Newsletter #950

A resounding 4-1 win over Villa yesterday and we’re sandwiched neatly in 3rd place between our neighbours and the Russian millions. We were treated to a blistering free kick from Tarnat, a hat-trick from Anelka thanks to our favourite referee, and a superb début from McManaman who was contender for MotM. That said, we had a poor first half so whatever Keegan told the team at half-time would do before kick-off!

Tonight we have some great match reports thanks to Sharon and Ollie and match views both live and TV, a worrying theory from Dave and a few requests.

MATCH REPORT I ‘LIVE’: MCFC 4 ASTON VILLA 1

Useless Brummies 1 – City 4

What with one thing and another (chronically bad timing of a friend’s wedding, a holiday and my little boy’s christening) this was my first trip to the new place. It felt really strange – as if I was going to an away game, especially as I don’t know that part of Manchester so could have been anywhere in the country. I’ve missed so many matches since January as well that I haven’t really gotten used to having people like Sommeil in the team, never mind last week’s excitement with Macca finally joining.

However, once I’d partaken of the Budweiser (gets the stamp of approval from me), climbed up to the top of the top tier to have a nose-bleed inducing view of the pitch before thankfully taking my own safe and not scary seat in the middle tier, I then settled down to watch 45 minutes of drab, uninspiring football before tutting at the people who booed the team off at half time and I felt right at home. City started with Seaman, Tarnat, Sun, Distin, Sommeil, McManamanamanamanamanaman, SWP, Barton, Sinclair, Anelka and Wanchope. Subs included Sibierski and Reyna, but I couldn’t hear who else as I was too busy being impressed by how good the stadium looked with all those blue shirts in it.

On GMR after the match Andy May said that the statistics for the first half showed that Villa had more possession and more attacks, but it really didn’t feel like that at the time. In the first 20 minutes or so Villa seemed to be content to try to hit us on the break, but all the attacks I remember were from City. Macca in particular was causing the Villa defenders some real problems, although he didn’t seem to be quite on the same wavelength as the rest of the team on a couple of occasions. After about 10 minutes he played a lovely ball over the top of the Villa defence into the penalty area, but if he was expecting assistance from his strikers like he would have then had from Raul he was only ever going to be disappointed – Anelka was running forward from the edge of the City area from passing the ball to Macca in the first place and Wanchope was lolloping along on his amazing bendy legs in usual fashion around the edge of the box. Anelka had a couple of shots on target that didn’t have enough pace on them, then a couple with plenty of pace that fizzed just wide. All we were lacking was the right final ball to be played – as we’ve seen too often before. SWP was as guilty as usual, he’d pick up the ball on the wing, skip over all the defensive challenges that Villa could throw at him, then either shoot wide or mistime his pass so the ‘keeper could collect the ball. He, Anelka, Macca and Tarnat all kept having a go at shooting at Sorensen from the edge of the area – is he known for being dodgy on shots from distance? We wondered it they knew something that we didn’t, but in hindsight it was probably just that they didn’t know what to do with that final ball so wellied it. With all the possession (albeit not particularly effective) that City had had there was only ever one team going to score, and sure enough Villa took the lead on the half hour. We seem to concede so many goals because we really cannot defend balls coming on from the flanks at all, whether corners, free kicks or crosses, and unsurprisingly that was exactly what happened again. Hendrie crossed the ball from the City left straight onto Angel’s head, and as there was no City defender within about 5 yards of him it wasn’t too hard for him to head the ball past Seaman into the net for 1-0. The report on the Sporting Life website claimed the header was “controversial” – I’ve no idea why as it didn’t look as if he was offside from where we were sitting, it just looked as it was chronically bad defending on City’s part. Again. Macca nearly equalised from the restart as he collected the ball and ran as fast as he could (and that’s fast) at the Villa defence, but couldn’t quite finish the move off. Again. That was pretty much the story of the first half though and no matter what they claimed on the radio there’s no way Villa deserved to be ahead at half time.

So then, more of the same, right? Another 45 minutes of frustration, especially as Villa were just going to defend their 1-0 lead no matter what, surely? Er well no, not at all. The second half was completely different, and was as fine an example of attacking, flowing football as you’ll see. We’d literally just said “need an early goal here then we’ll go on and win” when Villa kindly obliged. Macca took the ball into the penalty area from the left hand side, only for Alpay to commit a blatant handball. Then followed a really bizarre 10 seconds. Initially Halsey seemed to wave the penalty appeal away, so Macca, Anelka and Wanchope went to him to (I’m sure) gently point out that Alpay really had tried to play volleyball instead of football. Now my seat is close to the other end of the pitch so I couldn’t really see, but I’m sure Halsey didn’t look at the linesman (who anyway I don’t think was indicating the penalty). He suddenly just seemed to change his mind, gave the penalty, and Anelka duly stood up and obliged to make it 1-1. Isn’t it nice having someone who can take penalties? Almost immediately Tarnat made it 2-1, this time from the left hand corner of the penalty area. When he stepped up to take it you could almost hear everyone thinking “surely he can’t do it again like he did against Blackburn…” and then he did! Apparently it went through Sorensen’s fingers, bet that stung a bit!

The game was ended as a contest from that moment on. SWP hadn’t really been in the game during the first half, but made a real nuisance of himself in the second half, and Macca was just awesome. It was wonderful last season watching City with a truly world class player in the team (first for a long time), and now we have two. For someone who hasn’t been playing in every match for his old team I thought Macca’s fitness level was amazing – he covered almost as much ground as Anelka, and that’s some going. Anelka got his second on the hour. Barton played a superb crossfield pass to SWP, who controlled it superbly (honest, it was this good to watch) before playing it to Sun Jihai. He’d gone round the defender into the area and was about to cross when he was flattened for penalty number 2. This time Halsey didn’t need the rules pointing out to him and gave it straight away, so up stepped wor Nick and scored again. We then had another 15 minutes of really wonderful football, during which time Villa must have touched the ball, oh maybe twice? All they could muster was a shot straight into Seaman’s hands from outside the area and a couple of corners, none of which (as Angel had limped off) they could capitalise on. Considering our dodgy defence that says a lot about them. Barton went off for Sibierski then Anelka got his fourth, and a wonderful goal it was too. He collected the ball deep, created himself about 15 yards of space then ran goalwards. Everyone could see what he was thinking, but he hit the ball so hard and with such accuracy that had Sorensen been standing right in its path he would only have ended up in the back of the net along with it! Reyna came on for the last few minutes but too late to make much of an impression. I would guess that Macca was man of the match despite Anelka’s hat trick, but the best thing about watching the game was that there’s obviously much more to come. The understanding between him and the rest of the team can surely improve – and it only goes to show what a good game he did have that he was so influential having come straight into the first team. We’re third, and best of all we deserve to be.

MATCH REPORT II ‘LIVE’: MCFC 4 ASTON VILLA 1

Because of the part he played, tonight’s match review begins with:

Mark Halsey (referee) 9 – A superb performance from ‘our’ referee (to be held in high esteem by City fans the world over after famously giving us five minutes of injury time in the 1998/99 Play-Off final). Has already refereed one other Premiership match and the game against Barcelona (for which we specifically invited him), so has a good relationship with the club, and having noticed that we were a bit below par come half time, he duly gave us a penalty and a free kick, both of which looked from my point of view to be clear cut. He then gave us another penalty to make sure (again I don’t think you could argue with the decision), but sadly refused to pay homage to his finest hour and add five minutes of injury time in which we could have got a fifth, which would have given my mate a very large payout from Ladbrokes for 5-1. A top performance. Can we have him every week?

Now to the rest of the team:

Seaman, 5.5 – Well it looked like the goal was his fault from my angle. Cross came in, Angel left all alone by a City defence that was presumably trying the (so far remarkably successful) offside trap, Seaman decided to come for it and then thought better of it at precisely the wrong moment. He ended up wafting helplessly at the ball as it sailed into the net. Not a good moment, and he’s obviously having trouble with crosses this season, but to be fair he did make a very good one-on-one save from Allback early in the game, and was well positioned for a screamer of a shot in the second half that he would never have got near had he not been directly in its path to start with.

Distin, 5 – An off day for our defence, particularly of course the first half. Up until now, I have been very impressed by our defence (okay, yes, the Arsenal goals, our inability to defend corners, Portsmouth’s goal, Angel’s goal, but aside from that I have been impressed). Distin and Sommeil seem to have a good understanding, which was particularly evident against Charlton, and there were glimpses of this today, but none of the heroic Distin qualities I know and love, such as huge headed clearances five times in succession at the end of the Blackburn game. Largely anonymous, prone to playing silly b**gers a bit at the back, but then the whole team and especially Sinclair seem convinced that anything Benarbia could do (when he felt like it), they can do better.

Sommeil, 5 – See Distin. Someone said to me after the game that Sommeil ‘is not our man for centre back’. Rubbish. The boy’s a superb defender, he and Distin are in the process of becoming a great team like I said before. Today, I feel, was just a bad day for both of them, and they are a bit lucky that our midfield and attack turned it on in the second half, Villa lost heart and they weren’t tested to anything like the extent they were in the first half. It is telling that for all our possession and build-up play in the first half, Villa had more actual chances and we only forced a first save from Sorensen almost on the stroke of half time. Anyway, stick with Distin and Sommeil, they are the best defensive pairing I have ever seen at City. And before you all start, I’m only 18, I hadn’t seen anyone good play for us until this century.

Tarnat, 7 – Well if I was going on the goal alone, this would be 11 out of 10. 49th minute, Villa defender attempts to hang Wanchope by his shirt, our free kick on the near corner of the penalty area. ‘Not the right angle’, says my dad. Sinclair stands between the ball and the wall, then runs away as Tarnat approaches, and bang. I can’t describe the ball in flight because it was only in flight for about 0.2 seconds. It screamed into the net. I’ve never seen anything like Michael Tarnat’s free kicks. The one against Blackburn was special for its distance, but if you get a chance to see the replay of it (and I haven’t yet) just marvel at how he can hit a ball that hard. Alan Green, reporting for Five Live, said in his match report that Sorensen never even saw it, and he’s right. Someone in the wall might have ducked but I defy you to find a Villa fan that could blame them or who would gladly step into their shoes faced with a Tarnat special. Naturally, there were calls of ‘shoot!’ for the rest of the game. His defensive performance was solid if unspectacular, and his passing didn’t seem quite as accurate as it has been in the past (especially vs. Barcelona and TNS, but then he had acres of space to work with in those games).

Sun, 8 – I’m not normally Sun’s biggest fan but he had a great game today, I thought. Not only was his run into the box and graceful, slow-motion slump to the ground for the penalty quite superbly executed (not a dive but a foul milked to perfection), but he didn’t try any clever stuff, kept his passes simple, didn’t give the ball away (usually his cardinal sin) and made a fair few penetrating runs that caught Villa (and me) by surprise. He didn’t even go for his traditional hopeless shot from 50 yards out. A calm, collected, professional performance. If he plays like that every week, all the people wanting someone better than him in the side can forget it because that was a top class Premiership display. Having said all that, I will now get home, watch the highlights and find out their goal was entirely his fault.

Barton, 7 – My mate Mike was convinced that Joey was well below par today, distribution poor, tackling dodgy etc., but we have to allow for JB being a bit hot-headed with his challenges, that is the sort of player he is. In 50/50 or even 40/60 challenges, he is not going to pull out, and we’ve waited so long for a quality player with that sort of mentality (and not the Tiatto 10/90 ball, go in for the kill then aim the opposition’s water bottles at their bench mentality) that I refuse to complain about it. His passing was not particularly brilliant but nor did I think it was particularly bad, just an average display, and perhaps we just aren’t used to Joey not being amazing for a full 90 minutes. I am, of course, thrilled that he is signing a new contract, he and Wright-Phillips show that our success so far this season is not based entirely on veteran free transfers and last year’s expensive buys.

McManaman, 8 – Impressed. Given that he hasn’t played properly for four or five months, you wouldn’t know it. He had a few quiet moments but his performance was summed up by his attacking break down the left wing in something like the 85th minute at full sprint, showing he was still getting into space and still had energy reserves left even then on a pretty hot day with City in full attack mode. Someone on the radio – it might have been Keegan come to think of it – said he ‘bossed’ the game, and whilst I’m not sure that’s entirely the right choice of words, he was the starting point for a lot of our inspiration and you could see him constantly making little gestures and signs to get players to move or tell them where he wanted the ball. Full of imagination, speed and determination (note the jumping up and down in absolute fury when Halsey looked like he might not give us the first penalty). Quote Keegan (who has just come on the radio again as I write): “his appetite for a game of football was inspiration… everything we did today had him involved somewhere.” Exactly, Kev.

Wright-Phillips, 8 – More of the Arsenal first half stuff without much of the Arsenal second half stuff. His mazy runs continue to amaze me: he beat one Villa defender in the first half then nipped round him with such ease that I can only assume he momentarily paused the space/time continuum, walked the five yards round the bloke to where the ball had gone and then pressed ‘play’ again. In the second half, he won a 50/50 header right on the touchline, headed it down the line, somehow stopped himself going into the advertisement hoardings, ran after the ball and won it before going off down the wing. I have no idea how. If he could only hit a barn door with a tank when he shoots, he’d be perfect. Well, apart from the attempts at ‘defending’, which in the Wright-Phillips Defensive Coaching Manual often equates to ‘trying enough flicks to beat all ten opposition players before passing it two yards to Sun Jihai’.

Sinclair, 6 – Lots of running, lots of determination and spirit, lots of attacking flair and trickery, but a morbid fear of straying within five yards of the left touchline that tends to damage his ability to function as a winger. If he went out wide a bit more he would have given McManaman more of an option going forward, and might have picked up a bit more tracking back. As it was, he tended to crowd things a bit by trying to play in the same position as McManaman at times. The trickery was also a bit too much – I counted at least four or five occasions where he back-heeled, flicked or otherwise craftily manoeuvred the ball nowhere remotely near a City player. Not his best performance but much improved on the past game or two, in which I have not been too impressed.

Anelka, 8 – Well yes, okay, he got a hat-trick and he is without question the best striker I have ever seen play for the club, but he could have done a bit better. Two of his hat-trick were penalties which he wasn’t involved in winning (well taken though, I must say) – the finish for the third was exceptionally good but he had a number of other chances and more often than not failed to hit the target, let alone test the ‘keeper. In fact I can’t remember him forcing a save from Sorensen. So his finishing still needs to improve but his very presence on the pitch is such a great boost to the team. Never mind that he’s fast becoming watermarked into the teamsheet let alone inked onto it (not missed a league game in how long?), opponents know he will always be a threat, as do our players, who always therefore have someone to aim for. It’s just great to have a happy, free-scoring Anelka as the face of Manchester City. Count the references to him on the BBC Sport website tonight – his picture and “Anelka hat-trick defeats Villa” as a headline, another photo of him and “Anelka’s treble – click for match photos” beneath it, and over in the Academy section, another photo and “Play like Anelka with our tips”. Lee Bradbury never got that sort of exposure for us.

Wanchope, 6.5 – Not bad, but not quite the anti-Fowler that many people had been yearning for. There was a bit of his usual trickery – I especially love the lolloping gait with which he bounds into 50/50 challenges before prodding the ball to a fellow City player – but his finishing was lacking, as was illustrated in the first half when he meandered through four or five Villa players and got into the box before trickling the ball towards Sorensen so slowly that it almost reversed back to him. Slightly more promising than Fowler but we shouldn’t give up on Robbie just yet, and definitely not with McManaman looking in fine form ready to restart the old Liverpool partnership.

Subs:
Sibierski, 6 – Some good thinking with passes and some good control, but he looked surprisingly slow for someone introduced as ‘fresh legs’ in the second half.
Reyna, 6 – Not enough time to do anything to really leave an impression, but he oozed experience and confidence on the ball and almost had an assist with his first touch – his header to Wright-Phillips almost resulted in a goal and the move only ended with a Sorensen save. Please tell me we didn’t bring a third sub on. If we did, I’ve forgotten him.

Other thoughts:

Our play going forward, when we are on form, is sparkling and is unlike any other team in the division. Opponents will definitely get pulled apart by our ability to start creative, quick attacks from just about anywhere – for example, in the mid second half, an attack from McManaman and Anelka produced a save from Sorensen, and from the resulting goal kick Wright-Phillips and Wanchope launched an attack down the other side of the pitch with a similar end product. The opposition are not able to just pin down a Berkovic or a Benarbia and then relax safe in the knowledge that they have removed our source of creativity, because we now have five or six players who can come up with a bit of genius when called upon.

Defensively, yes, we’re not as good, but we’re not as bad as some people seem to be suggesting. The first half today was poor by our standards and I think Distin and Sommeil will have tightened it up again for the trip to Fulham (from which I expect us to get all three points).

Finally, third! Third! Third! I never thought I’d see the day. When we get three points off United we’ll be above them, and Arsenal always fall away towards the end of the season, so it’s between us and Portsmouth and we’ve already got a valuable point off them.

MATCH VIEW I ‘LIVE’: MCFC 4 ASTON VILLA 1

Two penalties, a hat-trick and our first win at home…

It’s a game of two halves – and it certainly was yesterday. Well, the first 10 minutes of the first – and the second half really, when City were definitely running the game. The rest of the first half is best forgotten – particularly if you were playing in the centre back positions. What has happened to Distin? He and Sommeil seemed to be developing a better understanding, playing together and covering for each other, but yesterday they took it to the extreme and at times tried to play in exactly the same position, at the same time!

It was fantastic to see Wanchope back in the starting line up, even though he obviously isn’t quite there yet in terms of match fitness and he and Anelka need to get used to playing together. Sun was great going forward (though at the back he gave the ball away a couple of times too often in too dangerous a position); SWP was fantastic in the second half when the ball was on the right hand side (and is getting closer to the target as well!); Joey Barton (as ever) worked his socks off, but he did look a bit tired (not surprisingly after international duty and when you consider the players he has marked so brilliantly so far this season).

For me however, one man made the difference. I hesitate to admit this (and yes I was wrong) but I was somewhat unsure of what McManaman could bring to City. Yesterday, he answered those doubts – he was fantastic. He ran the game – any move forward, he was there playing a part. His positioning and reading of the game was brilliant (and he’s fast too). He also seemed to give a calming presence – he could be seen talking to the rest of the team; offering encouragement and advice during the match (and he has offered this off the pitch too!).

It was interesting that Berkovic was not on the bench, but yesterday, I don’t think we missed him!

So – if football’s a game of two halves – I’ll have the first half against Arsenal and the second against Villa, thank you very much. Fantastic stadium, fabulous football and a lovely, sunny day… Oh and only 2 points behind United. Does it get any better than this?

MATCH VIEW II ‘TV’: MCFC 4 ASTON VILLA 1

Had the opportunity to watch the game today via Fox Sports World here in the US. I was so impressed with McManaman. Everything flowed through him and he was still pushing the play in the final minutes, a lovely move Reyna to McManaman down the left, first time cross, tapped on by Anelka and SWP hits a great shot that was well played. To see that kind of movement in the 87th minute just defines what Keegan is all about.

What was most interesting is that the team is only going to get better. Numerous times McManaman was mentally a couple of yards ahead of his colleagues and once they learn what he can do City will be so much more dangerous. Also believe that the oft stated comment that McManaman will bring the best out of Fowler is correct.

Anelka is a great player and great goalscorers are goal greedy b*st*rds but there were at least two occasions where both McManaman and Wanchope were streaking down toward the goal on either side of the Elk and he elected to shoot. If Keegan can get Anelka to make the pass in that situation City are going to be really fun to watch.

Sure the defence is still shaky but if you score 4 each game it won’t matter against everyone except the best. At some point I’m sure we’ll being in a top quality defender of two to supplement Distin but at the moment they should be ok.

Am I the only one who thought the second penalty had more than a little RvN to it? The replays seemed to indicate that the Villa player pulled his foot back. That being said, City should have been given a penalty when the Villa ‘keeper took out (that man again) McManaman in the penalty box so the “luck” evened out in the end.

Meanwhile I’d like to see the stadium named the Blue Bayou – especially given the speed of the Elk…

MATCH VIEW III ‘TV’: MCFC 4 ASTON VILLA 1

This was a result that flattered both sides – City were not really as good as a 4-1 victory suggests and Villa deserved to lose more heavily.

In my view City were just the better side in the first half and despite the commentary Villa were pretty poor. Villa’s goal was just offside but within the margin of error that it is impossible for a “linesman” to really tell, except that the “linesman” was about 3 yards ahead of the City back line so couldn’t have given an accurate decision anyway. The positioning of City’s central defenders (not for the first time) was as woeful as the “linesman’s”. Seaman couldn’t really have done much about it. Look out for this phrase through the season “******* scored from a diagonal cross into the City penalty area”.

Second half started well with a clear penalty for handball as McManaman tried to lift the ball over the defender; Anelka’s penalty in the corner although the ‘keeper went the right way. Shortly after Tarnat hit a free kick from just outside the area for 2-1. The commentators suggested that Sorensen should have saved it as he got a hand (or two) to it; suffice it to say that if he had caught it he would probably have ended up in the net with the ball so hard was it struck. Sun Jihai clumsily brought down in the area – Anelka to make it 3-1. Sorenson went the right way again, got a hand to it but could only push it into the corner (more moaning from the commentators!). Then Anelka left 1 on 1 with Tugay for 4-1 (again poor Sorensen might have got a hand to it).

City well on top at the end and apart from the two central defenders played well enough – McManaman looks good enough to make up for Fowler! We either need to sort out the middle of the defence or replace them with more forwards (Henry and Larsson would do)!

MATCH VIEW IV ‘LIVE’: MCFC 4 ASTON VILLA 1

Again, not really a match review, just a couple of points.

The atmosphere seems to be getting better now, first couple of games I think we (the crowd) were finding our feet. Second half today and the atmosphere was electric (as was the first half against Arsenal). Helps when we’re winning I guess – be good if we could keep going throughout the match.

Distin & Sommeil – I’m really not convinced by this partnership, first half today they were again caught out a couple of times. Might be worth giving Bischoff or the Honey Monster a run out alongside Distin and move Sommeil to right back.

McManaman – I said after the match against Portsmouth that we need someone in midfield who could organise the team and dictate the play. Welcome to CoMStad Macca – you da man! Magnificent performance.

Anelka & Wanchope – look a useful pairing up front, give them a couple of games and see how it goes. Fowler could find it difficult to get back in the team. In some ways a shame, I’m one of those that believe he’ll start scoring soon.

Barton – Another solid performance, one area of weakness is his distribution but I reckon McManaman will go a long way to helping him add that to his game as well.

Third in the league and I’d say that it’s no fluke that we’re in the top four.

OPINION: CALENDAR BOYS

As I sit here in my City dedicated room, I’m thinking something has been nagging, nay, gnawing at me, and I realised it is this year’s official MCFC calendar, hanging proudly on the wall. I was thinking about players leaving the club. I knew there was a link so I took down the said article and went through it.

Featured picture:

January. Peter Schmeichel ... Gone
February. Ali Benarbia    ... Gone
March. Shaun Goater       ... Gone
April. Marc Vivien Foe    ... Gone - too sadly
May. Danny De Vito (sorry Tiatto)
June. Eyal Berkovic       ... Nearly gone
July. Sylvain Distin
August. Steve Howey       ... Gone
September. Darren Huckerby... Gone (albeit on loan)

What worries me is:

October. Shaun Wright Phillips
November. Nicolas Anelka
December. Kevin Keegan.

Who is going to pose for next year’s calendar?

OPINION: EURO GAMES

Had a look at the UEFA website to get the dates of the various rounds into my diary and to plan for going to the final next May!

I notice that on this website, and I counted several times, there appear to be 53 fixtures listed for round one. This means that there will be an odd number of teams for round two. I know that for round three, 8 teams join from the Champions’ League, but what have I missed?

Given that you would need 32 teams in round 3 (to give 16 for round 4 etc.) you would need 24 teams winning through from round two so that when the Champions’ League “failures” join in, the requisite 32 teams are achieved. How can you get from 53 teams winning round one, into 24 of them going through to round three? No doubt there is a very simple answer and I hope one of my fellow McV readers will enlighten us. Is it something to do with the European football mountain or the value of the Euro divided by the square root of a British pound or what? Help.

OPINION: CORPORATE CAPACITY

Continuing on the mysterious subject of the ground’s true capacity, it’s concerning that despite selling out the cheap seats weeks in advance, the club is failing to sell the corporate areas. OK, we are only probably talking about a couple of hundred but is the club promoting these areas sufficiently? If they are and there simply isn’t the demand it would be nice to see some pro-active thinking as clearly there shouldn’t be pockets of empty seats in these areas, particularly when they can be occupied by fans who still can’t get into to watch the team play.

All the same it’s good to be able to show our cynical neighbours that we can fill the ground because not one Red ever thought we would. Reckon they can’t stand the fact to be honest!

OPINION: CITYCARD OR MATCHCARD?

In reply to Tony Edwards, I am in a similar position as my Citycard ran out and I was never sent a renewal form but it is now too late and too over-subscribed to get a Citycard. We will probably have to wait until next season now to apply for and enjoy the benefits of a Citycard.

What happens now is that they are going to send me a Matchcard, which I can use to apply for tickets when they go on open sale.

Hope that explains everything

.

REQUEST: MAINE ROAD MEMORIES BOOK

Can anyone help with information about a book due out this summer, which was made up of memories contributed by City fans and included a listing in the back of you, your seat number and your favourite Maine Road match? I signed up for this early on this year and I have lost my record of the address to which the cheque and info was sent.

Does this ring any bells with anybody, and do we know what’s happening with the book?

Desperately seeking 2 tickets for Fulham – together or separate both fine.

Please call 07899 998 997 or email.

REQUEST: LOKEREN TICKETS

I was very pleased to book bargain flights to Antwerp yesterday (11th September) for the away leg of the Lokeren game. I was soon disappointed to find I will need 1,750 loyalty points on my season ticket to get a ticket. As a first year season ticket holder I only have 1,100 and have been told I have no chance of getting a ticket through my season ticket. I will be unable to go to any future ties as we progress due to my wife expecting our second baby soon.

Please please please, if anyone has two spare tickets, or has the loyalty points to get tickets, but does not intend going I will be your lifelong friend if you could see your way to letting me have two tickets!

REQUEST: MARC VIVIEN FOE MEMORIAL APPEAL

The appeal fund established in memory of Foe is progressing well and we are now able to give an update on how people can contribute:

Financial Donations:

Any branch of HSBC

Account Name/Payable to: Marc Vivien Fo