Newsletter #884

A break during the FA Cup weekend before we face 15th placed Fulham on Wednesday night and struggling West Brom on Saturday.

Tonight sees plenty of opinion on squad past, present and future, a bit on songs and a few requests.

We also have an updated FAQ to include the TV information thanks to Dave W.

This one goes out to 3,280.

OPINION: MIDFIELD GENERAL REQUIRED

In my humble opinion this so called striker crisis at City is really overshadowing a much bigger long term problem that we have. Midfield.

Without taking anything away from Eyal or Ali, without them we have no options. None whatsoever. I would even go so far as to say that without those two we would be languishing in the bottom three. Really, apart from Foe’s purple patch last month, we have relied much too heavily on Eyal to deliver the goods. Even that in itself isn’t a bad thing. But, with dreams of Europe, we need to look at bringing in a world class midfielder who will play general to Eyal’s wizardry. Who that would be I am not sure. I hate to say it but a player of the ilk of Nicky Butt would be perfect.

Imagine a midfield with Butt, Eyal, and Foe. With the strikers we already have at City, a line up like that would be pretty formidable. After all, if we’ve got Goater scoring like he has done this season, imagine what a fit Wanchope and Macken will do to our strike force.

Surely KK isn’t now saying that the £5 million he spent on Macken towards the end of last season wasn’t done with one eye on what the player was capable of doing at the top level. I for one, would even like to see Vuoso given a shot at the first team. I thought his clinical finishing was why we invested in him. And if that is the case, why not give him a shot at some first team football.

And on a completely different note, I’m looking for fellow Blues in Melbourne, Australia to watch matches with. Get in touch.

OPINION: STARS OF THE FUTURE

I believe strongly in the youth policy of a club. It has been a long time since anybody burst on to the scene, and I am watching players like Rooney at Everton and Mellor at Liverpool come through (etc.). So I have been following City’s reserve side home and away to see if we have any youngsters coming through.

I am glad to say that I have been very impressed by this side, in particular a couple of players. Firstly, the young Willo Flood, good solid young kid, little bit scrawny but tireless grafter and gets stuck in. Another who has impressed is Mikkel Bischoff; although this kid has had his debut and was a little bit shaky, he seems to have a lot potential, he’s a big strong kid and has a good reading of the game. But the player I was most impressed with was the young skipper Joey Barton. What has this kid not got!

He can run for ever and a day, he will tackle a brick wall if it’s got the ball, he can pass the ball on to a sixpence and is a leader and good organiser at such a young age. This kid just oozes class and must be better than what we have in midfield at the moment. Trust me this kid will be a big star if he’s given a chance by KK.

[Agreed Paul, we’ve invested a lot in our Academy so let’s just hope that some from this batch are given a chance – Ed]

OPINION: POETIC JUSTICE?

I see Michael Brown scored 2 for Sheffield United against Joe Royle’s Ipswich – now that’s what I call poetic justice. Good to see our ex-young players do well, even if it is with other clubs.

OPINION: STUART’S MISSING LEFT SIDE I

In MCIVTA 883 Stuart Grundy wrote, “We have never, as far as I can remember, in my 50 odd years of supporting City, been strong on the left side. I am sure someone will correct me.” Whilst names like Cliff Sears and Dave Baccuzzi spring to mind as filling that description, have Glyn Pardoe and Willie Donachie slipped his mind? Glyn would certainly have been a regular in the England team of the 70’s if a certain drunken Irishman hadn’t broken his leg, and Willie was one of the best left backs I have seen in a sky blue shirt.

OPINION: STUART’S MISSING LEFT SIDE II

I’m not sure where Stuart Grundy has been looking in his 50+ years of supporting City, when he says we’ve always been weak in the left side of defence. I seem to remember Glyn Pardoe and Willie Donachie filling those rôles admirably in their time. I do agree with him in respect of the current position, though – we should give Macken/Wanchope/Vuoso a chance to prove themselves before spending load of money on another striker – the money should be used to strengthen midfield and/or defence.

OPINION: BLUES TUNES I

I agree with Graham Keller, let’s ridicule the cockney reds instead of anything to do with the Munich disaster. Rags or no Rags, I wouldn’t wish something like that upon anyone and I really hope the minute’s silence is observed fully.

I’ve literally put the following words together off the top of my head so I’m sure over time, someone can swap a few words around/add words/verses etc.

(To the tune of Summer Holiday by Cliff Richard)

We’re all cockneys on our yearly holiday
The first time live we’ve seen our adopted team
I wasn’t here back in the nineteen 80’s
That’s because we won f**k all

Chorus/Bridge (whatever it is)

We’re jumping on the Red bandwagon
We’re packing out the megastore
Of course I wasn’t here in the dark days
Back then I supported Millwall

OPINION: BLUES TUNES II

I decided to visit http://www.uit.no/mancity/lyrics.html and found the lyrics to “Boys in Blue”. Although having heard the song many times over the years I think the words to the following verse are wrong:

Maybe in another generation
When other lads have come to take our place
They’ll carry on the glory of the City
Keeping City in the place

To me the last line listening to the song sounds like “We think City in the States”, although I accept it probably can’t be that.

Does anyone have the definitive answer to this and where have these lyrics come from? Are they just how someone has heard them or are they from the horse’s mouth (i.e. Messrs Godley and Creme).

REQUEST: MADRID BLUES/VIEWING

I’m an exiled Blue studying in Madrid for a year. Does anyone know of a good place to watch the derby?

REQUEST: WBA TICKETS

Having arranged flights and accommodation some months ago, my normal ticket supply has fallen through at the last minute and I am without two tickets for the West Brom game. Can anyone help me out… please! Any manner of payment will be offered – cash, cheque, barter, personal favours etc. …

REQUEST: MILTON KEYNES BLUES

The next meeting of the Milton Keynes Supporters’ Club is on Thursday January 30th, usual start time of 8pm. Venue is Great Brickhill Cricket Club.

If you are on the minibus to Maine Road for the West Brom game, please come along to get final details.

REQUEST: NORTHENDEN BLUES

Andy Hinchcliffe, Nigel Gleghorn and Earl Barratt will all be guests at the Northenden branch meeting at 8pm on February 3rd. Meetings are held at the Northenden Social Club, Palatine Road, next door to Tesco. All are welcome, £1 entry and free raffle, quiz and cheap bar. Contact me direct for further information.

REQUEST: LAST DERBY DOUBLE?

I have a query brought up by the forthcoming return game on February 8. When was the last season we did the League double over ManUre?

REQUEST: CITY SONGSTRESS

If you know, could you please answer the following. A lady from the Salvation Army used to sing at Maine Road on match days. It was in the 1950s. Do you know who she was? Did she also sing at old Trafford?

Any help appreciated.

REQUEST: RINGTONES!

If anyone could forward me the ‘Blue Moon’ ringtone for a Nokia phone I’d really appreciate it! The number is 07968 830 559.

RESULTS

League table up to 26 January 2003

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Arsenal         24 11  1  1 31 12  5  3  3 21 13 16  4  4  52  25  27  52
 2 Manchester Utd  24 11  1  1 25  8  3  4  4 15 16 14  5  5  40  24  16  47
 3 Newcastle Utd   24 12  0  1 24  7  2  3  6 16 24 14  3  7  40  31   9  45
 4 Chelsea         24  7  3  1 23  7  4  5  4 18 16 11  8  5  41  23  18  41
 5 Everton         24  7  4  1 18 12  4  2  6 12 17 11  6  7  30  29   1  39
 6 Liverpool       24  5  6  1 17  9  5  2  5 15 14 10  8  6  32  23   9  38
 7 Tottenham H.    24  7  3  1 21 14  4  2  7 14 20 11  5  8  35  34   1  38
 8 Southampton     24  7  5  1 18  9  2  4  5  9 14  9  9  6  27  23   4  36
 9 Blackburn R.    24  5  5  3 18 14  3  5  3 12 12  8 10  6  30  26   4  34
10 Manchester City 24  6  1  4 18 16  4  3  6 14 18 10  4 10  32  34  -2  34
11 Charlton Ath.   24  5  3  4 18 17  4  3  5 12 15  9  6  9  30  32  -2  33
12 Leeds United    24  4  2  6 13 14  5  2  5 18 15  9  4 11  31  29   2  31
13 Middlesbrough   24  7  5  0 23 11  1  1 10  4 13  8  6 10  27  24   3  30
14 Aston Villa     24  8  1  4 18  9  0  4  7  4 16  8  5 11  22  25  -3  29
15 Fulham          23  6  2  4 14 10  1  4  6 10 17  7  6 10  24  27  -3  27
16 Birmingham City 24  3  4  4 11 14  3  4  6  9 18  6  8 10  20  32 -12  26
17 Bolton Wndrs    24  2  6  3 13 16  2  3  8 11 23  4  9 11  24  39 -15  21
18 Sunderland      24  3  2  6  7 13  1  5  7  9 21  4  7 13  16  34 -18  19
19 West Brom A.    23  3  3  5 10 15  1  2  9  7 20  4  5 14  17  35 -18  17
20 West Ham United 24  0  6  6 11 18  3  2  7 15 29  3  8 13  26  47 -21  17

MCIVTA FAQ [v0203.07]

[0] MCIVTA Addresses

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

 News/rumour (Don Barrie)         : news@mcivta.city-fan.org

 Subscriptions (Madeleine Hawkins): subscriptions@mcivta.city-fan.org

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

 FAQ (David Warburton)            : faq@mcivta.city-fan.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 www.mcfc.co.uk/article.asp?article=111916&Title=Introduction&lid=New+Stadium

[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.

[8] Where can I find out if City are live on satellite TV?

http://www.satfootball.com/pl.html provides a listing of Premiership games being shown on UK domestic and foreign satellite channels.

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

The music we run out to at Maine Road is “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, to Ian Bell for pointing out the alternate live match commentary service and to Damian Quinn, Stephen Webb and Roger Haigh for the Satellite TV info.

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: