Newsletter #123

This is just a short MCIVTA but does contain a nice Why Blue, some opinion on the recent signing7departure and some news for the Arsenal game.

Lastly, Paul and I (and other MCIVTAers, hopefully) will be meeting up before the Middlesbrough game (23rd Sept.). The venue will once again be the Old Abbey pub on Pencroft Way which runs parallel to Lloyd St. North and is close to the dental school. There is a map in MCIVTA 78 on the WWW. If anyone fancies a pint & a natter or wants to see my new gold watch (think about it!) then please drop in. We’ll be there from about 1.15pm.

Next game, Arsenal at home, Sunday September 10th 1995 (live on Sky!)

NEWS – CREANEY SIGNS

GMR report that Gerry Creaney has now signed for City but it was too late for him to play on Sunday. The fee was quoted as an initial £400,000 plus Paul Walsh.

CREANEY

Living in Glasgow I got the chance to see Creaney play for Celtic a couple of times. I thought he was a good player, but I know this view was not shared by most Celtic fans who never rated him. Indeed he acquired the nickname of “Genial Gerry”, I think because he was a pleasant enough guy, but didn’t have enough passion for many fans. I must admit I don’t really understand why he wasn’t rated but I will endeavour to find out.

ARSENAL GAME ‘LIVE’ ON THE WWW

I got the following message from Rupert Ward who is the administrator of the Arsenal Mailing List:

You might be interested in the following (experimental) web page. The idea is to post live reports during Arsenal games, and the first attempt is the match on Sunday. I don’t know how well it’ll work or why the people that are doing it prefer it to email, but there it is.

> The WWW-service for Arsenal scores is now ready. The results
> will be updated (hopefully) during the games at:
>
> http://www.algonet.se/~snoe/arsenal/online.html

THE ACADEMY I

I’ve just read the latest MCIVTA and noted Martin Reynolds’ query about ‘The Academy’ issue. Yes I know Upton Park is known as the Academy (since the 60’s with Moore, Hurst. etc) but with City you can look at it a couple of ways:

(serious version)
When City were taking the footballing world by storm in the late 60’s/70’s they played real football, entertaining crowds, hence ‘The Academy’: everyone should learn something.

However, I prefer the latter version along the lines of ‘The Academy of Comedy.’ I mean just how many other teams would continually botch things up and make life difficult for themselves ;-)))))

Anyway what’s wrong with shortening the title to just The Academy? After all, if the Rags can call OT `The Theatre of Dreams’, surely the Blues are entitled to a little flattery 🙂

Is Martin missing the point? ;-)))

THE ACADEMY II

James H Reeve always referred to Maine Road as the “Moss Side Academy of Footballing Excellence” when he did the late night phone-in on Piccadilly many years ago, and probably still does. That is where I first heard the term “Academy” but it may not be the original usage.

OPINION – THE TEAM

I have to agree with Andrew Inman’s comments (MCIVTA 122)! Things might not be too rosy at the moment, but I personally still feel optimistic about the future. It’s still early days yet and AB needs more time to get the team playing as a unit. He’s made some positive moves so far (I’m one of the people who thinks selling Walsh is a good idea), but I think we are still a couple of players short of a strong team. We obviously need to replace Summerbee on the right, and a decent full-back would be nice (Jason Dodd!?). Someone mentioned buying Le Tissier! I think it’s time to wake-up and smell the coffee! I read that Blackburn have offered £10 million for Le Tiss, which I guess would count City out of that particular race, considering we can’t even pay Pompey £400,000 quid for Creaney.

OPINION – TRANSFERS I

I can’t understand what Ball is doing. He shouldn’t be getting rid of our better players like Walsh and Kernaghan who will sweat blood for the team, and buying another forward who probably isn’t any good, when he should be strengthening the areas like midfield and the flanks. If you must sell centre backs then lose Vonk and David Brightwell.

Another suggestion – Kevin Gallacher from Blackburn?

OPINION – TRANSFERS II

As far as City’s latest manoeuvrings on the transfer market go, I must confess to being slightly confused. I thought Walsh was past his best; he seems to be the sort of player who performs brilliantly at each club he’s been at (and he’s been at a few) and then fades rapidly. I’ve only managed to see the team once this year (vs. Spurs), but nothing seemed to be coming off for him in the way it was a year ago. I couldn’t fault his commitment, but something somehow seemed to be missing. Maybe it’s that funny ‘confidence’ thing that every other team seems to possess and which we’re desperately short of.

The reason I’m a bit bemused is that it seems to me that what we need desperately now is not a striker, but a ball-winning midfielder, like Reid or McMahon in their prime. Lomas just isn’t cutting it at present and Flitcroft looks dangerously exposed, not knowing whether to track back or steam upfield. I think a hard ball-winner would also help liberate old Kinky, leaving him to pass the ball into dangerous positions rather than chasing around over the pitch.

Anyway, that’s enough of my opinions, all the best

WHY BLUE?

This is a question that I have often been asked, usually soon after I have revealed to people that I am a City supporter and that I am born and bred in Manchester. It is also a question that I struggle to give a convincing answer to, usually saying, “I don’t know”, or, “I just am”. There isn’t a history of football fans in my family, as my parents came over from Jamaica in the 1960’s, and hence being more interested in cricket, so that isn’t it. My only explanation is that when I was a baby, my family lived in Moss Side, on a street opposite the ground (now occupied by playing fields for Claremount Road Primary School), and my dad did look out for the City results on a Saturday afternoon on Grandstand. My family moved to Levenshulme when I was two, and my best friend for many years, mainly during primary school and early secondary school, was also a City fan. One of my most vivid memories of my younger days was the 1979 Cup final, I didn’t half cheer when Alan Sunderland scored the last minute winner against the Rags!! I also couldn’t believe what happenend to my beloved City in the ’81 final, after seeing Paul Power’s semi-final winner on Grandstand / Match of the Day.

With my parents not being mad football followers, together with the ascendance of the hooligan element throughout the country, it was not until 1985 at twelve years old when I first got to see the Blues at the Academy. It was near the end of the season and we were playing Oldham Athletic. The people I went with arrived late to pick me up, me being dead disappointed and we missed the first twenty or so minutes of the match. The game was 0-0 and the thing I most remember is Andy May getting sent off.

At that time, I was not allowed to go to league games, so I went to a few reserve games in the next couple of seasons, a good, cheap way to become a supporter – kids can get autographs etc. – the only first team action I saw were the League Cup matches against Bury at Maine Road and Old Trafford in autumn 1985. It wasn’t until 1987 that I got to see my next league game. City vs. Palace 1-3 – City, and Eric Nixon in particular, hitting the self-destruct button. That was my only match of the season when City reached the FA Cup Quarter final against Liverpool. To qualify for a ticket to the cup match, you had to go to a game vs. Hull City, so I duly went, got my cup ticket, and went to see my team take on the then unbeaten Liverpool. I still think the first goal was handball, and the second was never a penalty.

The following season (promotion year) saw me become a fully-fledged Blue, only missing one home match (which happened to be our first win of the season against Brighton), and even getting to a couple of away matches, at Stoke and Blackburn. I got my first season ticket after promotion to Division One, and during the 1989-90 season I was lucky (mad) enough to see every game at Maine Road including reserve and youth team games (I sometimes miss those freezing winter evening games(!)) and have been a season ticket holder ever since, even though I spent three years at Leeds University (1990-1993), and have moved down south to Beckenham, Kent this January.

Favourite memories of games include the 5-1, 4-0 vs. Leeds twice, 2-1 at Leeds, 2-1 at Villa on TV, 3-2 at Blackburn on TV, the 1986 FA Youth Cup final vs. the young Rags, and a 4-3 reserve team victory over the Rags’ reserves at O.T. in 1989 which got news coverage on Granada Reports. I just hope that this season improves and quickly!!

RESULTS

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

Thanks to Geoff, Martin, Paul, Charles, Nigel, Stefan & The Mole.

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: