Newsletter #97

Everything is very quiet at the moment, even the press seem to have stopped speculating, which probably indicates that they have as much idea of what is going on as we do and moreover, that’s probably all the idea they’ve had all along!

The main item in this issue is the order form for the MCIVTA T-Shirt. John has received the necessary 40 pledges which means we can go ahead with everything. The printer has accepted the design and all we need now is the money. John has set a deadline of 15th July for receipt of money and orders. This gives people just over three weeks to mail the enclosed order form and payment to John. John will then order the number of T-shirts for which he has received payment. If for some reason you think that your order won’t reach John in time then email him and let him know what’s happening.

MCIVTA T-SHIRTS

We have sufficient pledges so these are now officially happening for the sum of £8.00 (plus P&P) per shirt. The deadline for receiving orders is

**15th July 1995**

Please write out all UK Cheques/International Money Orders/Bank Drafts (in Sterling currency drawn on a UK bank only please – the banks in your own countries will be able to tell you how to do this). These should be made payable to:

“The Footprint Company”.

Credit cards can also be accepted; JVC, Mastercard, Access and Visa. There is a 5% handling charge for card payments only.

Please add a Post and Packing fee per shirt as follows:-

Posting
Option        Type                                      Cost
  1           Posted to a UK address                    £1.50
  2           Posted to Europe                          £2.50
  3           Posted to the rest of World               £3.50

Please print out the order form below, complete it, then send it by normal post (i.e. not email) together with your money to:-

        John Shearer,
        60 Colley Hill,
        Bradwell,
        Milton Keynes,
        Bucks.   MK13 9DB
        England.

**********************************************************************
                            ORDER  FORM
                     -------------------------
Name             :   ________________________________
Address          :   ________________________________
                     ________________________________
                     ________________________________
Post/Zip Code    :   ____________
Country          :   ________________________
E-Mail Address   :   ________________________   (In case of order
                                                query)
Posting Option   :   _______                    (Number 1 to 3 - see
                                                above)
Quantity & Sizes :   ______________________     (Medium, Large or XL)
                                                e.g. 1 Large,
                                                2 Medium, etc.
Order Total      :   ___________                (In pounds Sterling,
                                                Including Post &
                                                Packing)
Payment Method   :  UK Cheque                    ____
(please cross)      International Money Order    ____
                    Bankers Draft                ____
                    Credit Card                  ____
Credit Card No.  :   ________________      Card Type  : ___________
                                           eg.Visa or Mastercard, etc.
Card Expiry Date :   ________________
Billing Address :    ________________________________________________
(if different to
above address)       ________________________________________________
  *NOTE* - Please include a self addressed sticky label if you can.
**********************************************************************

NEWS – FIXTURES

The opening few fixtures have been publicised, here’s the Greater Manchester teams’ games:

Aug 19

City        vs.   Spurs
Villa       vs.   United
Wimbledon   vs.   Bolton

Aug 22

Bolton      vs.   Newcastle

Aug 23

United      vs.   West Ham
Coventry    vs.   City

Aug 26

Bolton      vs.   Rovers
United      vs.   Wimbledon
QPR         Vs.   City

NEWS – 95/96 FIXTURES

Next season’s fixtures are here. What do people think of the easy run-in? I don’t think we can afford to be lowly placed before the Easter fixtures.

August
19 Spurs H
23 Coventry A
26 QPR A
30 Everton H

September
9 Arsenal H
16 Newcastle A
23 Middlesbro’ H
30 Notts Forest A

October
14 #*$ UTD A
21 Leeds H
28 Liverpool A

November
4 Bolton H
18 Sheff Wed A
22 Wimbledon H
25 Aston Villa H

December
2 Leeds A
9 Middlesbro’ A
16 Notts Forest H
23 Chelsea H
26 Blackburn A
30 Southampton A

January
1 West Ham H
13 Spurs A
20 Coventry H

February
3 QPR H
10 Everton A
17 Arsenal A
24 Newcastle H

March
2 Blackburn H
9 Chelsea A
16 Southampton H
23 West Ham A
30 Bolton A

April
6 *#$ UTD H
8 Wimbledon A
13 Sheff Wed H
27 Aston Villa A

May
4 Liverpool H

Cup Dates

CC Cup: 2nd Round 1st leg Wed 20th, 2nd leg Wed Oct 4, 3rd Round Wed Oct 25th, 4th Round Wed 29th Nov, Qtr finals Wed Jan 10th, Semi’s 1st leg Feb 14th, 2nd leg Feb 21st, Final Sun March 24.

FA Cup: 3rd Sat Jan 6th, 4th Sat Jan 27th, 5th Sat Feb 17th, 6th Sat Mar 9th, Semi’s Sat/Sun 30/31 Mar, Final Sat May 11th.

All dates Copyright of the FA Premier League Ltd 1995 and the Football League Ltd 1995.

KIT PROBLEMS

Today (20-06-95) was meant to be the release date of the new City home kit. I went to Stretford Arndale to purchase it and was told that it has been put back until 13-07-95 due to sponsor problems. Can someone tell me what is going on as we have no Manager, no money for Quinn and a problem with the sponsors.

Come on Franny!

HELEN

The woman with the bell at Maine Road, isn’t she called Helen? Where is she now? The last couple of times I’ve been I’ve not seen a trace of her. I remember matches as recent as a couple of years ago and she was there then. Does anybody out there know where she is? Apparently she was the lady who used to have the flower stall outside The Royal Infirmary’s eye hospital section, can anyone confirm? I propose we make this star our mascot?

Yes, she is called Helen and she was there at the Newcastle game I attended at the end of the season though I don’t think she rings the bell any longer. She was being helped out 10 mins before the end of the game and she looked pretty infirm to me. We’ve had a few discussions in MCIVTA about her infamous antics on coaches to away matches.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

I bought the MEN (Manchester Evening News) Blues Review of the season which basically is every match report with the performance rating of each player. Whilst watching England vs. the Argies, I thought I would do an analysis of Paul Hince’s ratings and see if Uwe justified Player of the Year. Before being flamed, I realise that Hince talks though his arse, but I needed something to do to relieve the boredom of the game. Below shows the total points scored, number of games and average per game.

NAME            GAMES PLAYED    TOTAL POINTS            AVERAGE
Quinn           44              293                     6.66
Phelan          31              207                     6.67
Summerbee       51              342                     6.7
Beagrie         46              314                     6.83
Lomas           25              171                     6.84
Walsh           48              332                     6.92
Rösler          39              270                     6.92
I Brightwell    38              267                     7.03
Kernaghen       25              179                     7.16
Flitcroft       46              332                     7.21
Curle           37              268                     7.24

In defence of Quinn, coming on as sub. is included and Hince usually gives 6/10. Also defenders tend to get higher marks because if City are murdering the opposition and the back 4 have nothing to do, Hince will still give 7/10, whereas if the midfield can’t give the ball to the forwards, the attack get crap marks. Still it gives my vote of Curle as ‘Player of the Year’ some justification. I wonder if anyone voted for Flipper? Interesting? No, oh please yourself.

CLOUGHIE

Nothing to do with City but did anyone see the Saint’s & Greavsie’s talk show the other night? It’s a bit like Question Time, but with Sportsmen rather than politicians.

Well, Cloughie was one of the Panellists and he was pissed. He was slurring his words, slandering Alan Sugar who he called a Spiv. Someone asked him about handling players to which he replied that it took him 3 months to suss out Justin Fashanu. So how he would deal with Cantona- “I’d cut his balls off”.

BLUE BRAZILIANS!

Here is a little story for the Blues around the world:

Here in Rio, as you know, I’m a Fluminense fan, and there is a little group of friends and Fluminense fans that graduated together from University. While at University, back in 1985, we formed a soccer team, and when we had to choose the colours of the team? Guess what colours we chose? Yes you are right… BLUE, our strip is just like Man City. I have to confess it was my idea to make the team Blue 🙂

Now every week we meet to play and watch soccer. Everybody is very excited because, after 9 years Fluminense is, finally, near to winning the Cup. The game is next week against Flamengo (the local Man U..).

As I told you before, the English Championship will probably be on cable TV next season, so every week this group of friends will be at my house to see not only the Flu’s matches but honour our Blue shirt and watch City finally win the championship :))

So you can add to the millions of City fans around the world ten more from Rio!

COMMENT – TRANSFERS & HOMEGROWN TALENT

I saw an interesting article in today’s (Monday) Guardian containing some rather “alarming” information… Andrew Reid, chairman of Conservative Students, is a City fan. I am not too sure that he ranks as a famous fan, I think infamous would be more appropriate.

Another more general point is that according to the MEN, City’s money is on hold until a manager is appointed. This in itself is a very logical approach; what is interesting is did the MEN give any hint as to the amount of money City were holding? In the current climate two pound fifty and a bag of monkey nuts will get you nothing. It is worth noting the alarming rate at which quality players are being snapped up, not to mention their price tags; the next question is when City appoint a manager, if they ever do, will there be anyone left who is worth buying? Europe does seem to offer fresh hope with Gullit coming to Chelsea, Klinsmann’s flirtation with Spurs and Baggio reportedly out of contract and looking to Japan. However, foreign players invite trouble with the ruling on foreign players vis-a-vis European competitions; also it is possible that UEFA may extend the foreign player rule to all domestic European Leagues.

Perhaps City should take notice of Ajax’s success which is firmly rooted in a massive youth policy with scores of players aged 11 to 18 playing in an array of Ajax youth teams. The bottom line is if you do not have the money to buy the talented players then you do it yourself; this is something that is blindingly obvious yet seemingly rarely pursued. The next trick is to make sure that you then hang onto all your talented youngsters and bring them up through the team. Southampton appear to rely heavily on their youth policy but unlike City, lack the financial assets (i.e. a big stadium) to hold onto their young players. This outburst is inspired by City’s apparent readiness to let Flitcroft go. I accept that there are times when Flipper’s commitment and ability have been questioned, but it is unusual for a 22 year old to be expected to operate as the mainstay of the midfield of a Premier League side. Ince when brought to U****d played alongside Robson and McClair, a couple of experienced individuals. Flipper on the other hand has been the player around whom other midfielders have been selected; he has had very little experience of playing alongside players who are older and wiser than him. If Flipper leaves I get the feeling that he will join the disturbingly large rank of ex-City players who went on to greater and better things.

I would be interested to see if anyone else has any views or comments to make about City’s youth policy and its future; would it be better to spend £8.5 million on a striker or on a youth policy that could secure City’s future?

OPINION – MANAGER I

Well just what is going on at Maine Road? If you ask me Franny is waiting for the outcome of the George Graham inquiry. If he’s cleared then he will be our next manager. But given that this won’t happen until the 10 July, this seems to be leaving things a little late for the start of the new season. If he’s found guilty by this inquiry where does that leave us? I’ll tell you where – scouting round the deadwood on the dole like Walker and Francis thats where.

We need to face facts: City are not a big club any more. If we were then Rioch would now be at Maine Road, Kidd would have leapt at the chance of joining us and Joe Royle would never had turned us down.

Having said all that. I’d much rather we have to wait for a while rather than the club diving in just to get any Tom, Dick or Harry. If it takes a while to get the right manager then it will be well worth it.

Embarrasing fact: The chairman of the rapidly sinking ship known as the Young Conservatives is a City fan 🙁 Now I bet he’s really depressed :-))

OPINION – MANAGER II

Monday night’s MEN newspaper and GMR radio Tuesday, reported that FL has stepped up his bid to appoint George Graham. This news seems to confirm Brian Kidd’s decision not to talk to City. This item was reported at the weekend.

Graham now seems to be about the best of the bunch available to take over the hotseat. Provided he is given adequate time, and also money to bring in the required players, he could prove to be the strong leader we have lacked.

When City can field a full strength side they are capable of living with the best. Unfortunately you now require a strong squad to compete in the Premiership, something we definitely lack. Whoever the new manager turns out to be, he must be given the financial support to bring in top players to improve this situation.

It would do City’s cause no harm if we could reduce the number of recurrent injury problems we seem to suffer. Maybe this is due to the lack of quality and depth of squad. Perhaps Peter Reid should have stuck with Roy Bailey instead of Eammon the Fish.

I suppose it is now time to wake up and stop dreaming of money to spend unless Frannie is doing the National Lottery. Maybe the FA inquiry into George Graham’s bungs scandal may look favourably on him becoming manager of City, after all he cannot fiddle money again when there is none.

Still, let’s be positive: we will be level on points at the start of the season so we only need to maintain that form and scrape a lucky point next May and the title is ours.

Just announced, City’s first game is at home to Spurs.

WHY BLUE?

I first started supporting City in the Championship season – I had gotten interested in Football and wanted to go to a match. I come from Oldham so went there – they lost. I then went to see Salford United – they drew – then I went to Paradise (Maine Road) City won (it wasn’t on TV :-)). I’ve supported City ever since – I missed just 1 match one season – the Royal Air Force wouldn’t let me go to Poland – something to do with a Communist Government.

Being in the Air Force made it difficult to see matches – some of us used to travel, especially when I was stationed in the midlands. I even managed to come home on leave once, from Germany, to discover City were on tour in Holland AAAAARGH!.

I now live near London and have a family, so rarely manage to get to a match. My local team (Crawley Town) play in Red so I cannot go there! I’ve taken my son to Spurs and Crystal Palace when City have been playing so he is now a Blue.

WWW MANCHESTER CITY SUPPORTERS’ HOME PAGE:
http://www.uit.no/mancity/

Thanks to Andy, Kevin, Alberto, Patrick, Roger, David, Martin, Ashley, John & Kevin.

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.

Editor: