Newsletter #1559

News from Sarah tonight on the recent wins at Blackburn and Barcelona, latest transfers and club news.

We have opinion on the recent pre-season friendlies, more on Shindler’s piece and the usual requests together with a review of “I’ll be Bert”.

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

City Wins: Let’s start with that famous song ‘I Never Felt More Like Singing The Blues’. So City start the season with a win in the league, and then beat Barcelona in a friendly, pretty good huh? And United to lose to new boys Burnley – even better! Last night City became the first English team to win the The Joan Gamper Trophy since it began as a four team tournament in 1966. The Trophy, named after a former president of the club, is an annual pre-season friendly hosted by FC Barcelona. The trophy is real silver so City can legitimately claim to have picked up silverware before their Manchester rivals in the 2009-10 campaign. Martin Petrov scored the only goal of the game but the night belonged to young Slovakian winger, Vladi Weiss. Manager Mark Hughes said: “I’ve been able to give some young players the opportunity to play in the Nou Camp, a night they will never forget. Barcelona have great depth and great young talent, as we saw. But the most outstanding young player was probably Vladi Weiss for City, and it was great to get Kieran Trippier on the pitch.” Hughes “felt it was an experience that we needed. We are developing as a team and having the opportunity to come to the European champions and try and compete was vitally important. You expect to concede possession to a team of Barcelona’s quality, but you have to take your chances when they come. We were calm, organised and understood what we were trying to achieve.”

A Strong Start: After having spent heavily in the transfer window, all eyes were on City, to see if they would start well or fall flat on their faces. Manager Mark Hughes is under pressure to deliver after the arrival of players including Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz. “Many people might have been looking to see if we were going to fall flat on our faces and I thought we gave a great response,” (against Blackburn) Hughes told the BBC. “You saw great character from City. If we continue to play (this way) then we will keep progressing. We stood up to the challenge and we showed the qualities we will need. There was a lot of pressure on us and it was just great to get started.” City were given the perfect start by Adebayor who scored a dazzling opener after three minutes at Ewood Park. “It was an outstanding goal, a great finish,” said Hughes, whose side wrapped up the points with a late second from Stephen Ireland. “All in all it was a very satisfying performance because it’s difficult to come here but we were up to the challenge.” Adebayor, meanwhile said he and his fellow new recruits were determined to repay the millions spent on them. “We have come to a club where we feel everyone loves us and you want to repay the club for that,” the 25-year-old Adebayor, who cost an estimated 25 million pounds, told Sky Sports News. “We showed that we will be hard to beat but there are a lot of games ahead and we must focus on them.”

Transfer News and Rumours

Should I Stay or Should I Go Now? … Will Joleon join? At the start of the week Everton manager David Moyes launched an angry attack against City, calling the club’s attempts to sign the England international “disgusting”. And Everton seemed reluctant to sell; City had a first bid of £15 million rejected at the start of July and an improved offer of £20 million was turned down at the end of the month. Meanwhile, Moyes was reportedly unhappy that Hughes never contacted him directly to discuss buying the centre back.

Later in the week City were rumoured to be ready to make another bid (of around £18 million), with Dunne, Petrov, and Jo included as part of the deal. Meanwhile, Lescott was dropped from Everton’s Europa League match, due to his poor attitude. Now today, Hughes is still remaining tight-lipped, whilst Everton hold out for £30 million. It seems that Hughes may now be considering other options such as a £15 million offer for West Ham’s Matthew Upson because when asked today about his pursuit of Lescott, Hughes said “Let’s not discuss that, we’ve talked about that at length. He is an Everton player, there is no more to add. I would rather concentrate on the events of Wednesday evening.”

Other Ins and Outs: Garrido could be on his way either as a permanent deal or a loan as he fell out of favour last season and struggles to compete against Wayne Bridge or the improving NI youngster Ryan McGivern. City are reported to be interested in David Bentley – but so are Everton.

City to Get de Silva: Manchester City are winning their battle with Chelsea to sign Brazilian teenager Rafael de Silva Rodolfo after he flew in for talks. The 16-year-old attacker, who has been dubbed ‘the new Robinho’, will head to Eastlands for talks with Mark Hughes about a possible move to England. Fluminese value Rodolfo, whose footballing name is Pernao, at £3 million despite the fact he has never played a first team game for the Brazlian side. Pernao has been allowed to train with the City squad, including his idol Robinho, and it’s believed that following discussions with his parents and club a deal could soon be reached for the teenager.

Squad News

Here Comes Santa Cruz: Paraguayan Roque Santa Cruz could be back in time for the Manchester derby on September 20th. The £15 million signing from Blackburn has been out since having knee surgery in April, but having seen a specialist this week, he is now not far off featuring again. Midfielder Vincent Kompany could also be back then, as he is set to resume training again after injury.

Ireland Advises: Put Up or Shut Up: Stephen ireland has warned his Manchester City team-mates there can be no room for sulkers or disruptive influences in the squad if the club are to be successful. Player unrest seems an inevitable consequence at City this season, with so much money spent on new faces to bolster the squad as the club aims to join the Premier League’s elite. Emmanuel Adebayor gained a reputation as a sulker at Arsenal, while fellow City new-boy Carlos Tevez complained at not being picked enough throughout his final season at Manchester United. And Brazil star Elano, a favourite with City fans, was shown the door by manager Mark Hughes this summer after he spent much of last season complaining at being overlooked (however, recent reports say he doesn’t blame Hughes, it was just not his (Elano’s) style of football at City). But Ireland, who graduated from fringe player to first-choice regular through hard graft, said players who whinge at not being picked could only have themselves to blame. “It’s going to be difficult for players at times this season,” said Ireland. “Some will get upset when they’re left out. They will think they should be playing. But people on the bench can either work hard and try to get back in with their football or they can sulk. It’s up to them, isn’t it? Some people tend to say that they can’t do any more to impress the manager. Well they can. Some players may not get in to the team until January but then maybe they’ll stay in from then on and be a big influence on the season. Look at Nedum Onuoha last season. That’s what he did. But I think I know how these players will respond. The manager will pick the best team for each game and there will be changes, we know that. We have to deal with those decisions like adults and work harder to prove that he was wrong.” With so many strikers to choose from, including Adebayor, Tevez, Robinho, Roque Santa Cruz and Craig Bellamy, competition will be fierce for places up front at City this season. The same is true of the midfield, with Ireland, Barry, Nigel De Jong, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Vincent Kompany, Martin Petrov and Michael Johnson all in competition.

Ex-Blues’ News

Didi’s Nott Going: Dietmar Hamann has turned down the chance to join Sven Goran Eriksson at Notts County. Former England boss Eriksson, director of football at the League Two club, offered Hamann a player-coach rôle. But the 35-year-old former Liverpool midfielder, a free agent after leaving City last month, said: “I spoke to Sven but I’d rather stay in the Premier League.”

And Finally… Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted he would be foolish to ignore the threat posed to his club’s title ambitions by local rivals Manchester City. “It would be foolish to ignore developments at Eastlands,” Ferguson told ESPN. “Manchester City do pose a new threat. We have only to look at how well Chelsea did with back-to-back championships after a massive injection of Russian cash to know money can talk.”

Ferguson said he was curious to see if manager Mark Hughes was able to mount a title challenge, adding that the Red Devils don’t fear their rivals. “All the leading clubs are looking with interest to see how Mark Hughes handles the situation and whether he can make it work,” he said. “We are all looking over our shoulders, though as far as Manchester United are concerned, it is not in fear” (let’s see if City lose to Burnley shall we?!).

MATCH VIEW: RFC 3 MCFC 2

A family trip to Ibrox was rewarded with a fairly competitive game. However, it did not fill me with confidence for us finishing in a European spot next season. For 15 minutes or so City played some nice one touch football, more reminiscent of Sven than Hughes. That rather took the eye away from the back four and Shay Given; well the crowd reminded us of Given’s brief Celtic history every time he touched the ball but in terms of serious action he had little to do.

Then Rangers got past our midfield a couple of times and we saw a rather uncoordinated group of five players. The first time Novo managed to fluff his shot but the second time he had time to allow the ball to bounce and picked his spot whilst the City defenders looked to be frozen by a magic spell. Then Ireland, who on this showing shouldn’t have too many competitors for player of the season, found space at the edge of the penalty area to place the ball inside the far post. Honours even at half time and probably a fair reflection of play.

Petrov came on in the second half and was quickly exploiting the space behind their right back with his pace. This soon led to a similar goal to Ireland’s. Then another comedy of uncoordination leaving Given in no man’s land and being easily lobbed for the equaliser. Play continued with City full of nice touches but with little purpose whilst Rangers were a bit less skilful but rather more direct. Bellamy came on to a similar reception to Given. Just as the announcer told us that a couple of extra minutes would be played, City failed to defend a corner properly and gave Rangers to chance to score the winner. There was then just time for Etuhu who hadn’t done much right all night to scrape the outside of the post.

Thoughts: Oh for an Elano to put the ball behind the full back for Petrov to run onto. Dunne looks more and more like Dave Ewing and could well end up not finishing many games if he continues to be as clumsy as he was against Rangers. Bridge frequently looks exposed and I wish we’d gone for Johnson last season instead. Still not convinced that Given is significantly better than Hart and Hart has the advantage that he is likely to improve. Ibrox is acoustically much louder than Eastlands – the crowd noise was impressive as my son said as we entered “I see we’re not in the visitor’s end!” True we were missing a number of attacking options not least SWeeP but Onuoha apart we had most of our defensive talent on display and it looked a bit inadequate.

OPINION: FAN OR SUPPORTER?

There has been a big shift in the last few years in the way our beloved club is being run, which has caused some people like Colin Shindler to despair (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1203845/The-heart-ripped-club-I-loved-50-years.html). I can understand a lot of what he feels, particularly in the way his feelings about City have become entangled with the ups and downs of his personal life (doesn’t this happen to us all?) and I totally agree with his views on Shinawatra and Garry Cook, but I think it is still possible to support a club even if you don’t agree with the way it is being run. Much as I despise the Premier League and the way it has distorted our football leagues, it has also provided a lot of entertainment with many teams signing some top foreign players to play alongside the talent we already had in one of the most exciting leagues in the world.

The distribution of silverware though has become very predictable and boring. Unfortunately the Premier League, along with the money from Champions’ League qualification, has meant that the rich clubs, and in particular the top four, have got even richer. The top four have thus ensured that they remain the top four and it has become rare for any other club to win anything at all, whilst other clubs have had to borrow beyond their means to try to keep pace. Wardle was conned by Thaksin into thinking that he would make the difference for City but like many other Premier League owners he flattered to deceive and thankfully we had Sven to prevent us doing what Newcastle have just done.

Our football leagues have been heading ever faster to the edge of the cliff, with more and more clubs going into administration, or dropping through the leagues as they suffer for the overspending they did in trying to keep up. Even this country’s two most successful clubs are now massively in debt (admittedly through their own choice!) and as sure as eggs are eggs the bubble will burst sooner rather than later as football in this country is now financially unsustainable in its current form (personally, I can’t wait until United implode and make Leeds United’s fall from grace look like losing a tenner at the bookies in comparison!). Only the arrival of Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour in the last few years has provided the cash boost to prevent the Premier League from collapsing, and although like many people I strongly disagree with the way football is going, I also have to face reality and admit that there is very little I can do about it.

So, while other Premier League managers, players and supporters fume about our new wealth they should remember what is keeping this particular show on the road. Most of the sniping is pure jealousy, and hypocritical at that, as they would be quite happy to be in our position. I think we should enjoy our five minutes in the sun, not just because it’s been a long time coming, but because it may be a long time before we ever have it again. Once the Premier League falls apart then it won’t just be United and Liverpool that will crumble, but the interest in English football will dry up (it has already begun, with the major transfers, ours excepted, going abroad) and I wonder just how long Sheikh Mansour will then stay around to pay the most expensively collected set of wages in the country. As a long-time City supporter I will still be around long after the current regime have gone, and will support them in whichever division they are in.

Anyway, most football supporters of other teams that I know are actually quite happy that someone is going to break the boring stranglehold that the Premier League has become. Notice that I use the word supporter though, and not fan. Fan is short for fanatic and as such is best reserved for people who blow themselves up on tube trains. These people have also, unfortunately, started to infiltrate our support, as was evident at the Celtic match where I missed some of the first half because of the fuss that was caused by a ‘fan’ antagonising the Celtic hordes with a Rangers shirt and the City ‘fans’ in front of me that decided to punch each other in a friendly! It was unfortunate that we had to play two teams last week whose support is made up of sectarian bigots, but I was more upset that some of the City support decided to mirror their brainlessness.

It is not just in the stands where the ‘fans‘ are becoming more noticeable but also online. I have mentioned many, many times before about the lack of tolerance shown towards people with differing opinions, but as our wealth and potential success increases, so, it seems, does this intolerance. One of the things that made United fans so disliked in recent history was their arrogance and attitude and I fear that some elements of City’s support are starting to mirror this behaviour. Not only do I fear for the mental health of people who believe only in blind devotion, but also for supporters like myself who are increasingly being threatened by people with no tolerance for any discussion. I may not appreciate what Mark Hughes has done so far but does that make me any less of a supporter? I cannot afford to buy a shirt or go to many away matches any more, but my support is always there. I may not agree with everything Ernie Barrow says but I am happy to read his opinion and would be happy to discuss it with him over a pint. Let’s not degenerate into a lot of one-eyed fans who stamp on criticism, but keep a grip on reality and enjoy continuing to support our club with good humour and tolerance. That’s where the true ‘soul’ of Manchester City lies.

OPINION: SHINDLER’S PIECE I

I could not have put it better re. Phil Banerjee’s recent article (MCIVTA 1555) on Colin Shindler’s comments; I can only think Colin must need the publicity and has helped the media frenzy in criticising us as being the club who ruined football. In reality as Phil pointed out, our owners have ripped up the “idiot’s guide to foreign ownership of a football club” and not panicked into sacking the manager straight away, ripping off the fans, making a quick buck and disappearing as quick as they can and leaving us in debt.

Our owners have backed the manager they inherited 100%, invested significantly in the team, the surroundings and the community and Academy that City are so proud of. And whilst doing this, reducing the price of supporting our club. The more time I spend scrutinising our owners, the less I feel I need to go and start up an FC City associated football club. I have supported City all my life since my dad took me on his shoulders when I was 4 and have had a season ticket from the moment I started work and could afford one, standing near the Piccadilly tunnel and all that. I have been through the bad times and the not so bad times so feel qualified enough to know if the heart is being ripped out of my club. I think the only thing my club are guilty of is having the cheek to upset the hierarchy that is presently called the “top 4” and I personally think in the next few years we will win trophies. If after this time the owners walk away then we will be in the position we were in 2 years ago but with a trophy in the cabinet.

OPINION: SHINDLER’S PIECE II

I couldn’t agree more with Phil Banerjee’s response to Colin Shindler’s Daily Mail piece. Shindler’s “reasoning” seems to be that since Shinawatra was a shady character, we prostituted the club in selling to him, ergo the club is now a prostitute, ergo when it got dolled up by ADUG, it became a high-class harlot. Talk about stretching a metaphor! Even by Shindler’s own logic none of this is the fault of ADUG. If some small time investor had bought us from Shinawatra and sold our best players for change then we would by the same logic have been a 2 shilling trollop. Maybe Shindler would have seen us, in that case, as an honest, salt-of-the-earth kind of gal, turning tricks in the pea soup fog to feed a cluster of urchins. Me name’s “Rosie” but it’s anything you please mister if you act like a gentleman.

Nobody likes the way modern football has gone, where cash is king, but I don’t think blame for that can be levelled at our current owners, since they arrived rather late in the day. If anyone outside the big four was ever to compete again, they would have to break into a closed loop where the big four get all the money from winning all the games, and therefore buy all the best players and win all the games again. You can’t even compete by making shrewd buys since, if you do unearth a gem, the big four buy him up next season. That foursome could only be broken by an outside investor with serious resources. I’m just glad we have one who isn’t burdening the club’s balance sheet with debt, and who seems in all other ways a patient and responsible oligarch.

OPINION: SHINDLER’S PIECE III

Yes Phil Banerjee, I also take issue with Colin Shindler.

I have watched City since the sixties and no matter what happens to them, I will be a Blue. That is the heart of Manchester City. So as far as I am concerned, Colin Schindler, if that’s how you feel, then F-off to Old Trafford (were you paid for your piece in the paper – is that why you had to dramatise it?).

If the heart was ripped out of City, at any stage in the last 40 years, it was done by one Mr Peter Swales and his ideals. He once famously said that if we went down, he would resign. But we did, and he didn’t. It took threats on his family (which I don’t condone) to get the bone headed idiot to relinquish power to someone else.

Whilst all this was going on, United actually fared no better but then went on to greater things once Corned Beef face went there. And still, we fiddled about.

Football has changed whether you like it or not. Years ago, it was the clubs who got the biggest attendances, and therefore the highest incomes, and therefore bought the best players, who dominated. Only rarely would a small club come along, like Nottingham Forest under Brian Clough, would anyone else make much of a difference.

Then all of a sudden, some big money came into the game at Chelsea, and football changed again. QPR, very quietly, inherited some mega wealthy owners and are possibly a sleeping giant, due to the wealth of their owners, which is more than Abramovic has got. Who knows what they might do in the future?

But somewhere along the line, some club, some lucky b’stards, were always going to benefit from possibly the wealthiest of sources that would not only trump the previous happenings, but be so massive, that others thinking of coming into football to buy big and do what we’re doing, might just not bother now since anything they do will be second best. Who in their wildest dreams could have foreseen that those lucky B’s would be us?

So Mr Shindler, until the Arabs have driven us all out of our first love, because of the awful things that they might do in the future, but I doubt they will, then the heart of Manchester City remains intact. Football is different. City are still City.

Footnote: Thank you to Sheikh Mansour for making our club the envy of the world. You are welcome to my club.

OPINION: I’LL BE BERT!

A capacity crowd in the jubilee rooms of Altrincham Garrick Theatre witnessed a compelling and heart warming one man performance by Bill Cronshaw dedicated to the Manchester City goalkeeping legend; Mister Bert Trautmann.

Bill Cronshaw, a sprightly 60 something gentleman well versed with holding an audience’s attention, took to the stage and engaged with the crowd for 90 minutes (split in to two 45 minute halves of course) and spoke of an era, a time and a true City legend a bit before my time so was a very interesting history lesson for me and many of us as well as an entertaining piece on “Bert”.

A little background to the tone of the show. My brother and I were born in the 60’s and so our parents (born in the 30’s) witnessed the effects of the war first hand as children. Whenever we got a rollicking or misbehaved the folks would trot out the clichés; “you be thankful you’ve got that, in our day we never had orange juice, bananas, chocolate, ice cream” (insert whatever). “What do you mean doing homework is tough, try doing it a freezing cold air raid shelter in the middle of winter oh and as for watching TV we didn’t own a bl**dy radio till 1958”. So many conversations ended up like the Monty Python Four Yorkshiremen sketch. Our complaints were just smacked out of the ground like a Flintoff ‘6’. It did make us better negotiators in life and was in truth looking back as I speak to my own kids was more amusing than scolding.

Bill’s tone was similar to men and women of that era and it maintained that funny ‘Les Dawsonish’ consistency throughout the show. An amusing but just slightly jaundiced northern bloke delivery; a modern equivalent would be Jack Dee without the mean streak.

Bill opened with a contemporary view of City and regaled a couple of stories. The first one was about the cup game at Sheffield where we conceded a goal when our defender mistakenly tried to clear a balloon into the stands. The name of the player in question – you’ve guessed it, Ball! Then the multi-billionaire Abu Dhabi gentleman takes over the club two days before there is a Wall St avalanche and we tripped into a world wide financial catastrophe. With a smile and wink he says “Sheikh Mansour, welcome to City”. Two early jokes, two good laughs, two nil to the comic and the audience were on his side.

Without giving too much away, he told stories of growing up in post-war Britain, playing football on bomb sites, back to back terraces, the nit nurse, the introduction of high rises, rationing until 1955 and of course the characters, both City and United fans, in Manchester where he grew up. He spoke about how it was to be overweight, milk bottle glasses and rubbish at football (I tick two of those boxes, I have good vision) and so was always banished to the posts to be the goalie when it came to a kick about.

“Ok then if I’m in nets I’ll be Bert”

His recall of the talk amongst the men in the pubs was possibly the funniest; one scene takes place on the day after the signing of Bert. The mood of post-war Britain and the reaction to City signing (in 1949) a former German paratrooper who took part in the London and Manchester blitz was of course very controversial and many Jewish fans sent back their season tickets and left the club in disgust. A particular match at Craven Cottage got national attention and, since London bore the brunt of the Luftwaffe’s bombs, the home fans gave him a hard time but his talent shone through and he was applauded by both sets of fans at the end of the game.

There was (and still is) a widely held view in Germany that the “regular army Fritz” (the oppo to the British Tommy) was OK, respectable and doing his job and was a long way away from the powers that be that formed Herman Goering’s SS and were in no way part of the final solution. Simpleton Brits of course (and Sun readers today) still find it difficult to separate and lump all Germans as nazis etc. Yawn yawn, dem jerrrrmans bombed our chippy etc.

In one segue Bill assumes the part of a typical bloke in the bar drinking a pint playing darts…

“Only City can sign a Nazi to be in nets, honestly only our club would have a member of the 3rd Reich to guard the posts, it’ll be the death of the club, I won’t be going again, pint of bitter please Mary…”

Fast forward a few years when Bert won player of the year award, umpteen clean sheets and an FA Cup medal; the same chap playing darts again pipes up:

“Best decision City ever did signing young Bert, quite the best goalie we’ve ever had at this club, at this rate we may win summat, all those people who mocked his signing look foolish now don’t they, pint please Mary…”

A few bits of sound archive; radio announcements, a bit of crowd chanting, a few old photos on a projector and a couple of costume changes here and there added a bit more to the monologue without distracting from the show and of course culminating in a running commentary of the cup run that ended up where Bert broke his neck.

Any true old school football fan would enjoy the show and worthwhile going to see but it’s even better if you are at least one of the following: a) City fan b) remember the 40’s and 50’s c) German d) a goalie e) have fond memories of Bert f) have an interest in the history of post war Britain.

I had the pleasure of having a drink with Mr Cronshaw after the show and quizzed him on how well the show is received in different parts of the country. I said: “You can expect full houses in the North West with either City fans or people of an age group who remember a more respectful pre chav England but how about around the country?” Bill: “I thought the same but I play club theatre sized venues 40 to 100 people and I usually sell out over two nights, here in Altrincham it’s been full every night for 5 nights with capacity for each show, I’ve sold out in Exeter next week”.

I’ll be Bert has very much a cult following, I’d certainly go and see it again. I think it will go down well at Edinburgh; I don’t think it will win any prizes but well worth a trip. Let’s hope Bill and Dreamshed Productions decide to do it again in Manchester or a theatre near you. Ideal for a midweek night out and a couple of sherbets with your pals. If you take the wag you might get “call this a night out, I’m missing Corrie or Location Location can we leave at the interval, you never take me anywhere and when you do it’s this yak yak yak”.

As a footnote, I’d love to see “Bert The Movie”. I think it would be fascinating to see WW2 from the other side. I think Britain is ready for that now. I said to my dad once, “Are you ready to let the Germans be accepted back into the human race now?” I shamed him into agreement. Think of the story; a man born in Bremen in the 20s, joined the Luftwaffe, fought on the Eastern front, captured as a paratrooper and then escaped from a Russian POW camp. Later given the Iron Cross for bravery, a court martial resulting in three months in an army prison for performing a practical joke on a sergeant he didn’t like, then almost sent to a firing squad when caught by the Americans, sent to a POW camp in Lancashire, then refusing to be repatriated after the end of the war and chose to play football for St Helens, marrying a local English girl then work on a farm, play for City, receive serious abuse on the terraces in London, the Bert Trautmann Cup final, a broken neck and then the honour of an OBE… I think it’s a ripping yarn. The Patient German.

I’ll be Bert… CTID.

OPINION: MISCHIEF MAKING

I loved Phil Gregory’s letter about his mischief making.

I recently traveled from my home in Maine via Chicago and Newark (NY) to Seattle for our annual vacation. I had continual terse comments from my wife and eldest daughter over my behaviour in the airport sportswear shops where I managed to secrete various United shirts behind others from other clubs (MLS, Arsenal, Chelsea or Barcelona only). My wife deems me an idiot and informed me that no other grown (47 year old) men were behaving in such an idiotic way. Phil’s missive shows that I am not alone.

I was also delighted to see lots of Tevez shirts in what I believe is United’s new shirt for this season. I was delighted to inform the staff at that shop he now plays for the real Manchester club, and they’ll have to knock them out at half price!

Come on City, let’s have a good go at it this season.

OPINION: WOLVES MEET-UP

Hi all, just to publicise a pre-match booze up in Shambles Square, Manchester prior to the Wolves match – http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112915717985

Let your mates know even if you can’t make it!

Keep the faith.

REQUEST: BLUES VIEWING IN KRAKOW

Does anyone know of a bar in Krakow that will be showing the Wolves game?

I caught the Blackburn game in ‘The Dubliner’ in Vilinus. I’m travelling long term so these requests will be frequent! It was good to catch some games out in the States with fellow Blues at the tail end of last season.

RESULTS

19 August 2009

Birmingham City       1 - 0  Portsmouth            19,922
Burnley               1 - 0  Manchester United     20,872
Hull City             1 - 5  Tottenham Hotspur     24,735
Liverpool             4 - 0  Stoke City            44,318

18 August 2009

Sunderland            1 - 3  Chelsea               41,179
Wigan Athletic        0 - 1  Wolverhampton Wndrs   16,661

League table to 19 August 2009 inclusive

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

MCIVTA FAQ [v0708.01]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

Articles (Heidi Pickup)          : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org
News/rumour (Alex Rowen)         : 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 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.mancitycsa.com/) 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: