Newsletter #233

Two match reports from Bramall Lane and quite a bit of news this time around. Two new takeover/investment deals have emerged, seemingly with a much larger ‘reality’ quotient than previous media offerings. Also, Everton are after Rösler, but haven’t met our asking price, as yet! There’s a review of CITY magazine, quite a few general articles, and some opinion.

We have no game for 2 weeks so if anyone out there would like to try their hand at doing a ‘Why Blue’ or a book/video review then this would be a good time.

MATCH REPORT ‘LIVE’

SHEFFIELD UNITED vs. MANCHESTER CITY, Saturday 28th September 1996

Having spent my former university life at Sheffield Hallam Uni, last Saturday provided me with the opportunity to visit my old stomping ground as I had lived within a few hundred yards of Bramall Lane for two of my four years there.

Arriving not long before kick-off I took my seat in the jam-packed Bramall Lane end of the ground to find the rest of the supporters already in good voice and just in time to watch the reshaped team take to the field to a torrent of blue and white balloons from the upper tier of the stand. The team lined up as follows.

                       Dibble
                     McGoldrick
Summerbee    Wassall        Foster      Ingram
        Lomas                       Clough
                     Kinkladze
        Rösler                      Dickov

The Blues started well and the first thing of note was just how much stability McGoldrick brought to the defence, always talking and giving the others options (especially Dibble whose right foot he has already learned to avoid – not that his left’s much better!). With the defence looking reasonably solid and infinitely better than at Stoke which was the last match I had attended, I was becoming optimistic that we would possibly get a win from this one.

Having said that, to win a game you first have to score and City still haven’t come to grips with Quinny’s absence up front. With the United defence all well into the 6 foot category, banging it upfield to Dickov’s tiny frame is just not an option despite his extremely high work rate; any balls that were knocked through the defence always seamed to find Uwe a mile offside.

The first half as I remember it had two real chances of note. The first fell to United’s ex-City player David White midway through the half; given a free header he still managed to put the ball well wide of the post to gleeful chants of “David White’s a City fan” from the faithful. The other fell to Uwe who for once found himself free for a shot on goal only to slam it straight at grateful ‘keeper Kelly.

Then it happened. Just as the fans were settling to a half time 0-0 with chants of “still nil” an innocuous challenge just inside the box sent a United player crashing and the ref stormed to the spot. At the time I thought he may have had a case but having watched it again on Sky I can’t believe he actually gave it. The United player slotted the ball home: 0-1. The half time whistle followed seconds after the restart.

So, losing at half time but not too discouraged with the performance so far. The goal against the run of play I think. For the second half “Judas” Kendall had fired up his troops and after a couple of comedy moments in the City defence in the first couple of minutes which we got away with, a well-worked move saw United go two up through a header. And that was that. Dibble pulled off a cracking save from White and a United player almost uprooted the post before City finally got their act together again to put up a fighting finish but to be truthful we lacked teeth. Kavelashvili replaced Dickov and showed some good touches especially with Kinky who had a good but not spectacular game. For me though it was Uwe who should have gone off as after we went 2 down he obviously lost heart, just running for lost causes and falling over a lot.

The final whistle and it’s 2-0 to Sheffield. McGoldrick was the only player to come over and clap the fans to which he received a standing ovation he truly deserved for his performance on the pitch. 8,000 fans sulked back over the Pennines but it’s not all doom and gloom. The defence was better as a unit – all we need now is some goals, some confidence and a manager!

Final score: 0-2

Ratings:

Dibble 7 – two outstanding saves but needs to learn to catch instead of punch the ball and how to take a goal kick.
McGoldrick 9 – I don’t care how much he costs, buy this man. My man of the match by far. Organises and talks to the defence – plays with intelligence and was always there at the right moment. A must if we are to turn this mess around.
Wassall 7 – a solid game apart from the controversial penalty.
Foster 7 – played well out of position and responded well to McGoldrick.
Ingram 6 – didn’t really have much to do as nothing really happened on that side of the pitch. Could have moved up to provide crosses.
Summerbee (-2) – please somebody sell this man. My gran can play better! Not once did he get or even attempt to get round his man in the game and was beaten several times at the back. Useless as a winger, useless as a full back. This is not a joke!
Lomas 6 – passing is not up to much but gives everything he’s got for the cause.
Kinky 7 – several trademark runs but doesn’t get the support and ends up taking on too much eventually losing the ball. Victim of several nightmare studs up tackles that went unpunished. Can’t see him staying if things don’t improve fast.
Clough 5 – captain for the day, talked and organised but beyond that did nothing and deserved to be dragged off.
Rösler 5 – no confidence at all. Not the Uwe of old. Sell him whilst we can still get some decent money. If the scum can get their new golden boy for £1.5 million I’m sure we can get someone with the £3 million we can get from Everton.
Dickov 6 – Ran and battled all game unlucky to go off.

Subs:
Brown 6 – booked straight away, didn’t have much impact.
Kavelashvili 7 – looked useful and up for the game. Wasn’t given long enough to make an impact.

That’s enough waffling from me. Stay Blue – it’s not that bad – yet!

MATCH REPORT ‘LIVE’

SHEFFIELD UNITED vs. MANCHESTER CITY, Saturday 28th September, 1996

Home fans: We hate Wednesday!
Away fans: We hate Saturday!

Today was supposed to be the day the new John Street Stand opened at Bramall Lane but as with most large building projects, it was unavoidably delayed. However, it was sufficiently close to completion to see that it is quite similar to our own Platt Lane Stand, with around six to seven thousand seats and two rows of boxes at the back. Even with only three sides of the ground open, a crowd of nearly 21,000 assembled, the biggest by over 4,000 at Bramall Lane so far this season.

With Kit Symons suspended, City lined up thus:

             Dibble
           McGoldrick
Summerbee  Foster  Wassall  Ingram
    Clough  Kinkladze  Lomas
         Dickov   Rösler

Although United started quite brightly City were slightly the better side overall in the first half. The chances created could be counted on the fingers of one hand and the Blues had most of them, though Kelly in the home goal didn’t have a difficult save to make. City passed the ball around quite well but once again failed to create much in the last third. We were frequently caught offside, which suggests there’s a serious lack of understanding between midfield and forwards. The best chance actually fell to former City man David White, whose free header from 15 yards flashed by the far post.

On the stroke of half time United were awarded a penalty. The ball came in from the left flank, was knocked down into the path of Gareth Taylor and he tangled with Darren Wassall and fell to the ground. I’m not convinced it was a deliberate foul by Wassall but the referee’s decision was understandable. Local boy Mitch Ward stepped up to take the penalty and put it away very comfortably.

The second half was an entirely different story as the home side got well on top. Several of the City players had personal nightmares, including Lomas, Rösler, Summerbee and Clough. Lomas seemed to find the ball getting stuck between his feet, Rösler’s first touch usually ended up with the ball several feet away, Summerbee couldn’t beat his man again and Clough (captain in Symons’ absence) couldn’t get his passing together. It took the Blades just four minutes to increase the lead, this time Ward setting up Taylor with an excellent cross from the right wing, though it has to be said that Taylor was unchallenged as he headed the ball home. It was nearly three a few minutes later as Mark Patterson’s long-range effort crashed back off the post, bounced off one or two players and was scrambled away for a corner by Dibble.

Dickov was replaced by Kavelashvili; I couldn’t understand why it wasn’t Rösler that went off, and neither could most of the other Blues present judging from the reaction it got. A more popular change was the replacement of Clough by Brown, though this didn’t seem to make any difference. Clough handed the captain’s armband to Lomas on his way off; as I’ve already mentioned, Steve wasn’t having the best of games but you could never fault his commitment. The introduction of Kavelashvili seemed to spark a bit of life into City and a few more half chances came our way. However, our efforts to mount a bit of steady pressure weren’t helped by the “professional” ball-boys employed at Bramall Lane. One in particular, closest to the away fans on the John Street side, was a real time-waster who attracted a lot of abuse from the visiting fans.

As the game drew to a close it was obvious that City weren’t going to score. With goals scored being so important in the Nationwide League, this is a very serious deficiency which must be addressed as soon as possible. It’s no good stringing ten or twenty passes together if they’re all sideways or just get knocked back to the same player. We need to break more quickly and get behind defences. I don’t really think the defence is that bad; if we were giving the opposition more problems at the other end we’d concede fewer goals too. How about giving Dickov and Kavelashvili a try as a partnership?

A special mention goes to Eddie McGoldrick, City’s best player again. He was the only one to come over to the away fans at the end and was deservedly applauded off. He’s said to be uncertain about his future as his loan period will be over after another two games, but from what we’ve seen so far, it would be a big mistake not to sign him up permanently.

NEWS – EXCLUSIVE, NOT!

The News of the World promised us an exclusive this week that would name our new manager. The exclusive turned out just to be that Steve Coppell had joined the long list of people who have turned us down. Can’t say I’m too upset about that.

The home game against West Bromwich Albion scheduled for next weekend has indeed been postponed due to international call-ups but no date has yet been set for the rearranged game.

Now for the big story. It seems that another takeover bid is in the offing but this one looks serious. The bid appears to be hostile and is led by the Chester City chairman Mark Guterman. His consortium consists of himself, some business colleagues and some institutional investors. Their bid has been quoted as being worth £35 million, about half of which is to pay off the club’s debts and the rest is to buy the shares. There would then be an additional £15 million available for players. It seems that the bid will be hostile as Francis Lee claims to know nothing about it, saying that “I wish they’d contacted me, Stephen Boler or the chairman of Greenall’s first… this has made me more determined than ever to stay on.” What lends this rumour more substance than previous ones is that a League official admitted on Saturday that they were aware of the bid but were not prepared to say anything about it. Another point of interest is that the League’s rules on people having interests in more than one club have recently been relaxed, so Guterman could retain his interest in Chester City.

NEWS – VARIOUS

Chester City chairman Mark Guterman’s representatives have had talks with MCFC today regarding a £35 million takeover bid; the talks are said to have ended amicably. Guterman will make a statement tomorrow following Chester City’s next game, the aim being mainly to reassure their fans about the club’s future.

Guterman is a property developer who took over Chester City 18 months ago; whilst he wouldn’t comment on his plans, it’s rumoured that he could see Chester as a nursery club for City, a move which would obviously be unpopular with the Chester fans but is apparently looked upon favourably by the Football League.

Meanwhile, a London-based consortium is also reported to be interested in investing £15 million into City. A spokesman for this group, Alex Finn, who is a consultant to several London clubs, says that they want Francis Lee to stay on as chairman but will demand seats on the board and changes to the backroom staff, including the installation of Chris Waddle (currently at Falkirk) as manager. Their investment is seen as a long-term venture and would expect things to happen slowly, i.e. the fans’ patience and loyalty would be called upon again.

Francis Lee has said that he’s willing to talk to anyone with the club’s interests at heart. Referring to Mark Guterman, he said “I am prepared to go to see him today and if he is genuinely interested in City, let’s try to get him on board. It’s no secret that we have been spending a few weeks trying to get the right sort of investor into the club.”

Other news: Carlisle chairman Michael Knighton (yes, that one) has revealed that he was asked to join a consortium interested in City five weeks ago but he declined as he was happy at Carlisle. He did however, say some complimentary things about the Blues. Francis Lee has denied that either Steve Coppell or Willie Donachie have been offered the manager’s job; both have been reported to have turned it down in the last few days. Kit Symons has been called into Welsh squad as a replacement for the injured Chris Coleman. Everton are said to be interested in signing Uwe Rösler but their tentative offer was said to have fallen well short of City’s £3 million valuation. With no game for two weeks now, City are looking to extend the loans of Eddie McGoldrick and Darren Wassall. That’s about it I think.

NEWS – TAKEOVER BID

The consortium talk being widely reported in today’s media reminds me of the situation during our previous low ebb when similar rumours began to flourish. During our incredibly bad start to last season, all manner of people staked a possible claim in City ranging from Rodney Marsh with a paltry £2 million to a businessman in Stockport who lived in a terraced house with an overgrown front lawn.

This time the stakes have been raised a little. The offer from the consortium led by the Chester City chairman was reported as being anything from £35 to £60 million. This guy sounds pretty ruthless to me as he sold Chester’s old ground to Morrison’s for a handsome profit on the agreement that they would build Chester a new stadium. This turned out to be an all seater but only with an 8,000 capacity. He is obviously purely motivated by profit.

The other group to enter the fray are supposed to be based in the south with Chris Waddle the targeted frontman in a player/manager rôle. I have just heard Michael Knighton being interviewed on GMR saying that he had been approached by an unnamed group to invest in City. He indicated that it wasn’t his intention to follow this up at the moment. The question that needs to be answered by Franny is whether or not he is in negotiation with any of these people.

According to another southern based ‘Economic Football Consultant’ Mr. Alex Finch (also interviewed on GMR) Franny will definitely be talking to them. He reckons that City are now a small club with a turnover less than that of Norwich, West Ham and Crystal Palace and that they need a cash injection. Personally I think it’s a complete waste of space and Franny won’t sell to anyone.

SEPTEMBER – PLAYER OF THE MONTH

Before I ask for votes for the September P.O.M. I thought I would ask one last time for some more August votes. O.K. it was a dire month, so for a bit of spice I have sorted out a prize. A collection of programmes from City’s heydeys in the 60’s and 70’s will go to whoever votes most regularly, with a tie-breaker if needed judged on the accuracy of predictions in relation to actual result. Ipswich (H), Bolton (A) and Stoke (A) were the matches. Votes to be in for Oct. 7th.

LOAN PLAYER?

A friend of mine who signed for Newcastle a few years ago has been linked with a loan move to City, can anyone shed any light on this? His name is Jim Crawford, he’s a Republic of Ireland under 21 international and he is a tough midfield player. He signed for Newcastle for £75,000 from League of Ireland club Bohemians and is on the fringe of the first team there. KK wants to farm him out so he can gain more experience. He’s made a few appearances in the Coca Cola Cup last season but I don’t think he played a league game as yet. He has been dogged by injury recently but I think he’s fit at the moment.

He is a very determined player and I think he could do a good job for City in the middle of the park.

He has only one flaw – he’s a Man U fan.

RED WASH

A friend of mine, whos father-in-law works for a certain cleaning company has told me the the contract to wash the Rags’ numerous strips has just come up for re-tendering. The company that has done it for years submitted a tender, but was told:

“It is a privilege to wash our strips. As such, the contract will go to a company who will do it for nothing.”

Anybody interested? Just think of the humour potential:

• We could wash their strips with “Itcho – the powder that makes you scratch.”
• We could use old washing machines to rip their strips to rags – ourcompany motto being “You wear what you are.”
• We could wash their shorts and shirts together so they wear grey every week!

REVIEW – CITY MAGAZINE: OCTOBER 1996, ISSUE 2 VOLUME 2

In the face of a turbulent month at City, I was waiting for this issue in anticipation and I was not disappointed.

The first thing I noticed about this issue is the thickness, thanks to a 16-page poster special sponsored by the Daily Star. Among others, Kinky, Symons, Dickov and Whitley (pleasant surprise!!) are featured.

A new section, called Maine Frames, covers the first few pages. It contains many good photos of City’s opening matches of the season, with perhaps, a last shot of Bally and Franny together. You can look forward to more good photos from our matches on this section. (especially useful for fans from out of England).

Another interesting article is called the “X-FILES”, featuring typical City nightmarish games, from before 1980. The only thing it did was to highlight to us how things have not changed at City 😉

Dickov, nicknamed Bobbit (the one with scissor-wielding Lorena as wife) was interviewed before City’s game against Barnsley. Poor chap had to see the man who signed him leave just days after putting pen to paper. Reading it makes you feel that he will give 100 percent without being asked. Good lad.

Quinn talked about his days at City and his emotional goodbye. Asa was also featured, explaining why he does not want to be City’s full-time coach. Make of it what you will.

However, the best section is the story by our very own Ashley Birch, called In the ‘Net!! Great one this. This alone is a good reason to buy the issue. This could also spell ‘trouble’ though, as we should expect an explosion in the number of subscribers, without a doubt.

Great stuff, worth buying. If only the team can be as entertaining as the fanzine.

P.S. Craig Fielding, if you are reading this, please write to me. Have you moved to the new address or are you still at the old one? I received your City postcard but I do not have the area code to your first address.

SHARE INFO

Further to the recent correspondence on shares I decided to go for it. On Friday 27th September 1996 the share price was £1.20. Total cost is share price plus £20.00 commission (probably depends on the company) plus stamp duty of half of one per cent.

There seems to be no minimum order but as buyer and seller quantities have to be matched I suspect that 50 is the minimum. The commission price however is fixed regardless of number of shares purchased. These are ordinary shares which get you an invite to the AGM plus your own copy of the accounts.

SAMMY MCILROY

Just to set the record straight regarding Paul Howarth’s comments about Sammy McIlroy. He has not only won the GMVC with Macc but in the three years he has been there he has won all three of the major Non-League titles, The Drinkwise Cup (Conference league cup), The Conference Championship and the FA Trophy (which you may have seen on Sky) – making him one of the most successful managers in Non-League. But also, after the recent death of Macclesfield Town’s chairman, Arthur Jones he may be unwilling to leave as the club is already in trouble and his departure would possibly cause the disintegration of the top non-league club in the country and all of Arthur Jones’ and Sammy’s hard work would go to waste.

Anyway here’s to a double promotion season for City and the Silkmen! (the ground’s good enough now).

P.S. How about the Arabs for City so Franny could take over at Macc?

CITY SITE ON WWW

I couldn’t help but think that we are all being a bit too gloomy these days. I have no idea why. Just to lighten things up, MCIVTA readers might like to check out my own contribution to the cause, it is called My Blue Heaven…

http://members.aol.com/blooloon/mbh/index.htm

OPINION – BITE THE BULLET

I’m alarmed at what the other clubs are starting to think about us… I was recently reading the e-mail of the Forest supporters, who seem to be going through what we were at the start of last season, they are having a bad start, they are starting to get on the manager’s back, there are rumours of a takeover etc…

On a number of occasions the fans are saying that they don’t want to become another Manchester City. We are starting to sound like a joke, like a club that no-one expects to see in the top flight again…

I haven’t seen any reports of the game on Saturday against the Blades yet but we are in real danger of losing touch with the top half of the division. I think it has been really hard for FHL to get another manager to come and help us but he needs to bite the bullet and go for someone and make it quick, we can’t string 2 results together at the moment, there is no stability.

To be honest I was quite looking forward to all the rumours and dealings that were to go on after Ball left – down here in Australia, we weren’t expecting to hear much in the press after being relegated and suddenly City were in the papers again… but it has gone on too long, I’m really scared. We’ve been lucky that the team has managed to win a couple of games; if we were doing a Blackburn right now I think I would be suicidal.

So come on Lee appoint someone now and put an end to all the speculation and bad press that is ruining our chances of promotion.

REQUEST – MERCHANDISE

I have a question. My local shop here in sunny Ireland does not exactly stock the full range of Man. City paraphenalia. OK I admit it they have s.f.a. We have a Man U superstore but not a Man City keyring in sight in the downtown soccer shirt/knick knack store (now if you wanted a Juventus shirt…)

My question is how can I get Man City stuff by mail order (shirts – current one is 2 years out of date – mugs etc…) It would be greatly appreciated (i.e. I would grovel to you in next news letter).

As an aside I venture into my local on Wednesday night wearing my other team’s colours (Rapid Wien) to incredulous looks from the owner (“You support City and Rapid Vienna? Life is tough!” he cried. I cried later on their abysmal performance).

Send a 10″x7″ (25cm x 16cm) stamped self-addressed envelope (26p in UK; don’t ask me what you do outside the UK!) to Merchandise Department, Manchester City FC, Moss Side, Manchester M14 7WN. Credit card hotline: 0161-226-6000.

REQUEST – DANISH BLUES?

I am off to Copenhagen in a couple of weeks for a couple of months (but I’ll come back for the games unless they move them to midweek).

Any Danish Blues want to contact me and I will try to meet up for some Carlsberg and I can relate first hand how lamentable we have been this year.

RESULTS

Full-time score for Sunday, September 29 1996

PORT VALE               1-1    BRADFORD CITY

Full-time scores for Saturday, September 28 1996

BARNSLEY                1-3    GRIMSBY TOWN
BIRMINGHAM CITY         0-0    QUEENS PARK RANGERS
BOLTON WANDERERS        1-1    STOKE CITY
CHARLTON ATHLETIC       1-0    OLDHAM ATHLETIC
CRYSTAL PALACE          6-1    SOUTHEND UNITED
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN       1-0    READING
NORWICH CITY            1-1    TRANMERE ROVERS
OXFORD UNITED           2-0    PORTSMOUTH
SHEFFIELD UNITED        2-0    MANCHESTER CITY
WEST BROMWICH ALBION    0-0    IPSWICH TOWN

Full-time score for Friday, September 27 1996

SWINDON TOWN            1-2    WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS

Up to and including Sunday, September 29 1996

Team                  Played   Won  Drawn Lost     For Against   Points
Bolton Wanderers         9      6     2     1      22    12        20
Barnsley                 8      6     0     2      16     9        18
Norwich City             9      5     3     1      10     5        18
Wolverhampton Wanderers  9      5     2     2      14     9        17
Crystal Palace           9      4     4     1      21     8        16
Stoke City               9      4     3     2      14    15        15
Tranmere Rovers          9      4     2     3      12    10        14
Ipswich Town             9      3     4     2      15    12        13
Sheffield United         7      4     1     2      14     9        13
Oxford United            9      4     1     4      13     8        13
Huddersfield Town        8      4     1     3      13    11        13
Queens Park Rangers      9      3     4     2      11    10        13
West Bromwich Albion     8      3     3     2      12    11        12
MANCHESTER CITY          9      4     0     5       9    11        12
Swindon Town             9      3     2     4      10    11        11
Charlton Athletic        8      3     1     4       7     8        10
Portsmouth               9      3     1     5       6    11        10
Birmingham City          7      2     3     2       8     7         9
Port Vale                9      1     6     2       7     9         9
Grimsby Town             9      2     2     5      11    19         8
Reading                  9      2     1     6      10    21         7
Bradford City            9      2     1     6       7    15         7
Southend United          9      1     3     5       8    20         6
Oldham Athletic          9      0     2     7       7    16         2

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

MCIVTA ADDRESSES:
Contributions: Ashley – mcivta@tollbar.u-net.com
Subscriptions: Adam – Adam.Houghton@sheffield.ac.uk
Club Questions: Stephen – sbolton@buxtonrd.u-net.com

Thanks to Kieran, Richard, Thomas, Malcolm, John, Russell, The Mole, Paul (x2), Matthew, Ken, Col & Blooloon.

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: