team and make sure they play in the right manner. I don’t think it contributed to the goal that Robbie scored. If it had been in the box, I would have said it did but I’m disappointed we conceded a goal and I don’t want to make a big issue of what went on. That is better left for Tottenham to deal with at their end. As far as I and my players are concerned, the matter is finished. I would not like that to distract from what I thought was a reasonably exciting game. For me that incident was not the main concern of the game. That concern was the spirit my players showed and I was very pleased with that. A draw was probably a fair result today. Maybe we ran out of legs in the last 15 minutes which cost us a touch. I think we had as many decent chances as them during the game. There were a lot of encouraging things for me. I was pleased with the spirit we showed. I have been for the last week.” Spurs’ coach Martin Jol admitted his side were not at their best. “You can play games like this and not come away with points,” said Jol. “They might have deserved a point but we have had games where we deserved things and today it wasn’t to be for them.” Asked about the elbowing incident, Jol replied: “I have heard the explanation from Thimothee and I have known him for the last eight months. I have not seen him being booked or doing anything on the pitch, so I will have to look at the television. Maybe the images will show something but when I speak to a player I always like to keep it private. I am not saying he did nothing because we have to see the television. I haven’t seen anything.” Later reports suggested that Atouba claimed to have been racially abused prior to his violent act, a charge which City will hotly dispute.

Right Side Reyna: Claudio Reyna at least had some positives from White Hart Lane. Playing on the right hand side of the midfield, the USA international equalised just before half time. “It was very disappointing because we lost it at the end. They had three chances and scored twice and they were both very odd goals,” he said. “The first was a mis-hit that if it had gone six inches either way, Defoe wouldn’t have scored. Then the second was a deflection that fell perfectly to Keane. Looking back, Stuart wanted us to defend well and keep it tight. That made sense for his first game and we had worked a lot on that in training. But we still created enough chances to at least get a draw and I think we deserved that. It was good, though. The spirit of the team was good; we battled well and were nice and compact. They never picked us apart at any time.” Speaking of his second ever goal in a City shirt, Reyna commented: “I just gambled. I played it in to Joey and when I continued my run it fell perfectly. I hit it first time on my left foot and it was nice to get the team back into the game. At half-time, we felt that we could win the game. They hadn’t created too much and Sylvain and Dunnie were colossal as ever. We started the second half brightly, we had some good chances, some dangerous moments but we just didn’t get that break.”

Honest Mistake: The new Boss Man surprised a few punters by picking Nedum Onuoha at right back in preference to Danny Mills. And Pearce was quick to deflect any criticism for his young player after the game. “The choice of Nedum was if you like a team selection statement,” he explained. “I know Nedum quite well. He is a young up and coming star I think. He will learn as that was only his third Premiership start and he has just turned eighteen. Sometimes you have to back these young lads and I think he has the mentality to learn from any mistakes that he makes. I know that when I was playing football every time I made a mistake it was vital in my learning about the game. Nedum made a mistake on Saturday that proved costly but we will live with that. It was an honest mistake. When you are a young player you are going to make mistakes. The fans are screaming out for young blood but you have to understand that when you do put young players in they are liable to make the odd mistake. As long as they are doing it in an honest way then that is fine.” Pearce was also pleased with the reaction of Mills when he heard he was out of the starting line up. “I spoke with Danny Mills on Friday and explained the situation to him and that I was going to leave him out. He was fantastic about it. His attitude to being on the bench and being part of the team and getting on late in the game has been different class for me. That is the bottom line I expect from players. I cannot please every player every week. Every Premiership squad has got a big pool of players to draw from. I can only pick eleven, same as the next man and you are going to disappoint one or two. As far as I am concerned when you make a mistake quite early on in the game as Nedum did it is the spirit and reaction that I am looking for. Nedum showed a good spirit and reaction to it and I am proud of him.”

Squad News

Mikk Sticks Around: Mikkel Bischoff is crossing his fingers that a change of managers at the COMS will lead to a change in the young defender’s fortunes. “I’ve been really encouraged with what Stuart has done already,” said Bischoff, who also justified his decision to turn down a loan move to West Ham last week. “I just wanted to stay at City and give myself a real chance of making first team,” added Bischoff. “Stuart has shown a lot of faith in me and myself and Nedum Onouha both want to be regulars and play in the Premiership. I’ve suffered a bit with injury and I would have loved to have stayed longer at Wolves because that was good experience and I was really enjoying myself. But I want to stay at City and I know there is a good partnership in defence at the moment with Sylvan and Richard both playing well, but I believe I have a good chance in the future. I’m just going to keep working hard and hopefully my chance with come because that’s what I want.”

Dunne Deal: Richard Dunne is set to sign his new contract. “I didn’t have any second thoughts about my contract,” said Dunne. “I wasn’t signing the contract with Kevin Keegan. I was signing for Manchester City and I am quite happy here. Obviously it would be different if a new manager came in during the summer but it would be his choice if he didn’t want me here. I will be signing the contract. I think there is a lot here for the future. It is a great club to be at. It is a nice place and we have a nice training ground. We have the possibilities of becoming a big team and qualifying for Europe. It is something that I would love to be part of.” Asked for his view on the change in management, Dunnie stated: “Everyone was surprised to see Kevin go, especially when he said he was going to see out his contract. I think the way things worked out between him and the chairman, they decided it was best to make the break now. It gives us the chance to get a bit of fire in because there is a new manager here now. People are trying to press again and it gives us something to play for over the remainder of the season, rather than just fading away. There has been a different approach. It is strange because it is the same sort of regime. It is just the same thing with any job I suppose. Once there is a new man in, people step up their performances. The training has been a lot sharper. The players are really enjoying it, but it is one thing doing it on the training ground, it is another doing it in a match. Now we have to transfer the training sessions on to the pitch.”

MATCH REPORT: MCFC RESERVES 1 WWFC RESERVES 1

City faced Wolves for their re-arranged fixture on Monday night at MiniCoMS. Line-ups below. Macken was surprisingly drafted in for this one and we had the return of Geert de Vlieger after his 9 month absence due to injury.

City started brightly, and in a neat piece of play Croft passed to Macken on the edge of the area, who turned and shot a half volley past the hapless Wolves ‘keeper into the top right of the net. Three minutes later we had another Croft/Macken attack, but Macken failed to make the most of this chance.

BWP was then fouled and we were pleasantly surprised that the referee awarded a penalty. Not for long though, as Macken decided age before experience to take it (BWP is the usual reserve penalty taker) and this time the Wolves ‘keeper made the save, but palmed the ball out to the on-running BWP who hit the woodwork with his shot.

We had a couple of further chances, one resulting from a throw in, but Neggy’s header was cleared off the line. We could have been about 4-0 up at this stage, especially as Wolves were not troubling de Vlieger at the other end of the pitch.

After the break, de Vlieger was replaced by Weaver. The second half was better forgotten, not a memorable performance from either side. We were awarded a free kick about 25 yards out, which Neggy took but hit the post. Wolves were getting into the game by this stage and young Ricketts managed to lose Sommeil (who obviously was suffering from sommeil by this stage) and with Bischoff tracking back to cover, crossed in for Clarke to slot the ball home past Weaver.

Both City strikers were subbed, Miller added some impetus and in the dying minutes we were awarded a couple of corners but again failed to make anything of these.

Definitely 2 points dropped, and it looks like we can now say goodbye to any chances of the reserve league title.

MotM: Bischoff.

Manchester City: De Vlieger (Weaver 46), Warrender, Collins, D’Laryea, Sommeil, Bischoff, Croft, Negouai, Macken (Miller 77), BWP (Bermingham 66), Ireland.

Wolves: Ikeme, Clyde (Little 46), Flynn, Clingan (Fitzpatrick 59), Lowe, Bjorklund, Cornes, O’Connor, Clarke, Ricketts, Mullingan (Stewart 63).

OPINION: ONWARDS AND UPWARDS

I was very pleased to see our own Stuart Pearce appointed Manager of the Blues for the remainder of this season. I hope that he does really well and is awarded the job on a permanent basis. Mr Keegan’s period in charge, of less than four years, made him the longest serving manager for some considerable time and this fact points up one of City’s main faults over the past twenty five years and is a principal reason for our lack of success. It is my opinion that we need to establish a loyal and long serving staff that are recruited mainly, but not exclusively, from within the club. I hope that Mr Pearce becomes a catalyst for such a development.

City were very unfortunate to come away from Spurs without a point and the display was promising. Having watched almost all of City’s games this season on television here, often watching them three or four times, I have some points to make in the hope that Mr Pearce reads MCIVTA on a regular basis.

I pointed out in my only previous letter last December, that City’s first half performances far outmatched those given in the second half. The commentator in the Spurs match stated that if all of City’s games had finished at half time, they would be in a Champions’ League position. Why is this, I ask myself? The only conclusions that I can reach is that the team is not fit enough and includes too many old players who are at the end of their careers. Last Saturday, Paul Bosvelt, who has done well in the last three months, looked absolutely shattered when he was substituted and he was not alone. By the end of the game the team as a whole looked far more fatigued than Spurs did. Our new Manager must ensure that the team is amongst the fittest in the Premiership.

I was delighted that Nedum Onuoha was given the right full back berth and thought, apart from his error, that he played well. He will only get better with the experience of playing. Well done Mr Pearce for picking him. I doubt whether he would have been selected by KK. One point that I would make here is that for the whole of this season, Mills and to a lesser extent Barton and Dunne have unintelligently committed fouls on their opponent when the opponent has been carrying the ball away from our goal and posed no danger. The resulting free kicks, most frequently in our half of the field, would see the ball played dangerously into our penalty area. I hope that SP has noticed this and gets it stopped. Often the fouls have produced a yellow card and contributed to the loss of the player’s services due to suspension.

I know from the groans that I hear from Blues’ fans that I am not alone in noticing the number of occasions that our players give the ball away cheaply. Often the “give away” is in our half and results in dangerous situations and sometimes goals against. Apart from poor passing skills, one part of the problem is that when we get possession our players tend to scatter. We need two or three players, those with the best one or two touch skills, to help out the player in possession by running towards him and into a space. In this way, a short pass of five to ten yards can be made. The shorter the pass the more accurate it tends to be, and the quicker it is made, the less chance of it being intercepted. Of course long balls must be played when the occasion merits it; however, the greater the distance of the pass the more likely it is to be inaccurate and/or intercepted by an opponent.

Saturday’s performance saw a slight improvement where free kicks and corners were concerned. The improvement was sorely needed because all this season City have looked worse than amateurish in this area of the game. I hope that SP and his coaching staff really get to grips with this aspect of City’s game. I do not advocate copying Bolton’s style (horror, horror!) but we should learn from what other Premiership and continental teams do well. We need to become much more professional in our approach and all of our players and staff should be keen students of the game.

Mr Pearce must also get out the pruning knife. Many of KK’s poor signings need to be moved on in order to provide opportunities next season for our younger players. This will take time, as many have contracts beyond the end of the current season. However, as I pointed out last year, Sommeil, Negouai and McManaman must all move on. There are also others. Macken, hard as he tries, would not command a place in almost any other Premiership team and he has scored very few goals. Similar criticisms can be made of Sibierski, Reyna and Sinclair, all lacking in pace. Unfortunately, there will be one or two Academy players whom the staff will feel are not capable of making the Premiership grade. I hope that our Club continues to look after such players and finds them a team in a lower division. We need to develop a reputation as a caring “family” club that looks after any youngster opting to join us.

Our scouting system needs a complete overhaul. For decades we have made bad and expensive buys – even before KK’s time. Look, for example, at Spurs. They have signed a host of talented, young players (Defoe, Carrick, Reid, Dawson, Robinson, Huddlestone etc.) and I think they will be a power next season. Of course, we are handicapped by our past profligate spending on old and frequently injured players. We may also have missed the best of this season’s crop. However, it would serve City far better to recruit young promising players from the Championship, than the odd highly priced established “star”. The board will make some cash available this summer. A couple of wise buys of young players to cover those areas that we do not have an obvious player emerging from our own Academy would be a great encouragement for next season, particularly if we could also add two good Bosmans. However, our long term future, in the present financial circumstances, must be to grow our own talent.

I could go on, but I will finish by stating what is obvious to all City fans. The club must not sell SWP! The faithful fans, who turn up week in and week out, even after the most unencouraging displays, do need something to look forward to. It has been pointed out that City’s debt is well structured and therefore such a sale is not forced. Keep faith with the fans who have kept faith with you, is my message to the board.

Let’s keep improving and going forward! Up the Blues.

OPINION: SPANISH BLUES

In MCIVTA Philip Lines commented regarding SWP “(Summer move to Barcelona is the speculation of this premium newspaper). Oh how after his last visit to Spain SWP must be thrilled to be in the company of racist Spaniards who still think General Franco was a good president.” As a Blue living in Barcelona I can say the last place I would like to SWP is here, but not for the reasons quoted above.

The people of Barcelona loathe Franco and all he stood for; it was Franco who invited the German airforce to bomb Barcelona in the Spanish civil war, the people of Barcelona consider themselves Catalan first and Spanish a distant second, they are incredibly tolerant and with stars like Ronaldihno, Eto’o etc. are most definitely not racist. Having said all that SWP is probably off to the Arse which is a tragedy; à la Kinky we should build a team around him as any club with ambition would.

One of the many Blues in Barça!

OPINION: INTERNATIONAL BREAK

Another break in between games due to internationals; we now wish the stars picked to play for their countries good luck and come back without injury. Nice to see that Stuart Pearce will never stop a player playing for his country, knowing from his playing days that it’s a great honour, but if it’s detrimental to City that will be different, he puts City first. David James (England), Dunne (Ireland), Reyna (USA).

Some – and only a few – criticized Stu for not speaking up against the ref when Barton got the elbow from Atouba in the Spurs game, but Stu, who played a lot of his playing career under the best manager ever in football – Brian Clough – said Cloughie never ever argued with the refs.

I think that this is something very special that Stu has picked up, let’s face it how many managers ever won an argument with a ref? It’s a breath of fresh air to have a manager who thinks this way and not like Sir Red Face and Jose Mourinho who never seem to stop arguing with refs and officials. Atouba now claims City made racist remarks; that’s a disgusting thing to say about City, the players and we the fans are against racism, what a difference between Atouba and our Foe, both Lions of Cameroon.

Stu has said he is open to the players’ opinions, this is always very good for communications between players and manager, we then have a great “team spirit”, and someone might come up with a good idea to use in a game, or in training. Stu has already changed some training methods, which I am sure will be tougher than in the past; it’s reported that the players had to run around the ground seven times and anyone not making it would not be in the team, I like it.

Where improvement is needed is in set pieces in attack and defence. I would like to see young Bradley Wright-Phillips get his start instead of Sibierski. Bradley might be inexperienced but he has the pace, and will get better with more games under his belt. Another player that I would like see get a start is Lee Croft, but I feel sure that his day will come, just don’t want to see him leave City and not sign a new contract, that I feel would be a disaster. Richard Dunne is about to sign a new contract for three years – a true Blue.

So lots of positives from Stuart Pearce; just going into the shower now to try to sing “Give Pearce a Chance”.

OPINION: CROFT AND OTHER ACADEMY GRADUATES

I was at the Prestwich and Whitefield meeting last week with Stuart Pearce and John Wardle and the question was asked: ‘Will Lee Croft feature in your plans for Tottenham’ to which Stuart Pearce quickly said ‘No’.

This came as a bit of a shock to us all so he was asked to explain.

He said that anyone can look good when they come on for a few minutes of a game especially when the game is a bad one and to him Lee wasn’t yet quite ready – plus he cheered when Oldham beat us in the FA Cup.

I’m hoping the FA Cup part is tongue in cheek but the poor lad never will be ready if he never gets first team experience!

We will run the risk of losing him to a club that will give him a chance just like Steven Elliott and Paddy McCarthy and this would be a crying shame.

OPINION: VOTE

Hi all, thanks to all who voted in my last poll: “what’s more pointless? B of the bang or Sir Point-a-lot”

Here is the result:

33 people voted
28 (84%) voted for Sir Point-a-lot
5(15%) voted for B of the bang.

I’m off work next week, for a well deserved rest (well I think so), so I’ll do a new one when I get back. If you have a poll that you’d like me to do please email me.

Thanks again.

REQUEST: 2003/04 SEASON VIDEO

I was wondering where I can get a copy of the 2003-04 end of season video. I can get it on DVD but I need it on video. Any help would be appreciated.

REQUEST: VOTE FOR CITY SITES

You can vote for the original Manchester City Supporters’ website in this year’s footballshirts.co.uk Fan Site awards.

Voting is by visiting our homepage at http://www.uit.no/mancity/ and following the link, or direct at http://www.football-shirts.co.uk/mancityfans.html and voting for Supporters’ Home Page.

Thank you,

REQUEST: CSA SPORTSMAN’S DINNER

Update: Friday 8th April, Sacha’s Hotel, Manchester – and the list just goes on and on and on…

I’m pleased to let you know that the following people are our confirmed guests for the CSA Sportsman’s Dinner on Friday 8th April at Sacha’s Hotel:

Stuart Pearce
Mike Summerbee
Alex Williams
Neil Young
Tommy Booth
Neil Pointon
Richard Jobson
Andy Hinchcliffe
Paul Lake
Ian Brightwell
Peter Barnes
Alan Grafton
Ian Cheeseman
Fred Eyre
James H. Reeve
Paul Tyrell (MCFC)
Kevin Parker (MCFC)
Jimmy Fox (Youth Academy)
Alex Gibson (Youth Academy)
Roy Cheetham (Former Players’ Association)
Johnny Williamson (Former Players’ Association)
John Riley (Former Players’ Association)

Tickets are still available priced at:
CSA Members – £25
Non-CSA Members – £30
Table of 10 – £250

Corporate Rates – available upon request
CSA Members should contact their branch secretaries.
Non-CSA Members should contact Howard Burr, telephone 0161 292 2525 or email below.

All proceeds raised will be divided equally between the Former Players’ Association and the City Youth Academy.

BLUE HUMOUR

“It has just been announced that David Blunkett will be taking over as manager of Manchester City.” John Wardle commented on the appointment, “He has a great track record for scoring away from home and has always demonstrated that he can hold on to a lead.”

RESULTS

League table to 23 March 2005 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Chelsea         30 12  3  0 30  4 12  2  1 28  6 24  5  1  58  10  48  77
 2 Manchester Utd  30 11  4  0 27  7  8  5  2 21 10 19  9  2  48  17  31  66
 3 Arsenal         30  9  5  1 39 17 10  2  3 29 15 19  7  4  68  32  36  64
 4 Everton         30  9  1  5 16 14  6  5  4 19 18 15  6  9  35  32   3  51
 5 Liverpool       30 10  2  3 25 11  4  3  8 18 20 14  5 11  43  31  12  47
 6 Bolton Wndrs    30  7  4  4 18 12  6  3  6 20 22 13  7 10  38  34   4  46
 7 Charlton Ath.   30  8  2  5 24 19  4  5  6 11 23 12  7 11  35  42  -7  43
 8 Tottenham H.    30  7  3  5 29 20  5  3  7  8 14 12  6 12  37  34   3  42
 9 Middlesbrough   30  7  5  3 23 17  4  4  7 21 25 11  9 10  44  42   2  42
10 Newcastle Utd   29  7  4  4 24 21  2  7  5 17 24  9 11  9  41  45  -4  38
11 Aston Villa     30  8  3  4 23 13  2  5  8 11 26 10  8 12  34  39  -5  38
12 Manchester City 30  5  5  5 17 13  4  4  7 18 21  9  9 12  35  34   1  36
13 Birmingham City 30  6  4  5 19 12  3  4  8 14 25  9  8 13  33  37  -4  35
14 Blackburn R.    30  3  7  5 16 19  4  4  7  9 18  7 11 12  25  37 -12  32
15 Portsmouth      30  6  3  6 20 20  2  4  9 12 26  8  7 15  32  46 -14  31
16 Fulham          29  5  3  6 16 21  3  3  9 17 26  8  6 15  33  47 -14  30
17 Southampton     30  4  9  2 22 19  1  3 11 11 26  5 12 13  33  45 -12  27
18 Crystal Palace  30  5  3  7 15 13  1  5  9 18 36  6  8 16  33  49 -16  26
19 West Brom A.    30  3  7  5 13 21  1  5  9 16 30  4 12 14  29  51 -22  24
20 Norwich City    30  3  5  7 23 31  0  6  9  6 28  3 11 16  29  59 -30  20

MCIVTA FAQ [v0405.02]

[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. The Fans’ Committee has been relaunched as “Points of Blue”. It has appeared on the club website as a minor entry under “Fans Zone”.

[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: