Newsletter #525

For many of us I’m sure, the game ran according to the script (well-worn as far as games against Wolves are concerned) and City ran out as losers of a game they dominated (14 corners to 0)! Perhaps we can all nod sagely and see this as a timely dose of reality. There were some good performances on Sunday (Whitley in particular), but some bad ones as well (no names from me!), and to add insult to injury, Granville was stretchered off after 15 mins, Kennedy and he having previously terrorised the Wolves’ right. We have a couple of match reports, Peter’s news summary (as usual) and some important news via Noel Bayley for those who park near Maine Road.

There’s also lots of opinion, request, the results and a Why Blue.

This one reaches 2,704.

MATCH REPORT – ‘LIVE’ I

MANCHESTER CITY vs. WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS, Sunday 8th August 1999

Ah, the delights of football in August. A sunny day, a few chilled pints of good, Northern beer sunk in the Gardeners before the game, a rousing performance by the lads and a pleasant drive home through the green English countryside. If only. I shivered through most of the game (yes, yes, I know, my own fault for not taking a coat), was too hung over from the night before to even be able to smell beer let along drink it, we lost and it took us over five hours to get home through some pig-awful rain and thunderstorms.

Still, the football wasn’t too bad. We were always going to lose this, Wolves always beat us 1-0 and we needed some sort of reality check after Wembley and beating Liverpool in the pre-season warm-up – results like this might actually make Joe realise we need a striker and quick! Kennedy and Granville made their league débuts for us, so we lined up with Weaver, Edghill on the right and Granville on the left, Wiekens, Morrison, Horlock, Jeff Whitley, Kennedy, Cooke, Goater and Dickov. Amongst the subs were Crooks and Taylor but I didn’t hear who else – Bishop?

City started off brightly and should have had a penalty in the second minute when Goater was fouled, shame he’s too honest (or not quick-thinking enough, hmm I wonder which one it is) to dive when fouled in the area. I don’t think the ref would have given it anyway, he wasn’t exactly unbiased to say the least – there were some bad tackles flying in from both sides during the game but it always seemed to be us who were penalised. Sob; no-one likes us any more sniff. We were more than a match for Wolves in the first 15 minutes, Granville and Kennedy were linking up well down the left and Cooke was finding plenty of space on the right as we dominated the midfield and kept Wolves pinned back in their own half. It was therefore somewhat inevitable that Granville would pull a hamstring and be subbed; on came Crooks and Edghill dropped into the feared left back position. From where he had a nightmare. I don’t like the constant moaning about Edghill that goes on, as when he does play well he’s one of the most talented players we have – however, Sunday was not his day. He couldn’t pass more than about five yards in any direction with any accuracy and it was no surprise when it was a mistake of his that let the incredibly over-rated Robbie Keane in to score. I can’t believe the amount Wolves are supposed to be asking for him, if he’s worth £20 million then Gareth Taylor’s a better player than Ronaldo.

Wolves had threatened despite the territorial advantage we’d had – 10 minutes before they scored they’d hit the post after a free kick although I’m sure Weaver had it covered. We’d looked pretty ineffectual up front although Curle had cleared one off the line and we’d had a good chance when their ‘keeper had come charging out of his area only to miss the ball. Why is it that when a ‘keeper of ours does that the opposition score, but when one of theirs does it there are immediately two defenders tracking back to clear the ball? Not fair. The ref had continued to only give us free kicks when to continue would have give us a chance on goal, don’t know why he bothered as I don’t think we were going to score. Our best chance – and the only one their ‘keeper had to save – came from a Morrison header after a corner from Cooke, somehow the ‘keeper got his fingertips to it to tip it over the bar.

At half time it was 1-0, nice not to hear any boos though as the teams went off the pitch. The crowd had been a bit quiet really, apart from the ritual booing of Keith Curle whenever he got the ball (which was quite often), there hadn’t been a great deal of singing going on. The second half was more of the same. We dominated – I think they only had one shot on goal in the whole of the second half, but we just couldn’t turn possession into anything more dangerous. There was a spell of about 5 minutes where we had countless corners and they cleared it off the line every time, or the ‘keeper just managed to get his hands to it, or Wiekens was fouled as he jumped for the ball, or Wiekens was fouled as he ran in towards the ball, but all to no avail. Crooks was replaced by Taylor, whose only real contribution of note was to almost break the ‘keeper’s neck as they both jumped up for a ball – I don’t think he meant it… Whenever we’d had the ball around their area for too long (i.e. more than about 2 minutes) one or other of the Wolves players would go down pretending to be injured and demanding the trainer came on, so it would have served them right if we’d managed to score in the six minutes of time added on that were played. However, it wasn’t to be.

I’m not too bothered though. There wasn’t too much of note in the game but we were definitely not out-played, and with a bit of luck (or someone who could score goals) could have easily come away with at least a point. We’ll play worse than that and win games this year, and we aren’t going to come up against many defences as well organised as Wolves were – it said a lot that Curle won the man of the match award. However, we do need someone who can break through solid defences and just give that bit of extra oomph to our attack and I’m not sure we have anyone capable of doing that. I would have liked to have seen Allsopp instead of Taylor on Sunday as he at least has the speed to run at defenders (if not the skill to take the ball with him) and I think we missed Brown in midfield, but other than that we’ve got the makings of an extremely well-balanced team. I was a bit worried about how Morrison would cope against better attackers than he had to deal with last year, but he was awesome in the air. He’s also still very scary so I won’t say a word against him 🙂

There’s a long way to go yet…

MATCH REPORT – ‘LIVE’ II

MANCHESTER CITY vs. WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS, Sunday 8th August 1999

Well, the post Wembley euphoria is finally over, it was always going to happen it was just a case of ‘when?’. This morning (Monday), I symbolically removed the GMR/ Dickov commentary as my Windows Start Up sound (after one last listen of course) and replaced it with a ‘City Til I Die’ wave file for the time being. Now is the time to stop looking back and to focus on the future. I was a fool allowing the recent pre-season performances to heighten my expectations for this match. I even ‘calculated’ that a 3-0 win would take us to the top of the league! The reality is, that we have just been promoted to a higher and better quality division. We are not going to win every game and it probably will take us some time to adjust. More obviously (with hindsight), was that since we were relegated from the Premier, Wolves have beaten us on every occasion. This latest encounter was almost exactly the same as our two previous home games against the Wolves; we had most of the play, Wolves defended deeply and in numbers and defeated us with a single goal. At least this time the goal was a quality strike, and not a Kit Symons blunder.

City started the game at a tremendous pace and Goater was unfortunate not to score in the opening minutes. An early injury to Danny Granville was obviously going to be a blow to our attacking options down the left. Edghill moved to left back, with Crooks coming on into the right back berth. I’m not going to describe every incident during the game, as the wide availability of the match via Sky means that most readers will have seen it for themselves. However, my overall impression of our boys in blue was that they looked suprisingly nervous. The play was far too frantic and there were many, many occasions where players who can do better appeared to want to get rid of the ball as quickly as possible, seemingly wanting to pass responsibility onto someone else. I think what they wanted to achieve (quite rightly) was an early goal to settle themselves and ensure that the crowd responded positively. Unfortunatley, trying to force the issue didn’t work and it allowed Wolves to settle. The crowd incidentally, other than the first 10 minutes was very quiet, no significant booing or heckling though. We had loads of possession, particularly in the second half, but I’m afraid that we did very little with it. Kennedy, without Granville, looked isolated and was well marshalled by Muscat. Terry Cooke again looked a shadow of the player from last season. Goater and Dickov worked hard, but didn’t cause the Wolves backline, including an impressive Keith Curle, any problems.

Whitley harried, Horlock tried to calm things down at times. Morrison looked strong, Wiekens didn’t look as ‘cool’ as usual and indeed nearly gave Wolves a second during an almost horrendous mix-up with Weaver. Personally, I would have tried Bishop half way through the second half, as he may have been able to get us playing with a bit more composure. Probably, based on our possession, we deserved a draw, certainly nothing more. I am not too concerned at this stage; we showed the right sort of committment and fight, but we just needed to be a bit more thoughtful at times before we played the ball. Obviously, the ‘goal scoring’ issue still remains, but Wolves do have a mean defence, so maybe it’s not yet time to get the cheque book out. If Granville is out for some time, as looks likely, some work needs to be done on the left side to get the best out of Kennedy (perhaps Tiatto?) and maybe the experience of Bishop and even Pollock might get better results in midfield. Let’s see what happens in the next couple of weeks before we get too despondent!

MATCHVIEW – IT COULD BE A VERY FRUSTRATING SEASON

OK we lost, but there was a lot to feel good about our performance against Wolves. The midfield were like terriers – Wolves players had very little time to dwell on the ball. Conversely, when we had the ball, Wolves found it very difficult to get the ball off us: Magnificent passing skills had them chasing ghosts which as tiredness crept in resulted in them playing deeper and deeper. Kennedy looked a great prospect and Cooke started to get near to last year’s form. The defence played very well and once our centre halves had got used to the pace of their forward line, I felt it would take something very special (or very stupid) for them to score against us. Alas, Keane – a young, fast and very sharp striker – a player with all the qualities that our forward line lacks, provided this special moment and Weaver with his stupidity near the end should have given a penalty away and got himself sent off (thank God the referee and linesman didn’t notice his elbow into the Wolves player’s throat!)!

However, there is a big downside to our performance – with all the procession we had, we should have won. We had 55% possession in the first half and 80% possession in the second. We had 18+ corners to Wolves 0 and we still failed to score. Why? The answer is fairly simple, we tried to walk the ball into the back of the net, and it didn’t work. Against lower class opposition, this tactic will probably be successful, but against a side with two good centre halves it is usually guaranteed to fail. Curle and Mustoe did wonders for Wolves with their last ditch tackling and heading. but they could only do this because they could play very deep without worrying about a shot from a player outside the penalty area.

Think about it, for all our pressure, there was not one meaningful shot or header on target in the entire second half. To cure this, our midfielders must occasionally shoot from 25 yards+ and our wingers must cut inside and shoot or dribble. Passing the ball across the front of their area or out to the wings for a subsequent cross are not the only attacking options. We could do very well this season but with the forward line we currently possess – we could be mid-table at best. Our front line totally lacks pace, but even allowing for this, it should have done a lot better with the supply of crosses it was receiving on Sunday. In this respect, the game confirmed all we knew at the end of last season – we desperately need a quality striker with pace who can also head the ball.

Oh and one last thing, In light of last season’s continual sniping, I must highlight the performance of one player in particular – step forward Richard Edghill – your tackling, defensive covering and ball distribution on Sunday was magnificent. Keep it up!

NEWS SUMMARY

Disappointing Start for Blues

After the euphoria of clinching promotion at Wembley, City fans came back down to earth on Sunday when the Blues lost their first game back in Division One. A crowd of 31,755 saw Wolves earn a 1-0 win, the third successive visit to Maine Road on which they’ve won by this scoreline. The match-winner was Molineux’s prize asset Robbie Keane, whose first-half strike separated the teams and no doubt impressed his Premiership admirers such as the watching Aston Villa manager John Gregory. Wolves manager Colin Lee felt City “played very, very well”, and indeed the Blues dominated territorially, as evidenced by a corner count of 14-0 in their favour. Lee’s team were largely content to hit City on the break, but despite consequently applying far less pressure than the Blues and having many fewer attempts on goal, the midlanders had the game’s two best efforts – in addition to Keane’s goal, the Irishman’s strike partner Haavard Flo hit the upright with a header early on.

Not surprisingly, then, several reports bemoaned City’s lack of a cutting edge as the Blues struggled to break down a Wolves rearguard marshalled magnificently by man-of-the-match Keith Curle. Joe Royle was defiant, though he recognised the same failing in his team as most observers saw. “That was a smash and grab from them. They defended well but defeat was a bit hard on us,” he insisted, before conceding that, “Territorially we were fine but we huffed and we puffed without showing a great deal of guile or cutting edge in the box. In the end, you’re talking about a £6 million-rated striker who’s had four kicks yet won the game for them.” However, the City manager remains convinced that his side will be able to make the necessary step up in quality to enable them to compete at Division One level. “There are 45 games for us to make our mark,” he reminded reporters. “If that’s the standard, there’s nothing for us to fear because we can do a lot better.”

City Suffer Granville Blow

Further bad news for Joe Royle on Sunday came in the form of a hamstring injury to on-loan Danny Granville, who limped out of the action around 15 minutes into his City league début. The Blues have been without a specialist in the left-back position for most of the last four years, and fans were relieved when Granville arrived on a three-month loan just a couple of weeks ago. However, after impressing in three friendly appearances, the player will now be out for around a month, disrupting a promising partnership with Mark Kennedy down the left.

Stadium Deal Signed

It’s now official – Manchester City will leave Maine Road for the City of Manchester Stadium in the summer of 2003. The Blues have been in lengthy and complex negotiations with Manchester City Council and Sport England, but have now signed the contract documents which will make the relocation a reality. The signing ceremony took place on the Maine Road pitch during the half-time interval on Sunday, chairman David Bernstein putting pen to paper for the club while council leader Richard Leese and chief executive Howard Bernstein did likewise for the City Council.

Writing in the match programme, the City chairman commented, “The stadium design has benefitted from [fans’] feedback at last year’s open days. Its capacity should approach 50,000 and its facilities will be fitting for the next Millennium. I would like to thank Manchester City Council and Sport England for the confidence shown in our club. I believe that the City of Manchester, the local community and our club will all derive enormous benefits from this exciting venture.” Of course, the stadium will host the athletics events and opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 Commonwealth Games, after which the running track will be removed. In the long term, in addition to being Manchester City’s new home, the venue is intended to attract showpiece rugby union, rugby league and American football fixtures.

Reserves’ League has New Look

Despite only finishing fifth in the second tier of the Pontin’s League last season, the Blues will be competing in the top section this term. This is because Premier League clubs (along with clubs recently relegated from the Premiership, such as Bolton, Blackburn and Barnsley) will now be competing in a Premiership Reserve League which is divided into northern and southern sections. City are therefore now in a twelve-team first division of the Pontin’s League alongside the reserve sides of northern and midlands-based clubs from Nationwide League divisions one and two. City’s home games will again be played at Hyde United’s Ewen Fields ground, apart from the final two fixtures next April, which will be staged at Maine Road. The second string open their campaign away to Birmingham on 18 August before taking on Burnley at Hyde on 31 August.

Bernstein Lets Clark Tell His Story

Despite receiving an uncomplimentary review in the Sunday Times the week before last, Frank Clark’s autobiography Kicking with both Feet may at least offer an insight for Manchester City fans into the most traumatic period in the club’s history. Under the terms of Clark’s contract settlement when he left Maine Road, the parts of this book dealing with life at the club could only be published with the permission of City chairman David Bernstein. It’s unclear whether any of Clark’s original text had to be removed before publication, but I’m told that his account is remarkably free of rancour or recrimination. He does, however, offer strong criticism of shareholder David Makin’s dramatic outburst on local radio following a home defeat by Bury, pointing to the episode as evidence of a claim he’s made before – that boardroom infighting has been the major contributory factor to City’s problems.

When dealing with team matters, Clark admits he made mistakes, though he denies the charge that he bought bad players. He recognises that there were five or six members of the side who lacked the necessary stomach for the fight (with half the team lacking bottle, it’s hardly surprising we went down!). Clark doesn’t, however, name the guilty men – or the manager(s) who bought them! He also talks with regret of his failure to accommodate Georgi Kinkladze in the Georgian’s most effective rôle, and the inability to resolve this dilemma is the principal tactical failing to which Clark admits. In hindsight (and echoing opinions voiced in MCIVTA at the time), the former Forest manager feels he should have used Kinkladze as one of the front two rather than in a position behind the forwards. Overall, I understand that the book is written in a tone of “sorrow rather than anger”, and it’s due out this week, published by Headline at £16.99.

City Fans Buck the Trend

In recent years, clubs at Premiership level have enjoyed increased glamour and unparalleled media attention, and crowds have risen accordingly. Indeed, it’s often said that it’s virtually impossible for a floating fan to get hold of tickets for a Premiership match – in contrast to most fixtures at a lower level. However, in 1997-98, the season in which City were relegated to Division Two, a Nationwide League-best of over 90% of seats at Maine Road were occupied for City’s home league matches – a higher proportion than at eight top-flight clubs, including the likes of Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday. The statistic is revealed in the latest Deloitte & Touche Survey of Football Club Accounts, whose editor Gerry Boon called City “an exception to the rule”. Boon went on to underline the importance to City of having escaped from the Second Division wilderness at the first attempt, saying, “They should never have found themselves in Division Two. Thankfully for them they have bounced back into Division One.”

Moonchester “Not Real” Shock

In what will come as a severe blow to Manchester City fans, it’s been revealed that Moonchester is in fact nothing more than a man wearing a ludicrous costume. When fans’ favourite “Moony” first appeared at Maine Road in the mid-1990s, most Blues assumed that the strange, padded figure was simply out-of-favour striker Gerry Creaney wearing a mask. This bizarre ruse seemed to represent Creaney’s best chance of stepping out on the Maine Road turf, and it had the added bonus of making him less of a figure of fun. However, after the portly Scot left Maine Road a year ago, Moony continued to appear and most fans began to believe the match programme’s explanation that he was in fact an alien who came down in his spaceship from the planet Blue Moon to watch City – evidently with the sadistic motive of saving as many penalties as possible from young opposition fans during the half-time entertainment.

The shocking truth came to light on BBC2’s “Room 101” programme, in which celebrities reveal to host Paul Merton their five pet hates. Merton’s guest on Friday 30 July, chat-show king Michael Parkinson, nominated football mascots among his objects of loathing and to the consternation of City fans everywhere, Moony was outed when highlighted as an example of the genre. Meanwhile, Martin Edwards will also be dismayed that the whole Moonchester story is merely an elaborate fiction. The Manchester United chief was known to regard Blue Moon as a new market with exciting development potential (the planet, of course, has the same colour as several of the seventy-one kits United have worn since 1995) and rumour has it that plans were well advanced to open a Theatre of Dreams Megastore there.

Burnley Preview

Wednesday’s first leg of the League Cup first round sees the Blues renew their acquaintance with a rival from our Second Division days as Burnley visit Maine Road. It’s an interesting draw, as City will be facing arguably the opponent from last season keenest for a chance to take revenge over the Blues. While the Clarets managed a respectable 2-2 draw at Maine Road last October, the Lancashire side crashed to a 6-0 defeat in the return. This time, Burnley should represent much tougher oppositon than in March, when they were in total disarray. Then, the Clarets were in a disastrous run which was threatening to plunge them into the relegation zone and they’d just suffered a 5-0 home defeat against Gillingham.

When City went one better, manager Stan Ternent looked set for the exit door, but he remained to inspire something of a revival. A comfortable mid-table finish was secured with the aid of an eleven-game unbeaten run, while an aggressive summer recruitment policy means that Ternent will be hoping to challenge at the top end of the table this time round. After Sunday’s defeat against Wolves and with a tough trip to Fulham coming up, City could do with a confidence-boosting performance and result, while many fans will feel it’s about time City had an extended cup run. The latter aim is helped by this being a two-legged affair, ensuring we’ve a chance to redeem any mishaps in the return at Turf Moor on Tuesday 24 August.

MANCHESTER CITY COUNCIL

MANCHESTER PARKING working with CONTROL PLUS

RESTRICTED PARKING AT MAINE ROAD

HOME MATCHES COMMENCING SUNDAY 8th AUGUST 1999

Manchester City Council is operating a restricted residents’ only parking scheme on many of the streets around Manchester City Football Club’s Maine Road ground.

The restricted residents’ only parking areas are indicated on the roadside with Resident Permit Holders Only signs.

The restrictions apply during the football season, for first team match days only:

Weekdays                          5.30 PM - 10.30 PM
Saturdays & Bank Holidays         12 noon -  5.30 PM
Sundays                           1.00 PM -  6.30 PM

Vehicles parked in these areas which are not displaying a valid Residents’ Permit will be issued with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) and could then become liable for clamping and/or removal enforced by Control Plus. The following charges apply:

PCN        - £40 or £20 if paid within 14 days
Clamp      - £38 plus PCN charge
Removal    - £105 plus PCN charge

All enquiries regarding the Residents’ Parking Scheme or applications for a Residents’ Parking Permit should be forwarded to the address below:

The Parking Shop
St James House
Unit 2 St James Square
Manchester M2 6DN
Tel: 0161 832 1246

The streets included in the restricted Residents’ Parking Scheme are: Alexandra Avenue, Arnside Avenue, Barnston Avenue, Beveridge Street, Bidston Avenue, Boscombe Street, Bredbury Road, Broadfield Road (*), Brockley Avenue, Brompton Road, Brunt Street (*), Burdith Avenue, Carlton Avenue, Camborne Street, Carnforth Street, Chilworth Street, Churton Avenue, Claremont Road (*), Congleton Avenue, Cranswick Street, Crofton Street (*), Dalton Avenue, Dorset Avenue, Driffield Street, Dunworth Street (*), Ebberstone Road, Edith Avenue, Elmswood Avenue, Frodsham Street, Hart Road (*), Heald Place (*), Henbury Street, Holford Avenue, Horton Road, Kippax Street (*), Laurel Avenue, Letchworth Street, Lindum Street (*), Lloyd Street South (*), Lowestoft street, Lowthorpe Street, Lynton Street, Maine Road, Markington Street, Middleham Street, Newlyn Street, Newport Street, Parkfield Street (*), Parkside Road, Platt Lane (*), Princess Road (*), Rawcliffe Street, Redruth Street, Regent Avenue, Rita Avenue, Rosedale Road, Rosford Avenue, Santiago Street (*), Tintern Street, Thornton Road, Wansford Street, Watford Avenue, Wincombe Street, Worthington Street, Wykeham Street, Yew Tree Avenue, Yew Tree Road (*).

(*) = Partially Restricted

MEMO

Memo to: Joe Royle
From: Lara Croft

After your proclamation in the Sunday papers “we are not in this division to consolidate” and seeing yesterday’s performance, well Joe, welcome the real world.

Points to note and action needed:
Edghill – get him to the vets, probably needs to be put down but could do with a second opinion.
Goater – tell him that big round white thing is the ball which should be controlled and aimed towards back of net. Needs a mega dose of Sanatogen. My dog is better than this.
Striker – beg, borrow or steal one – you can always borrow Bonnie (see above – a couple of tins of Pal and a bonio should keep her happy).
Kennedy – good buy, created chances.
Cooke – played well, some good crosses in but as usual nobody there to finish.
Whitley – had a great game, give the lad a pat on the back.
Fulham – am not holding my breath.

SYDNEY BLUES

There will be a meeting of the Sydney Blues this Saturday (14th) at the Apia Club, Parramatta Road, Camperdown, starting around 7.30.

If any Blues in Sydney are interested, come along.

GATHERING OF NY/NJ/CT BLUES

As far as we are aware, Blues in the tri-state area have never got together for a few beers (although Martin Price had a ‘Wembley’ showing at his home in New Jersey recently) so we are trying to remedy this situation. All Blues within striking distance of New York City are therefore cordially invited to ‘come on down’ to the Manchester Pub (2nd Ave between 48th and 49th) any time after 6pm on the evening of Tuesday 31st August.

Also, if I haven’t sent you an email concerning this already, please send me a note as we are trying to compile a mailing list of Blues in the area.

RE – AWAY TICKET DISTRIBUTION

The Bristol away stub idea was okay as City didn’t sell out for that (having first required 20 stubs), once it was realised that the game would not affect promotion. As for getting stubs for matches this season, there should be several games where the away allocation is more than enough to satisfy City’s demand. See you all at Burnley…

What’s the real alternative? Taking time out to queue when tickets go on sale?

Red and Black?

First outing for the stripes was at Everton… No advance warning, and City came out to bafflement from the Blues fans, a half-hearted cheer when we recognised the players, then almost immediately a chorus of “We don’t like red, we don’t like red…”

No advance warning because in those days no-one bought club shirts. At least no one else did, but wearing the red and black caught on. Shirt-wearing started when wearing a scarf became hazardous – either it would get nicked, and there were one or two attempted strangulations. Those were the days, eh what?

I’ve still got my shirt, a couple of holes but still serviceable. I learnt a bit of Spanish when we went to Bilbao, including “Tengo una camisa roja y negra..”; I have a red and black shirt… and “Donde esta el campo de futbol?”

I could go on, but my Euro-travelling tales appeared years ago in King of the Kippax…

FOOTBALL TRIVIA – WHAT AM I?

It’s a Hoax!

I remember this doing the rounds a couple of years ago and the question was asked on Sky TV’s Soccer Saturday I think it was. A couple of weeks later they had the bloke who wrote its’ mate on the show, who explained it was hoax. They phoned the originator up and he confirmed it explaining how he’d made it up and it had been doing the heads in of thousands on the Net for months (including myself).

What a git!

Here’s to sending the Wolves home Packing on Sunday.

THAT QUESTION

I imagine that there are a hell of a lot of people who have been trying to figure out the answer to the question that John Bellairs and friends have been losing sleep over…

Football Trivia – What Am I?

What enters the field of play in a football match at half-time, but doesn’t leave until the match is over…?

If it’s a Saturday match it leaves after the game, but if it’s a mid-week game it remains until the next day… and it only happens in the English Premiership, not in Scotland or the lower divisions.

Well, I believe I may have found the solution… there isn’t one!

I spent far too long trying to work it out and in desperation sent the question out to some friends and colleagues in the hope that the correct answer would be forthcoming. Almost every person who responded said that the question had been doing the rounds at their place of work and nobody seemed to know the answer. However, I also had one response from a friend who works in Bristol who said that it was a hoax question for which there is no answer. It was devised to drive people mad with frustration!

I don’t know if this is true or not, but it would seem to make sense. Can anyone else confirm it?

EASTLANDS – A QUICK QUESTION

Can someone let me know exactly where in East Manchester the proposed new stadium site is, so that I can locate it on my A-Z?

TRIVIA QUESTION

Is the answer to the trivia question Andy Gray’s ego?

THAT QUESTION II

I have an answer to John Bellair’s riddle question about what enters the field of play at half-time etc.

The answer is The Referee. He enters the field of play at half-time (not for the first time but he does do so). As the Premiership is the only division in the country with a professional panel of refs they are the only ones who get accommodation arranged for them.

Very simple when you get over that little tricky red herring about half-time.

QUESTION AND PLANET COVERAGE

Just a quick one. First the answer to the riddle is the “floodlights”, the question was worded wrongly! No doubt someone else has written in with the right wording. At the risk of opening a can of worms and being castigated again, the Planet “service” has let me down. No commentary for the Wolves game. Rather annoying after 2 months of payments in the closed season, to hear another on loan player forced to read the sleeping giant massive club script. Or Joe with his football clichés. All to be expected maybe, but 6 pounds a month for 2, 5-minute quotes a week. Then no game! Grrr. We in Australia have virtually no other way of getting any coverage even now we’re in Division 1. So I will keep Planet, but don’t expect me to sing its praises. P.S. a special thank you to Herbie and Casey and all those other guys on the talk city site for being our eyes and ears.

WEMBLEY SPECIAL

The new issue of Bert Trautmann’s Helmet will be out this weekend featuring, not surprisingly, plenty of Wembley memories. Available from all the usual places, price is £1.50. If you would like a copy please send £1.90 (including P&P inland) or £2.30 (including P&P Europe/RoW) to 217 Dumers Lane, Radcliffe, Manchester, M26 2GE, England or, alternatively, if you would like a subscription for the season (five issues) the cost is £7.00 (including P&P inland) or £9.00 (including P&P Europe/RoW). Cheques to NE Bayley.

OPINION – WOLVES GAME

Well it looked to me like we could play till midnight and still not score. Yes there was plenty of pressure, mostly concentrated into the 1st 15 minutes and the last 15 minutes, but apart from a bullet header from Morrison early on, I can’t recall the Wolves ‘keeper being forced into making a single real save worthy of note.

City got something like 15 corners and there were lots of crosses into the penalty area, but despite all that, the Wolves goal never really looked in much serious danger. The only way we looked likely to equalise was through being given a penalty but luck didn’t favour us there.

Considering this is a side much trumpeted as containing 2 wingers, City didn’t really make best use of the width available to them. Kennedy seemed hesitant most of the time, so he often ended up just channelling the ball back inside. Cooke had some good runs but didn’t get into the match as much as he should have done.

Dickov buzzed as usual but had mislaid his sting. Goater didn’t do much to worry Curle & Co. Taylor made zero % difference, in fact I can’t honestly remember a single thing he did.

At least this game will have provided an antidote to those – Joe Royle among them, shame on him – who have been busy talking up the prospects of promotion, and hopefully injected a dose of reality, because this is what the 1st Division is going to be like, and there are a lot of clubs like Wolves.

Having said all that, the reporter for The Times got it about right, there is not really much between City and Wolves, except that at the moment they have in Keane a player with a natural instinct to put away the one real chance that might come along in a game. In Goater and Taylor, City clearly do not.

Which is why I end this report with the very relevant acronym:

W e
O nly
L ack
V ery
E ffective
S trikers.

OPINION – LIVERPOOL MATCH

Not been to the hallowed turf of Maine Road in ages since I moved down to the big smoke, but as a friend (Liv. fan) offered to do the driving up, I couldn’t miss the opportunity. It was a fantastic match (in terms of results and for City’s morale). I have to agree about Cooke: being a big fan of his I was bitterly disappointed in his game (what went wrong?). On the plus side though, Kennedy played a blinding game and was easily the best man on the field. Weaver, despite the one goal (which even I didn’t see go in, along with probably most of the Kippax) kept the Liv. attack at bay and Morrison in my books did 110% in defence. All I was waiting for was the inevitable response after 90 minutes, a typical Manchester United consolationary reason for losing, and then it came: “well, we’re not playing our full team” and “it was only a friendly anyway”. Kids eh, what can you do?

OPINION – KINKLADZE: TO BE OR NOT TO BE?

As a long-time subscriber to MCVITA, and a non-time contributor, I feel obliged finally to break my silence on the subject of Kinkladze coming back to Maine Road, bargain price or not.

Don’t buy Joe!

Firstly the guy is and was a footballing genius and an outstanding performer on the pitch, and I as much as anybody was in total awe of his abilities and saw him at the time as the messiah to lead City back to the very top again. However, with hindsight I do feel that he was a major factor in the downfall of City over the past few seasons. Not because of any failings on his part or lack of effort, but because some others in the team (only a couple) either resented his status among the fans, or were quite prepared to sit back and wait for him to rescue the team with a salacious dribble from inside his own goal net to score at the other end (just about everyone else). The lack of desire amongst City players during the relegation years was painful to watch.

I would love to see the guy back again, but only when we have the core of a team who can operate on that level of ability. And it will happen. Can you imagine Ronaldo playing up front with Goater, with Jamie Pollock providing the incisive through balls?

On another point, having read the recent report posted by Kev Pollitt regarding the U-14 teams success in the Milk Cup held in nearby Coleraine, and the author’s quite correct remarks about the number of Rag supporters around the place who have never been within a light year of Manchester – Where does this leave me? As a non Mancunian (unless 5 years in Stockport counts as naturalisation) should I be supporting City?

By the way, the number of Kappa City shirts floating about over here recently has been phenomenal. If City can generate that sort of bandwagon from Division 2, when we make it back ‘to the top’ – God help Hong Kong, Singapore & London, you won’t be able to take a pi*s without it being Laser Blue.

OPINION – KINKY

In response to Jeff Cohen’s article in MCIVTA 524 – no we (meaning me and most of my City going mates, and the rest of you if you’re honest) definitely do not want Kinkladze back. I think he showed in our most recent relegation season that he just isn’t the sort of player who is willing to put in the effort in a division that requires both determination as well as skill. If he came back he would be our biggest wage earner and most famous name – this is what he obvious thrives on, and his skill is beyond doubt, but while we remain out of the Premiership (where you get much more time on the ball) he would be more of a liability than an asset. Don’t get me wrong I loved Kinky while he was here (esp. my one and only Premiership season), but at the end it left a sour taste with the fact that I couldn’t help thinking that because of our inability to play as a team and trying to play everything through Kinky we went down because of him. I think JR has changed things around and we are much more of a unit than we have been for many-a-year (Wembley has also compounded this) and to have a star rather than a team player would be a step back in my opinion.

OPINION – A TARGET MAN

Just something which I was mulling over this morning relating to the team formation this year. It seems now that we’ve got the defence pretty sussed and will be playing with 2 out and out wingers. To fill the gap left in the middle of the park as a result of using 2 wingers and to take advantage of all the potential crosses, it seems painfully obvious that we need a target man. We need somebody that can complement the pace and small stature of our best attacking prospect, Wright-Philips, and our best regular striker – Dickov.

This somebody should have had experience playing in the top flight for a few years and be able to help the aforementioned Wright develop as a player – even if it’s a stop gap measure for one year or so, until we can afford someone in the £5 million+ range. Goater and Taylor have proved themselves to be woefully inadequate of being either target men or finishers. We really need someone that costs around £1 million and who would be guaranteed to settle quickly at the Mecca and in Manchester.

It’s been said before, but who better than big Niall Quinn to do this job? He’s a model pro with a great attitude, love for Manchester, vastly underrated in terms of skill and someone we should never have sold in the first place. (I’m sure if it wasn’t for Sam Ellis’ tactics of tiring out the big man by making him perform a defensive/midfield/striker’s rôle, we would have seen even more of the quality that he showed in the first couple of years after his transfer from Arsenal).

I’m not one to advocate bringing back former players for the purpose of trying to rekindle old glories (?) but he for me is one of the best buys we have made in the last 20 years and should be given one last chance to shine. Maybe I’m out of touch not having seen him play for Sunderland in the last year or so, but if only those memories (when he single-handedly relegated Derby and performed heroics on a regular basis) could become reality again…

OPINION – KINKLADZE

Okay I know it’ll never happen as long as there is breath in Joe Royle’s body, but you could put forward a fairly persuasive case for taking Kinkladze on say a 3 month loan from Ajax. We know he’d jump at the chance to get back into English football and he’d surely find City as a 1st Division club acceptable. Plenty of fixtures against “big” clubs – e.g. the likes of Forest, Blackburn etc. No need to break the bank funding the transfer, and I would have thought even his wages might not be too ruinous.

What it would give is a chance to see if Kinkladze could add something to this remoulded City side. If he impresses, then maybe, just maybe… ! If not, then it’s only 3 months.

Discuss!

OPINION – EARLY DAYS YET

The first result was not what we wanted, but it’s early days yet, and I am confident that Joe Royle will find a solution to the goal scoring that is needed. By the way, the player who I sent a newspaper reports on from his days at the University Of Virginia has been selected as a young player for the U.S.A. Team. (I sent these to Francis Lee in May 1994).

I did get a reply from Francis Lee which I very much appreciated, and I understood his position at that time. Well that player went to Wolfsburg in the German 2nd Division at that time, got promotion first season he was there. He now plays for Glasgow Rangers – Claudio Reyna – it will be interesting to see how he gets on in British Football. I will always feel he could have been a City player if we had only given him a trial and got him for next to nothing. Still he might never have fitted in with City; a team is built like a jigsaw puzzle and it all has to fit together. And back in May 1994 Francis Lee was finding ways to get rid of a surplus of players, yes in that I do think Francis Lee was right, just bad timing. And despite everything I will always be a Francis Lee fan; I called him “King” as a player, that title is still his as a player in my books. I will wish City the very best this season,but I will be looking over my shoulder at Reyna playing for Rangers.

Good Luck Joe!

OPINION – STRIKER

Please listen to me. This is not a problem that has materialised this season. We have had no natural goalscorer for many seasons now. We got away with it last season. Division 1 is different. If you don’t buy someone who has the knack of finding the net on a regular basis, we will struggle to challenge for the top six. Do you understand what I mean by a natural goalscorer? I would move heaven and earth to get David Johnson. He is someone who would join us in Division 1. Goals always compensate for weakness in other positions.

OPINION – WE NEED A STRIKER

I heard Joe Royle’s comments after the game against Wolves quote: “It was a six million pound player that scored the goal”. Manchester City at one time during the game had 11 corners to Wolves 0, yet our best effort came from Morrison, a central defender. I think if you read between the lines of Joe’s comments, it says our strikers cost very little compared to the value of the one that scored; to have quality finishing you have to have a quality striker. Now Joe Royle is a great manager, but he is not Merlin the Magician. The board must help him get a quality striker; that has been too obvious for some time. We can consolidate our position in Division 1, or we can go for the Gold (Premier League). Our team is a very good one, we could become excellent with great finishing!

OPINION – SKY PERSPECTIVE

Not the best start to the season. On the positive side there was no lack of effort or commitment from any of the side and no-one was completely out of their depth. City had overall domination on possession, territorial advantage, corners etc. The referee had a good game. On the negative side, well, the team that scores the most goals is declared the winner and for all City’s domination I really didn’t see us scoring after about an hour – striker needed. Defence and left side somewhat disorganised after Granville’s unfortunate injury, Cooke given little service throughout – full backs needed. Weaver lucky not to give away a penalty and be sent off – I hope that his success is not going to his head.

Keane’s goal showed what we’re missing – City defenders left flat footed as Keane saw an opening to create the chance. I still find it difficult to see just how he managed to get the ball between Weaver and the post but its sheer power really didn’t give Weaver a chance.

Just to add a comment on Dave Ewing; when I first watched City regularly he was coming to the end of his playing career and was brought back into the team at the end of every season as City mounted their regular battle against relegation. We used to refer to him as a ‘they shall not pass – crunch!’ defender although he was gentler than Bill Leivers. After retiring he had a hardware shop on Broadstone Rd, Reddish for a while – a great guy.

OPINION – GOATER’S LIVERPOOL GOAL

Euan Bayliss says Goater ‘missed far too many chances and at times was noticeable slower than the rest of the players’. Phil Hartley states ‘Goater won virtually everything in the air’ and ‘looked quick and quite sharp’. Were these two at the same game? Has anyone else noticed how good the official video of 98/99 makes our Shaun look?

Jeff Cohen’s comment on a returning Kinky adding to the gates is a non starter when we will sell out virtually every game anyway!

REQUEST – MARTIN FROM BIELEFELD

Would Martin(?) from Bielefeld please get in touch with Tony A.S.A.P. as I have lost your e-mail address.

REQUEST – CALLING ANY EDINBURGH BLUES

I moved to Edinburgh from Chester 6 months ago and wondered if there were any other Blues out there who wanted to meet up when City are on Sky. Sitting in a pub on your own watching City, surrounded by Hearts and Hibs fans isn’t much fun!

REQUEST – OZ TV GAMES

I have recently moved to Melbourne in Australia and am trying (in vain) to see the mighty Blues on TV (already missed the Wolves game). I am having no joy with either of the local cable channels, Optus and Foxtel, although I understand that Optus had the rights to last season’s First Division matches. If anyone down under can help me out, or even suggest places where I can go and see matches live if they are no longer on cable, please contact me.

Finally, I would like to thank all those involved with MCIVTA. They are doing a fabulous job, keeping fans and Mancunian exiles throughout the world in touch with the best club on the planet. Keep up the good work!

REQUEST – BRIGHTON LIFT

Having recently moved to Brighton I’ve only been going to away games in the SE for the last few seasons and would be interested to find out if there are others in the area who want to travel to home games.

REQUEST – FULHAM TICKETS

As a MCIVTA subscriber and an exiled Manc in London can anyone help?. I desperately need 4 tickets for the Fulham away match. Has anyone got any spares?

Is the rumour about the reincarnation of the red and black striped away kit true? When will it be on sale? As my old school kit was identical to the 80’s away kit it will have to be a compulsory purchase. Everyone on the school footie team who could kick a ball in a straight line was a City fan and an obvious follower of the beautiful game, even at that early age. It was easy to spot who couldn’t be trusted with the ball as players wearing the school issue kit were likely ManYoo fans.

WHY BLUE?

First of all, I would like to congratulate the team on securing promotion to the First Division and bringing untold joy to the masses at Wembley stadium – a truly capital performance. Sadly, I could not be there with you, for I had a calling in another part of the world – Majorca. Whilst out there my son (a future City centre forward) and I were joined at prayer, along with fellow City supporters also Burnley, Bolton, and Everton fans whose eyes were fixed towards the Sky, hoping for a City win. They were in admiration of the support this club has generated, and asked me how they can command such loyalty after so many years of failure, and what is it that makes them so special to me. I began to explain (this was before the match started you understand) that I was born in Clayton, Manchester in 1959 and I was dressed in blue, like every boy should be, from the word go. Though my mam and dad supported them, I had no real understanding of Manchester City until I was 6 years old; this was when dad decided to take me on my first trip to see City.

We set off, me wearing my new hat and scarf (knitted of course) to Mayne’s Bus Depot, Ashton New Road, along with other City fans and boarded the bus for Maine Road (God’s club). Although I wasn’t aware of it at the time, City were in the Second Division and struggling (honest) but the moment I arrived at the top of the Kippax I felt I was in heaven. After all, I was always being told that good boys go to heaven if they behaved, so this must be the place where God lives. City continued to struggle in the league, also in the cups, whilst U****d were now dominant in the City. You may ask why I don’t refer to them as the Rags, well my dad always told me not to mock the afflicted.

Anyway it was around this time I was feeling depressed, it was not a good time to follow City and I was getting tired of my team being laughed at. Even though I had no intention of changing my loyalties to the dark side, my mam sensing my unhappiness began to explain that it was her fault I had been burdened with this weight on my young shoulders. And just like the lord Jesus, I would have to bear it. She explained that shortly before my birth she was visited by an angel who told her she had to make a choice on which team I would follow once born and that the angel proclaimed whichever team she decided on, I would be blessed with a gift, but I would be deprived of a gift also. On hearing this I asked what gift I was blessed with (a sense of humour) and what if I followed U****d (watching them win the treble) and what have I been deprived of (years of silverware) and what if I followed U****d (Oxygen). Suddenly life didn’t seem so bad. God then delivered his servant the legendary Joe Mercer who called upon his congregation to come forth and multiply. And they duly did in their thousands to the gates of heaven. Joe was carrying his own burdens before he arrived at Heaven’s door and so he would need an ally who would help him take the weight. His name was Malcolm Allison; together they brought City from the ashes and delivered them into the promised land. Maine Road was brimming with silverware and yet I was foretold that I would be deprived of such wealth. How could this be? We had an excellent manager, an excellent coach, the club was getting stronger, what could possibly go wrong?

It turned out that Sir Joe had said he only wanted to remain in charge for two seasons and control would be handed over to his younger ally but success changed his way of thinking and when he decided to carry on he was stabbed in the back, and in the summer of 1972, he was disgracefully sent to Coventry. God was furious, he punished all traitors condemning them to failure, the congregation were up in arms in defence of their great leader. Though they too have been punished for the deeds of others, God could not give his blessing for success while guilty perpetrators remained in power. The congregation have paid an heavy price over many years, and have remained loyal to this day, and while I have no malice towards Malcolm, for he was young and foolish to think he could manage. He was an excellent coach who was given licence by older (dare I say wiser) men to bring a truly great man to his knees, in turn bringing the club failure. We had it all brothers, and if we keep the faith we may have it again, so back to Wembley with seconds remaining and City 2-1 down, I looked to the heavens for a miracle and you know I could have sworn I saw Joe smiling, the rest as they say is history. AMEN (The Reverend Blue Boy).

RESULTS

First Division Results, Saturday, August 7 1999

Birmingham City           2-2  Fulham                24,042
Hughes (62)                    Horsfield (36, 59)
Lazaridis (85)
Blackburn Rovers          0-0  Port Vale             20,530
Charlton Athletic         3-1  Barnsley              19,268
Mendonca (6, pen 24, pen 80)           Barnard (29)
Crystal Palace            1-1  Crewe Alexandra       13,664
Rodger (66)                    Rivers (84)
Grimsby Town              0-1  Stockport County       5,528
                               Smith (51)
Ipswich Town              3-1  Nottingham Forest     20,830
Naylor (18)                    Bart-Williams (pen 77)
Johnson (20)
Scowcroft (71)
Portsmouth                2-0  Sheffield United      17,667
Miglioranzi (26)
Whittingham (88)
Queens Park Rangers       3-1  Huddersfield Town     13,642
Darlington (15)                Wijnhard (65)
Kiwomya (39)
Peacock (79)
Tranmere Rovers           0-0  Bolton Wanderers       7,674
Walsall                   0-0  Swindon Town           6,437
West Bromwich Albion      1-1  Norwich City          16,196
Raven (73)                     Dalglish (49)

First Division Results, Sunday, August 8 1999

Manchester City           0-1  Wolverhampton Wanderers  31,755
                               Keane (30)

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