Newsletter #1147

A point from WBA on Saturday, with stand-in players in several positions who coped with the task.

We have news on last week’s reserve game, opinion on website and commentary, and plenty of requests.

EDITIORIAL NOTICE

We are looking for somebody to stand-in for the news section for issue 1150 (25 August) as Don is away. If anybody would like to have a go, or would like more details, please could you contact Don.

MATCH REPORT: WBA RESERVES 1 MCFC RESERVES 1

City reserves kicked off their season under new boss Steve Wigley last Tuesday night at the Hawthorns. City’s team of 16 players contained no less than 14 Academy products, which is testimony to the work being done there. Line-ups below.

Once again, all credit to what must be amongst the friendliest stewards and fans around. We’ve been so many times now that we’re almost on first name terms, and nothing is too much trouble to the extent of them going getting team sheets for us.

City started reasonably well, with Croft and Flood providing most of the service and momentum from midfield. An early attack saw Hoult called into action to clear a Croft effort. However, WBA soon caught us off guard with three consecutive attacks; our central defence was a little disorientated as Onouha deflected a shot towards de Vlieger, and both Warrender and Collins were called into last minute clearances.

Croft and Flood then combined again to set up a Sibierski header (he of the 50p head, we never know which way it will go) and his 1-on-1 effort went straight towards Hoult. There then followed a siege on the WBA goal as City piled on attack after attack, Bermingham’s shot, which was fired across the goal, being our best effort. Shortly after the half hour, the Baggies broke away and Carter shot wide, followed by Chaplow being left to run into the City box and a dubious penalty was awarded after Bennett’s sloppy tackle. Kamara duly scored; the referee must have been blinded by the early evening sunshine.

The second half proved more positive in terms of City’s play as Croft put in a dazzling run down the right wing (come on Pearce, he’s worth more than 5 minute cameos in the first team), across to Bennett on the left, whose strike from 20 yards out curved past Hoult and into the left hand side of the net. A well worked and well taken goal. 1-1.

This sting prompted WBA into what was their only other real threat of the game as again our defence was caught short, but the ball was headed over.

Sibierski who, aside from his early effort had been largely anonymous, was then replaced by Etuhu. We were soon awarded a free kick, which Flood took ably from 25 yards out and just shaved the bar. Onouha, on his first game back after injury, was also replaced, by Laird, and Flood right at the end of the game by Johnson. Official site said he limped off, but we didn’t see any limping and given the announcement of today’s loan move to Coventry, this explains it.

A point, which could so easily have been three had we not been so unlucky with the finishing.

MotM Willo Flood.

City: De Vlieger, Warrender, Collins, Onuoha (Laird), Richards, Flood (Johnson), D’Laryea, Croft, Bennett, Sibierski (Etuhu), Bermingham.
Unused subs: Matthewson, Grimes.

WBA: Hoult, Hodkiss, Carter, Moore, Forsyth, Davies, Smikle, Chaplow, Elvins, Kamara, Dyer.

OPINION: DON’T PANIC

The first result at home: the best we could do is a draw against WBA (shades of last season). The new faces because of injuries in central defence held up well, and with David James at his best we kept a clean sheet, that’s on the positive side.

Some of the signings by Stuart Pearce I have said are shrewd and so they might be? In truth I think that the board of directors have made Stu get his players on a shoestring budget. We got £21 million for SWP, but we are very reluctant to go out and get quality players.

I hope that I am wrong, very wrong, but Darius Vassell might have the pace to frighten defences, but his goal scoring ability has got to change, I made comments before; O’Dreary wanted to offload Vassell and put the cash from Vassell towards Villa getting a goalscorer, why do you think Villa are happy?

My only hope is that Stuart Pearce has the ability to change Darius into a player who can score goals; three years ago he did it, so come on Darius prove me wrong, I truly want to be wrong, simply because I want City to win! I do not want anyone to think that Vassell is the scapegoat for not beating WBA; lots of other reasons.

Still wanted at MCFC: a quality striker. Some are lost because MCFC have now become Scrooges. Come on John Wardle and the board – help Stuart Pearce.

Come on you Blues!

OPINION: MCFCTV.COM

Absolute c**p. As an ex-pat City fan I subscribed to City TV to listen to the commentaries of Ian Cheeseman; this season some cretin has replaced Cheeseman who I thought was a quality commentator and a Blue as well.

I believe the MUEN is involved. It is absolutely appalling; they have no idea – chatting about what’s been happening in the last week rather than informing us what is happening in the game, constantly talking about West Brom. I am sitting here typing during the game, I can hear the crowd roaring and shouting but they say nothing about what is happening on the pitch.

Now discussing West Brom’s activity in the transfer market, listing them all while the game is going on. Please, please bring back Cheeseman!

What do other listeners think?

OPINION: NEW OFFICIAL WEBSITE

I thought the old website was rubbish.

It was poorly maintained, the scores in the results columns always reflected the home team first, unlike everywhere else, including the official match programme where the City score is printed first, it lacked a wide view of the club and events and was generally poor compared with other clubs’ sites that are packed with info and lots of things to look at (have a looks at Sunderland’s site http://www.safc.com/; it is brilliant, apart from the fact that it features Sunderland FC quite a lot). I read of problems that others have had with it when trying to order tickets online, the list goes on.

But our new site is even worse. I just tried to look at the fixtures (the date of the Sunderland match actually).

Firstly, you cannot go straight to the fixtures and results. You have to navigate via another section. Then, when you get there, the fixtures only go up to the Olympiacos match! How c**p is that? That’s how I ended up at the Sunderland site to find out the exact date.

This club employ absolute muppets to run things for them. Is it naïvete in the management when approached by companies offering services? If so, I think I’ll approach them with some half cocked idea if they’re that gullible.

Am I the only one that thinks that the City sites, old and new, are rubbish?

REQUEST: WEST HAM TICKETS

Polish Branch is going to see MCFC live vs. Hammers, after victory to England on Wednesday night. How can I book 4 tickets?

I am interested in a supporters’ card for myself but I do not know a telephone number to the Club.

REQUEST: NEW YORK BLUES’ VIEWING

Does anyone have any information on where I might be able to watch the away derby and other Premier League games whilst in New York?

REQUEST: DUTCH BLUES’ VIEWING

It is now possible for all Blues living in Holland to watch all City’s games home and away live on TV. The cable company in Amsterdam, UPC, and I presume others in the rest of the country, are offering a digital TV service that includes a football channel.

They show all Premiership games live, you choose which one. The cost is around 10 euro for digital plus 10 euro extra for the City channel on top of the cable cost. It is broadcast in widescreen format.

The Blarney Stone in Amsterdam has the City channel and all our games will now be live on the big screen.

REQUEST: MCFC STATS

Just to let everyone know that I am having a few technical difficulties, and have not been able to update the site for over a week, and this may continue until after the West Brom game. The 1,000 existing pages on the site are still accessible as always.

Here is a trivia question to keep you going in the meantime:

The number 8 shirt is the most popular City squad shirt number used since they were first introduced in the season 1993-94. Including the new season 2005-06, can you name all nine players who have used or will will use this squad number?

I’ll post a mention on MCIVTA for the first correct answer received. Correct player names will be posted next week.

Finally, can anybody confirm that Ronnie Ekelund wore the number 33 shirt in season 1995-96?

REQUEST: FANS FC

My name is Christie McDonald, I am an avid City fan and also write for City fanzine “City ’til I Cry”.

Just a quick e-mail to see if you could possibly give a mention to the club a group of City fans are in the process of setting up. The website http://www.maineroadffc.co.uk/ should explain most things. This is not a copy of FC United as none of us are interested in deserting City; far from it. I will be going just as much as usual and so will the other lads. This is not to be a breakaway, anti-City club, if anything it is anti-Premiership; a club to give blokes the chance to see a football team with links with City and take their kids without having to apply for tickets 5 weeks in advance and then shell out £80 for the pleasure.

At the moment it looks like Maine Road FC, a club set up by Rusholme and Moss Side City Supporters’ Club in the 1950’s will be ‘taken over’ in essence by ourselves, although it will not simply be a takeover as the majority of lads at the club are life-long Blues and it is a well run semi-pro outfit.

If you need any more info please contact me but Maine Road are playing Newcastle (from Staffs) on Tuesday night (7:45) at their home ground, Brantingham Road, Mcr. Loads of lads are going to check it out and see if it will offer a viable option when they can’t afford to see City away or there is no game that day.

Please don’t dismiss this as bandwagon jumping, it goes way deeper than that.

[And the reserves are playing at MiniCoMS v Boro on Tuesday night at, 7pm kick-off. As a City supporter, I know which game I’ll be attending! – Ed]

RESULTS

14 August 2005

Arsenal               2 - 0  Newcastle United      38,072
Wigan Athletic        0 - 1  Chelsea               23,575

13 August 2005

Everton               0 - 2  Manchester United     38,610
Aston Villa           2 - 2  Bolton Wanderers      33,263
Fulham                0 - 0  Birmingham City       16,550
Manchester City       0 - 0  West Bromwich Albion  42,983
Portsmouth            0 - 2  Tottenham Hotspur     20,215
Sunderland            1 - 3  Charlton Athletic     34,446
West Ham United       3 - 1  Blackburn Rovers      33,305
Middlesbrough         0 - 0  Liverpool             31,908

League table to 14 August 2005 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Charlton Ath.    1  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  0  3  1  1  0  0   3   1   2   3
 2 West Ham United  1  1  0  0  3  1  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  0   3   1   2   3
 3 Arsenal          1  1  0  0  2  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  0   2   0   2   3
 4 Manchester Utd   1  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  0  2  0  1  0  0   2   0   2   3
 5 Tottenham H.     1  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  0  2  0  1  0  0   2   0   2   3
 6 Chelsea          1  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  0  1  0  1  0  0   1   0   1   3
 7 Aston Villa      1  0  1  0  2  2  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0   2   2   0   1
 8 Bolton Wndrs     1  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  2  2  0  1  0   2   2   0   1
 9 Birmingham City  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  0  0  0  1  0   0   0   0   1
10 Fulham           1  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0   0   0   0   1
11 Liverpool        1  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  0  0  0  1  0   0   0   0   1
12 Manchester City  1  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0   0   0   0   1
13 Middlesbrough    1  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0   0   0   0   1
14 West Brom A.     1  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  0  0  0  1  0   0   0   0   1
15 Wigan Athletic   1  0  0  1  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1   0   1  -1   0
16 Blackburn R.     1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  1  3  0  0  1   1   3  -2   0
17 Sunderland       1  0  0  1  1  3  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1   1   3  -2   0
18 Everton          1  0  0  1  0  2  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1   0   2  -2   0
19 Newcastle Utd    1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  2  0  0  1   0   2  -2   0
20 Portsmouth       1  0  0  1  0  2  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1   0   2  -2   0

MCIVTA FAQ [v0506.01]

[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.mcfcosc.com/); the “Centenary Supporters’ Association” (http://www.reddishblues.com/CSAWebsite/CSA.htm) and “The International Supporters’ Club”.

[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://www.foxsportsworld.com/named/FSW/Index/Soccer, http://www.soccertv.com/, and http://www.livesoccertv.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: