Newsletter #1152

No last minute transfers for City, which brings mixed reactions tonight. I’m glad we haven’t gone down the KK “splash the cash” route, and let’s see what we need and who’s available come January.

Sarah brings us the news tonight, including fixture changes, international reaction, and a look at the last week’s games. The reserves were on duty last night in a 3-2 win at Wigan, match report from yours truly.

We have plenty of requests ahead of the derby, and some good opinion including an insight into the state of the beautiful game in Italy and Down Under.

NEWS SUMMARY

Fans Look West: City Fans in the East Stand will now be able to follow their team’s progress on the new scoreboard clock located in the north-west corner of the stadium. The clock, which was unveiled at the game against Portsmouth, is sponsored by Timpson, the shoe repairs to key cutting business, because City fan, John Timpson, the Chairman of Timpson, had been unable to see the existing scoreboard due to sightlines. John commented: “When there was only one scoreboard at the stadium, the majority of the fans in the City of Manchester Stadium had a clear view of the scoreboard and time clock but unfortunately fans round me didn’t. So after initially offering to start a scoreboard fund I then agreed to become the scoreboard’s sole sponsor.” Moreover, to celebrate the new Timpson scoreboard, John is giving every City Seasoncard holder and Citycard holder a 15% discount on all purchases at any of his shops until the end of the season.

Fixtures and Changes: City have drawn Doncaster Rovers away in the second leg of the Carling Cup (let’s hope they will do better than in last season’s pre-season friendly). The derby will now be at 3pm on Saturday 10th September and will not feature on PremPlus. City’s home match vs. Everton has been moved from Saturday 1 October to Sunday 2 October due to Everton having to play Dinamo Bucharest the previous Thursday. The match will kick off at 11.15 and will be covered by Sky as a pay per view game.

May the best team lose: City’s U19s beat Chelsea Academy away (2-0) in the first game of the season, last Saturday. However, although City were, according to the Chelsea coach, the stronger team physically, the best team lost!

Reserves keep up winning ways: City’s reserves beat Wigan 3-2 last night. Both Fowler and Weaver made comeback appearances following their respective injuries and both acquitted themselves well, Fowler scoring a great goal and Weaver making some stunning saves. City dominated the match, with Croft, Wright-Phillips and Ireland all turning out their now customary impressive performances, but so long as the first team keep winning, Steve Wigley, the reserve team coach, feels the pressure is on the reserves to follow suit.

Transfer news and gossip: In short: Distin’s staying; Stelios has re-signed for Bolton, City expressed interests in Benni McCarthy, Alessandro Del Piero (thanks to Vanes Marzaroli for this) and Geremi. However, speculation suggests Robbie Folwer could be going to Rangers but Distin’s going nowhere else!

‘Distin’guishing features: ‘My captain and a player a greatly admire’ according to Stuart Pearce and thus the reason that Distin ain’t going nowhere. So much so that in spite of interest from Aston Villa, Everton and Liverpool, Pearce is willing to offer the 27-year-old, who still has 2 years on his contract, a new four-year deal. As Pearce explains “I want to build a team around players like him. He is a good man and is not for sale.”

Fowler for Rangers? The out-of-favour or injured Robbie Fowler (depends which reports you want to believe) has been linked with a move to Rangers, whose recent 3-0 home defeat has made it necessary to strengthen the squad, not only for UEFA action, but for the SPL too. Allegedly, Robbie Fowler has fallen out of favour at Man City with the arrival of Andy Cole and Darius Vassell, whilst injury has stopped him from making an appearance for the Sky Blues. The Rangers fan has already played in a Rangers shirt at Ibrox stadium when he took part in Alan McLaren’s testimonial against Middlesbrough in 1999.

If you don’t ask: Manchester City asked for Alessandro Del Piero, but in the end it was not to be. Cassano did not complete the move from Roma, so Juve needed to hang on to Del Piero. However, with all players keen to get first team football to impress national coaches ahead of the world cup, this move could happen in January as it seems likely Cassano will leave Roma then.

Sommeil sought to plug leaky defence: Blues’ defender David Sommeil was linked with a move back to Rennes as the French side, who have conceded 16 goals in the last 5 games, looks to strengthen its defence. However, with Distin only just returning to training, it seems that Pearce preferred to keep Sommeil in reserve.

Willo brings balance to Coventry: Coventry manager Micky Adams feels loan signing Willo Flood has provided some much-needed balance on the right flank. The 20-year-old Irishman who is on a month’s loan, featured for the Sky Blues as QPR were beaten 3-0 last weekend. Adams believes: “Willo’s lacking a little bit of match fitness but he gives us balance on the right side, no worries. Willo might be small in stature but he’s got a big enthusiasm and puts in a lot of effort. He’s also got that little bit of a spark I feel we might have been missing” (Having seen parts of the match vs. Southampton on Monday, I would agree that Willo lacks match practice; he kept putting his crosses behind the forwards, and one wonders whether his confidence might have been affected by being in and out of the team earlier last season).

Weah for president: This has been a big week for football, in Liberia, where they don’t take that much heed of the Ashes. On Tuesday night George Weah, once of Milan and very briefly of Manchester City, the man who won the African, European and World Player of the Year trophies all in one season, the forward widely acknowledged as the greatest footballer of his generation, publicly marked a radical change in career direction and announced he was to stand for president.

Trying out for Tranmere: Veteran winger Nicky Summerbee is training with Tranmere in an attempt to get a deal with the club (he is not currently on anyone’s books).

Goal King Cole: Stuart Pearce was thrilled with the performance of Andy Cole after the veteran striker proved to be the match-winner against Portsmouth (City fell behind to John Viafara’s goal for Pompey, but Claudio Reyna equalised before Cole, for the second weekend running, grabbed the winning goal for his side). Pearce believes he may have underestimated Cole: “I have watched Andy from afar,” said Pearce. “I have played against him and I know all about his goal-scoring record. But it is only when I started to work with him on the training pitch every day I realised what a good, clever footballer he is. He can take a pass, turn and score, or he can hold it up and bring someone else into it. I just had an inkling Andy had something to prove.” And Pearce is hoping that he will continue to try to better his record when City meet United in their next match. “After what he did at Manchester United, signing for their local rivals has given him a little edge. You can see it when you look in his eye.”

Out but not down: David James has been left out of the England set up for the crucial World Cup qualifiers against Wales and Northern Ireland. The Manchester City goalkeeper pays the price for his poor display in England’s 4-1 friendly defeat by Denmark and is replaced by West Brom’s Chris Kirkland. However, Sven-Goran Eriksson (never a man to bow to media pressure…) insists “the door is not closed” on David James’ England career but feels Chris Kirkland now deserves his chance. The City Number 1 says he will not quit international football despite the snub, For “As long as I feel I am playing well for Manchester City, then I will be available for selection.” Meanwhile, James has received support from his club manager: “I had a chat with him on Sunday evening,” says Pearce, “And one of the things I said to him was that if you’re going to get left out, it’s better to get left out in August. I was left out of a squad before a World Cup in April, and you’ve got no chance to reply then. David’s of a similar age to what I was then, he’s been left out but he’s got a year to do something about it, which is a bonus.” Robert Green, a former England colleague and Norwich’s custodian has also come out in support of James.

Adding Insult to Injury! Wales’ manager John Toshack has fallen out with Manchester City left back, Ben Thatcher, over his refusal to be assessed by the FAW’s medical team following a recent ankle injury. Thatcher is suspended for Saturday’s match vs. Poland, but Toshack wanted him to go to Warsaw the following Wednesday. Thatcher, however, has been having treatment on his ankle since Saturday and didn’t join up with the Wales squad earlier in the week. Now the FAW are threatening to report both the player and Pearce, who is backing his decision, to FIFA – citing that if a player makes himself unavailable for a medical check he can be banned from playing for his club for 5 days after the match in question.

MATCH REPORT: WAFC 2 MCFC RESERVES 3

City reserves travelled over to the JJB Complex on Wednesday night in a game that saw the return of several first-team players: Fowler, Weaver, Sun, Sommeil, Sibierski and loan signee Hussein. Would the mix of youth and experience pay off? What do you think! Line-ups below.

Sporting the rather naff yellow kit, which was useful to see given the storm clouds and poor lighting, City on paper looked the stronger side and indeed started in attacking mode. Croft was on form down the wing and quickly threaded a ball through to BWP who misfired. Wigan barely got out of their own half as we forged forwards and within 25 minutes we were 2-0 up. The first goal came from BWP who chipped the ball across from near the Wigan corner into Ireland who was perfectly placed to hit the ball past Croll from about 5 yards out. 1-0.

Barely time to celebrate and kick-off than Sibierski sent a through ball to Fowler (who’s looking keen and should be on the bench for the derby) as he loitered in the box and chipped the ball over the advancing Wigan ‘keeper. 2-0. We then had some lovely passing, flowing play with Croft, BWP, Hussein, and Fowler combining and using the width of the pitch to advance and continue our dominance of the game. What’s this, City reserves playing “total football”? Nearly. Both Fowler and Croft has shots fired slightly wide, and Wigan still hadn’t found the A-Z of Robin Park.

Not for long, as Sibierski lost the ball during a City attack, Wigan’s Waterhouse reacted quickly and ran into the area chased by Hussein, who brought him down. The whistle-happy referee (rumour had it he was a Majorette for Wigan Rugby League) blew and awarded a spot-kick. Now for those who haven’t yet seen Hussein, he is built like Flood, must weigh all of 8 stone and is hardly the sort to chop the opposition down. Edwards took the penalty for Wigan but was no threat for Weaver who tipped it easily over the bar.

About one minute later though, Wigan had an appetite for goal and after Weaver softly palmed away a shot (catch them, man) the rebounding ball was hit home by Smith. Into the break 2-1 up, time for a coffee and see if Mr Pearce, who had just arrived, was carrying any newly signed contracts (negative).

No changes for City at half time and we appeared to have lost the momentum. After 10 minutes, BWP hit a ball through to Richards who was in front of the again advancing Croll – obviously hadn’t learned from Fowler in the first half – and chipped the ball to make it 3-1. Another couple of City attacks followed, which saw both Fowler and BWP unable to profit.

Wigan were now fighting back and the whistling referee awarded a second dubious penalty as Weaver advanced out of goal and threw himself at Johansson’s feet. Johansson duly went to ground and the spot kick was awarded (no card, wonder why?). Not so lucky this time, and Smith scored for Wigan.

Fowler was then replaced on about 75 minutes by Jonathan D’Laryea, a few more City attacks with Ireland, Hussein and Croft instrumental but BWP was not having any luck in front of goal.

The game finished 3-2 to City, another win but marred by poor finishing and some sloppy refereeing.

MotM: Lee Croft

City: Weaver, Sun, Collins (capt), Richards, Sommeil, Croft, Ireland, Hussein, Sibierski, Fowler (J D’Laryea), Wright-Phillipps.

Wigan: Croll, Wright, McMillan, Jackson, Edwards, Joyce, Middleton, Johansson, Waterhouse, Hazeldine, Smith.

OPINION: TRANSFER ACTIVITY I

I must say that I am disappointed that Cole and Vassell were our only additions during the transfer window. I feel that they are great signings and will do well for us but I still think we are a couple of players short in our squad.

I hope I’m not being a pessimist (brought on by 45 years of being a City fan) but the idea is running through my mind that the board wouldn’t let Stuart bring anyone else in – they would rather permanently reduce the debt and that doesn’t bode well for the future.

OPINION: TRANSFER ACTIVITY II

As I write this, August 31st at 11pm British Time, there are no new signings announced by MCFC.

Stuart Pearce, although he said he needed 2 or 3 more players, and had the cash to spend, at the end of the day did not sign anyone that at this time we know about. If Stuart Pearce could not find a player that he really wanted, then better he not get any player than sign a player just for the sake of it.

Come the winter transfer window, Stuart Pearce will have the money and time to get the player or players he wants. SP is a wise and patient man. On the other hand John Wardle is playing it safe with the cash, and not putting MCFC into a Leeds United situation.

Now it’s “can City carry on their great start?”, with the added luck of no injuries and suspensions to key players?

To the moaners who said Kevin Keegan kept buying older players and not giving the younger players a chance, we now have Stuart Pearce who did not go out with the cheque book, and will be giving the younger players the chance many wanted to happen.

As much as I, like any other City fan, would have liked to have seen MCFC sign a couple of key players, I think that Stuart Pearce is right and doing a great job.

Today we also hear the Robbie Fowler played his first game for the reserves at Wigan. Growler is determined to get his growl back in time for the game versus the Evil Empire; he has always disliked the Rags.

Methinks mixing it with King Cole, Darius, BWP, and Robbie all taking part in this great effort at Yankee Stadium on Sept 10th. To any City Fans going to the Swamp, the “hot dawgs” are better with mustard, onions and ketchup on them.

I would like to end my comments by thanking Dave Clinton who read in the last issue of MCIVTA my concerns for a wallpaper with a fixture list, as I had last season. Dave is a genius, he e-mailed me for my photo of the stadium, taken at night from the air, then he added to that photo the two club badges, the new and old, then added the fixture list, it’s a masterpiece, thanks Dave, brilliant.

Come on you Blues, beat the Evil Empire.

OPINION: IL BEL GIOCO – A WARNING

I also read Sean Ingle’s article and shared it with my Italian friends. An Italian website also published a review of it. Season tickets are much cheaper in Italy (you can get one for as little as 110 pounds to watch Inter or Milan behind either goal) but a lot of problems are happening here too. Merchandising isn’t so radicated. It’s good to have your team’s shirt and it’s true when you say to yourself you’re helping the club – it happens to me – but why not give the players lower wages and make them more affordable? It’s also very surprising that despite charging the fans an awful lot of money, English grounds always look full.

Here television stations are the problem: they have invaded us, giving us a massive overdose of football. The season that’s about to kick off will show non-stop football from 1pm until 2am: interviews, comments, highlights and so on. Football grounds are falling to pieces (do you know that even San Siro is not eligible for hosting a Champions’ League or UEFA Cup final?) and violence is still a massive problem. And for just £3.50 you can choose the live game (on digital terrestrial TV) that suits you? All this is helping attendances drop dramatically. Did you know that the Coca Cola Championship (whatever it’s called) boasts a higher average attendance than the Serie A (yesterday’s 3 highest attendances in Serie A: Inter vs. Treviso 51,000, Juventus vs. Chievo 24,000, Lazio vs. Messina 22,000. I’ll spare you the rest)? Hard to believe, but real.

Then football club management: Every summer a club has to close down. This summer it’s happened to legendary Torino (will re-start from Serie B with a newly founded club, and riots in the city were caused by the most extreme fans). Messina fans blocked the Messina strait for two weeks in protest against a possible bankruptcy of their club (avoided in the end). But most shameful of all, the relegation from Serie A to Serie C of the oldest Italian club, Genoa Cricket and Football Club. The police caught one of their directors paying 250,000 euros in cash for fixing the last game of the season against Venezia (already relegated and bankrupt!) to secure the 3 points meaning promotion.

And for 100,000 pounds from the Rai (BBC equivalent) the Serie B Football Clubs have accepted to switch their games to Saturday afternoons, insulting an ever lasting tradition of Sunday football. We fans feel offended because we were never asked for an opinion in the first place. But probably that was the last straw. The mayors of these clubs’ cities have shut down the stadiums so no football was played on Saturday despite the fixture list saying so.

The “owners” of football (although we should be the owners) are doing anything they can to make this game horrible. And then you hear the Inter coach saying that playing behind closed doors is not football and that it was a terrible experience. Well they should have thought about why they are in that condition. They’d rather play abroad with fans and they’ve asked for it. No limit to arrogance.

Nothing seems to work in Italian football, and the more I hear about football, the more I get uninterested. I wish I could turn the clock back when if you fancied a game of football the stadium was the only destination.

And here’s today’s latest Italian football news: referee Collina has quit because of a conflict of interests with Milan. He signed for a TV commercial advertising Opel (worth 1,000,000 euros!) who are advertised by Milan. After days of speculations he’s decided to resign. Money, bl**dy money. Let’s call football a business and not a sport any more.

OPINION: THE GAME DOWN UNDER

Last weekend the much awaited A-league kicked off in Australia (quiet down the back there). The A-league has been two years in the making and is the culmination of a complete restructuring of football here in Australia. And just in case you were wondering whatever happened to Danny Allsopp and Simon Colosimo you can rest easy now as I can tell you they were among the first crop of players to play A-league football last weekend. Danny Allsopp pulled on the navy blue shirt of the optimistically named Melbourne Victory and Simon Colosimo, although a Melbourne boy, will be plying his trade in the west with Perth Glory. The 8 team competition also includes a New Zealand team, which must make it the largest (geographically speaking) competition in the world as it is almost 6,000km from Perth to Auckland.

Each team in the competition has had a $AUD 1.5 million salary cap applied to their stable of 20 players although each club has been allowed to sign one ‘marquee’ player outside this cap. You would not recognise half of these names but Sydney FC’s ‘marquee’ player is one Mr Dwight Yorke of Trafford Rovers fame. Coincidentally, the Pierre Littbarski managed Sydney FC wear sky blue so that Mr Andrew Cole, and Yorke are now both in sky blue shirts.

Just in case the A-league doesn’t push the Premier League off the back pages of the newspapers in the UK I’ll keep you posted on the exploits of any ex-City boys here in the new Oz league.

On week one no City boys made the headlines but the healthy crowds (by Oz standards) did. They averaged crowds of 17,000 for each game, which is a good 10,000 more than a good game in the old competition was getting.

OPINION: BLESSING IN DISGUISE

Thank heavens Robbie Fowler missed that penalty kick? With City apparently not signing anyone at the transfer deadline, the current line-up is wafer thin in depth.

True, we have gotten off to a great start and the strike force of Andrew Cole and Darius Vassell is looking like the steal of the decade. But there certainly isn’t any room for injuries or suspensions.

I for one am so glad that City is concentrating on the Premier League and the odd Cup excursion. The UEFA Cup would only put an added strain on City’s personnel. Personally, I’d prefer to see City battling at the top of the league than playing in some backwater European city for what would be a major European grind.

Again, thanks Robbie. You cannot know how much of a favour you did City by missing that spot-kick.

Bring on the Rags!

OPINION: CONTRIVED ATMOSPHERE

Why do they now announce the teams before they come out onto the pitch? They then play “Boys in Blue” Heavy Mekkal remix to ensure the crowd can’t get any atmosphere going.

I was watching the Coventry game last night and the crowd were actually singing before kick-off, remember that?

Anyone else who thinks this is ruining what little atmosphere there is at CoMS mail the club! You never know, they might listen!

OPINION: MCFC.CO.UK

The website is a waste of space. I email the address given on the site to enquire as to why there is no fixture list – other than for up and coming home matches.

The email address given is not valid, and yes I did copy and paste it!

OPINION: LONG TERM VIEW

Another 30 points and we are probably safe!

REQUEST: LONDON BLUES VIEWING

Anyone know where London Blues can watch the derby?

REQUEST: SALOU BLUES VIEWING

Does anyone know if the derby will be shown in Spain (Salou) and what bars might show it?

REQUEST: DUBROVNIK BLUES VIEWING

I will be in Dubrovnik, Croatia when we play Bolton at home on Sun 18 September. Does anyone know if the match is likely to be viewable anywhere over there?

REQUEST: ROME BLUES VIEWING

I’ll be in Rome for the derby match and I’d be grateful for any information on any bars that might be showing the game. Better still if there are any Blues out there meeting up to watch the game.

REQUEST: MELBOURNE BLUES VIEWING – AND SCHMEICHEL

Are the very large and passionate Melbourne Blues following meeting for the big derby game at the Keepers Arms or another venue?

Also, can anyone tell me what Peter is doing now? Is he still playing or has he gone into coaching?

REQUEST: CAPE TOWN BLUES VIEWING

I will be in Cape Town when we take on the Stretford Buccaneers at the Trafford ballpark. Anyone know where the game will be shown on TV, and especially where Blues may be watching?

REQUEST: CITY SITES I

Can anyone recommend a decent site frequented by City fans that concentrates on football matters and particularly City news and views?

I do view a couple all ready and have trawled to find others but haven’t found anything that fits the bill.

MCIVTA is by far and away the best for news and views but I am looking for something on a daily basis to catch up on gossip and different viewpoints.

REQUEST: CITY SITES II

Re the request from Lance in the last MCIVTA for an online City forum for him to vent his spleen. Try out the City page on the manchesteronline.co.uk website, lots of feisty comment guaranteed!

RESULTS

League table to 30 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 Chelsea          4  2  0  0  5  0  2  0  0  3  0  4  0  0   8   0   8  12
 2 Manchester City  4  1  1  0  2  1  2  0  0  4  2  3  1  0   6   3   3  10
 3 Charlton Ath.    3  1  0  0  1  0  2  0  0  6  1  3  0  0   7   1   6   9
 4 Manchester Utd   3  1  0  0  1  0  2  0  0  4  0  3  0  0   5   0   5   9
 5 Bolton Wndrs     4  1  0  1  2  1  1  1  0  4  3  2  1  1   6   4   2   7
 6 Tottenham H.     4  1  0  1  2  2  1  1  0  2  0  2  1  1   4   2   2   7
 7 Arsenal          3  2  0  0  6  1  0  0  1  0  1  2  0  1   6   2   4   6
 8 Aston Villa      4  1  1  0  3  2  0  1  1  1  2  1  2  1   4   4   0   5
 9 West Ham United  3  1  0  1  4  3  0  1  0  0  0  1  1  1   4   3   1   4
10 Liverpool        2  1  0  0  1  0  0  1  0  0  0  1  1  0   1   0   1   4
11 Blackburn R.     4  1  1  0  2  1  0  0  2  1  4  1  1  2   3   5  -2   4
12 Middlesbrough    4  0  1  1  0  3  1  0  1  3  2  1  1  2   3   5  -2   4
13 Birmingham City  4  0  0  2  1  5  1  1  0  3  2  1  1  2   4   7  -3   4
14 Fulham           4  1  1  0  1  0  0  0  2  2  6  1  1  2   3   6  -3   4
15 West Brom A.     4  1  0  1  4  4  0  1  1  0  4  1  1  2   4   8  -4   4
16 Wigan Athletic   3  1  0  1  1  1  0  0  1  0  1  1  0  2   1   2  -1   3
17 Everton          3  0  0  1  0  2  1  0  1  1  1  1  0  2   1   3  -2   3
18 Portsmouth       4  0  1  1  1  3  0  0  2  2  4  0  1  3   3   7  -4   1
19 Newcastle Utd    4  0  1  1  0  2  0  0  2  0  4  0  1  3   0   6  -6   1
20 Sunderland       4  0  0  2  2  5  0  0  2  0  2  0  0  4   2   7  -5   0

MCIVTA FAQ [v0506.02]

[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.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://mcfc.videoloungetv.com/do/preLogin?clubSiteCode=MCFC&CMP=AFC-003.

[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: