Newsletter #1292

The transfer market has finally reached MCFC as Thatcher is sold to Charlton, a new loan signing arrives and Reyna looks to get back Stateside, with other rumoured outgoings yet to surface. Don has been kept busy today, we also have news of the FA Cup games and fixture changes together with reaction to last weekend’s game.

Dave has put together his strategic vision for the club, which does give some interesting questions and does make one wonder just what is the strategic vision of MCFC? We also have the usual requests and an apology for our Big Sam.

City travel up the M61 on Saturday for the Bolton fixture, which a number of away day Blues are boycotting.

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

Cup Dates: Let’s begin with a couple of parish notices about the FA Cup. First – City’s FA Cup 3rd round replay with Sheffield Wednesday at the COMS has been moved forward 24 hours to Tuesday 16th January 2007 with a 7:45pm kick off. The match has been selected for live television coverage on Sky Sports. And the club have announced reduced prices for entry to the game – £15 for adults and £5 for concessions. And we already know who City will play, should they beat Wednesday on Tuesday (if you see what I mean). Second – the winners will welcome Southampton in a home tie that will take place on either Friday January 26, Saturday 27 or Sunday 28. So there’s a potential reunion with Bradley Wight-Phillips, who was sold to the Saints last summer.

The Not So Wild Rovers: City’s Reserves started the New Year with a win, in a 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers. A rainswept mini-COMS saw a young City side take the lead on 3 minutes, thanks to a Karl Moore strike. The lead was doubled before half time thanks to Michael Johnson. Blackburn reduced the arrears early in the second half, but couldn’t find an equaliser. Team: Schmeichel, Logan, Williamson, D’Laryea, Mills, Johnson, Grimes, Laird, Evans, Miller, Moore. Subs: Williams, Matthewson, Mee, Marshall, Vidal.

Transfer News and Gossip

Beyond the Fringe: At the time of writing, I can only bring you the ‘Rumour’ rather than the ‘News’ part of this section because despite being a third of the way through the transfer open season, no City-related deals have taken place. Stuart Pearce is looking to generate funds in the transfer window by offloading some fringe players, because he hasn’t got that much in his war chest. “We need quality if we can, not numbers really,” he admitted. “I have spoken to the chairman a number of times about funds. We know full well there is not a great deal of finance around. Maybe there is the possibility of bringing in one or two players on loan. I do not want to sell good players but perhaps some fringe players to bring in some cash.”

Dickov Deal Dunn? Birmingham boss Steve Bruce was reported to be chasing veteran pest Paul Dickov and could also offer midfielder David Dunn in exchange. As his team top the Championship, it was thought that Bruce wanted to give his team some back-up in the striking department – he’d already been linked with former St Andrew’s star Stern John, now at Coventry City. Thirty four year old Dickov returned to City in the summer from Blackburn but has yet to score in his second spell at the club. Midfielder Dunn is a target for his former side Blackburn but a move to City and a return to the North West would suit him just as well. The M.E.N. however poured cold water over this cosy scenario by claiming that Dicky wasn’t interested in a Midlands move, and that City had had no contact from Birmingham regarding the Scot. Elsewhere, it’s claimed that City and Spurs are both believed to have failed with £2 million bids for QPR winger Lee Cook.

Homeward Bound: SP has admitted that Claudio Reyna will probably leave the club this month, with a return to his homeland on the cards for the 33-year-old midfielder. Former national team coach Bruce Arena is now in charge of MLS side New York Red Bulls and wants his former skipper to be alongside him when the season starts in March. “For his personal reasons, we are in talks with him and his representatives due to the fact that he might want to go back to the States,” Pearce told the club’s official website. “That’s purely a family scenario. Until anything is resolved on that, he stays a Manchester City player. Players will only be allowed to leave if it is in the best interests of the football club.” Reyna is out of contract at the end of the season and City will not stand in the way of the midfielder, who has made 87 appearances for the club since joining from Sunderland in 2003. The Daily Mirror reckoned that the departing US international would save City “a fortune”. I quote: “Reyna, who was on £30,000 a week, and the club have agreed to cancel the remaining six months of his contract.”

Buy One, Get One Free? Believe it or not, Charlton Athletic are thinking of signing the footballing equivalent of the Boulder Brothers. The Daily Mail says Ben Thatcher is interesting Charlton as is his teammate and Hull target Danny Mills. SP suggested that Mills at least might be allowed to leave, if the right offer came along. “It is not prudent to suggest who might go but if an opportunity came for Danny to go and play some football then we would listen to it,” Pearce said in the Evening News. “I think Danny would be open-minded too. He has kept his head down and had a good spell away at Hull City and done well. The unfortunate thing for Danny has been the emergence of Micah Richards. Micah has flourished because he has got in the side and done so well for us.” If Mills did join Hull, he’d have to take a wage cut as he’s rumoured to be on £30,000 per week (that figure again) at City – perhaps a Premiership club might be able to come closer to that sum.

Getting Hammered: The Unhappy ‘Ammers are at the centre of a couple of transfer snippets which might interest us Blues. The M.E.N. was categorical – West Ham would make a bid of £10 million for Joey Barton this week. After their 6-0 drubbing at Reading recently, you can understand new Hammers’ boss Alan Curbishley trying to bolster his squad – but would Joey, with his lofty ambitions to play at the highest level, see a move to East London as a step up the ladder? I think not. It was also reported that West Ham’s bid to sign SWP from Chelsea was foundering. Alan Curbishley’s capture of Luis Boa Morte this week sparked the talk of a breakdown in discussions between the parties over Shaunie.

You’re Off, My ‘Sson: Rumours reach these parts that Andreas Isaksson could be leaving City soon. It was considered a major coup for the Blues when they landed the Swedish international goalkeeper in the summer, as a direct replacement for David James who left for Portsmouth. However, the former Rennes man suffered a miserable start to his life in England when he picked up an injury he has only just gotten over, and he has lost his place to Nicky Weaver who is set to sign a new deal. It is believed that Isaksson will remain with City for the rest of the season, yet if he has not won the number one jersey by this time, he will seek an exit from the club in the summer.

Burning Ambitions: City have supposedly thrown out a bid from Tottenham Hotspur for Sylvain Distin. Both the Daily Mail and the Times say that Spurs failed with a bid of £500,000 for Distin, who is out of contract at the end of this season. Distin has yet to agree fresh terms with City and is holding out for a weekly salary of £45,000, apparently. Distin has given a much stronger indication this week of his willingness to stay at the club – but only if City match his own ambitions. “I see my name being linked with many clubs. However, I have not spoken to anybody,” Distin told the club website. “I want to stay playing in the Premiership and my preference is to stay here at Manchester City. The next contract I will sign is very important for me as I am now 29 years old and I need everything to be correct with it. I have ambition and I want to make sure that the next contract I sign is with somebody who has the same ambitions as me.”

Nasri No Go: Alleged City target Samir Nasri has refuted talk he could move to the Premiership during the transfer window. Although the 19-year-old Marseille ace has admitted a liking to the English style of play in the past, he has no intention of heading for Blighty just yet. The teenager has over two years remaining on his l’OM deal and is focused on helping the side bag a place in next year’s UEFA Champions’ League. Asked whether he could leave Stade Velodrome, Nasri told But: “That is a rumour. I am under contract until 2009 and my only aim is to qualify for the Champions’ League. What people are saying is rubbish.” Nasri is hoping Marseille can maintain the form they showed at the start of the Ligue 1 season and that he can be more clinical in front of goal. “I hope we will start the New Year like we started the season,” he continued. “I want to be more clinical. I don’t care if I score beautiful or ugly goals as long as the ball hits the back of the net.”

DM – Don’t Micah! He’s the greatest, he’s fantastic, and he’s going nowhere – Micah Richards should be staying with City, according to two of his team mates. Richard Dunne urged Micah not to make the same mistake as SWP. “Micah has the world at his feet – but it was the same with Shaun,” he told the News of the World. “He had everything in front of him but ended up missing out on the World Cup. One day he will move on, but I don’t think is has to be now, in the summer or even next season. I think he still has a couple of years here. While I know all the talk is that we’ll get big money for him, I don’t think we can buy anything with his quality. So the longer we can keep him here the more beneficial it will be for us.” And Nedum Onuha reckons his mate Micah’s going nowhere at the moment. Onuoha said: “It’s not annoying at all to read so much speculation about Micah. In fact, it could work in our favour because it takes the pressure off the rest of the team. People say the money we could get from selling Micah would help this club no end. But to be honest, no matter what Chelsea or whoever are offering for him, it could double or even triple over the next few years. The money isn’t what matters, having Micah in the team is what’s important. And anyway, Micah is happy here. I talk to him about it every now and again, but it can get boring. Micah is only 18 and still has a lot to learn. He is just playing his football, which is exactly the right thing to do.”

Firing Blancos: And the rumours continue thick and fast. News that Spanish under-21 international striker Kepa Blanco is available on loan has alerted a quartet of Premiership clubs, including City. Aston Villa had already registered their interest in the player, who is looking for some first-team action after the signing of Alexander Kerzhakov pushed him further down the pecking order at Sevilla. “At this time, I will be honest, something could well come of the offer we are evaluating,” Blanco said on Tuesday, with Charlton thought to be closest to sealing a deal until the end of the season. Charlton and Everton are also thought to be interested.

Ex-Blues’ News

He Went There to Play? My A**e! Time to get the hankies out – Andy Cole admits he has been largely frustrated at Portsmouth this season. The former England international moved to Fratton Park this summer in a transfer from City, amid tales of Cole being lured South by the lure of the Greenback – yet he has failed to nail down a regular place in Harry Redknapp’s starting eleven. And the 35-year-old admits he would rather move on again than sit on the bench all season. “I don’t expect to play 38 games, I don’t think I could. But I do believe I could play 25 to 30 games,” said Cole. “I have sat about on the bench for four months. I am not going to lie, I do get frustrated. You won’t score too many goals sitting on your a**e. When I came here in the summer I said I wanted to play football, I hadn’t just come here for a little jolly. That’s not me, I’d prefer to jack it in rather than do that.” (Thanks Matt Thomas)

Reactions and Comments

Wednesday on a Sunday: City made hard work of their second trip to South Yorkshire in a fortnight, as Sheffield Wednesday held the Blues to a 1-1 draw in their FA Cup third round tie at Hillsborough. Following a poor goalless first half, Georgios Samaras gave City the lead from the penalty spot late on after Micah Richards was sandwiched by two Owls defenders – but Steven MacLean stuck a stiletto into City’s hopes of a win with an equaliser seconds later. The game saw Nottingham Forest’s full back partnership of the early 90’s re-united, as Wednesday are managed by Psycho’s old mucker Brian Laws. Last year Laws was in charge of Scunthorpe, who were City’s opponents at the same stage of the competition. Of this year’s reunion, Pearce commented: “The draw was a fair result, we didn’t do enough to win the game. But, we are in the hat, and I told the players that this tie is far from dead. When we turn up again next week, we will have our hands full. Wednesday played quite well, the game swung from end to end in the second half, and we have our work cut out to get past this round of the cup. We needed to be in the hat on Monday, and we are. It’ll be tough at our place, we know that, but the bottom line is that we are still in. It was a typical Cup tie in that there was not much given by either side. We both feel as though we might have won it so a draw is fair. I don’t think our work is done yet because I think it might be an even harder game at our ground. Credit to them and Brian Laws. I’m pleased for him but I won’t be pleased to see him Tuesday week.”

We Fought the Laws – And No One Won: “There were a few skirmishes and whatever, but it’s the FA Cup,” Pearce told Sky Sports News. “One or two of our players that hadn’t played in the FA Cup before realised exactly what you’re going to get in the FA Cup. It was a great atmosphere. Both sets of fans turned up and there were few empty seats today. We brought about 6,000 across the Pennines, which is great. It’s still all to play for in a couple of weeks’ time. Just because we’ve drawn away from home, we certainly don’t think this tie is dead and buried, that’s for sure. It’s going to be a tough home leg. Probably a draw was a fair result. I don’t think either manager deserved to come away from the game having the lost the game. But we’re the Premiership side, so the result looks better for Brian.” And Laws was upbeat over the performance of his team. “It would have been a travesty if we hadn’t because I thought we edged it over the 90 minutes. We gave them too much respect in the first half and we needed to take the game to them but the passing in the second half was sensational at times. We are playing exceptionally well away from home so we’ll go into the replay with confidence and you never know.” Laws continued. “I know I’m biased, but I thought we were the better team. We’ll go into the replay with confidence. The incident which led to their penalty we have no complaints over. The ref made the right decision. But the manner in which we hit back was impressive, and we showed there is no great divide between the two teams.”

Mellow on the Yellow: Laws and Pearce both believe referee Graham “3 yellow cards” Poll made the correct decision in awarding only a yellow card to Richards for a first-half incident involving former City midfielder Glenn Whelan. The duo were involved in a tussle in which it appeared Whelan stiff-armed Richards before he was thrown to the ground in response. Laws said: “We had a similar incident at Stoke when one of our players went chest-to-chest with one of theirs. I spoke to the referee after the game and he confirmed what we were thinking at the time. If a player pushes or shoves another in the chest, now it is deemed only a yellow card and not red. Anything above the chest will be a red card unless it is violent, so the referee today obviously thought it wasn’t violent and therefore only worthy of a yellow.” Pearce reflected: “The incident happened right in front of me. The kid pulled Richards back and Micah pushed him. A yellow card was a fair conclusion. The ref dealt with it well and the players got on with it.”

Squad News

A Tweaked Leg and a Twisted Arm: Hatem Trabelsi faces the prospect of a month on the sidelines after limping out of last Sunday’s match at Sheffield Wednesday. The Tunisian star had to be substituted at half-time after sustaining a hamstring injury. Trabelsi was replaced by Trevor Sinclair, who was making his return following a two-month lay-off with a knee injury. And it’s an ill wind that blows no one any good; this could provide an opportunity for Trev, who is aiming to win a new deal at City. Sinclair said: “I need to show some good form between now and the end of the season. Perhaps then I can twist the manager’s arm to keep me on.”

Kelvin’s Degree of Success: City’s reserve striker Kelvin Etuhu has joined Rochdale on a month’s loan. The 18-year-old joined the League Two outfit just a day after they named Keith Hill as their new manager. Etuhu becomes the second City youngster to go out on loan this week following Joe Hart’s short term move to Tranmere Rovers. And what a start young Kelvin made on his début. Having been named as a substitute for ‘Dale’s game with Wycombe, our boy came off the bench to score in a 1-1 draw.

Nick Knows: Nicky Weaver is extremely pleased with his current run in the first team, and would dearly love to sign a new deal to keep him at the club. This echoes the words of his manager recently, who is also keen on Weavs remaining. Nicky says: “Things have gone that well that hopefully we will sit down soon and start discussing something. It’s a great club to play for, not too many players leave this club and go upwards. I signed a one-year deal at the end of last season, and deep down I thought it could be my last contract here. I decided to give it one more year, if things did not work out for me then I’d have to move on. If you had said to me six months ago that I would be playing, having only missed one game, I would not have believed you. When David James was here, he was playing really well and was not the type of ‘keeper to pick up knocks. When he left it opened the door for me, but I still had to take my chances and I feel that I have done OK this year. I’m thoroughly enjoying my run in the team.”

The Late News Desk

Thatch’s Your Lot: This news just in… Ben Thatcher has just completed his transfer to Charlton Athletic. Unbelievably the Addicks have shelled out a reported £500,000 for the 31-year-old, a fee which could rise to £750,000 after a given number of appearances. SP is planning to strengthen other areas of the team. “The finance we gained from Ben can be invested in other positions – I believe I have enough cover to cope in his absence,” said Pearce. Charlton boss Alan Pardew believes he’s signed just the sort of scrapper his relegation-threatened side require (Thatch is certainly a scrapper – ask Portsmouth midfielder Pedro Mendes!). “We are going to need a tougher, harder edge if we are going to get out of this,” intoned Pardew. “I looked at Ben, saw he was available and that he would improve us.”

About Abdoun: Here’s some late late late late late news. The club website has just reported that Djamel Abdoun is coming to City on a season-long loan. The highly-rated midfielder is currently contracted to French club Ajaccio, who are in the second French Second Division following relegation last season. A City spokesman said: “Djamel is a talented youngster who will join with our other young, up-and-coming players.”

OPINION: STRATEGIC VISION

The result of another sleepless night Chez Clinton, here’s my vision for the future. It’s a dream, but I had to get it off my chest, through the wonderful vehicle that is McVittee; and picking up on a theme, inspired by M.Baguette at Vital Football, http://www.manchestercity.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=45962:

Vision for the Near Future

Develop and expand existing structures to focus on four objectives throughout the club:

1. Being the number one team in England
2. Playing in front of passionate and full crowds
3. Supporting the communities we:
1. work in
2. come from
3. less fortunate than us around the world
4. Developing Academy players into sportsmen

Proposed Squad:

Goalkeepers:
Weaver
Isaakson
Hart

Defence:
Jordan
Bridge*
Trabelsi
Richards
Onouha
M Mills
Dunne (c)

Midfield:
Barton
SWP*
K Moore
M Johnson
Dabo
Mila**
Owusu-Abeyie***
Miller

Forwards:
Rasiak****
Samaras
Sturridge
Vassell

Finance

* SWP + Bridge for Distin + £6m, after we have got Sylvain to sign a £45,000 week 5 year deal to increase his value.
** Mila £2.5 million from Austria Wien
*** Owusu-Abeyie £2.5 million from Spartak Moscow
**** Rasiak £3 million from Southampton

Total Outlay £14 million

Financed by:

• Signing, then sale of Sylvain, who is the most saleable asset that we have cover for.
• Corradi £1 million – Italy
• Ireland £750,000
• Sun Jihai £500,000
• Thatcher £500,000
• ‘Jitterbug’ Beesley – Loan option not exercised
• Hamman – Free
• Reyna – Free
• Sinclair – Free
• Dickov – Free
• Schmeichel – Free to Bury
• D.Mills – Free to Hull or similar
• Fazackerley – thanks for services

Total Recoup £2.75 million

Large reduction in wage bill. Eleven out, five in.

SWP on same wages as Barton, re. history at around £30,000, may need signing on fee of £1 million. Important not to upset wage structure. Dunne, Bridge and Trabelsi on £40,000 re. proven international experience, i.e. more than 25 games (need to check on Bridge, but I think he’d be worth this as he’s the best left back in England). Rest £25,000, kids £15,000.

Finance shortfall, £10.25 million from further borrowings against upcoming Sky monies. Plus £7.5 million per annum to reduce ticket prices by a half to c.£15/£5 permanently (based on £15 million gate receipts in most up to date accounts). Sky increases comfortably predicted at £20 million per annum, subject to league placing. Consider other financing options re long term borrowing. Reward loyal supporters and play entertaining football, ensure bank balance is manageable.

Team Outlook

Mould an attacking 4-4-2 of up and coming internationals who want to play for Manchester City Football Club. No leaving to play in Europe, earn the right with your own club; no threat of leaving if don’t get a pay rise. Get paid when earned it with international recognition or consistent high level performance. Backed up by getting rid of individuals out for themselves. Tactical change 3-5-2 defensive/attack options.

Provides a younger, more hungry looking squad. All young to mid-career internationals or potential internationals. Mainly English speakers, with exception of two Poles – capable of supporting and learning off each other, having played together at Dyskobolia Grodzisk. Requisite for good communication.

Mila being creative, left footed option in centre; and Owusu-Abeyie being out and out left winger, with strength, pace and height we currently lack.

Bringing in Brian Kidd or similar, due deference to Fred Eyre, would balance out the experience and striker coaching on our back room staff. Give Pearce some respite in responsibility stakes. Thank Derek for his services.

Provides more balanced coaching staff. Aged pros too close to experience of young coaching set up. Removes the ‘senior’ pros who are clogging up the system. Gives way for Dunnes and Bartons to take full and proper responsibility. Allows Academy products and youngsters such as Miller, Moore, Johnson and Samaras to blossom into a team in Pearce’s battling image.

500 Club

Reward loyalty with ‘500 Club’ for players reaching 500 appearances. CITC and Academy satellites in home towns or towns of choice for three years. Pilot in Bermuda! Build on popularity of Blues abroad such as Mr Goater or GK. Motivate high earners with means other than cash.

I can dream. I think it’s realistic. What do you think?

Whatever you do, stay Blue!

[It’s working already Dave, with Thatcher sold today for £500,000! – Ed]

OPINION: BIG SAM

Further to my comments in MCIVTA 1287 titled “Spurs and Woe Betide Us – Ramblings from a depressed man!” based on recent showings I would like to retract my comment that “Samaras isn’t going to make it so get rid“.

He could have moped about the place after his abysmal showing against Spurs but all credit to the big man he very definitely bounced back, fair play to him.

OPINION: ARSENAL GAME

I noticed a couple of requests for Arsenal tickets in Monday’s MCIVTA. Supporters may need to check the Arsenal website because subject to some possible replays etc. our game down there may now be switched to another date.

[Looks like this is the case, per the warning sent in from Howard some issues back – Ed]

OPINION: HE’S BACK

Get Fuzzy returns for those who occasionally follow the comic strip:
http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/archive/getfuzzy-20070110.html
http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/archive/getfuzzy-20070111.html

REQUEST: BOLTON TICKETS

Does anyone have any Bolton tickets spare? Preferably a pair but will take any. Will pay face value. Can collect prior to game or meet on match day.

If so don’t hesitate to contact me on 00491735646206 or email at the address below.

REQUEST: MP’S STANDING

My fellow readers out there in the Blue Planet might like to know that there’s a backbench parliamentary motion doing the rounds in the House of Commons calling for an examination of the case for allowing safe standing areas at top football grounds in England and Wales (currently banned by law).

Readers can see the motion and which MPs have supported it so far by going to: http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=31670&SESSION=885 It’s been signed by 93 MPs of all political parties already. The more MPs who sign it the more likely it is that the debate many supporters want will happen. We want to hit the magical number of 100 MP’s supporting the motion.

I invite all City fans in the UK to see if their MP has signed up and if not write or email their MP to ask them to support this initiative. To find contact details for their MP all readers need to do is go to: http://www.writetothem.com/ and type in their home postcode. Letters and emails to MPs really do work.

I spent 18 seasons standing on the Kippax. That choice isn’t available to City fans any longer. I think it should be. Just look at Germany and wonderful new grounds like the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen (Schalke 04). It costs €9 (just over £6) to stand at Bundesliga matches there this season. It’s one of the few things missing at Eastlands I think. Safety has nothing to do with standing or sitting. It wasn’t the terraces that killed fans at Hillsborough. It was the fences. It would also cut out all the problems with people standing up in front of people who want to remain seated. Why is it safe to stand at both codes of rugby, rock concerts, horse racing and even the bottom two divisions in football but not in the top two divisions?

This is a debate whose time has come. I appeal to my fellow Blues to make sure that it happens. Write to your MP today. Please let me know what the response is.

RESULTS

League table to 10 January 2007 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Manchester Utd  22  9  1  1 26  7  8  2  1 23  8 17  3  2  49  15  34  54
 2 Chelsea         22  7  4  0 20  8  7  2  2 17  9 14  6  2  37  17  20  48
 3 Liverpool       22  9  2  0 23  3  3  2  6  9 13 12  4  6  32  16  16  40
 4 Arsenal         22  6  5  0 28  8  5  1  5 13 11 11  6  5  41  19  22  39
 5 Bolton Wndrs    22  7  1  3 17 10  5  2  4 10 11 12  3  7  27  21   6  39
 6 Portsmouth      22  7  3  1 20  8  3  3  5 13 14 10  6  6  33  22  11  36
 7 Tottenham H.    22  8  1  2 19  9  1  4  6  7 19  9  5  8  26  28  -2  32
 8 Everton         22  6  3  2 18  8  2  4  5 10 14  8  7  7  28  22   6  31
 9 Reading         22  6  1  4 18 13  3  2  6 12 17  9  3 10  30  30   0  30
10 Manchester City 22  5  4  2 10  6  3  1  7  9 19  8  5  9  19  25  -6  29
11 Blackburn R.    21  5  2  4 14 13  3  2  5 10 16  8  4  9  24  29  -5  28
12 Fulham          22  5  3  3  9  8  1  6  4 13 24  6  9  7  22  32 -10  27
13 Aston Villa     22  4  4  3 12 11  1  7  3 11 14  5 11  6  23  25  -2  26
14 Newcastle Utd   22  5  3  3 16 13  2  2  7  7 15  7  5 10  23  28  -5  26
15 Middlesbrough   22  6  2  3 13 11  0  4  7  8 16  6  6 10  21  27  -6  24
16 Sheff. United   22  3  4  4 12 14  3  1  7  5 15  6  5 11  17  29 -12  23
17 Wigan Athletic  21  3  2  6 12 18  3  2  5 11 14  6  4 11  23  32  -9  22
18 West Ham United 22  5  1  5 10 11  0  2  9  2 22  5  3 14  12  33 -21  18
19 Charlton Ath.   22  4  3  4 10 13  0  1 10  7 27  4  4 14  17  40 -23  16
20 Watford         20  1  5  3  8  9  0  4  7  4 17  1  9 10  12  26 -14  12

MCIVTA FAQ [v0607.01]

[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 Radio Manchester (née GMR) pre and post match phone-in is available on the web at http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/sport/manchester_city/index.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://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer, 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 Plus Markets Group web site http://www.plusmarketsgroup.com/ 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] I hear there is a TV programme specifically about City?

InsideMCFC is broadcasted by ChannelM. It is available on the SkyDigital (ch.203) and NTL (ch.26) platforms as well as being transmittedtraditionally within the Manchester area (ch.39). In addition, theprogramme is available to watch via the web. More details and schedule:http://www.channelm.co.uk/features/city.html

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: