Newsletter #418

 

Firstly, thanks to all of you out there who have offered to act as guest editor; we’re just in the process of confirming that the next offer is feasible (such unimpeachable fairness!). When we’ve got a concrete ‘yes’, I’ll write to all concerned to let you know the situation (this week!). Once again, your offers are much appreciated.

This issue has a comprehensive match report for the Wednesday game and a matchview. The only news of note is a rumour that City are willing to let Bradbury go, I sincerely hope this is press speculation; even so, it’s hardly welcome. There’s also news of the second Tribal Gathering (TG2), some memories, quite a bit of opinion (some a tadge controversial?), a reply from North End Steve and another impressive Why Blue.

City beat Scarborough 4-1 with Goater getting a brace and Horlock and Bradbury getting one apiece. If anyone can do a match report, it’d be much appreciated.

This one goes out to 1,243.

Next game, Cardiff City at home, Thursday 30th July 1998

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MATCH REPORT – ‘LIVE’

MANCHESTER CITY vs. SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY, Thursday 23rd July 1998

To friends and colleagues, I have been extremely bullish about the coming season. This is purely and simply to give the impression that getting relegated was somehow part of a bigger plan where the Blue Shirted Heroes regroup in Division 2 and eventually take over the world. My stated predictions are:

1. Division 2 mathematically won by Christmas.
2. Plethora of 3-0 wins or better.
3. Weekend in London to watch a thumping victory in Auto-Windscreen final.

Think I might have overdone it?

Having been away for the Sunderland game, the Wednesday match was my first opportunity since the Brittania to see if the masterplan was starting to take shape. City ran out to the strains of ‘Let Me Entertain You’, hardly appropriate, although the opening lines are ‘I’m a burning effigy of everything I used to be’ so maybe it was appropriate after all. City attacked the North Stand in the first half and lined up in a 5-3-2 formation as follows:

1.Weaver 2. Jim Whitley 3. Tiatto 4. Crooks 5. Wiekens 6. Vaughan 7. Brown 8. Pollock 9. Goater 10. Dickov 11. Horlock Subs: T. Wright, G. Mason, Conlon, Tskhadadze (no Bradbury, why?)

Wednesday fielded what seemed to be a reasonably full strength side that included City old boys Andy Hinchcliffe and Earl Barrett. The main moments of note in the game were as follows:

5 mins: A right wing in-swinging free kick by Hinchcliffe resulted in a free Wednesday header at the far post which was saved well (but unconventionally with his left leg) by Weaver.

9 mins: A Horlock left-hand side free kick was well met with his head by Vaughan but his header looped undangerously over the angle.

15 mins: Lee Crooks pulled back a Wednesday forward when through on goal – no doubt in my mind that he would have been red-carded in a league match. Wednesday wasted the free-kick.

17 mins: A well-struck long range effort by Pollock was comfortably saved by Pressman.

At this stage City’s strategy going forward consisted mainly of chasing lost causes with Dickov in particular (as usual) chasing down any loose ball.

26 mins: Goater and Horlock combined well on the edge of the area to give Horlock a half chance but his shot was deflected wide.

29 mins: Tiatto let Booth in behind him who unleashed a fierce half volley. Weaver made an excellent and spectacular one-handed save. Shortly afterwards Di Canio galloped virtually unchallenged down the left wing and into the penalty area but his cut-back from the by-line was well held by Weaver.

35 mins: Vaughan lost out in a challenge on the Main Stand touchline and fell on to the ball. The referee generously gave the free-kick to City but the Wednesday player concerned stopped Vaughan from taking the kick quickly. A punch-up quickly ensued with Roy Bailey diving in to separate the two players. Neither player was cautioned. And to think that Le Blanc missed the World Cup final for a tiny push on Bilic.

40 mins: The best City move of the match so far led to a right wing cross being just missed at the far post by Michael Brown.

42 mins: Tiatto beat Barrett for pace down the left flank but was unceremoniously hauled down. From the free-kick, Horlock’s direct attempt sailed well over.

The attendance was announced at half-time as ‘just under 3,000’ (actually 2,882) – the atmosphere put me in mind of what it would be like in the Commonwealth stadium if our league status doesn’t improve.

55 mins: A long range Pollock effort skimmed along the ground and Pressman made an easy save.

57 mins: A good ball in by Pollock was well brought down by Dickov in the area but his shot went well over. Soon after a through ball resulted in a race between Dickov and Pressman, Pressman winning the challenge on the corner of the penalty area. The loose ball fell to Goater whose poor effort did not reach the open goal but was instead cleared from around the penalty spot.

60 mins: Wednesday brought on 4 or 5 subs including Lee Briscoe. Both Barrett and Hinchcliffe were substituted.

62 mins: Dickov had clearly taken a knock in the earlier challenge with Pressman and was replaced by Barry Conlon.

63 mins: Horlock was released on the left hand side of the penalty area but he shot tamely across goal and wide. Unbelievably Conlon was looking very lively – his well headed effort from 15 yards out was easily saved though.

67 mins: Weaver made another fine reaction save at his near post from a wickedly deflected Wednesday effort.

71 mins: The hirsuite Gary Mason replaced Michael Brown, presumably simply to give him a run-out.

72 mins: A left wing cross was well turned on in the box by Goater; the ball fell to Pollock on the edge of the area but his unconvincing chip was well over.

75 mins: Goater won a high ball over the top and shot well from a tight angle into the ‘keeper’s hands.

76 mins: Good work from Mason led to a through ball to Conlon who was adjudged to have barged over the marking Wednesday defender. This led to the familiar chant of ‘Barree, Barree’ mixed with a few ‘Garee, Garees’

78 mins: A near-post corner for Wednesday resulted in the best chance of the match as an effort from about 10 yards was well cleared off the line by Tiatto.

79 mins: A great move by Wednesday produced a near-post strike which again was excellently saved by Weaver.

84 mins: A Conlon through ball found Goater who, under pressure from two defenders, found himself with the ‘keeper to beat. His effort was turned round by the ‘keeper for a City corner. In what was amounting to City’s best spell, the corner fell to Tony Vaughan who shot just wide from outside the area. City were looking strong against a Wednesday side that seemed to be flagging.

93 mins: A mix-up at the back for Wednesday resulted in the ball falling between Goater and Mason but the ball was quickly cleared and the chance went begging.

Having read over the above, it actually makes the game sound more exciting than it actually was. In truth it was fairly low key stuff (I’ve gone into the detail above for overseas Blues, I’m not quite as sad as this match report might suggest). The most disappointing thing of all was that we do seem to desperately lack creativity. Pressman (and his later replacement) had very few difficult saves to make.

So, overall:
Plusses: Weaver (spectacular and important saves), Wiekens (very solid) and bags of effort from City generally.
Minuses: No creativity and Jim Whitley isn’t a wing back.

This was either a creditable draw against a Premiership side or an ineffective display against uncommitted opposition – take your pick!

CTID, Bruce Walker (Bruce@walkerbd.force9.co.uk)

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MATCHVIEW – CITY vs. SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY

Having been cajoled into going by the kids and friends, I hoped to get a preview of the new season.

Team:

Weaver
Jim Whitley
Crooks
Wiekens
Vaughan
Tiatto
Pollock
Brown
Horlock
Dickov
Goater

Attendance: 2,882

There really was little of note except a “handbags at dawn” between Vaughan and Di Canio. Action was very slow and low key and the crowd only showed any real interest with a few rounds of “Barreeeee” when Barry Conlon came on as a sub. for Dickov.

I felt Wiekens looked excellent but was disappointed by Tiatto who didn’t seem to have too much of a clue. Weaver made some good stops but also some errors, probably a dilemma for Royle as to who should be in goal. Gary Mason, a junior, looked good when he came on for the last 10/15 minutes.

However, I do wonder who will score for us. I was under the impression that Goater worked well with crosses coming in from the wings and I can remember 2 all night. We looked woefully weak in the box and I only hope I am proved wrong when the real competitions begin.

Thus despite all the off-field changes, everything seemed the same. Is there no one out there with the bottle to shake the club out of its lethargy?

Brian Leigh (B.Leigh@mmu.ac.uk)

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NEWS – OFFERS FOR BRADBURY!

On Skytext last night,it was reported that City were willing to listen to any offers for Lee Bradbury. My thoughts – Nothing like building a player’s confidence up before the start of the season.

Darren Edwards (dedwards@rmplc.net)

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TG2 – THE RETURN OF THE TRIBE – 21 NOVEMBER 1998

Plans are taking shape for this year’s Tribal Gathering for the weekend of the Gillingham home game, 20-22 November 1998. We are hoping to hire the Oasis Suite in the Kippax Stand for a grand bash on the Friday evening 20 November. The theme tentatively is Youth/The Future of MCFC and we are currently in the process of organising the format of the do. There will be City celebs in attendance and we are trying to attract people like Colin Bell, David White, Alex Gibson and Paul Power to come along. I can’t make any promises at this stage but I can assure anyone and everyone that we will do our best to ensure that TG2 will at least be as good as TG1 and those who came to last year’s TG will undoubtedly be able to confirm that it was a blast from start to finish.

The price of tickets for the Friday evening bash will be in the region of 15 pounds, but this is to be confirmed. The more Blues we can get along to buy tickets, the better deal we can get. I’m hoping that we can get about 200 Blues there for this unique occasion and it’s a great opportunity for The Best Fans in the World to show the rest why we’ve got that title. If you are interested, please email me for more details on harmony@candw.lc but also keep looking in MCIVTA and on BV for updates. Also, Bob Young’s www.mancity.net site will have regular updates from now until the TG. We will also be gathering before and after the game on the Saturday, details to follow. Sunday, we are going ten-pin bowling then off for a quiet beverage to round off the weekend If anyone has any suggestions/comments on the above, I’d be pleased to hear them.

CTID, Clive Tysoe a.k.a. GB (harmony@candw.lc)

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MEMORIES

Having followed with interest the recent postings from subscribers about their experiences and memories about City, and in particular some of their memories about individual events that have happened while following our great team, I have a couple that will always stick in the mind as long as I live.

I have already mentioned in my ‘why blue’ about the first. That is of a dejected Rodney Marsh walking back past the fans and down the tunnel, after the League Cup final defeat at the hands of Wolves in 1974 without collecting his loser’s medal (maybe he did go and collect it in the end, but I was 13 and was crying my eyes out, perhaps someone else remembers and can tell me if he did collect it?).

The other memory that will never go away was at Highbury sometime during the early seventies (haven’t got a clue) and we drew 0-0. The incident that sticks was of Francis Lee (I think) hitting the ball from the edge of the area and it screaming into the net, the ball hit the metal stanchion at the back of the net and as it bounced downwards one Jeff Blockley (I’ll never forget the name) punched the ball back up the pitch thinking that they had just conceded a goal, only for the ref. to wave play on (the ref. was I think at the time the top ref. in the country and he later went on record as saying that this particular incident was the worst mistake he ever made), thinking it had hit the bar. What followed was typical City farce; the Arse went on the attack in numbers while the ref. was surrounded by ten City players. Big Joe was true to form and kept them at bay until the City team realised that the ref. wasn’t going to change his mind and got on with playing the game.

Great days, great memories, I look forward to the days when we can look back on our present troubled times as fond memories to the times when we were s**t. And laugh it off as a bad dream (am I being too optimistic?).

CTISOTMC (City till I shuffle off this mortal coil) Andy Stevenson (andyst@mcmail.com)

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KINKLADZE

While flicking through the Sky channels last night, I was lucky enough to come across Eurosport showing Copenhagen vs. Ajax (live). After initially not paying much attention to the game, it then dawned on me that Kinkladze might be playing. After studying the game for 5 minutes I discovered indeed he was. I was only able to watch the first half, but these were my observations on the little maestro.

He was being played wide left – not as a wing back or as a left winger. The game mainly passed him by. Not once did he attempt to run with the ball – looked as if he had been instructed to just pass the ball to feet, in keeping with Ajax’s general approach to the game – playing keep football. Looked decidedly uninterested and unhappy. Still produced the one moment of pure skill during an otherwise boring first half – a delicate chip from 30 yards which went only inches over, with the ‘keeper well beaten.

For all Gio fans like myself, the only comfort this season, now that he has left City, is that we will be able to watch Gio in action throughout the season. All Ajax league games are shown on Eurosport (was on a Monday 22:00-23:00 last season) and that most of Ajax’ Champion League games will be covered by ITV, even if it is only the highlights.

I for one wish Gio all the best for the future – wouldn’t it be great if he scored the goal that knocked the scum out of Europe? I also believe we will see Gio in a City shirt again – Division 2 is not his stage, but I believe that within 4-5 years we will be able to offer him that stage – and he will be back.

CTID, Darren Edwards (dedwards@rmplc.net)

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A REPLY FROM NORTH END!

James Barber (City or Blackpool, hard to tell) in MCIVTA 417 did City fans a favour. By moaning and whinging about Preston he illustrated perfectly the arguements the Citys, Prestons and Stokes have to put up with in the depths of Division 2:

• The ground has seen better years but the playing surface is one of the best in the country.

This means that the ground is a real pit so let’s talk about the grass instead! In actual fact, any City player who played there last year will confirm that there is far too much camber and too much sand at Blackpool. Even the pitch is bad. The ground of course is an illustration of how bad a stadium can actually get.

• Gates have diminished…. but there’s none so loyal.

This means that they have no fans. It’s the old “There’s only two of them but they’re really loyal” defence. They then often go onto a long drawn out ‘explanation’ of why they have no fans… population flows and all sorts of stuff. It’s OK to go to sleep during this bit, or better still, sneak away whilst they are not watching.

You’ll soon be singing ‘Sh*t ground no fans’ as often as PNE fans. Believe me!

• Our history this, our history that.

This means that we have no present and no future, and that once in the past something of note happened here. In this particular case it’s also worth pointing out that the something of note is hardly worth mentioning – didn’t Stan Matthews play for half the teams in the Football League? Certainly, Blackpool wasn’t his only club.

Be ready, be prepared… you’ll get all these tired old defences thrown at you in this division time and time again. The guy in MCIVTA even went so far as to end his contribution with the equivalent of a begging letter: “if there are any fat cats out there…” They are that desperate.

Also be prepared for small teams like this raising their game against you. For seasons, a visit from us has been their cup final… and you’ll get the same thing this season. To go up therefore, you don’t just have to be better than them, you have to be significantly better.

Good luck, Town End Steve

Submitted by TM

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SUPPORTERS’ CLUBS

Reading an article in the Manchester Evening News, the Official Supporters’ Club branches have risen to 51, with 24 branches in the Centenery Supporters’ branches. Clive Hamilton of the CSA said “people want to share their sense of frustration and that’s why so many supporters’ branches are opening up. It’s often a relief to know you’re not alone.” He has a point, but being a season ticket holder and a Supporters’ Club member will give you a better chance of getting hold of any away tickets for grounds like York, Macclesfield etc. plus it’s more economical and social to travel on Supporters’ Club coaches to Maine Road or away matches. I think that’s the most obvious reason.

Meanwhile, you can check out the Fleetwood Branch of Manchester City Supporters’ web page http://members.aol.com/dclark5358/; anyone who wants a link just e-mail me I’ll do the same for you.

Daz Clark (DClark5358@aol.com)

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PRE-SEASON THOUGHTS

On the same day that Manchester City were holding the Premiership under-achievers Sheffield Wednesday to a nil-nil draw, City old boy Gio Kinkladze was in action in a friendly with his new club Ajax against Copenhagen, the match shown live on Eurosport.

After a quiet first half in which Gio set up the first goal and showed little else, he then came out in the second half, scored with a delightful chip over the goalie and was unfortunate not to get a second after skipping past four players and narrowly missing the goal by a whisker. The eventual score was Copenhagen 2 Ajax 4.

On the other hand I saw very little to delight me in our game against Wednesday.

Although we played OK and held our own against the Premiership side, I came away from the game feeling disappointed, thinking, New season, New away kit – Same s**t.

It’s going to be a long, hard season and I saw nothing to make me feel optimistic. There was a lack of inventiveness and creativity in the middle of the park (so no change then); the game was also crying out for a wide player – so little is achieved when centering from the half way line.

The defence looked reasonably solid. Our two front players were largely ineffectual. They have to learn to work as a unit, it is not sufficient to run into any old space in the hope that it is where the other might just put the ball.

A big plus however was our goalie Nicky Weaver whose distribution and awareness was excellent. We seemed to have unearthed a talented young lad by the name of Gary Mason, whose first touch and running off the ball was also excellent.

City has become in all senses of the word, average. The point I’m trying to make I suppose, is that a football team and the support it claims to deserve is based on a spirit or attitude that is of some worth, and that this is rewarded with success.

Average teams without spirit or flair win bugger all, bugger all trophies, bugger all respect, bugger all admiration.

What is City going to be famous for? 20,000 plus fans turning up week in, week out? What is City going to be infamous for? Selling our best players because we can’t get shot of our average players? Being the butt of everyone’s jokes?

It is possible that we are exactly where we deserve to be; without the skills or confidence to dramatically change our predicament we will be forever an average 3rd Division team.

I am already depressed.

Averil Capes (a.capes@man0511.wins.icl.co.uk)

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OPINION – CAMPAIGNING FOR CLOUGH (NO JOKE)

I’m prepared to be slagged off with the sort of venom last expended on Frank Clark or Franny Lee for even suggesting this, but here goes: Nigel Clough deserves a run out with the first team.

Yes, you read correctly: I want Nigel. No Blue-blooded male – and probably no self-respecting female, either – has ever made such a request. But the time has come to give Nigel another shot, because, well, I can’t bear the thought of watching a virtually unchanged team from the group that was relegated a mere three months ago. Nicky Weaver’s off to a solid start but he and Tiatto alone are not going to make up for the absence of Gio and Uwe… and all the quality players who departed long before my two favorites.

It’s simple, really. JR says he’s not buying any more players. And no one, quite obviously, is going to buy Clough and pay his Premiership wages. So we have no choice but to throw him out there, at least in one or two of these pre-season warmups, if only to see if he has anything left. In our current position, how can we afford to discount anyone on the books? Who can look at the lineups used in the four friendlies to date and get excited about more than two or three names? We don’t have a single midfielder who can do anything with the ball, and, last I checked, we still don’t have any wide players worth a damn. At least Clough, at one time in his footballing life, displayed the talents that could provide Bradbury and Goater the chances to dominate this division like they should. Would it be so terrible to double-check before deciding Clough’s skills are a memory? Assuming that we’re actually going to stick with this 3-4-3, I can envision Clough doing a hell of a lot more behind the front two than Dickov. Memo to JR: If you can honestly say that all of Gio’s skill on the ball produced no end product, you better realize that all of Dickov’s commitment and work rate produce even less.

From here in the States, admittedly going only on what I’ve read, it sounded like Clough had a good season in the reserves last year. By all accounts, he scored goals and played hard. Now, I know all of you will say he has absolutely no heart for City and isn’t fit to wear the shirt, but I’m guessing that Ol’ Nigel has been humbled by his long-term exclusion from the first team. Isn’t it about time we find out for sure? I’m willing to bet that he’d be more motivated than ever, because few players in football have as much to prove. Seriously, name someone who has disappeared from the mainstream in recent years as quickly and totally as Clough. If he suddenly came good, it would be like getting a new player for nothing.

Even as I type these words, I can’t imagine the name “Clough” echoing over the Tannoy without being followed by a vicious trail of boos … and God knows what else. But anyone who “hates” Clough because of what he did or didn’t do three years ago is as closed-minded as the fools who have run this mighty club into the ground. Maybe Clough really is a sad waste. Maybe he doesn’t even have enough skill left to be effective in the league’s third tier. All I’m saying is, let’s find out. Because if, in fact, Clough can still play – and if he’s just sitting there in the reserves collecting an exorbitant salary – we’re wasting two resources City are sadly short on these days … talent and money.

Eagerly awaiting your abuse, Marc Stein – Dallas, Texas (Stein43@aol.com)

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OPINION – TONY’S SITE

Good site, as I am always interested in reading Tony’s comments, which make more sense than the managers’ efforts over recent years.

Please tell them to play youth; we really need to build a team from the ashes, not rely on has-beens from outside with no passion for the club. Year 2000 we will be back with the prime using players from the youth system now – you have to be positive.

Tony Book should never been sacked as manager; we came 2nd or 3rd in ’77 or ’76 and had one of the best teams around – we have made some monumental cock-ups over the last 20 years! However, I have been following City since 1963 and it makes me sad and ashamed to see the plight they are in, but for some strange and unkown reason I will always follow them. My wife and daughter think that I am mad, as do 99% of the people I come into contact on my travels. I am from Didsbury, my dad supported them and his dad too etc., something only people from our great city would understand.

Pleased Bell is back, he was a fine servant to the club and a gentleman.

All the best, Stephen Burt currently off Thailand on a seismic vessel (sjburt@hotmail.com)

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OPINION – NEW SITE AND AWAY KIT

The new official site was well worth waiting for, as it’s far away from our old one, even though the old “citynet” logo was pretty gear. I wish I could say the same for the away kit. I’ve been on holiday, so I couldn’t get on the web much, but once I saw it, I felt like I was going to be sick. Well, after the initial blinding. Perhaps the front office thinks “if they can’t see Bradbury, they can’t tackle Bradbury”?

CTID (Citrus till I die!) Mike Doles – BlueBlur (mcfc9@aol.com)

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OPINION – THE GEORGIAN!

I’ve just read the latest issue (417), and I read something that I want to nip in the bud: can we all please make an effort to not bang on about Gio this season.

It seems we’ll never all agree about whether he was a hero or a villain last season, so why spend the rest of this season bickering like a load of old housewives about it? The season’s not even started yet and it’s already happening.

Surely it’s enough to say Gio at his best was one of the most exciting, entertaining and gifted players ever to wear the sacred shirt?

Hoping we can let it lie.

Julian Douglas (julian.douglas@wcrs.co.uk)

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OPINION – MCFC ONLINE

Thanks for the tip http://www.mcfc.co.uk/. This must be a new website? Or improved; I recommend it to all City fans if you have not already tried it. It’s nice to see we have an up and coming youngster; there is Rose in golf, Owen in Liverpool and City have Weaver. Let’s stay positive to the side Joe Royle picks – support his side so they pick up confidence.

Ernie Barrow (EB2205@aol.com)

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OPINION – MOSS ROSE

Calling Macclesfield Town’s Moss Rose a pit is a bit harsh. It is small and that is the only thing wrong with it. This close season there have been extensive renovations taking place. Not least of which is the construction of a temporary stand, similar to the one at Maine Road, where the oldest and most decrepit section of the ground used to be. Now every side of the ground has been re-vamped within the last 5 years and remember, Macc didn’t lose there in the league last season. Just think of the old saying, size doesn’t matter, although saying that, the Moss Rose has got about 1,000 extra capacity over Crewe.

Thomas Rance

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WHY BLUE?

Maybe because I was born in Burnage with views of the floodlights of Maine Road visable in the distance across the school fields. Or maybe it was the fact that my dad was Blue, although neither of the above had any affect on my big sister who used to go to Stretford and the ‘***kpit’ every other week.

First game I went to (at the age of 6) was viewed from the Platt Lane in February 1967 against Blackpool. I remember being disappointed when Blackpool came out in their tangerine kit ‘cos I thought we were going to play Liverpool. It was okay in the end as we won 1-0 with Colin Bell scoring.

After this season I was totally hooked and in the Championship year I was at Maine Road watching the reserves on the day we beat Newcastle to take the crown.

My first trip to Wembley was for the League Cup in March 1970, when we beat WBA. The early 70’s were still exciting times but as the decade rolled on the teams started to achieve less and less. Even the brief glory under John Bond was short lived.

The reaching of the 1981 Cup Final caused me problems. I was working and living in London at this stage and found no way of getting a ticket for the first game. Having to endure the game in the company of Spurs’ fans was hard work. When the replay came around on the Thursday I was in turmoil. That night I had a hard earned ticket to see my other great love Bruce Springsteen at the Manchester Apollo. As this was his first UK tour for a number of years; I thought that there was a greater chance of the Blues returning to Wembley than Bruce coming back. As I have now probably seen Springsteen about 20 times around the world I somehow feel I made the wrong decision that week. However, I went to the gig hoping and praying that Bruce would announce near the end of the show that City had won. Oh well, we all have our dreams.

I’m now living in Hampshire but still get to see the boys quite a lot, but usually at away games. Hopefully August 1998 will be the start of the long climb back. Anyone who witnessed the spineless performance at Reading will never forget it. I fear it will take a few years for the glory days to return but then again the vast majority of City fans probably never knew them in the first place.

Keep the Faith, Neil Mitchell – Alton, Hants July 1998 (neil1@mcmail.com)

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HUMOUR – OFFICIAL WC COLEMANSBALLS!

Here are the official World Cup Colemanballs (translator’s note: Coleman was a commentator more capable than most of inanities like the following):

“Pires has got something about him, he can go both ways depending on who’s facing him” – David Pleat

“Batistuta gets most of his goals with the ball” – Ian St John

“The good news for Nigeria is that they’re two-nil down very early in the game” – Kevin Keegan

“Moreano thought that the full back was gonna come up behind and give him one really hard” – Big Ron

“Adams is stretching himself, looking for Seaman” – Brian Moore

“I wouldn’t be surprised if this game went all the way to the finish” – Ian St John

“Apart from their goals, Norway haven’t scored” – Terry Venables

“The Croatians don’t play well without the ball” – Barry Venison

“It had to go in, but it didn’t” – Peter Drury

“That’s lifted the crowd up into the air” – Barry Davies

“He never fails to hit the target. But that was a miss.” – Bobby Robson

“Batistuta is very good at pulling off defenders” – Kevin Keegan

More Kevin Keegan (retired footballer/active TV audience annoyer) specials:

“Only one team can win this game… and that team is England”, followed by Brian Moore “But wait a minute, here’s Dan Petrescu…”

“Chile have three options – they could win or they could lose”

“That would have been a goal if the goalkeeper hadn’t saved it”

“I came to Nantes two years ago and it’s much the same today, except that it’s completely different”

“A tremendous strike which hit the defender full on the arm – and it nearly came off”

Some Big Rons:

“Zidane is not very happy, because he’s suffering from the wind”

“He dribbles a lot and the opposition don’t like it – you can see it all over their faces”

“They’ve picked their heads up off the ground and they now have a lot to carry on their shoulders”

“Well, either side could win it, or it could be a draw”

“He sliced the ball when he had it on a plate”

“I’m afraid they’ve left their legs at home”

Vince Docherty (pacpress@asiaonline.net)

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

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MCIVTA ADDRESSES:
Contributions: Ashley – mcivta@tollbar.u-net.com
Subscriptions & Club Questions: Steve – sbolton@buxtonrd.u-net.com
Technical Problems: Paul – paul@city-fan.org

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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.

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Ashley Birch, mcivta@tollbar.u-net.com

Editor: