Newsletter #824

Well, as our first opponents of the forthcoming season get over the shock sacking of their manager, things in City land are looking very bright (must have been that dead magpie I saw).

Tonight’s news summary brings some excellent news on contract renewals, speculation of moves and other goings-on down at MR. We also have plenty of opinion on our likely line-up, details of the Sky fixtures and requests from newly exiled Blues.

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

Bird sings China praises: Chris Bird has returned from his fact finding trip to the Far East. City’s Chief Operating Officer sees real potential for growth in the region, after a gruelling schedule of twenty meetings in five days. “They have spectacular stadia and a determination to succeed and at least match the World Cup exploits of countries such as Japan and South Korea. China is one of those places which we needed to go and have a look at,” commented Bird. “Because of the way that TV deals will change over the next few years we need to be at the front of that changing market and make sure that we have got the knowledge to react as fast as anyone else.” One report suggested that Bird was so keen to crack the Chinese market, that he is considering learning Mandarin.

Eric testimonial: Details of Eric Nixon’s testimonial match have been released this week. The former City ‘keeper and lifelong Blue has a benefit game at Prenton Park, Tranmere Rovers’ ground. The game takes place between City and Tranmere on Tuesday August 6, and the pre-match entertainment includes a match between Kevin Keegan’s All Stars and John Aldridge’s Tranmere Legends. Former stars such as John Barnes, Ian Rush, Asa Hartford and KK himself are expected to play in this game. Tickets cost £12 with £5 for concessions and will go on sale in the last week of June.

Fixture Changes: Sky TV have announced their football schedule for the pre-Christmas period, and City feature in four matches, with only one of these games involving a date change. The first home match against Newcastle will now kick-off at 12.15pm on Saturday, August 24. Maine Road’s last-ever derby on November 9 will also start at 12.15pm while the visit to Arsenal on September 10 will now kick-off at 8pm. The only date change involves Spurs’ visit to Maine Road, which will now take place December 23, kick off 8pm, rather than Saturday December 21 as originally billed.

Complaint re Distin: Newcastle United have clearly not forgiven City for snatching Sylvain Distin from under their noses last month. They have made a formal complaint to the Football Association over Distin’s £4 million move to Maine Road. “There has been a complaint from Newcastle United and we have written to Manchester City asking for their observations. We are currently awaiting their response and that is all we can say at this stage,” said an FA spokeswoman. Newcastle thought that Distin had agreed to make last season’s loan deal into a permanent one, and were distinctly dischuffed when KK snapped up the French defender. City are denying any improper conduct. “If there is an issue it is without foundation,” said Chairman David Bernstein.

Transfer News and Gossip

Foe Fee: Olympique Lyonnais will be asking for £6.6 million for Marc-Vivien Foe, should City wish to make the deal a permanent one this time next year. The Cameroonian international joined City last week for a 12 month period, which will cost the Blues an initial payment of £550,000.

DVT Boy flies away: PSG have formally completed the signing of City striker Alioune Toure for a fee of £1 million. The former French under-21 international has signed a five-year contract with Paris St Germain, the French First Division club said on Friday. The 24-year-old striker spent five years at Nantes before joining City last season but only played two gaems for the Blues. Toure missed a chunk of last season after he was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis. He leaves with our best wishes and a set of medicinal stockings for his condition.

‘Keeper offer: According to one report, City are trying to sign 16-year-old American goalkeeper Jason Landers, a USA under-18 international. Landers currently plays for Pennsylvania youth team FC Delco, and according to his father, the six foot six inch ‘keeper is considering a contract that the Blues have offered him. The player kept goal for the US under-18 team in the Bordeaux Tournament in France, which was won by the US.

For Ritchie, for poorer: The rumours persist about Paul Ritchie’s departure. It now appears that Ritchie may well be a Premiership player next season, as Bolton are said to be showing an interest in the twenty-seven-year-old Scot. Ritchie spent a few months on loan with the Trotters in 1999-2000 season, before completing his move to City from Glasgow Rangers. Bolton have joined Lancashire rivals Burnley and Preston in chasing Ritchie’s signature. He will cost his next club approx. £500,000.

Ahn-believable: City are said to be interested in South Korean World Cup star Ahn Jung-Hwan. Hwan’s agent has made it clear that his client is being sought by a number of Premiership clubs, including our own Blue Boys. Ahn is very unlikely to return to his present employers, Italian Serie A club Perugia. Following Italy’s defeat at the hands of Korea, Perugia president Luciano Gaucci announced that Ahn had humiliated the Italian people by scoring the golden goal winner, and that his safety in Italy could not be guaranteed. Although Gaucci later retracted his comments, Ahn has unsurprisingly decided to seek employment elsewhere.

Goat to roam? Despite KK stating that Shaun Goater deserves another chance in the Premiership, the speculation increases that the Goat will soon be on his way. The latest side to be linked with Bermuda’s Commonwealth Games Ambassador is Portsmouth, managed by Harry Redknapp. It seems Rednapp wants Goater to replace Peter Crouch, who was sold last transfer deadline day to Aston Villa.

Rumour mill: Brazilian playmaker Juninho is said to be a target of a number of English Premiership clubs, including City. The Atletico Madrid midfielder has been on loan for two seasons back in Brazil. He is now back with the Spanish club, but is thought to want another chance in English football. City, United, Aston Villa and former club Middlesbrough have all been mentioned as possible destinations. KK is supposed to be interested in reviving the deal to bring Bradford City’s David Wetherall to Maine Road. Earlier in the year City had agreed a £1.5 million fee with the Bantams for Weatherall, before the player failed a medical. Weatherall is one of a number of players whose contracts have been cancelled since Bradford went into administration last month. City are believed to be interested in Rochdale’s teenage striker Patrick McCourt. Kevin Keegan is even claimed to be considering a £1 million bid for the player as he tries to beat off reported interest from Liverpool, Manchester United and Sunderland. McCourt has already played for Northern Ireland’s senior side, against Spain in April.

That’s enough: Please disregard all the rumours you’ve just read. Our learned Boss Man has declared – no more signings before the season starts. “We will not be making any signings unless something unbelievable jumps up,” stated KK. “We have got what we want and we have got it before I go on holiday, which is great. The deal to bring Marc Vivien Foe here looked at one stage that it might string out a little longer. But now I can get on the plane, go on my holidays knowing that when we come back on the 11th July I have got everything I wanted. I had a wish list and I have got everyone who I wanted. You can’t ask for more than that. Don’t forget there is a transfer deadline this season. When clubs come back to pre-season a lot of them will only have six weeks to get the players they want. After 31st August there is a transfer window and there will be no transfers after that until 1st January. Bearing that in mind we will let the others scramble and chase the players they want. We will get on with training and preparing for Elland Road and the opening game of the season.”

Ex-Blues’ News

Oldies lose: A squad of City veterans took part this week in the North-West Masters Cup at the Manchester Evening News Arena. The Blues unfortunately failed to progress through the group stages, managing draws against Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers, and a 3-4 defeat at the hands of Stretford Casuals. The Reds went on to win the Regional Final, and progress to the Grand Final in September. City’s squad on the night was: Eric Nixon, Willie Donachie, Asa Hartford, Steve Redmond, Richard Jobson, Andy May, Nicky Reid, Nigel Gleghorn, Neil McNab and Wayne Biggins.

Sunderland shake-up: Former City player and manager Peter Reid has re-organised his backroom staff following a disappointing season for the Wearsiders. All the personnel concerned have had links with City. Niall Quinn has been named as the new player-coach, while another former Blues striker, Adrian Heath, has been installed as the Assistant Manager. Reid’s former assistant, Bobby Saxton, has been moved to a scouting post, a rôle similar the one Saxton held under Reid during his Maine Road days. “The new football structure will be a massive benefit to the football club in terms of experience, technical knowledge, new ideas and enthusiasm,” Reid said in a club statement.

Hughes move? Former City winger Michael Hughes could be facing us again next season, this time in the colours of Birmingham City. Manager Steve Bruce is understood to be interested in signing the Northern Ireland international, who nearly joined the club last season. He arrived at St.Andrews in March on a loan deal, with a view to a permanent transfer, but an ankle injury curtailed the arrangement. Hughes will have to prove his full fitness before a permanent deal can be made.

Moyes & Etuhu together again: David Moyes clearly liked what he saw when he had the Boy Etuhu under his command at Preston, because it’s reported that Everton are about to make a £1 million bid for the 20-year-old. That’s not a bad return for the Lancashire club, who paid £300,000 for Etuhu when he left Maine Road under the cloud of a contract dispute with KK in January.

Reactions and Comments

Boss backs Jensen: Kevin Keegan has been defending his Danish international full-back Niclas Jensen following his performance in the England / Denmark fixture. KK said: “I thought Niclas had a great World Cup. He looked very cultured. He made a mistake with the goal,” Keegan conceded, “and for that I think it was Ian Wright on TV who really half destroyed him. But I think his performances have been very good. There are not many left foots like his around in the game. He will come back better for the experience of having played in the World Cup. He is still young enough to improve, that is the great thing about it. We are quite a young side. If you take Peter Schmeichel out of it who has taken over Stuart Pearce’s mantle and also take Ali out of it, then most of the players we have got now are around twenty two, twenty three. And that means in the next three or four years they are going to get better, providing of course we can get them playing right.”

Tough at the top: “There is no hiding place in the Premiership,” said Kev the Boss, as he gave his thoughts on the forthcoming Premiership programme. “Each individual is different but when the fixtures came out I looked, obviously, at Newcastle, Liverpool, Fulham and Southampton – all teams with who I have been involved – and then at Manchester United. To go to Leeds and then entertain Newcastle, two teams who finished in the top six last season, straight away means we will know pretty quickly how we are going to do. The key will again be our home record. It might not be as fantastic as it was last year because of the quality of the opposition, but it is important that Maine Road remains a difficult place to visit. Hopefully our record in front of our own fans will not be as bad as it was the last time City were in the Premiership.” He also thinks that being new boys in the division can work to a team’s advantage. “One of the great things about being in the Premiership is that you know most of the players and the managers,” he said. “That was not the case in the First Division or Second Division when I was with Fulham where it was a whole new learning curve because I knew a lot of the players and managers, but not them all. Because of the exposure the Premiership receives we know all the teams very well, we know their players, their managers and we know, to a certain degree, what they are about and how they try to play. The only slight doubt, and people are going to have that with us, will be the new boys.”

Squad News

Dynamic duo say ‘yes’: The best news of the week came through today (Thursday), when two of City’s most exciting players signed extended contracts. Ali Benarbia has agreed to stay with City for an extra year, while Shaun Wright-Phillips has signed a five year deal with the Blues. Luckily for all parties, Kevin Keegan’s antipathy towards SWP’s agent did not stop the deal going through. “It is a done deal, there has never been a problem,” said the Boss Man. “We have looked after Shaun as he deserved to be after the season he had last year. His big challenge now is to carry on improving and I have no doubt he will. I don’t know whether he has actually signed yet but the negotiations have gone well beyond a deal just being on the table. I would have heard had there been any problems. Talks with Ali have finished, he has got another year. He wants to play in the new stadium – in Europe, he says!”

Loadsamoney! City players take note – Peter Schmeichel might be a good target to borrow money from next season. The Danish ‘keeper is set to make a few quid, if Sunderland’s proposed purchase of Danish goalkeeping target Stephan Andersen takes place. Rudolph owns Anderson’s club, Hvidovre, and it seems that Schmeichel saved the club by investing £1.5 million. In return he obtained the transfer rights on Anderson and three other Hvidovre players. Schmeichel will be entitled to a percentage of the £750,000 fee if Peter Reid decides to make a bid for Anderson.

OPINION: NEW LINE-UP I

I have just been looking at the last MCIVTA, and the starting team for next season that was suggested. I think it’s pretty fair, but I do genuinely worry about Steve Howey as the centre of three defenders. I have little doubt that it will happen, as Keegan says that ‘he gives us that bit extra’.

However, I just don’t get it at all. I think that Howey is a cracking central defender, and he had a great first season for us in the Prem. However, this was as one of two centre backs. I think that the sending off of Dunne in the cup at Newcastle demonstrates why he shouldn’t play as the centre of three.

Dunne was covering Bellamy but everyone knew that he would be caught in a straight race between the two. Richie was playing as the other marker, picking up Shearer. When the ball came through it was for a Shearer flick on, and Richie was the nearest man to him. However, Howey reacted to the situation as he would if he was in a back two. He came forward to attack the ball unnecessarily, got beaten to the flick on, and left Dunne in the straight race we all knew he couldn’t win.

In that situation the rôle of the third defender should be to provide extra cover to prevent Bellamy getting through as he did.

I will now speak up for Howey, and say that for the rest of the match he was superb. But this was when we reverted to a back four, which suits him. His instincts are wrong for a third central defender. If he could overcome this, then fine, but I think that Wiekens gives you more in that position. He is more comfortable on the ball, is a good defender, and is more positionally aware, in that rôle, than Howey.

Having said all that, I’ll be happy to be proved wrong.

OPINION: NEW LINE-UP II

I must say I agree with Jon Marshall, not only on the Anelka vs. Keane angle, but more importantly on the issue of the players who brought the club up. You don’t score 108 goals in the league and 99 points without being of some quality, yet now that we’re up people are saying let’s drop top scorer Goater and player-of-the-season runner-up Kevin Horlock for the new guys. Without batting an eyelid. Don’t they deserve a chance?

OPINION: NEW LINE-UP III AND OTHER

My PC has been down for about 4 weeks, but now, after a motherboardectomy, is up and running again, so good to catch up with a few issues of McVittee. Club vs. Country is a curious one for me – it’s always been City first and foremost I’m afraid and in truth many England teams have bored the @rse off me; their spectators (especially the ones who came over here to chuck seats around at Lansdowne Road) have terrified me and the media hype both panders to the lowest common denominator – did The Sun resurrect “Gotcha!” when we beat Argentina? – and sets up a sense of false expectations and by so doing, depresses me.

Someone once said to me “You aren’t a football fan, you’re a Man City fan” – he was right in recognising the tribal and ethnic loyalties in my love for The Blues. Mind you that was 1985, so he could have been referring to the fact that the fare on offer at Maine Road wasn’t really very good – and I don’t mean the pies!

Then again I arrived in Ireland in the same month as Jack Charlton and worked in Dublin through the long, hot summer that spawned the fantastic feats of Italia 90. I got caught up in the euphoria, always surprised by how little people actually knew about the game – the TV commentator used to refer to “a free-in”, a Gaelic games term – and was cheerfully beguiled by the enthusiasm and friendliness, the lack of expectation and the goodwill for the team. I well remember poking my head through the sunroof at traffic lights in College Green to shake hands with another driver after the Dutch match and all the singing and horn-honking. There was a dark side, of course, as there always is in football. In this case it was the ground swell of support for whichever brutal Stalinist dictatorship happened to be playing England, despite the fact that 90 per cent of the population professed support for Man Ure on a week to week basis and four of their heroes were playing in the national side.

But when you’re living in a small country it’s hard not to get involved with the national team whatever your own nationality and these days, I have to admit I get as much pleasure, sometimes more, out of an Irish victory as an English one. It helped, of course with Quinny and Terry Phelan and Big Mick, of course playing for the team. This year I wrapped myself in a glow of pride at Quinny’s exploits and surprised myself and others, by jumping up on a table at Scruffy Murphy’s and singing “Disco pants” (at my age, should be ashamed of myself!) after one of the games.

But despite all this, if there were such a thing as a City vs. England or City vs. Ireland gameI know I’d be cheering for the team with the Israeli/Algerian/Cameroon midfield. Unpatriotic? Sorry, can’t help it, the blood in my veins runs pure Blue.

Anyhow, enough of that. Here’s to a successful season – i.e. we don’t get relegated, get a cup run, stuff the Rags at least once and play attacking football. Anything more is a bonus.

Team? By mid-season Schmeichel; Dunne, Mettomo (if we keep him), Distin; Wright-Phillips, Jensen; Benarbia, Berkovic, Foe; Anelka, Wanchope. Subs: perm 5 from 12, but probably Tiatto, Huckerby, Horlock, Howey, Nash.

Unanswered questions: Just how good are Bischoff, Vuoso, Loran? Whither Negouai – it wouldn’t entirely surprise me to see him come through. Any good kids forcing their way in, Mears, Killen, Murphy, Croft? Will Macken justify his fee? Will Goat hang on in there? – that wouldn’t entirely surprise me either.

Keep the Faith. Fasten your seatbelts, hang on to your hats. It promises to be one hell of an interesting season.

P.S. one final point: if David Beckham (can’t tackle, can’t head, can’t dribble, no left foot, gives the ball away a lot, nice chap but I wouldn’t want to be sat next to him on a transatlantic flight) is “World class” or “football genius” as the media claim, we need a new word to describe messrs Maradonna, Cruyff, Platini, Best, Di Stefanio and, dare I say it, Ali B.

OPINION: NEW LINE-UP IV

By pure coincidence, I was working out what I thought the team might be for the start of next season just as Monday’s MCIVTA popped into my in-box with Mark Bailey’s article on the same topic!

I tend to agree with most of Mark’s choices but here’s where I would differ:

• As my predicted team is for the 1st game only, that means Foe isnot in contention for me, so that allows me to pick Jensen instead.
• To avoid midfield being a bit too crowded I have left Tiatto in theteam but moved him back to make the back 3 into a back 4.
• With Dunne at right back this gives the defence a more solid feel.
• My bet would be that KK plays Wanchope initially, not Huckerby.

So, based on all that, my hunch for the team away to Leeds would be:

                      Schmeichel
Dunne           Howey           Distin         Tiatto
Wright-Phillips Benarbia        Berkovic       Jensen
                Anelka          Wanchope

Subs? Nash, Horlock, Wiekens, Huckerby, Macken.

Very difficult, I wanted to find somewhere for Sun or Goater but I just couldn’t manage it.

OPINION: SELECTIVE MEMORY?

I wonder why my memory is so bad regarding derbies at Old Trafford before Maine Road in a season. I have supported City since the early 70s when my mate’s dad up the road took us along to watch City and also our Primary School, Moston Fields, used to take us along to the odd match, seating in the North Stand near Helen ringing her bell (did anybody else’s schools used to take ’em along to games?). And yet I still had this thought that City always played United at home first. Must be too much Guinness ringing around in my head and dulling my brain, but the first thing I said when the fixtures came out was ‘I bet we are at home again’ and true enough we were, so I was gobsmacked when I read about how common the other way around was too.

Then again, I am not much of a one for histories and things like that – who played for City in the year dot and all that kind of stuff, collecting memorabilia, who scored what, when. I would be crap in a City general knowledge quiz if it went back more than a few seasons. I find football and City in the today the most exciting thing in the world but not much good on past stuff. Boxing history though most definitely as I find boxing, along with football, the most exciting sport going.

On the club vs. country debate, though we have all probably had enough of this, I am still finding it amazing the comments about ‘City definitely for me’ as though people are trying to prove how true blue they really are. It’s reminding me of that Monty Python sketch where they are all going on about how bad their life is – ‘we used to get up 5 minutes before we went to bed’ etc.

‘I’d rather City A win the Asda cup rather than England win the World Cup. Well I recorded the ’66 World Cup final to watch later so I could go down Maine Road for 2 hours and watch the weeds grow’. I can’t understand it myself.

I felt just as disappointed at England blowing it vs. Brazil as at City disappointments, and had a huge whopping hangover as well from drinks drunk after the game in comiseration, which is only just receding now, fueling the pretty down feelings. At least with City you know that next week’s game comes pretty quick after or next season, so the troughs of despair can be blown away much quicker by a good win or good season next year. Not so with England and the World Cup.

BTW, we were starved of watching City down here in Australia last season except for when we had a few get togethers in Melbourne to watch a video or two. Next season though should be much better with us in the Premiership. Has the viewing schedule come out yet so we can see when we can all start planning to meet up at the Keeper’s Arms in North Melbourne for the first televised game of the season?

OPINION: HOME FRIENDLIES

I know we don’t often play pre-season friendlies at home, but we do have a lot of new signings who may rarely, if ever, have played at Maine Road before. It is a bit odd that there are seven friendly matches scheduled, all away, then the opening league match away at Leeds, before our new improved team finally gets a chance to play at home in the televised match against Newcastle. Some of the Newcastle players will have more experience of playing at Maine Road than some of our team! Could they not have arranged at least one home match so the new players could meet the fans and get used to the atmosphere?

OPINION: SKY FIXTURES

Here is a complete list of the Sky games for the first half of the season and a table of how many games each team has.

August
Sun 18 Arsenal v Birmingham City
Fri 23 Chelsea v Manchester Utd
Sat 24 Manchester City v Newcastle
Wed 28 Fulham v West Ham

September
Sun 1 Chelsea v Arsenal
Mon 2 Liverpool v Newcastle
Tue 10 Arsenal v Manchester City
Sat 14 Leeds v Manchester Utd
Sun 15 Birmingham v Aston Villa
Mon 16 Tottenham v West Ham
Sun 22 Newcastle v Sunderland
Mon 23 Fulham v Chelsea
Sat 28 Leeds v Arsenal
Mon 30 West Brom v Blackburn

October
Sun 6 Liverpool v Chelsea
Mon 7 Manchester Utd v Everton
Sun 20 Charlton v Middlesbrough
Mon 21 Aston Villa v Southampton
Sun 27 West Ham v Everton
Mon 28 Bolton Wanderers v Sunderland

November
Sun 3 Charlton v Sunderland
Mon 4 Newcastle v Middlesbrough
Sat 9 Manchester City v Manchester Utd
Sun 10 Sunderland v Tottenham
Sun 17 West Ham v Manchester Utd
Sat 23 Manchester Utd v Newcastle
Sun 24 Charlton v Blackburn

December
Sun 1 Liverpool v Manchester Utd
Mon 2 West Ham v Southampton
Sat 7 Manchester Utd v Arsenal
Sun 8 Tottenham v West Brom
Sun 15 Sunderland v Liverpool
Mon 16 Bolton v Leeds
Sun 22 Liverpool v Everton
Mon 23 Manchester City v Tottenham
Thur 26 Middlesbrough v Manchester Utd
Sun 29 Arsenal v Liverpool

January
Wed 1 Newcastle v Liverpool

Televised games per team

Man Utd 9
Liverpool 7
Arsenal 6
Newcastle 6
West Ham 5
Sunderland 5
Man City 4
Chelsea 4
Spurs 4
Leeds 3
Everton 3
Charlton 3
Boro 3
Soton 2
West Brom 2
Bolton 2
Birmingham 2
Fulham 2
Aston Villa 2
Blackburn 2

I wonder what are the odds of the league table looking like that come the Jan 1st?

REQUEST: ORLANDO BLUES

If anyone knows where live Sky games are shown in Orlando during the holiday period, could they please inform McV accordingly (so I don’t get bombarded with emails at work!).

REQUEST: NEW SOUTH WALES / SYDNEY BLUES

Are there any New South Wales Blues who will be meeting up in the Sydney area for televised games next year? I’ve recently emigrated to Sydney and am interested in catching up with fellow Blues for any televised games. If anyone knows of a branch of the OSC out here or is like minded please contact me on my email address.

REQUEST: DUBAI BLUES

I’ve just been moved out to Dubai by my company for a year and wondered if there were any Blues who wanted to meet up for a beer? I’m guessing there’s no supporters club over here! I want to avoid being the only Blue in a pub watching our triumphant return to glory if I can avoid it.

MCIVTA FAQ [v0203.02]

[0] How do I contact MCIVTA?

 Articles (Heidi Pickup)        : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

 News/rumour (Don Barrie)       : djb1305@yahoo.co.uk

 Subscriptions (Geoff Donkin)   : subscriptions@mcivta.city-fan.org

 Technical problems (Paul)      : paul@city-fan.org

Comments concerning this FAQ should be sent to David Warburton using the address: mcivtafaq@warburton.org

[1] What are MCIVTA’s publishing deadlines?

Deadlines for issues are nominally Monday and Thursday evenings.

[2] MCIVTA Back Issues and Manchester City Supporters’ home page

http://www.uit.no/mancity/ is the unofficial Manchester City Supporters’ home page. Created in 1994, it is the longest running of the Manchester City related web sites. Back issues of MCIVTA are also hosted on the site.

[3] What is the club’s official web site?

The official club web site can be found at http://www.mcfc.co.uk/

[4] What supporters’ clubs are there?

Manchester City FC recognises three supporters’ clubs: The “Official Supporters Club” (http://www.mancity.net/osc/index.html); the “Centenary Supporters’ Association” (http://www.callnetuk.com/home/sef/) and “The International Supporters’ Club” (http://www.mcfc.co.uk/extra/fanzone/isc.asp)

[5] Where can I find out about the fans’ committee?

The Fans’ Committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. It has its own website, http://www.mcfc-fans.com/ containing info about forthcoming meetings as well as minutes from previous gatherings.

[6] Where can I find information about our new stadium?

The latest information regarding the progress of our new home can be found at http://www.commonwealthgames.com/

[7] What match day broadcasts are available on the web?

Live match commentaries and archives of games, reports and interviews can be found here: http://www.mcfc.co.uk/comment.asp. An alternate live commentary service, hosted by Yahoo, is located at: http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/foot/audio/live/schedule/index.html. GMR Saturday Sport is also available live online between 1-3pm, and 4.45-6pm at http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/sport/index.shtml

[8] Are City’s goals available on the net?

http://www.citygoals.com/ has available for download, usually within 24-48 hours of a game being played, all the goals from City’s matches.

[9] What’s the music the teams run out to?

The music we ran out to at Maine Road during the 01/02 season was “Nightmare” by Brainbug and is available on the Positiva label.

[10] Acknowledgements

Thanks go to John Arnold for providing the information regarding match day music and to Ian Bell for pointing out the alternate live match commentary service.

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.

Heidi Pickup, heidi@mcivta.freeserve.co.uk

Editor: