Newsletter #1009

A bit of good news tonight. Keegan was back at Carrington today and will be in charge for our game against Southampton on Saturday.

Tonight’s issue includes the usual news report from Don, plenty of opinions from various subscribers and a couple of requests. Apologies from Gavin as he’s not been able to get his reserves report to us in time today, but promises it will be in the next edition.

Heidi will be back with us for Monday’s issue. This one goes out to 3,253.

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

From Russia With Roubles: According to the Sunday papers, there are not one but two super rich Russians gagging to throw money at our beloved club. According to the Sunday Express, City are “in advanced talks with a wealthy group of Russian backers” seeking to emulate the Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. It says three directors from the Moscow club Torpedo Metallurg attended the game against Chelsea in February as guests of the club, then throws in the name of Ralif Safin, one of the founders of Lukoil, Russia’s largest oil company, as the major prospective investor. The News of the World reckons it’s another Ruski, and have quoted City’s PR man Paul Burrell. Billionaire Vladimir Potanin has been linked with a £35 million takeover of the club. Tyrell told the newspaper: “We have not received any official approach from interested parties but there are some promising developments.” Potanin, a 42-year-old with business interests in precious metals, telecommunications and shipping, served briefly as Russia’s deputy Prime Minister and is reportedly worth £1.6 billion. Ohhhh those Russians (as that bloke in Boney M used to say).

Oh I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside: Fancy a day out at the seaside while supporting a former City captain? Well look no further than Bloomfield Road, Blackpool on Saturday, July 24. The Evening Gazette has reported that City have agreed to send a full strength squad to face Blackpool, kick-off 3.00pm. The match is a fund raising event for Andy Morrison, a stalwart at both clubs, who has had to finish his playing career due to injury. “It is a fabulous game for the club against one of our old Lancashire rivals,” said Blackpool’s secretary Peter Collins. “We used to play against City on a regular basis and have had some cracking games against them down the years. There is a large City fan-base in Blackpool, and with the support they have anyway it should be a great atmosphere. We are still having meetings to sort out the final details but it is being billed as a first team game, so we are expecting Kevin Keegan to bring a strong squad and it should be a good afternoon’s football” (thanks to Steve Cheeseborough for the item).

Reserves Draw: City reserves were held by an experienced West Brom side this week. Stephen Elliott scored his tenth goal of the season to open proceedings, but WBA equalised a few minutes into the second half. Team: Ellegaard, Warrender, Jordan, Whelan, McCarthy, Onuoha, Croft, Laird, Elliott, B Wright-Phillips (McGinley 81), Tandy. Subs: Timms, Russell, Etuhu, Williamson.

City Put to the Sward: The team may be in the bottom six of the Premiership, but the pitch has been nominated as one of the top 3 in the division. City’s head groundsman Roy Rigby won the trophy last year for his work with the turf at Maine Road, and he has again been nominated for the Groundsman of the Year award, along with Arsenal and Southampton. The division’s winner will be announced at the Groundsmans’ Conference, to be held at the City of Manchester Stadium, in early July (I like those odds!). Mr. Rigby said: “To be nominated for this award for the second year running is a real achievement and we are extremely proud. We won the overall award last year in our final season at Maine Road and to be given the chance to emulate that success in our first year in our new home, the City of Manchester Stadium, is a huge compliment to the hard work and expertise of our entire groundstaff.” And any Smart Alecs who think it’s not surprising the pitch is so good, considering the manure that’s on it every other week – just keep those thought to yourself please!

Guess Who’s Back, Back Again (Again!): Contrary to last week’s report, KK did not return to work last Thursday as had been hoped. Instead, he continued his recuperation at home, leaving Arthur Cox in charge of team events for the Easter programme. “Kevin is making good progress although his recovery is taking slightly longer than initially anticipated,” said City club doctor Mark Whitaker last week. “He is in constant communication with Arthur Cox and the rest of the coaching staff together with our medical team. Kevin continues to oversee all first-team affairs.” Arthur Cox dispensed another pearl of wisdom as he wished KK a speedy recovery. “When you are at sea or when you are in the air and the captain is on board, everybody always feels a little bit safer, don’t they?” said the eloquent assistant. “When the co-pilot or assistant captain is in charge, maybe they think ‘oh dear’! But there we go. We’ll all roll our sleeves up and get on with the job.” Reports today state that Keegan travelled down to the North West last night, and was expected to take Thursday’s training at Carrington.

Thai-ing the Knot: City’s Academy side have been spreading the good word in a week-long tour of Thailand. The trip included a coaching clinic run for local youngsters and the tour culminated with a game against a Thailand Universities XI, which the Blues won 5-2. City vice chairman Bryan Bodek paid tribute to Academy touring party. “The way our boys have conducted themselves, both at the coaching clinic and on the tour as a whole, reflects great credit on the club,” he said. “The Academy staff and I can be very proud of what they achieved so far here in Thailand.” He added, “There’s no doubt that this trip to Thailand has raised the profile of the club. The media coverage we have received while we have been here has been extensive with live TV coverage and many newspaper articles. What’s been pleasing to discover is that people over here know who we are and what we are about, and the trip has clearly given us a lot to build upon. Now we must decide as a club the best way to follow up this trip.” City’s Academy deputy coach Frank Bunn, who headed the coaching session, was equally effusive in his praise. “Virtually all the boys couldn’t speak much English but that didn’t matter because the experience taught us that football is a universal language,” he said. “Just watching some of the young lads’ faces once they had mastered a new skill was so rewarding and hopefully they went away from the session thinking it was a positive experience. It was also another step on the learning curve for our young players. It was a great experience for them too and one that will stand them in good stead in the future.” Back in England, the U15’s won the Nike Tournament played in Sunderland this week. The team, managed by former City skipper Paul Power, were unbeaten in the tournament and clinched the trophy with a 3-1 victory over Newcastle.

Shaun Honour: Shaun Wright Phillips has enjoyed an excellent season, and his progress has been recognised by his fellow professionals. SWP is one of six nominees for the PFA Young Player of the Year award. He’s been nominated with John Terry, Glen Johnson, Scott Parker, Wayne Rooney and Kolo Toure. The winners will be announced at the PFA’s annual dinner on 25 April (thanks Drew, or Andrew depending who you are).

Transfer News and Gossip

Foreign Legion to Ship Out? Michael Tarnat insists he has no plans to quit City and return to Germany this summer. Last week we reported that Bayer Leverkusen’s coach Klaus Augenthaler had been checking Tarnat out at the Villa game, but the left back played down the link. “I heard that the coach was at Villa Park but I don’t think it was to watch me, he said. I am an old player now. No-one from the German club has spoken to me. I have spoken before that I hope we stay in the Premiership and that I can stay for another one or two years. At the moment it is uncertain as we have to be sure that we are in the top flight next year.” City it seems have refused to open talks with any of their free agents because of their precarious position in the Premiership. Arni Arason ‘s future is therefore just as uncertain. “Things are going well for me here but I suppose I could do with a little bit more football,” said Arason this week. “But I am enjoying myself at Manchester City and I have found it to be a very nice club. Everyone has made it easy for me to settle. I have learned a lot off David James. He is a great goalkeeper and I have enjoyed working with him. I would like to stay here but I have no idea what will happen or where the club will be. It has also been complicated with Kevin not being here for the last two weeks. I just haven’t spoken to anyone about my future for the last two weeks. I don’t know what anyone is thinking or what options I have. I just have to be patient and try and do my best. The game is of a good quality here and it is that much faster than in Norway. You have to get used to that and you have to get used to the tempo that the strikers move at. I have enjoyed it and it is nice to say that I have played with a Premiership club,” he continued. The News of the World believes Gerard Wiekens will be heading back to Holland to play for Breda. The club will match his £12,000 per week wages he receives at City.

A Glorious Miscellany of Other Transfer Snippets: Arsenal are believed to have joined Liverpool in the race for Shaun Wright-Phillips. If City are demoted there will be intense pressure to sell him. The News of the World says that self confessed Gunners fan Wright-Phillips is emerging as a £10 million target for Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. The Sunday tabloids think that Birmingham, Norwich and City fancy Sunderland’s tricky winger John Oster, while Aberdeen’s 19-year-old defender Zander Diamond insists that he doesn’t want to leave after being linked with City earlier in the season. “I’m contracted to Aberdeen and signed a two-and-a-half-year deal not long ago. I’m doing well here, so why would I want to leave?” Aberdeen are struggling financially and may be inclined to cash-in on their prize asset. But the player himself insisted: “I’ve been with Aberdeen since I was 11, so I’m determined to repay the loyalty they’ve shown me. I’m loving it and it’s been an incredible season for me. I’ve picked up an award and scored a few goals for the first team, so I don’t want to move.”

Ex-Blues’ News

New Rôle for Uwe? Former City favourite Uwe Rösler has emerged as the favourite to land the vacant managerial position at Norwegian club Lillestrom. Rösler, who spent last year recovering from cancer, is unlikely to play football again but has indicated he would consider a career in management. The veteran striker, who also had spells with Southampton and West Brom, is regarded as an ideal candidate to lead Lillestrom in the Tippeligaen next season. “Uwe Rösler is the hottest candidate to become the new Lillestrom manager after Arne Erlandsen,” said Lillestrom official Tom Lund to TV2. “Of course there is a long way to go and there are other candidates, but without doubt he is the favourite for the job.” We wish Uwe all the best in his new career, should the appointment happen.

Reactions and Comments

Nearly Thrown to the Wolves: Shaun Wright-Phillips drilled home a last-gasp leveller to end Wolves’ desperate bid for a first top flight away win last Saturday. The visitors looked like grabbing all three points but they threw away a two-goal lead, then Colin Cameron’s penalty was saved by David James. Henri Camara put Wolves back in front 12 minutes from time but, with City on the brink of crisis, Wright-Phillips emerged as the hero, firing home first-time after Wolves had failed to clear a Michael Tarnat free-kick to earn the hosts a precious point. As one paper put it: to say the defences were shambolic is an understatement. “It’s exciting but it’s not good for your health,” Arthur Cox said. “For the first time I sensed some nervousness in the dressing room because of our League position. Perhaps it was the importance of the situation the club finds itself in. We have got some very, very experienced players who know all about winning. But they are not experienced in the circumstances that we are in at present. They are genuine men and I think they are feeling it a little bit. Perhaps it is the responsibility of the current circumstances.” Cox admitted that he was grateful to salvage a point. “Ten out of ten to Wolverhampton for the way they came and scrapped and battled,” said the assistant boss. “That was a very, very difficult game for us. It was a competitive game and a draw was probably a fair result. We did a lot of hard work to get back into the match after conceding what was two poor goals from our point of view. I know the supporters will have gone home disappointed that we have not won but deep down they understand the circumstances that surrounded it. Wolves are close to the point where they are going to find it hard to stay in this division and they were up for the challenge as much as they could be. Their two strikers have given us as much trouble as anyone has this season. David James has made two or three wonderful saves, including one from Henri Camara that will be as good as anyone will see in all their career. It was a marvellous effort that will be highlighted for a long time to come. We have to be satisfied with the point given that we were 3-2 down in injury time. We look at the other results that have gone on around us and we are pleased with that.” Wolves’ manager David Jones could not quite believe that his side hadn’t won, but accepted that defensive shortcomings had caused the loss of points. “I keep telling my players that if the ball is 60 or 70 yards away from our goal, the other side can’t score unless they wheel out a cannon,” bemoaned Jones. “We are still trying to pass our way out of trouble and it is a lesson we don’t appear to learn. I can’t fault the players for effort but after that result I feel very low. Football can be cruel sometimes.”

A Future Manager Speaks: City went for a different method of getting a draw on Easter Monday, away at Tottenham. Instead of giving the opposition a start, City took an early lead and should have been out of sight by half time. Instead, Spurs fought back to equalise in the second half as City clung on to a point. Stuart Pearce continued his management training course by giving his views to the press after the game. He said: “Any time you go on the road a draw is not a bad result, but we are disappointed not to have won. That takes our unbeaten run to four matches so we’ll take the positives from it. Robbie Fowler had a decent chance just before half-time to make it 2-0 but the goalkeeper made an excellent save. We felt their supporters were getting a touch frustrated and had we scored it would have been a watershed because it would have been tough for them to come back. It was a reasonable performance and we battled away and got a point on our travels and it is important that we get some results at home now, that’s really what has cost us during the season.” As a former international defender he said that Jihai Sun would learn from his error that led to the equaliser. “Saying I am a bit disappointed sums it up. Jermaine Defoe is the sort of lad who has an eye for goal at the moment. You can’t afford to give him a yard. He sold a dummy and Jihai is very disappointed but we have to learn from it. We are disappointed that we conceded a goal in that manner, but we all have to learn from it and Jihai I am sure will learn from it.” Charismatic Arthur Cox was coaxed to give his views on the equaliser. “I’m very disappointed with the goal we’ve conceded,” said Cox. “Jihai made a very basic error in defending by giving Defoe the goal to shoot at from six yards. It’s like a roller coaster. One minute you’re pleased with a point, then everything flashes through your mind and you’re unhappy with a point. We’re disappointed we didn’t get three points. I’m confident that we won’t be relegated.”

Abundant Quality: Asked if City had the ability to survive in the Premiership, Psycho answered: “We fully back the players who are here. We believe they have an abundance of quality and we just need to pick up the odd result to get away from the problems we are in. It’s nervy at times at the bottom of the table when you are looking over your shoulder and you are one or two wins away from the relegation zone. But it’s important we instil as much confidence as we can into the players. We have five games left, three of them at home, so it’s important for the fans to get behind us. Our home form has let us down and we need to start putting it right on Saturday.”

Football Genius: David Pleat felt Spurs shaded the game. “It was a tense game because we had lost our previous four and a fifth defeat would have been bad,” said the caretaker. “I felt we shaded the game and I am very pleased with the character and commitment shown by my players. It was exciting. We should have won. We had a goal disallowed, hit the post and we think Defoe could have had a penalty. It was a difficult team selection and we’ve had our share of bad luck. We’ve had three injuries, but we’re pleased with a point.” Spurs’ first half torpor led to the frustrated home fans chanting “we want Pleat out” for the first time this season. “The supporters were having a go, which is their right,” said acting manager Pleat. “They pay their money. But I am only acting manager so I don’t know what they are worried about – Carlos Queiroz (Real Madrid coach) was booed last night, it happens in football and I won’t believe it is personal,” showing once again Pleat’s deep understanding of football.

Top Man Macca: My on-the-spot reporter (i.e. Our Kid) assures me that Steve McManaman was City’s star player, an accolade not given to the Scouser since his début against Aston Villa earlier this season. Macca however was frustrated that the Blues left with just one point. “The game was not about personal performances so when people say I played well it doesn’t really matter because I walked off the pitch not angry but frustrated,” he explained. “It is immaterial who is man of the match, I would sooner walk off the pitch without having had a kick of the ball but with three points instead of the one we got but we are still confident in our ability to climb away from trouble. There was some frustration yesterday because we were winning one nil and looked very comfortable and conceded a sloppy goal,” added the thirty two year old. “It is a point away from home but we were confident before the game and it is always annoying when you give away a goal like that. We had numerous chances to have won the game and might have shown a bit more patience to pick out the right pass up front.”

Squad News

He’s No Jessie, James! David James insists he has no regrets about joining City – despite finding himself pitched into another relegation battle. He suffered demotion with West Ham United last season, but reckons: “That isn’t going to happen again because Manchester City are going to stay in the Premiership – end of story. It was a totally different situation at West Ham to the one I inherited here. City have never even been in the bottom three, whereas West Ham were rock bottom at Christmas and, sadly, we couldn’t change the old statistic that no one in that position has ever stayed up. We left ourselves too much to do. But City are not in the same predicament and I’m certain that the only way we are heading is up the table, not lower down it.” How is he settling in to his new club? “With any move you make, there comes a point where you have to justify it to yourself. I feel fully justified in what I have done and confident with the team that I am in. Of course I would prefer it if less goals had gone in. Maybe some didn’t need to go in, but I am happy. The settling-in process has gone well. The performances since I came here – maybe with the exception of one – have been of a very good standard.”

Big Bad Bos: Paul Bosvelt says that the players will not shirk their responsibility in beating the threat of relegation. The 34-year-old believes now it is vital that City break their run of four successive draws with a win against Southampton on Saturday. “The draws are frustrating because we know we need a win quickly to give us a little breathing space but we also know that time is running out and others are picking up points,” said the combative midfielder. “One point at a time is not helping much and we are desperately searching for that win. At Spurs we showed that individually and as a team. We know what this battle at the bottom is all about. We are experienced players and we must take one match at a time and not panic or become tentative. It is a time for strong minds and willpower. No one is hiding on the pitch, we are all in this together and the spirit remains high. We know we are in trouble and every game is a battle but we are giving it all we can.”

Wrighty Wronged: Today’s Mirror reports that Shaun Wright-Phillips is paying the price for his excellent form this season, as the opposition now see SWP as a danger man. Shaunie, whose form has come to the attention of Mr. Eriksson recently, said: “When I go into games now teams have got a plan to deal with me. Either that or they will double up on me and that is making it harder. There are even some players who have gone in to give me some rough treatment. But the way I have found to deal with that is by biting my lip and letting my football do the talking.” City have Shaun to thank for salvaging a point last Saturday against Wolves. “It was a big relief to get that equaliser against Wolves on Saturday because as a team we didn’t play anywhere near as well as we can,” admitted Wright-Phillips. “We made life very hard for ourselves. We started on the back foot and never got on the front one like we would have liked to. We were behind three times so in the end we were glad to get a point. Now we have to carry the belief we showed in the final minutes against Wolves into Spurs and the rest of the matches left this season. We have missed an opportunity to take three points against Wolves. I know Arthur Cox says that there was edginess about us on Saturday but I can only speak for myself and I don’t feel nervous. Everyone is aware of the situation at the bottom of the table but we are trying to be positive about things and take those positives into matches. As a unit we feel confident in our ability and that if we play well we will get our results.”

MATCH VIEW: CITY 3 WOLVES 3

Amazed that Rich Fenton can’t believe why the players were slagged off on Saturday against Wolves. They deserved every bit of it and more. Some people will have paid their hard earned cash to see that. Some of the team would struggle to get a game in most Sunday League teams. Dunne, Distin and Sun could not defend their own house.

The Wolves chant of England’s No. 1 in response to another spill by calamity James, was correct. If Seaman was past it then why did no other team, only us offer to buy this clown? He spilt every ball and our defenders never reacted once. The Wolves men did and scored two goals. We gained a point thanks to an error by Mr Jones. With 1 minute of the overtime gone, he decided to waste some of the remaining two minutes by making a substitution, this upset the grip that his team had on the game. Thank God there is another manager as poor as ours. The sooner KK and his backroom staff depart the better.

Saturday’s team would have struggled in Division 2 and will struggle in Division 1. However, one good thing will be that some of the players who only turn up for the wages will have moved on.

Can anyone point out where the 9 points we need are going to come from?

After the game I bought two tickets for the Southampton match because I want to prove to my son that the team can’t be that bad. Hope I’m correct.

P.S. Sorry SWeeP they made you look bad.

MATCH VIEW: SPURS 1 CITY 1

Quick summary of City vs. Spurs

2 average teams
1 average set of home fans
1 average ref
1 average meat and potato pie
1 above average weight, below-average intelligence blue loon, who charged down the aisle when Anelka scored and sent my mate sprawling down 10 average steps
4 below average City players (Sun Jihai, Tarnat, Anelka, Bosvelt)
3 average players (SWP, Sibierski – much deeper so McManaman could attack more, Fowler – costly miss)
1 just above average player (Dunne – good blocks and surreptitious pull back)
3 good players (James, Distin, McManaman – when he ran at people)

OPINION: TIME FOR A CHANGE

To state the obvious – points at Villa and Spurs aren’t good enough given the points we got against Fulham and Wolves. It’s too late to start playing for draws away (take note Arthur), with results not up to the mark at home. The side needs changing around, because the people occupying the shirts at the moment don’t want to know. With the limitations we have in our squad, now it is clear the so called big names are only big in their heads; this is my suggestion for Southampton:

Out: Sun In: Reyna
Out: McManaman In: Tiatto
Out: Bosvelt In: Barton

Give Reyna a whirl at right back, Sun is too naïve. Tiatto will give us more aggression and is naturally left footed. Barton will just give us more than Bosvelt can.

Midfield has been our problem for two seasons. It let us down last season, lest we forget, although many would swap our current plight for an aging Benarbia, and a temperamental and injured Berko, it still was not up to the job. KK spotted the weakness through one thing and another (RIP MVF), tried to change things, but has been let down. How we could do with Kevin Horlock teaching Barton his trade rather than the Dutch Master (biker?). However, we cannot keep suffering inept, nervous or just plain poor displays. Change things whilst we can, we need to get two wins under our belt and get out of this mess.

Having endured the hirsute instability of Seaman and the wanderings of Sommeil for half a season, we need to regroup and survive this season for our main assault next – KK will want to complete his ‘top six in five years’ mission at least one year early. We are two midfielders and a van Buyten short of a good team and need to stay up to realise our ambitions. We will score goals with Anelka and Fowler in the team, Wanchope is good off the bench and Macken is a squad player behind these three. The recent views in favour of losing Nico are laughable, he is class. Anyone who saw Fowler against Bolton can tell you the same of him. Our most consistent performers have been Dunne and SWP.

A draw for Everton-Leeds will do me, as I think we can drag Everton in it with a win on Saturday. The last two matches at home have really dropped us in it. We are too stale, and there are players who look like they do not want to know. I think with the addition of Reyna for a bit of (untried) composure, hopefully, at the back; and with the passion of Barton and Tiatto for the battle we can shake things up, as long as they stay on the pitch!

Assuming we can get a bit of daylight between us and the bottom, we need to be looking at giving some of the kids knocking on the door a run out. Or, if you want the dreamer’s view, give Gio a game to put him in the shop window, he’ll cost us nothing and it would be a chance to pay back his loyalty for the second season he stayed in Div 1!

Bring on the Saints.

Whatever you do, stay Blue!

OPINION: WHAT’S HAPPENED TO OUR BELOVED CITY?

The City supporters have stood behind the team in every game, but there was a game when some City supporters booed the players for their performance. After that game Kevin Keegan made a statement “this is the first time a team of mine has been booed” and he was visibly upset by it.

It appears from that day despite the support from the fans the team has not done well with the exception of the 4-1 derby, and the Spurs 3-4 comeback game. This is no more than a coincidence, nevertheless it’s a fact.

The chairman has not given the team any confidence when he announced that he has got a contingency plan for relegation. Now having a plan is probably a wise thing to do, but to make it public was wrong.

Some 25,000 City supporters went out and bought season tickets for next season already and without knowing at that time which division City would be playing in. That is showing support; the management and players need to respond.

It’s been reported but without any conformation that two Russian Billionaires, Vladimir Potonin and Ralif Safin, are interested in the club. Maybe only if this happens will we get to see another great City team. On the other hand Kevin Keegan will come back from his illness and save the day!

The Manchester City players need to get off their ar**s and work for what they are getting paid for.

I think that most of us City fans believed that we are just “too good to go down”, not any more; it’s getting a lot worse at the bottom of the division, and the other teams down there are showing a lot more fight and determination to stay in the Premier League.

Watching pretty, attacking football and not being able to score goals no longer is an option, it’s get out there and win at all costs.

With Mr John Wardle having his plan in place makes me very worried, the club being in a new stadium, and so much in debt, with a lot of older players who seem to play as if it’s just a game in a park on a Sunday afternoon, where is the passion?

For the best part of the season the regular readers in here will have always seen me to be always positive, and to back manager and players, but today it’s time for a big wake up call, if it’s not already too late.

I have seen other supporters make negative comments in here during the season, but now I understand their frustration even more, for I kept saying to myself “we are just unlucky”; I no longer feel that way for relegation is starring us in the face.

Only five games left to save the season and the pride of Manchester City.

Yes we will give our support to manager and players, but we want to see some reaction from everyone at the club, we are proud of our club, now the players play for your pride.

Come on you Blues! Play with the hunger and passion to win!

OPINION: CHESNEY OR STEVE?

Is it just me, but does anyone that watches Coronation Street think that little Chesney is Steve Lomas reincarnated?

OPINION: POOR GERARD WIEKENS!

Is it just me, or is anyone else totally mystified as to why Gerard Wiekens has not had a look in this season? Has he said something to upset the Bossman? He certainly deserves his chance after the latest defensive fiascos in our recent games. Anyone agree or can shed further light on the issue?

OPINION: CITY’S RELEGATION FIGHT

Right now I have stayed quiet all season but I think now is the time to speak up. Firstly my views on the last few weeks with Keegan away. The players have got nobody to give them a rollicking at half time; even the person we would expect to be able to, Stuart Pearce, doesn’t seem to be able to motivate them.

Secondly, there doesn’t seem to be any of them who are proud to wear the shirt and be prepared to put themselves in the line of fire from shots. They seem to just turn up at the match, walk about for an hour or so, go home and spend their cash that we provide them with. I was speaking to a few people who went to away matches in Europe; one managed to get through to where the players were passing through the airport, he asked Robbie Fowler about what happened. He said that Fowler just looked at him as if to say “Why don’t you just go and do one?” It was as if he wasn’t bothered. I have supported City for 30 odd years now and I always will, but why do we keep employing people at this great club who are not right for it?

Keegan seems to be a nice bloke who wears his heart on his sleeve and is very passionate about football, but he cannot motivate some of the lazy primadonnas that we have at COMS: Anelka, McManaman, etc.

For me, if Anelka went I wouldn’t lose any sleep or, a thought which will be quite controversial to some City fans, Joey Barton. The main reason being for the amount of times he gives the ball away when we need to keep it. We did have three players who would give all. I think you may all recall their names, Goater, Huckerby and Berkovic.

Where are they now? Well, I watched two over the weekend, Huckerby and Berkovic, and they performed great for their new teams. Now is that just luck or bad management on our behalf when they were here? It also looks like they will both be playing in the Premiership next year so we may not see them again.

The way I see it now, if we go down somebody will be in for Wrighty and who would blame him if he went? We all want to better ourselves. I would love to see the team as this: Arason, Tarnat, Sun, Distin, van Buyten, Sibierski, Wright-Phillips, Berkovic, Huckerby, Fowler and Macken. The rest, Sinclair who is a Blue but doesn’t play like a fan who would be proud to play for his team, Reyna who pratts about too much in midfield and manages to go backwards more than forwards, and as for McManaman, the one who used to score quite regularly for Liverpool, I think I have seen him have about four shots both home and away this season.

Right, I’m signing off now. I need my daily dose of Prozac mixed with sleeping tablets just in case I wake up during the match. I hope nobody sees this as having a go too much because, believe me, I just want the best for our club after a long time we have a great ground, a pretty decent team and the best fans in the country, we deserve more and should get it. We are sick of playing second fiddle to the Rags.

OPINION: CITY TEAM

Any truth in the rumour that Kev’s ‘bad back’ is a smoke-screen to cover the fact that he’s done a runner?

As fans, without fly-on-the-wall access to the inner sanctum of the dressing room and the general goings-on at the club, we can only speculate on what we think is going on. One thing is certain, there is something very wrong at the club. How else can you account for the position that the club is now in?

I am not a Keegan fan, never have been. He’s too old-school for my liking, he lives in the past. To my mind, his qualities as a motivator (??) are seriously outweighed by his tactical naïvete. He lives a Liverpool-tinted past and seems to be completely out of touch with what’s going on in football world in general. He prefers players on their way down as opposed to players on their way up.

Mention has been made on this forum of the poor purchases that Keegan has made – we all expected more of McManaman and Sinclair, but in hindsight they were ageing players past their prime. Bosvelt and Tarnat have good qualities, but could only ever be short term stop-gaps, again both are well into their 30’s.

Fowler is the classic example – good money spent on a player well past his peak who hadn’t recovered from a career threatening hip injury – even arch-Anfield apologist Alan Hansen voiced misgivings about Fowler’s decline, surely this alone was a major warning. Fowler and McManaman together would have been great if it was 1996, someone should have mentioned to Kev that it was 2003. As a result of Fowler coming, we lost the best Chairman we’ve had for ages. Would we be in this position and in such financial peril of Mr Bernstein was still at the helm? I doubt it.

Good to see someone putting up Deco as a player we should have looked at – we’ll just have to settle for watching him play in the Champions’ League semi-final. When we bought Fowler, we could have bought Forssell for less – who would you rather have? We need strength down the spine of the team – David James is money well spent – van Buyten is a must buy. If we can get anything for McManaman, Fowler, Sinclair, we should spend on van Buyten. If Anelka goes, then Forssell should be the target. We then need an international-standard midfield general who can pass with both feet, run, tackle, head, shoot and lead the team on the pitch. Any suggestions? We also need a lefty to give the team balance and offer speed and width down the left. Obviously, all the above is dependent on us staying up – if we go down we will be really stuffed because of our £70 million debt. Wolves and Leicester look likely to go – then take your pick from us, Portsmouth, Leeds and Blackburn. Leeds are on a roll, Portsmouth have 4 games left at home, Blackburn won away last night!

You know you’re in trouble when the players don’t care about the club as much as the fans – and that’s the problem – too many mercenaries (Fowler, Mcmanaman, Anelka), too many people at the wrong end of their career (Bosvelt, Tarnat). Anelka will be the only player that we will get a fee for – the rest will go on free transfers and sign short term contracts.

Stephen Miller – you must be a worried man if anyone has taken that 10/1 you offered against us going down.

OPINION: DREAM OR NIGHTMARE?

Can anybody help me? I have this recurring dream, what does it mean?

Pre-season 2004: National newspapers…

Keegan denies back injury is just a cover for turning his back on City.

“It’s just one of those things, but it wouldn’t be possible for me to be a hands on coach on the training field so with the best interest of the club and the fans I decided to call it a day.”

Big Sam denies agreeing to join City in March!

“It is a great honour to become manager of City and I can’t wait for the season to start but first I would just like to put the record straight, the deal to become the Manchester City manager was only completed after Kevin’s retirement because of his back injury. It is a complete nonsense to suggest that Kevin’s injury was a cover for him to leave the club with his reputation intact and in no way had I agreed to become manager of Manchester City before Kevin announced his retirement in May.”

Just a dream, or something far more sinister?

OPINION: RELEGATION

Looking at the final fixtures for the bottom clubs (excluding Wolves who will need a bigger miracle than City to stay up), it looks like Saturday is a 100% must win game for City. The only positive I can see from the remaining fixtures is that everyone but City have to play either the Rags, Arsenal or Chelsea (Leeds, Leicester and Pompey have to play 2 of those 3).

City – Southampton, LEICESTER, Newcastle, BORO, Everton
Leeds – Everton, ARSENAL, Pompey, BOLTON, Charlton, CHELSEA
Leicester – MANUTD, BLACKBURN, City, CHARLTON, Pompey, ARSENAL
Pompey – ManUtd, LEEDS, Fulham, Arsenal, LEICESTER, Boro
Blackburn – Leicester, EVERTON, ManUtd, SPURS, Brum

With 2 of the 5 teams above going down (unless Everton fail to win another game), City must win against Southampton and at least get a point at Leicester to have a chance. I could see us drawing all of the remaining matches and ending up with 39 points which will probably not be enough to stay up.

OPINION: SHOOT THE OTHER WAY!

I know people at City read McVittee, so I’m pleading with them to get this message through to the team:

We must shoot towards the North Stand in the first half on Saturday!

Call me a freak, call me what you like. But I’m a big believer in sports psychology and I make good money from betting on football matches that are influenced by psychology.

Our results in this first season at Eastlands have been consistently horrible and I’m not saying that has anything to do with which direction they shoot, it’s clearly down to our own shortcomings on the pitch.

However, that doesn’t mean changing ends won’t make a difference. They say “change is as good as a rest” and, trust me, something as small as this can make a huge difference. It can make the players feel mentally refreshed when they kick off.

It’s something we can all relate to in our everyday lives. When you suffer prolonged periods of disappointment in particular situations, you change something, do it differently, do something new. And new is exciting, new is a fresh start, a new dawn.

Earlier in the season, Sylvain Distin complained that playing at home was like starring in the film Groundhog Day. And yet, in every home game he goes to the centre circle for the toss-up and chooses to shoot the same way, over and over again. Honestly, is this guy having a laugh?!

Leeds’ failure to beat Everton on Tuesday means that, if they lose at Arsenal on Friday, we will have the chance to pull five points clear of the relegation zone with goal difference heavily in our favour.

So, please, somebody get the message through to the players. Changing ends cannot do any harm but it might just help them to see the game from a different perspective mentally. It might rid them of the subconscious burden of past disappointments.

OPINION: KEVIN KEEGAN I

I sent my American missus this list. She is a newly reluctant avid fan and she had this to say:

“Sometimes it needs an objective view to put this whole shambles into perspective.”

I couldn’t agree more (and I quote):

“A lot of good points in that list, and the overall picture is pretty clear. This is a manager who took a team that achieved promotion, dumped everyone, spent millions, turned it inside-out and ended up with a team that’s battling relegation.”

That’s a problem.

OPINION: KEVIN KEEGAN II

KK stated in last week’s press that he had confidence in his coaching staff and labelled them as able lieutenants, presumably meaning while he had to take enforced absence.

It was also written that he was not happy with performances from the players, and on paper we should be doing better, but we don’t play on paper, we play on grass, wise words indeed.

In MCIVTA 1007, it was written that Claudio Reyna stated that the players were missing KK more so on match days, as he did not attend many training sessions, presumably then leaving it to his coaches.

I have been critical of the coaching methods this season, unlike the manager who, if Reyna’s statement is true, has no idea what the hell is going on at training, until he reads on paper what his coaches tell him. It might be because he does not want to travel from Newcastle to Manchester on more than two occasions a week, but you can guarantee the distance between himself and his players is far greater.

At present the real loss to the team has been Daniel van Buyten, who alongside David James, were the only players in my opinion able to show real defensive qualities, and hold the rest of the defence together.

I will repeat what I have written before, and sincerely hope that for the benefit of this club’s imminent survival, someone in authority takes positive action before it is too late. The buck stops with the manager, who blames supporters for not getting behind the team. Answer me this: how can supporters get behind unmotivated, poorly coached, technically inefficient, players?

Is it any wonder some don’t look interested when this cr*p attitude towards progressing as a football team, goes on and on, and now we witness players not even bothered to celebrate a point saving goal from our one star.

Do not take that action lightly, because now Shaun has witnessed it, you can be sure Arsenal will come calling, and I for one would not blame him going because he has ambition, both for his club side and his country.

I will repeat what I have written before, all this has transpired because we dismissed David Bernstein, who would never have allowed the club to reach such a perilous position. I do not blame John Wardle, I blame Kevin Keegan for having no idea on managing the coaches and players below him, and allowing Distin to wear the captain’s armband, when the team badly needs leadership.

Time is running out, and the only serious way the club are going to survive is if Leeds or Blackburn struggle alongside us, because missing chances and defending like a bunch of t*rts is killing us.

My message to the board is this: tell Keegan to get himself a flat closer to the club he manages, so he can witness first hand the cr*p coaching, tell him to give Distin a kick up the a*se, and remind him that to be captain of Man City is a privilege, not a burden.

Nobody really wants to see Kevin Keegan go, but he should start showing some respect to the supporters, instead of making some think they should be happy that we are not in the position we were a few years ago, that is cr*p.

Give the youth players a chance, instead of relying on poor excuses for footballers, before it is too late, and we regret this season’s decisions for years to come.

Come on City.

BIRTHDAY MEMORIES

On my 50th birthday my son took me down to Platt Lane to watch the players train (you could do in those times). Alan Ball was supposed to be in charge then, bless him (whatever happened to him?). Anyway, on to pleasanter times. As we approached the playing area, Tony Book was coming out of the indoor playing area. “Hi”, he said, “come for a look round?”. I said it was my birthday treat from my son, I was carrying my birthday card which Mr Book spotted and duly signed it for me. “Tell you what,” he said, “wait here”. He returned a few minutes later, all the team had signed it. I am now 59 and I still have the card. Thanks to all of the playing staff, Tony Book especially. That is why I am a True Blue, and have been since I was a lad.

REQUEST: ‘ALWAYS BE AN INGERLAND’

Last year Philosophy Football organised a hugely successful St George’s Day event with Billy Bragg. And this year they are presenting another event, we’ve called ‘Always be an Ingerland’ and it takes place on Friday 23 April.

‘Always be an Ingerland’ is an evening of art, talk, music and poetry, in part celebration of a football nation, in part exploration of what a positive Englishness might mean. And it all takes place in the superb environment provided by Cafe Kick in Shoreditch, East London.

The evening opens with football photographer Stuart Clarke showing his Homes of Football work, with Kevin Cummins showing his collection ‘We’re not Really Here’ about Manchester City’s last season at Maine Road. Hugh Tisdale, co-founder of Philosophy Football will introduce this part of the evening.

Next up a discussion on Englishness and football with the celebrated writer on stadiums, now editing a collection on England’s sporting heritage, Simon Inglis. Simon is joined by Richard Weight, historian and author of ‘Patriots: The Making of British Identity 1940-2000’, plus Nick Ryan, creative consultant to the recent BBC1 Drama ‘England Expects’ and author of Homeland: Into a World of Hate and Juliet Mayne, fan-activist and member of the recently formed group England4All who are committed to an inclusive England fan culture. Mark Perryman, co-founder of Philosophy Football will introduce the discussion.

The grand finale features the celebrated football poet Attila the Stockbroker performing a variety of his favourite poems, which cover everything from Brighton & Hove Albion to Roman Abramovitch via Wat Tyler and the appeal of Albanian Socialism. Prepare to be intrigued, amused and inspired.

PLUS! DJ Melstars English Sounds provide the soundtrack for the evening featuring ska, reggae, punk and northern soul.

The evening is free, though there will be a collection to cover costs. The evening begins at 7pm, Cafe Kick is at 127 Shoreditch High Street, London E1, 5 minutes walk from Old Street underground station, or 10 minute bus ride from Liverpool Street station – numerous buses outside the station serve this route.

Last year it sold out! So advance booking is essential, to book just email <events(at)philosophyfootball.com> or phone 020 8802 3499 with the names of those who would like to attend.

Bring your workmates, family, friends. Cafe Kick has an excellent bar, plus tasty food so come along and make an evening of it.

REQUEST: LEICESTER TICKET

A long shot…

Urgently needed 3 tickets for the Leicester game, we have a friend flying in from Holland, and the game is already sold out. Offers/ideas gratefully considered.

REQUEST: TICKETS FOR

Request for 2 tickets against Boro please.

REQUEST: PUB VIEWING IN AMSTERDAM

Hello MCIVTA,

On 24 April a fair number of Blues will be in Amsterdam and want to spend a couple of hours relaxing watching us get 3 valuable points. Normally no problem in Amsterdam but a Liverpool/ United match clashes and will no doubt feature in most pubs.

Does anyone know where our game will definitely be on? I know loads of bars that show football, but which one will show us in front of the team from Salford?

Thanks for your help.

RESULTS AND LEAGUE TABLE

League table to 14 April 2004 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Arsenal         32 13  3  0 33 13 10  6  0 29  9 23  9  0  62  22  40 78
 2 Chelsea         33 10  3  3 29 13 12  2  3 31 14 22  5  6  60  27  33 71
 3 Manchester Utd  32 11  3  2 34 13 10  2  4 25 18 21  5  6  59  31  28 68
 4 Liverpool       33  9  2  5 26 14  4  8  5 22 22 13 10 10  48  36  12 49
 5 Newcastle Utd   32 10  4  3 30 12  2  9  4 15 21 12 13  7  45  33  12 49
 6 Aston Villa     33  8  5  3 23 17  5  4  8 21 23 13  9 11  44  40   4 48
 7 Charlton Ath.   32  6  4  6 24 25  7  4  5 19 15 13  8 11  43  40   3 47
 8 Birmingham City 33  8  4  5 24 19  4  6  6 15 22 12 10 11  39  41  -2 46
 9 Middlesbrough   33  7  4  6 22 20  5  5  6 18 20 12  9 12  40  40   0 45
10 Fulham          33  8  4  5 27 20  4  4  8 20 24 12  8 13  47  44   3 44
11 Southampton     32  8  4  4 19 11  3  5  8 16 21 11  9 12  35  32   3 42
12 Bolton Wndrs    33  4  8  4 18 18  6  3  8 20 33 10 11 12  38  51 -13 41
13 Everton         33  8  5  4 26 17  1  6  9 16 30  9 11 13  42  47  -5 38
14 Tottenham H.    33  8  3  6 30 25  3  2 11 12 27 11  5 17  42  52 -10 38
15 Manchester City 33  3  9  4 24 20  4  4  9 22 27  7 13 13  46  47  -1 34
16 Blackburn R.    33  3  3 10 22 30  6  4  7 25 27  9  7 17  47  57 -10 34
17 Portsmouth      32  8  2  5 27 16  1  5 11  9 31  9  7 16  36  47 -11 34
18 Leeds United    33  5  6  6 21 26  3  2 11 14 38  8  8 17  35  64 -29 32
19 Leicester City  33  2  9  6 15 26  3  4  9 26 32  5 13 15  41  58 -17 28
20 Wolves          33  5  5  6 19 32  0  5 12 12 39  5 10 18  31  71 -40 25

MCIVTA FAQ [v0304.07]

[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 6pm, 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/); the “Centenary Supporters’ Association” (http://www.reddishblues.com/CSAWebsite/CSA.htm) and “The International Supporters’ Club” (http://www.mcfc.co.uk/article.asp?article=111845&Title=International+Supporters+Club&lid=Membership).

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

The GMR pre and post match phone-in is available on the web at http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/gmr/sport_intro.shtml.

Live match commentaries and archives of games, reports and interviews can be found at http://www.mcfctv.com/, whilst an alternate live commentary service, hosted by Yahoo, is located at http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/foot/englandprem/cal/index.html.

[7] 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. Useful sites for North American viewers are http://canadatvsoccer.tripod.com/Fixtures.htm, http://www.foxsportsworld.com/named/FSW/Index/Soccer, and http://www.soccertv.com/.

http://www.foxsportsworld.com/content/view?contentId=1288602 also provides a guide to pubs in the USA showing football.

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

At the start of the 03/04 season it was actually a mix of two tracks: Starting with “O Verona” (from the film “William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet”) leading in to “Barber’s Adagio for Strings (Ferry Corsten remix)” by William Orbit. The first part is available on the movie soundtrack (volume 2) and the second is included on a variety of CDs such as Kiss House Nation 2000, Galaxy Hit Mix, Cream Live, Ibiza Chill and Dance Nation 4.

Currently we use a selection of different music, which seems to change each game.

[9] Do we have a Usenet newsgroup?

Yes we do: uk.sport.football.clubs.man-city is our home on usenet. If you are not familiar with usenet, a basic explanation is available here: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,289893,sid9_gci213262,00.html

[10] Do any squad members have their own web pages?

There are a number available and direct links can be found at http://www.uit.no/mancity/players/

[11] Can I buy shares in the club?

Yes you can: Shares in Manchester City PLC are traded on OFEX. The latest prices can be on found the OFEX web site http://www.ofex.com/ (registration required) or in the business section of the Manchester Evening News.

[12] Where can I find match statistics?

Statistics for the current season are available from the club site, but for a more in-depth analysis try http://www.mcfcstats.com/.

[13] Acknowledgements

Thanks go to Damian Quinn, Stephen Webb, Roger Haigh, Martin Price, and Adrian Howarth 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.

Madeleine Hawkins, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

Editor: