Newsletter #484

Another lacklustre performance on Tuesday, but we did enough in patches to win the game, and to cap off the 3 points, the other results also went our way. This issue has a match report and Peter’s usual excellent news summary. The funniest thing in this issue (unintentional) surely has to be the requirements for getting a ticket at the Bristol Rovers away fixture; it’s the smallest allocation we get this season, and to go, you’ll need Voucher KK from your season ticket book and a mere 20 ticket stubs from away games!

The Anorak’s Guide makes another appearance, and the omens are not good, we really do need others to slip up! We also have a rarity this issue in the form of an article on a ‘favourite post-war eleven’ from David Buxton, who must qualify as one of MCIVTA’s older subscribers. Hopefully other people who can remember that era will write in and take issue with David’s choice!

Lastly, does anyone out there have the ‘official’ dates for the 2nd Division play-offs? If so, could you send them me as I ain’t sure myself and I’m increasingly being asked for them.

MATCH REPORT – ‘LIVE’

MANCHESTER CITY vs. NOTTS COUNTY, Tuesday 16th March 1999

We were always going to win this match. The perverse result against Oldham and the Law of Averages said that we would score at least twice and County wouldn’t get past our defence more than once. As so it came to pass.

I’m not going to write a minute by minute account of the match. I don’t think I could hold your interest for that long. Suffice to say that County produced the best move of the first half with a lovely weighted diagonal ball that Somebody County half volleyed against the inside of Weaver’s post and, fortunately for us, out of danger.

After 15 minutes, Brown scored with a good header from a cross provided by Cooke. After 40, Cooke took his goal very well, beating their ‘keeper from 12 yards-ish. County scored a goal after 70 minutes which nobody could say they didn’t deserve.

City played fitfully. We were caught offside about 250 times in the match. Mostly this was a result of County pushing up to the half way line, badly timed runs and badly timed passing from our midfield who seemed strangely subdued.

Our defence didn’t dominate as I thought they should. Wiekens was not quite as assured as normal. Morrison, who succeeded in getting booked by a referee who was excellent, was dominant but a bit clumsy. Edghill who has more detractors than he deserves, played too deep and Crooks was slightly less like a donkey than I have seen him before.

By far the best player on the pitch was Paul Dickov. His work rate, his control, his lay-offs, his passing into space, his tackling and his commitment were first class. I am completely mystified as to his ommission from the team for most of the season.

Allsopp came on at half time for Taylor. He showed some good running into space and not bad close control and on the whole I was impressed by him. Even though he and Dickov didn’t score when they partnered each other in the 2nd half, I thought they showed some potential as a pair. Dickov small, tricky and alert and Allsopp, big but not lumbering, good in the air and assured on the ground.

I haven’t much to report about the rest of the bunch. Brown was good. Cooke scored a good goal but generally didn’t impress. Horlock tried. Bishop is out of his depth in this division. He needs to play in at least one division higher. Hopefully he will next year.

We sat in the penultimate row of the Platt Lane Stand and had to endure the sad bleatings of the ‘supporters’ behind us. They barracked Edghill, bemoaned Crooks but most appallingly and stupidly reserved their greatest condemnation for Dickov. The most vociferous amongst them was female. It may have been that she was directly behind me so I could hear her moaning drivel most clearly, but Lord save us from these people.

My children (3 boys) get very few opportunities to see a match and then when they do go they hear from ‘our own’ fans what, in previous times, you might have heard from the away supporters. Is it because there are so few away fans these days that these people feel they should create some atmosphere by taking their place? If so, it’s not working.

There is a time and a place for criticising your team. I’m certainly not averse to calling a donkey a donkey, but the level and ferocity of abuse directed at our own players by these morons at the match was quite sickening. At one point I did tell the female she was a saddo and the abuse did abate for a time but as soon as one of her ‘favourites’ erred she was back on his case again. Honestly, some of my best friends are women, but I could see an argument for bringing back the witches head vice for this woman. I know I sound terribly sexist and there are many more ill-informed men around but somehow I resent high pitched, bickering stupidity more than any other.

Enough complaining about the fans, let me complain about the players in the right place. Points out of 10.

Weaver – 7 (knows where his posts are, ahem! County hit them 3 times).
Crooks – 6 (I’ve never given him more than 6 but I wouldn’t shout it at him).
Edghill – 6 (his modal score for the season).
Wiekens – 7 (less good than usual).
Morrison – 7 (is he getting fatter?).
Horlock – 6 (was he on Horlicks?).
Bishop – 6 (not a knight).
Brown – 7 (green but getting better).
Taylor – 6 (I think he’d be better in defence. Certainly good at keeping the ball out of the net).
Allsopp – 7.5 (a good effort and definite potential).
Dickov – 8 (m-o-m, easily).
Cooke – 6.5 (a lightweight I’m afraid. United’ll sell him cheap, don’t worry!)

On the whole, we’re on our way to Wembley. We shall not be moved. Just, let’s all go together!

NEWS SUMMARY

Back to Winning Ways

After City had taken only a single point from successive home games against lowly opponents, Tuesday’s visit of another relegation-haunted side in Notts County assumed vital importance. On a night when Stoke’s play-off hopes were dented by a loss to leaders Fulham and Bournemouth could only manage a goalless draw at out-of-form Blackpool, the Blues duly produced the required result with a 2-1 win. City didn’t have things all their own way, however, and were saved by the woodwork before Michael Brown headed home Terry Cooke’s cross on the quarter hour. Cooke was by all accounts the influential figure, and he doubled the advantage before the break. The frame of the goal rescued City twice more before Mark Stallard reduced the arrears on 73 minutes, leaving a crowd of 26,502 (the smallest at home for three months, a measure of the loyalty of our support) to endure, in long-standing Maine Road tradition, a last seventeen minutes one report referred to as “stomach churning”. However, the result was more important than the performance, though in any case Radio 5 Live’s correspondent apparently said overall the win was just about deserved, and that’ll do me!

Play-Offs: The Contenders

Recent dropped points and the failure of Preston and others to collapse means that the only chance of escaping this division is through the play-offs, and other teams’ results have had some City fans anxiously looking over their shoulders recently. The battle for second spot now seems to be between only Preston and Walsall, but either has enough points already in the bag to be fairly sure of ending up in the play-offs if they lose out in the automatic promotion stakes. City are one of a further seven teams are now in the race for the remaining three play-off slots along with either Preston or Walsall, and we currently occupy the crucial sixth place. We’ve played the highest number of games of all the contenders, and the position in relation to the others is as follows: Bournemouth – 2 points ahead of us, 1 game in hand; Gillingham – level on points but have scored more goals, 1 in hand; Stoke – 5 behind, 2 in hand; Reading – 6 behind, 1 in hand; Wigan – 7 behind, 4 in hand; and Chesterfield – 8 behind, 2 in hand.

It’s a tough one to call, but my own view is that Stoke and Wigan (the only two who could overhaul us by winning games in hand) would swap places with us. Stoke’s form is still inconsistent while Wigan, including Auto Windscreens Shield commitments, face the prospect of a fixture pile-up with a gruelling probable sixteen games in the space of fifty days. Touch wood and as long as we keep Terry Cooke for the duration, I’m reasonably confident (at least insofar as it’s ever possible for a City fan to be), and we’re certainly capable of generating enough points from the closing ten games to make sure we’re in the shake-up. In my view, seventeen or eighteen looks likely to be sufficient. Of course, we could help our cause enormously by producing the goods in the games against our rivals – at Reading and Gillingham and at home to Wigan. Any fan wanting to check out the fixtures of all teams in the promotion picture can do so by visiting the webpage created by Blue View’s Casey. It’s at http://www.bluemanc.demon.co.uk/football/remfixt.htm.

Investment Falls Through – New Talks Begin

City chairman David Bernstein this week celebrated the first anniversary of his ascent to the Maine Road seat of power. He gave an interview to the Manchester Evening News to mark the occasion, reflecting that the chance to take the position was “an opportunity of a lifetime” and affirming that he’s “loving every minute of it”. Inevitably in a week where takeover and investment talk has been more prominent than for over a month, the interview also touched on this topic. And there was an interesting revelation which the paper, at least in the on-line version, didn’t elect to highlight. Reiterating his determination to ensure that any cash injection is on the right terms for the club, Bernstein revealed: “Only last week, I broke off one set of talks because I did not like the proposals. But when one door closes another opens and I have started talks with another financial institution in London who are very interested in investing.” After the share price dropped 10p last week to 85p, it’s rallied a little and is now being quoted as 90p on the Ofex site.

Murray May Be Back

Of course, most of the comment on investment centred round the self-confessed interest, scuppered by UEFA’s dual ownership regulations, of Glasgow Rangers chairman David Murray. “We had three meetings with Manchester City last year with a view to me buying the club,” he admitted. When asked whether he’d contemplate a renewed bid, he replied, “Yes, I’d consider that.” The opportunity may arise if ENIC (who ironically own a stake in Rangers) are successful in their legal efforts to overturn UEFA’s ruling that only one team in which they have a legal interest may enter European competitions – they also hold shares in Vicenza, AEK Athens and Slavia Prague. They obtained an interim judgment last summer, but there’s no word on when a final ruling can be expected. Judging by his fulsome comments on the club, buying City appears to be an idea which genuinely excites Murray. For this reason, I certainly wouldn’t rule out Murray coming back with another proposal if the final ENIC judgment is along the same lines and if the club fails to tie up a deal with another party in the meantime.

In Murray’s view, City “could have become the new Rangers of England”. He continued, “It’s a club with tremendous potential – it’s even bigger than Manchester United.” As is only to be expected if he considers City “bigger” than the world’s richest club and able to emulate a team which looks set to win its tenth national title in eleven years, there’s no prospect of Murray adjusting his sights and attempting instead to take control of another English club. “Manchester City were definitely the only club we looked at and we are certainly not interested in any other clubs,” he emphasised. Coming from a man with Murray’s pedigree in running a football club, this is certainly a testimony to City’s commercial potential should the club manage to achieve a modicum of success. Murray closed by reflecting that City “shouldn’t be in that division. They are meant for better things, and I hope that through me or through someone else they will get that at the end of the day.” He won’t get any argument from me on that score.

Transfer Latest

With the transfer deadline now only a week away, the club’s official site at www.mcfc.co.uk reports that Joe is hopeful of bringing in a new face in the next seven days. Apparently, there was the possibility of a deal this week but Royle’s target has elected to move elsewhere. The mystery man could well be Guy Whittingham, who has just finished a productive loan spell at Portsmouth. Earlier in the week, the Sheffield Wednesday striker was linked with a transfer to Maine Road but he’s now gone to Watford on loan until the end of the season. Reports on Thursday were linking us with Dundee United’s former Ipswich striker Alex Mathie in a possible player-exchange deal, though there was no word on who from our squad was set to go to Tannadice. However, it turns out that none of them are heading over the border – Royle has emphatically denied he’ll be signing the player.

Cooke Latest

The future of Terry Cooke is still provoking much interest and this issue, according to the official site’s report, is now “top of the agenda” for Joe Royle. By creating one goal and scoring the other in midweek, Cooke underlined just his value to City, and to say the least his departure in mid-April at the end of a three-month loan wouldn’t help either our chances of reaching the play-offs or our prospects of success if we’re involved in them. With reports of scouts watching the player on Tuesday night (Leeds United in particular being named as an interested party), Royle is rumoured to have met with Alex Ferguson on Monday. Cooke’s future is the obvious topic for discussion but Royle is being cagey. His only comment is that, “I don’t want to say anything about Terry Cooke’s position except that I sincerely hope that he will be with us next season.”

Bradbury Cash Boost?

Of course, Royle’s transfer hand would be strengthened immeasurably if we received the money owing from Crystal Palace for Lee Bradbury. The London club’s debts are even worse than had been previously thought and its administrators have now drawn up their plans to pay off creditors by selling assets. Palace don’t own their ground, and in practical terms the only avenue open to them is the sale of players – two are said to be set to leave in the next week, including possibly Bradbury himself, to Birmingham. Given the massive level of debt, most creditors look like being paid far less than they’re owed. However, there’s a glimmer of hope for City. David Bernstein has already said we rank as a secured creditor and this has been repeated in other reports. If so, we (and the other English clubs to whom Palace owe transfer money) rank higher in the order of priority than all other creditors. If it’s true that the Eagles only owe a total of £1.6 million in respect of domestic transfers, City’s prospects of receiving their money will hopefully be fairly good because, despite all the players who’ve left Selhurst recently, the Palace playing staff is still worth considerably in excess of this sum.

Reading Game to Go Ahead

City’s visit to Reading will go ahead on March 27, the scheduled date. In fact, with Nicky Weaver omitted from the England under-21 squad, only two City players (Kevin Horlock, who’ll be suspended for this game anyway, and squad player Jim Whitley) have been named in international squads, so we couldn’t call the game off even if we wanted to. There was a possibility that our opponents could have had enough players on international duty to warrant a postponement, but this is also apparently not the case. Anyone planning to travel to this fixture should note the 1 pm kick off time.

Morrison’s FA Summons

City skipper Andy Morrison, booked for the eleventh time this season in the Notts County match, must now go before the FA to explain his poor disciplinary record. The FA is empowered to impose a lengthy suspension in addition to the automatic two matches (which by my calculations in Morrison’s case will be against Wigan and Preston), but has recently shown leniency towards Middlesbrough’s Paul Gascoigne and Everton’s Olivier Dacourt. Still, it’s no foregone conclusion that Morrison will receive similar treatment. After all, the FA were hardly even-handed when Morrison and Carl Cort of Wimbledon appealed after the double sending-off at Selhurst Park in the Cup. Two other City players are also due to serve imminent suspensions – Kevin Horlock (whose appeal against his sending off against Northampton has shamefully been rejected) will miss the matches at Colchester and Reading, while Richard Edghill will also sit out the visit to Berkshire.

Bristol Rovers Match on Pay-Per-View

As has already been much discussed in MCIVTA, Saturday sees City feature in English football’s pay-per-view experiment. The match is our visit to Colchester’s Layer Road, which will kick off at 6 pm. Those who can’t be there live can pay £7.95 to watch a three hour programme centred round the game on Sky box office. And the official site at www.mcfc.co.uk reports that a second City match will be offered on pay-per-view – rather predictably, the potentially crucial visit to Bristol Rovers on 1 May, where we’ll have our lowest away allocation of the season. Incidentally, the presence of the Sky cameras doesn’t seem to be the jinx it once was. Of our last six appearances, we’ve lost only in the Craven Cottage horror show, but we’ve won four and have scored seventeen goals in the process.

Paul Odusanya, who offered his view as a BSkyB employee in MCIVTA 482, is far better placed than I am to comment on the take up for the game, and it was interesting to see that the Oxford vs. Sunderland match was regarded by Sky as having gone “very well”. Whether one newspaper’s figure of 25,000 for that game is accurate I don’t know, but it appears that the “analysts” in several papers were a long way out in their predictions of a take up of under 10,000. There are no reports as yet of the potential audience size for City’s PPV début, though one Blue Viewer reported that when he’d called to subscribe, he was told the game was selling faster than any event Sky have ever screened on PPV! I’m dubious – if Colchester vs. City outstrips boxing promotions, for example, which have featured major world title fights, it would surprise me greatly. However, this anecdote, coming with the news that the first experiment was rated a success, may indicate that the figures for the City game will also be viewed positively.

I know the pay-per-view concept is reviled by many and I also have reservations. On the other hand, as Paul stated, it may well represent the future at the level to which we aspire to return. If Saturday’s screening is a success in audience terms, one consolation for the opponents of PPV might be that it would bode well for City’s ability to match the elite in commercial and financial terms should we ever move in those cricles again. I hope Paul continues to brief us on these developments, since I have little doubt that the future of English football (and our rôle therein) will be heavily shaped by the influence of television. MCIVTA is lucky to have a subscriber inside the leading TV company in football terms who’s prepared to share his unique perspective with the rest of the readers.

Reserve News

I haven’t seen a table recently, but I’d guess City reserves’ hopes for promotion from Pontin’s League division one must now be looking a little forlorn. The second string had a home match at Hyde on Wednesday and could only manage a 2-2 draw against a Grimsby side which is bottom of the table. Scorers for City were Jamie Pollock and Jeff Whitley, who is back from two months on loan at Wrexham. Both scorers are in the first-team squad for the Colchester game at the weekend.

Colchester Preview

The trip to Layer Road for Saturday’s televised fixture will be, I think, the first time City have ever visited Colchester for a competitive fixture (we’ve certainly never played there in the league before). As with nearly every game at this stage of the season, it’s a match of vital importance to both teams. While Colchester are ninth from bottom at present, they’re only five points above the relegation places, with some of those below them having games in hand. They’ll want to put together a couple of quick wins to give themselves a safety net. To note that we can’t afford to let them is stating the obvious. With another screening in the offing and a potential away play-off game a prime candidate for coverage too, let’s hope the Sky cameras become a good omen rather than the harbingers of inevitable doom.

Notable Blues – Howard Bernstein

The Manchester Evening News complemented its piece on David Bernstein with an article on his namesake Howard (no relation), who is the Chief Executive of Manchester City Council. With the upper echelons of the Council dominated by Blues (Council leader Richard Leese prominent among them), the Chief Executive denied that support for the club was a requirement for office – there is one token follower of the dark side in former Council leader Graham Stringer! The piece also talked about the club’s cooperation with the council, which if the much-lauded community scheme is anything to go by is extremely successful. Referring to the club’s proposed move to the Sport City complex at Eastlands, Bernstein (H) affirmed his confidence that the relocation can only strengthen the club’s community rôle. I hope so – in an age when football has become the preserve of cynical money men, it pleases me to hear of the club giving something back to the community.

TICKET NEWS

Reading vs. Manchester City, Saturday 27th April, Kick-off 1.00pm

It has been confirmed that this fixture will be played as scheduled despite the International fixtures that weekend.

Bristol Rovers vs. Manchester City, Saturday 1st May

Tickets for this fixture will go on sale to regular season ticket holders from Saturday 10th April. Supporters will require voucher ‘KK’ from their season ticket books and ticket stubs from 20 different away matches this season. Full details are available from our website.

THE ANORAKS FORM GUIDE TO DIVISION 2 – WEEK 6

Well wouldn’t you know it: City challenging for a top 6 place have messed up – big time – against teams near the bottom of the League! Just when will City ever change in this respect – 5 points blown away in two games that we had more than enough chances to win twice over.

Game’s up Joe, the statement you gave out today (Wednesday) about overhauling everyone is just hot air. You can forget getting past Preston and Walsall – the predicted gap between us and these two teams at the end of the season just hasn’t closed in 4 weeks (in fact it’s got wider).

Worse than that, we might not even reach the play-offs if things keep going the way they are then both Wigan and Reading will overhaul us.

Still I’ve got to be positive: 4 draws and 9 victories in our last 13 games (including play-offs) should see us into Division 1 next season – let us not forget that we recently achieved this sort of form.

Team        Pld GS Pts  L6   Final   L6   Ave L6     Final    Pos
                        GS    GS     Pts   Pts        Pts
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fulham       36 59 81 (12)13 80.67 (14)16 13.17 (103.00)107.67=1
Preston NE   35 65 69 (13) 9 81.50 (11)11 11.33  (88.00) 89.17=3
Walsall      35 48 67  (7) 8 62.67 (10)13 10.17  (84.00) 90.83=2
Bournemouth  35 55 61  (8) 7 67.83 (11)11 11.00  (83.83) 81.17=5
Gillingham   35 55 59 (11) 9 71.50 (11) 8 11.33  (81.00) 73.67
City         36 48 59 (12)12 68.00 (12)11 12.50  (80.00) 77.33
Stoke        34 41 54  (2) 4 49.00  (3) 6  4.17  (58.00) 66.00
Reading      35 44 53  (9)10 62.33 (11)14 12.50  (72.00) 78.67=6
Wigan        32 49 52 (13)13 79.33 (15)15 14.25  (86.50) 87.00=4
Chesterfield 34 37 51  (7) 5 47.00  (9) 6  9.50  (70.50) 63.00
Millwall     36 41 49  (6) 7 52.67  (6) 6  7.17  (60.00) 59.00
Key:
Figures in brackets indicate last weeks values
Pld = Played
L6  = Last 6
GS  = Goals Scored
Ave = Average
Pts = Points
Pos = Final Position

Note:

• 4 weeks ago City were predicted to get 80 pts (-3 since then).
• 4 weeks ago Preston were predicted to get 93 pts (-4 since then).
• 4 weeks ago Walsall were predicted to get 86 pts (+4 since then).

BLUE IS NOT ALWAYS THE COLOUR

After claiming Denis Violett as one of our own (MCIVTA 483), we ought not to get too carried away. Weekend Guardian readers might have seen a reference to Oldham manager Andy Ritchie watching City as a lad. “I wouldn’t call myself a City fan,” he told me on Tuesday. “I used to go with a few mates. I didn’t want to be a gooseberry.” Made fools of us on Saturday, Andy.

FIXTURES PAGE

Anyone taking part in the annual City nail-biting contest might like to take a look at my webpage containing all the promotion contender’s remaining fixtures in one table:

http://www.bluemanc.demon.co.uk/football/remfixt.htm

BLUE TEAM – POST-WAR

Can you take any more nostalgia? I promise to keep quiet for a few weeks after this. To take our minds off the nail-biting situation in the present Second Division, how about sparing a moment to pull to pieces my City team of post-war players? I doubt if anyone else would come up with the eleven I’ve chosen – and only old codgers like myself would write out the team in 2-3-5 formation! But that’s the one I grew up with, and I still prefer a decent full-back and winger to these so-called wing-backs! Most of the players I’ve chosen belong to the 2-3-5 era, anyway, so they wouldn’t be baffled by a strange system. In actual fact, the formation was more like 3-2-2-3 on the pitch, but I’m sticking to 2 full-backs, 3 half-backs and 5 forwards, as they would be listed in the programme.

I had a difficult choice to make in goal. I grew up watching Frank Swift and thought he was marvellous – not only the best in Manchester, but the best in England, with caps to prove it. Then along came the German prisoner of war, and I have to say that he probably just had the edge. You youngsters are probably sick of your dads talking about the save he made in the mud at Southend, or the brilliant reaction to Denis Wilshaw’s header in a mid-week game at Maine Road. I only wish I could have seen an action replay of that. I’m convinced the ball had passed him when he twisted round in mid-air and caught the ball. Anyone else remember that save? Goalkeeper: Bernd (Bert) Trautmann.

No problem at right back. After playing on the wing and at centre-forward, Jimmy Meadows, bought quite cheaply from Southport, was suddenly switched to full-back. I’ve no idea how this came about – a moment of inspiration or the feeling that he wasn’t good enough up front – but it certainly worked. He played for England and would have continued to do so for several years, but for a knee injury picked up twisting and turning to cope with Bobby Mitchell in the only City final I’ve witnessed at Wembley.

I’m going to cheat at left back. Cliff Sear was steady; Roy Little played many games for us; Paul Power was probably the best I remember; but instead of those I’m going to choose someone who, to the best of my knowledge, only played about twenty minutes at left back! We were playing Blackpool in a mid-week match at Maine Road (before the floodlights). I’d dashed along from school, in time to see Stanley Matthews score two goals. This was unheard of. Matthews wasn’t exactly noted for his goalscoring. Roy Little had to go off (injured or just dizzy) and Don Revie surprised everyone by taking the left-back position and marking the wizard. I swear Matthews didn’t get a look in after that! Really I should have picked Revie in his true position, but there’s someone else I want there. I was determined to get him into my side somehow.

At right half, where I might have chosen Revie for his passing ability, I’ll go for Ken Barnes, an unassuming player who never seemed to have a bad game. His passing was really top drawer and in his day he was often referred to as “the best uncapped player in Britain”. He provided much of the service to the forwards in the attractive team we fielded in the mid-fifties.

At centre half I’ve chosen one of my favourite City players over the years. I only wish he’d played longer at our club. Dave Watson had a touch of class and was the best defender we’ve ever had when going up for set pieces. He played for England too, and looked good in international company. Dave Ewing was a great City servant, held in affection by the fans, but I’m sure he’d admit that he lacked Watson’s class. Paul Lake didn’t have a chance to live up to his promise.

Left half is another difficult one. Alan Oakes rarely put a foot wrong in all the years he played for us, but instead I’m going to choose someone with a bit more bite. Roy Paul came up to Manchester from the Welsh valleys and by all accounts found the bright lights of Manchester not easy to adjust to. Once he did adjust, however, he certainly made his presence felt and proved an inspiring captain in that mid-fifties team. I’m not sure how well modern referees would react to him, and only hope he could stay on the field long enough to guide my team to success. He would captain my side.

At outside right there’s no difficulty whatever. Although his son didn’t exactly endear himself to City supporters, I’ve no hesitation in picking Mike Summerbee. A few games for England, where he didn’t let the team down, but an enormous number of games for City, where he tormented opposing defenders and could look after himself if they decided to kick him. You won’t believe this, but the first time I saw him at Maine Road, he was booed throughout by the City followers. I couldn’t understand why, as he was playing centre forward for Swindon Town and was rumoured to be joining us. A strange way we have of welcoming new players. Incidentally that was the famous game with the low attendance, and yes, I was there!

My favourite City player of all time (and therefore my favourite player of all time) would wear the number 8 shirt. Colin Bell was terrific. Seemingly tireless and with an enormous amount of skill, he was a tremendous buy from local Bury. His career was cruelly cut short by a man in a red shirt, and it was heart-breaking to watch his attempts to make a comeback. I can’t remember Peter Doherty, although I must have seen him play, but from what I’ve heard he is the only City player who could rival Bell as an inside forward.

My centre forward will raise a few eyebrows. We’ve had quite a lot over the years (centre forwards, not eyebrows), some better than others. The one I’ve gone for would be quite at home in the company of Summerbee and Bell, because he spent a good few years playing alongside them. Francis Lee has lost the popularity he enjoyed when a player at Maine Road, and I’m not in a position to say whether he deserves to be reviled nowadays. I will say, though, that he was allowed to leave City for Derby County much too early. He could have given us another two or three years at the top. I first saw him as a young lad playing for Bolton against us at Burnden Park. He was hot-headed and got himself booked, but he learned to control his temper (just ask Norman Hunter!) and settled for winning penalties and converting them.

Number ten is the hardest position to fill. Not because we didn’t have anyone who could play there, but because we had too many. I feel guilty at not picking Neil Young, as he gave everything to City and scored some crucial goals – causing me to leap out of my chair when we beat Leicester at Wembley. I suspect that Neil won’t be surprised to find he isn’t included – he must have been used to hearing the “Lee-Summerbee-Bell” trio mentioned, with no mention of his own name. Regrettably I haven’t got room for Ivor Broadis (loads of skill, but inconsistent); Bobby Johnstone (didn’t perform at his best often enough); Peter Dobing (sheer class); a certain little Georgian who brightened our lives for a time; nor for Stan Bowles or Rodney Marsh (either of whom would be worth the admission money). We twice had on our books one of the best finishers the British game has known. Maybe he spent his best years somewhere else (and I don’t mean Italy), but I would still claim him as one of ours. Denis Law was a little ahead of his time in his first spell at City. He thought a fraction too quickly for the teammates around him, and it makes me choke to say it, but he was better off in the company of Charlton and Best. He did come back to us, however, and scored at least one goal we’ll never forget!

That leaves outside left and it’s a toss up between two players. Roy Clarke was one of my favourites. I don’t know how many appearances he made for us, but he seemed to be a permanent fixture. He did some infuriating things, but was always forgiven by the fans, who loved him. I’ll never forget the goal he scored at Villa Park in the energy-sapping mud of the 1955 semi-final against Sunderland. It’s a good job they didn’t bother with celebrations in those days, as he hardly had the energy to pick himself up off the floor. The player I have chosen instead of “Nobby” is a bit of a risk. Peter Barnes wasn’t as consistent as Bell or Summerbee, but on his day was absolutely unstoppable – probably the trickiest winger we’ve ever had on our books. Let’s hope he wouldn’t let me down.

The three substitutes would be Rodney Marsh – imagine the roar when he ran out with twenty minutes to go and the team leading 4-0! Mike Doyle and Alan Oakes would also be on the bench. Both physically strong and absolutely devoted to the City cause. hey could easily fill the wing-half slots without weakening the team. You might ask what would happen if Trautmann got injured. Easy: Don Revie would take over the goalkeeping jersey. I told you I had to have him in my team …

Trautmann; Meadows, Revie; Barnes (K), Watson, Paul; Summerbee, Bell, Lee, Law, Barnes (P).

LATICS’ NICKNAME

Your match report correspondent was musing the origin of Oldham’s nickname “Latics”. Well in the dim dark days of the 1950’s Oldham were a 3rd or 4th Division side and went by the name “Oldham Athletic”, playing at Boundary Park hence the contraction “Latics”.

In those days I was atteding Oldham College of Further Education (Oldham Tech) and lived in Ashton-under-Lyne. I was then, and am still, a true Blue.

Why Blue? well as a kid I liked the colour – sky Blue – better than red and all the United supporters were loudmouths so I started following City, grew to love the “underdogs” of Manchester and became a member of the Openshaw branch of the City supporters’ club. Fondly, I recall the names of Dave Ewing, Colin Barlow, David Wagstaff, Joe Hayes, Billy Macadam, Joe Fagan, Ken Barnes, David Shawcross, Dennis Law and of course Bert Trautmann.

I have lived now for many years here in Australia and look forward to the match reports and news through MCIVTA.

PLANET FOOTBALL

Planet football have once again proved, to me, that they are serious about providing good customer service. Following last week’s excellent efforts from Hugh to get me sorted out, I have received an email from Steve Sayer at PF to say that because of the Oldham game on Saturday being covered by Piccadilly, and the fact I might not get good coverage, I will receive a gratis month worth of subscription. I think this is a noble gesture in response, no doubt, to previous criticism from many. I know the sceptics will say “well so they should”. But at least they do appear to be listening and seem genuinely interested in responding to issues.

I have accepted that this is the way we exiles will have to listen to games we can’t get to and I applaud PF for listening to us. That is my experience with PF when you talk to them, being a previously vehement opposer, I can only relay the facts.

OPINION – BSKYB

In reply to Paul Odusunya’s comments in MCIVTA 482.

Dear Paul,
Thank you for making us realise what a wonderful company you work for. Of course we all know that Sky are not interested in ripping off fans of teams such as City and Sunderland for example who’s home gates are 30,000 but whose fans struggle to get away tickets due to the small allocations because of the divisions they play in.

As you are a true “sky” blue I can see that you are concerned about your fellow supporters. I note that your position with Sky is in the promotions department… advertising… promotion of live games, well isn’t that a coincidence, we have a game coming up this Saturday… yes on Sky… Pay Per View! Just like Sunderland the week before last. I hope that some of the recent articles concerning Mr Murdoch and pay-per-view have not worried Sky in any way. I am sure if they were worried about their ratings they would probably come up with some way of trying to get to the fans… maybe through their fanzines with a view to making those fans a little more easy about subscribing.

If I didn’t know that you were a true “sky” blue I might even think that you were Rupert Murdoch himself peddling for business. I might even have been as cynical as to think that 2 weeks ago you may have supported Sunderland and sent out the same type of letter, but heh I know you are a true “sky” blue through and through!

Hope you don’t hit your commission!

OPINION – THE RUN-IN

Since people have started to talk about our chances of making the play-offs, I decided to look at those most important of games, the promotion ‘six-pointers’.

All things being equal, and if all the top sides win all their remaining games, then we’ll end up in 8th place and Wigan will capture that last playoff spot.

However, we are to play four of the top 10 sides – namely Wigan at home, and Reading, Gillingham and Preston away. Assuming that we win these, but that the top sides win all other games, we’ll still miss out by virtue of goals scored, unless we manage a couple more 6-0’s.

This is where the promotion six-pointers come in, and I hope that the following will offer a glimmer of hope. Of course we can always hope that a lower team can do us a favour, but we can’t rely on it. We have to win our games and let the others slip up.

Here’s a small matrix of the six-pointers to come. Note I’m only including the top 10, down to Chesterfield. Millwall can get in mathematically but they are 7 points behind City having played a game more. Wrexham are 13 points behind.

1  Fulham
2  Preston
3  Walsall
4  Bournemouth
5  Gillingham
6  Manchester City
7  Stoke
8  Reading
9  Wigan
10 Chesterfield

        Away Team
Home
Team    Ful. Pre  Wal  Bth  Gil. MCFC Stke Rdg  Wign Chld
Fulham  -    8/5            13/4                10/4
Prestn       -    9/3  20/3      5/4
Walsll  27/3      -
Bourn.            13/4 -                             24/4
Gill'm                 10/4 -    17/4 1/5
MCFC                             -              3/4
Stoke   16/3      8/5                 -
Read'g  5/4                      27/3      -
Wigan        13/4                     27/3 24/4 -    8/5
Ch'ld   17/4                          5/4            -

Does this prove anything? Well, there are 23 games which can be said to be ‘promotion six pointers’. Personally I think that we are now not going to catch the top three – Walsall are 13 points ahead – and the fourth is doubtful – Bournemouth are 4 points ahead with a game in hand. But anything below there has to be a target.

As a result I suppose the best set of results for us would be for Fulham, Preston and Walsall to win all their remaining games (except against us of course) and this is our best hope. For example, both Gillingham and Wigan have yet to travel to Fulham, and Fulham have yet to travel to Walsall, Stoke, Reading and Chesterfield.

Of course all of this will count for nothing if City don’t do their bit by winning, ideally, all 11 remaining games.

Hope it’s useful anyway!

OPINION – OLDHAM

Observations following the Oldham game.

1. Morrison won everything in the air except for the corner from whichthey scored their second – all the defence were AWOL on that occasion.He was the main person trying to get the team going after the secondgoal went in, normally we are too quiet and need him to gee up thedormant, proper captain material, how Joe could temporarily pass thatmantel to the idiot Edghill is beyond comprehension.
2. Wiekens is normally superb but he played Nicky Weaver into a fewdifficult situations with short backpasses.
3. Taylor had the confidence to step up and take the penalty and hit itwell enough to the corner but their ‘keeper was having one of thosegames. However he still looks immobile. Is he told not to stray from theopponents’ penalty box? There is a perverse logic in this, as it means wehave a presence in the area should the ball be played in. It must be theonly explanation for why he never comes for the ball and Goater does allthe running, that or he’s simply a lazy s*d.
4. Edghill. Total a*sewipe. I’m sorry but the fact that on his day hecan play does not make up for his appalling attitude. The trip for thepenalty was at best clumsy. If you watched his positional play he simplydoesn’t know what to do, coupled with zero interest and commitment. Thenhe got himself booked walking onto the pitch at the start of the secondhalf, what an immature berk. Drop now. Sell to anyone else in thedivision. A crocked Crooks would try harder. I would try harder and I amtoo slow to clatter into people in the box.

Finally re the young boxer Ricky Hatton, for John Maddocks, I merely pointed out that he was an apprentice at the club and that his dad and grandad were meant to have played for City.

OPINION – PAY-PER-VIEW

I would just like to voice my comments on Sky PPV, as I have seen far too much crap written on this subject, especially by Noel Bayley as ever!

Sky PPV simply gives the viewer another choice. It is not compulsory, it is optional. If I am working next Saturday, and unable to attend Colchester, for the very cheap price of 7 quid, which I can share with my mates, I can now watch my beloved City get stuff by another low-life bag of s***e football club.

Can I also point out that boycotting PPV because of the proposed BSkyB & Rag merger is also complete b*****ks. Does anyone really think that because a handful of City fans don’t buy a PPV event, this will block a multi-million pound buy out! Ho ho ho.

Does Noel Bayley subscribe to Sky Sports already? If so then please tell me the difference between subscription TV & an optional PPV service. Answer: There isn’t any!

Sky have already proved that by putting more football on TV, more people go to football matches as it improves awareness and hence increases interest. Todays attendance figures are far higher than those of 7 years ago.

The Yanks have had PPV for decades, why are we so far behind all the time?

PPV for me definitely. I want every game available on PPV, the sooner the better.

Oh, and Noel, if you don’t want it, don’t buy it! It really is that simple.

OPINION – STRIKERS

Just a few opinions regarding the striker situation at Maine Road. If we are to have any hope of achieving promotion, we badly need someone who is a ‘poacher’; who instinctively can stick the ball in the net when it is bobbling around the 6-yard box. Countless times in these games when we outplay the opposition and fail to score, there are occasions where the ball is loose in the penalty area but no-one manages to score.

Witness Shaun Goater against Oldham. A downheader from Taylor from a corner, and all Gaoter has to do is sneeze on the ball and it is in. Instead, he does a ‘fresh air’ kick. A ‘Tony Cottee’ type striker would have pounced straight away. Now realistically we don’t have money for a top class striker like Jason Roberts or Dougie Freedman, but I was somewhat disturbed to read today that Watford are taking Guy Whittingham on loan for the rest of the season. Now where is Joe? Here is the perfect opportunity to sign the player who would actually take some of the many chances that we are creating. It is simply not acceptable to only score about 1 out of every 10 chances that we create (NB I’m excluding the ‘one-off’ day at Burnley from all this). Guy Whittingham would be perfect for us, and would have taken Goater’s chance on Saturday and many others in a flash.

Also, regarding our other strikers at the club. Oh dear. It isn’t like we can even afford to drop Goater. Dickov was abysmal against Oldham though I hope he has since proved me wrong against Notts County. He huffs and puffs and gives everything for the cause but is about as threatening as Chris Greenace, while his shots are more akin to backpasses.

Those who are campaigning for a Danny Allsopp recall obviously did not attend the Mansfield game, where he missed about 5 open goals. Against Walsall at home he missed another sitter, while the Burnley misses were laughable. Please no.

It is absurd that he will be occupying the bench on Tuesday when we have Craig Russell playing regularly in the 1st Division. Now I know I am not the only City fan who would not object to his recall from loan and at least being put on the bench. He has pace if nothing else, and did not do a lot wrong to get dropped after Wrexham.

Also, why not Shaun Wright-Phillips? The guy sounds total class, so what harm would it do to stick him on the bench against Notts County? He can’t be much worse than Danny Allsopp, and bring him on for the last 20 minutes, if he is not yet up to it then nothing lost, nothing gained. It might just pay off.

Anyway, Joe must sign someone before the deadline if we are to even reach the play-offs (Wigan are looking dangerous).

OPINION – MORE DETAILS PLEASE

I listened with great interest to David Murray talking on Sky Sports centre about his failed/on hold bid to buy the Blues. My personal opinion is that the prospect excites me. The thought of us being bought by speculative city (London) type ‘people’ who have no idea about football scared me a little, and although I know very little about Murray and Rangers it seems very clear to me that this guy knows how to run a football club and more importantly, how to make them successful (and he has loads-a-money). Anyway to get to my real point, the reporter mentioned something about UEFA rules and it being taken to court by ENIC (God knows – but that’s what it sounded like!) and the possibility that the bid will be successful later. Please can someone clarify this? I haven’t got a clue why Murray can’t part own City when we are in different countries. Is this the same throughout Europe or one of those ‘you live on that island so we’ll treat you worse’ incidents?! What is ENIC? Who is taking who to which court? What are the chances? Is anyone still awake?!

Another question, well two actually. What on earth were the City fans at Burnley chanting when Shaun-ie scored? It sounded like ‘Geeko’! Also what are the words to “We are not, we’re not really here…”?

REQUEST – BLUE PUBS IN LONDON

Could someone let me know where there’s a decent pub in the London area which will definitely be showing the Colchester game? Preferably one where there’s a good atmosphere and lots of City fans. Is that too much to ask?

All the best to Blues everywhere.

WHY BLUE?

For many many months now I have been an observer and not ventured forth any thoughts or opinion. I decided that today was the day and this is my (regrettably quite dull) Why Blue. I had the happy (mis)fortune to be introduced to Man City by an ex-patriot, and fully rabid City supporter. While I hadn’t had the chance to follow much of the English Premiership (Americans for the most part and American television are unaware of the beauty and grace of the game). I did occasionally have the opportunity to glimpse a match or two, but never saw the raw passion for the game until I watched Manchester City play (and if you can believe, lose to) Man U. Through it all the poor play, the nonexistent midfield, the missed chances, the ever-loyal Blues’ Supporters never gave up hope and never let down the lads, not one left the pub until the last whistle had died and the teams had left the pitch. While the Rags’ supporters took every opportunity to ridicule their team and several left at half time when the match was still in doubt (hey, we all had jobs we should have been at but “the boys are on”). I knew then that I wished to be part of a team of winners, even if the boys on the pitch couldn’t pull it off that day.

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

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

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.

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

Editor: