Newsletter #1519

No action for the Premier League due to international break, and a quiet issue tonight with opinion on Robinho, Hamburg initiative and a hatful of requests.

OPINION: DROP THEM

Great point from Heidi in the last issue. Let’s stop getting personal, it’s not pleasant to read and as I’m residing in Singapore I can read all the personal jibes I want on the Manchester Evening News website. Everyone wants the club to do well, some of us are more patient (or hardened) than others but express your opinions without slagging off a fellow fan. If you don’t agree with someone’s opinion what’s the point in quoting a fan and then slating him for having an opinion that differs to your own? It’s not in the spirit of being a City fan…

I’m not going to add to the Hughes debate until after he’s had one more season; remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day but I will add to the Robinho debate in one word followed by my summary: useless!

This sounds harsh but I was expecting a lot more from him. On current form and in my opinion it is an apt description of his recent performances. He doesn’t look interested and because of several no shows inevitably he has lost his confidence in front of goal. Excluding the penalty, this was summed up when he blasted the ball right at the ‘keeper versus Sunderland when put clean through at the end. This was a hopeful shot from the PL’s most expensive player. The only thing that is saving him from being dropped is he is usually double marked and/or he could produce one spark of magic to open up a defence. I’m not sure how long we should carry him. It was interesting to read Robinho has defended his performances for City and say he tries as hard as he does for Brazil. I think he should leave us to make our own minds up and mine is made up. Put him on the bench until he gets his interest back. Who do we replace him with? Someone who cares. In the meantime if he finds his form, great, I will be delighted! I will also take all the (non personal) comments you can give me.

If you’re going to Hamburg have fun! It’s a great city and I have fond memories attending the friendly there when KK was manager.

OPINION: HAMBURG GAME

There is an Internet campaign via bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk and on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=63582157820&ref=mf to try to get everyone to turn up at Eastlands on Thursday 16th April with flags, scarves, banners and more importantly bananas!

Pass the message on and let’s make some noise and get that place rocking.

OPINION: BLUES INTERVIEW

Interesting piece here with Cook, Bernstein, Hughes, Schindler, the Sheikh and an indecipherable Stephen Ireland.

Love Bernstein. Dislike Cook immensely.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00jckjj/5_live_Sport_Abu_Dhabi_Blues/

OPINION: CARL RAMSBOTTOM UPDATE

Carl is returning to the UK on Wednesday 1st April. A private plane has been chartered for him so it can fly at a lower altitude. He will be in Liverpool Hospital for assessment then probably to a rehab unit. The support from Manchester City fans has been overwhelming. The Football Club were slow at first to get on board but of late they have been magnificent. The Cabaret Night on Friday 3rd of April has been sold out for a couple of weeks now and City chief executive Garry Cook is attending. Plenty of Carl’s family will be attending and I’m sure it will be an emotional evening. I would just like to thank everyone who has supported the Appeal and special thanks to all who have donated. Thanks to the money raised, members of Carl’s family have been able to maintain a vigil by his bedside in Germany. The cost of the plane is just a few bob short of £5,000. There is Carl Ramsbottom blogspot with all the latest information.

REQUEST: HAMBURG AWAY TICKETS

I know it’s a long shot, but have flights and hotel booked for Hamburg and desperately need 2 tickets.

Can anyone help?

REQUEST: LONDON COACH PARKING

Euro Car Parks are pleased to announce that we have re-opened the Bayswater Road Coach Park situated in the Bayswater area in London. This coach park is ideally situated for Chelsea, QPR and Fulham football clubs. The coach park is only a 12 minuet drive to Chelsea, 15 minuets to Fulham and only 9 minuets to QPR. We are offering very competitive parking rates for both coaches and cars.

For further details on location and tariff charges contact by email or telephone on 0161 832 9777. Pre bookings will be available.

RESULTS

League table to 29 March 2009 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  29 12  1  1 31  9  8  4  3 18  9 20  5  4  49  18  31 65
 2 Liverpool       30  9  6  0 27  8  9  4  2 27 13 18 10  2  54  21  33 64
 3 Chelsea         30  8  5  2 24  8 10  2  3 25  9 18  7  5  49  17  32 61
 4 Arsenal         30  8  5  2 22 11  7  5  3 26 16 15 10  5  48  27  21 55
 5 Aston Villa     30  5  7  3 21 17 10  0  5 22 19 15  7  8  43  36   7 52
 6 Everton         30  6  5  4 23 17  7  4  4 17 14 13  9  8  40  31   9 48
 7 Wigan Athletic  30  7  4  4 14 12  4  4  7 16 16 11  8 11  30  28   2 41
 8 West Ham United 30  7  2  6 19 17  4  6  5 16 18 11  8 11  35  35   0 41
 9 Fulham          30  9  3  3 24 12  1  7  7  6 14 10 10 10  30  26   4 40
10 Manchester City 30 10  0  5 31 12  1  5  9 15 25 11  5 14  46  37   9 38
11 Tottenham H.    30  6  5  4 16  9  4  3  8 20 25 10  8 12  36  34   2 38
12 Bolton Wndrs    30  6  2  7 15 18  4  2  9 17 26 10  4 16  32  44 -12 34
13 Hull City       30  3  4  8 16 30  5  5  5 19 22  8  9 13  35  52 -17 33
14 Sunderland      30  5  3  7 17 18  3  5  7 12 21  8  8 14  29  39 -10 32
15 Portsmouth      29  6  2  7 20 23  2  6  6 12 23  8  8 13  32  46 -14 32
16 Stoke City      30  8  4  3 18 13  0  4 11 11 34  8  8 14  29  47 -18 32
17 Blackburn R.    30  3  6  6 16 22  4  4  7 17 27  7 10 13  33  49 -16 31
18 Newcastle Utd   30  4  6  5 21 25  2  5  8 15 24  6 11 13  36  49 -13 29
19 Middlesbrough   30  4  7  4 13 16  2  2 11  8 26  6  9 15  21  42 -21 27
20 West Brom A.    30  5  3  7 20 28  1  3 11  6 27  6  6 18  26  55 -29 24

MCIVTA FAQ [v0708.01]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

Articles (Heidi Pickup)          : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org
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Technical problems (Paul)        : paul@city-fan.org
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[2] What are MCIVTA’s publishing deadlines?

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

[3] MCIVTA Back Issues and Manchester City Supporters’ home page

http://www.mcivta.com/ 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 Points of Blue (formerly the Fans’ Committee)?

The committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. Points of Blue appears 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.mcivta.com/players/

[11] 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/.

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: