Newsletter #1010

One of the most inept performances from City in a long time on Saturday as we capitulated to Southampton. This leaves us hovering precariously above the drop zone and going into Saturday’s game against relegation contenders Leicester with a mountain to climb.

Understandably there are plenty of views on the match, players and coaching/management tonight together with the usual requests.

Many thanks to Mads for standing in last week.

MATCH REPORT I: MCFC 1 SOUTHAMPTON 3

This one’s for Jim. Top man.

My first visit to the CoMS and I was expecting a great stadium with little atmosphere. Well the stadium is truly magnificent but the atmosphere was excellent too. Not sure what the fuss is all about on that one. Anyway, to the match. City started reasonably brightly, if a little static, and McManaman seemed to want the ball and want to pass it. Then he went off after 10 minutes with a thigh strain. A nice dink from Fowler (I think) put Anelka clean through but he side footed it just past the post. This was to prove costly as Saints fashioned a decent move ending in a bullet header from Beattie into the top corner. What followed was worrying. We were only 1-0 down, playing reasonably well and there was more than one half of the match remaining, yet the team collapsed, leaving me yearning for half time so we could regroup.

Second half started brighter with the crowd getting behind the team but then a soft goal did us. Simple throw from deep into the box and a Soton player wins the flick on and then another gets the nod in with the numerous City defenders standing staring. Wanchope is thrown on for the disappointing Fowler and his persistence pays off as he sets Anelka up for a tap in. Game on. City push for an equaliser but are sunk by a combination of inept defending and a wonderful strike from Phillips. We are pushing forward when the ball is cleared to an unmarked Phillips who is yards beyond our last defender (Sun) in his own half. Philips is pushed a little wide but finds the opposite corner.

Overall, we had the look of a relegation side (and we all know what they look like). Main concerns for me were:

1. No leader. A City player made a mistake and no-one gave any moralsupport. The only spark of leadership came from Anelka when he grabbed theball and placed it to encourage a speedy restart from the Soton ‘keeper.Body language was poor. Distin, the “captain”, gave zero leadership.
2. No ball player in midfield. No-one wanted the ball from the back 4, whichmeant that for much of the game our only outlet was SWP so that Soton couldput 3 players on him to stifle the threat. Sibierski does not have thetouch to play central midfield but if he is in that position he must askfor the ball from the back 4 and give it and go. Reyna was better in thisregard when he came on. Maybe Macca could have got us moving if he hadstayed on.
3. Sun. Not a Premiership player on this showing.
4. Fowler. OK the service was poor but if he gets the ball with his back togoal he must hold on better or look to turn. The ball came back too quickly.

MATCH REPORT II: MCFC 1 SOUTHAMPTON 3

When we thought it couldn’t get any worse, City never fail to deliver.

This season has been groundhog day all season. Groundhog day has now taken on a worse form, we have moved from dominating teams but not taking our chances, to inept displays that really are too shocking to mention. As with the last several weeks, optimism prior to the game was quite high; a win would take us 5 points clear of Leeds with a massive goal difference and surely a home defeat for Portsmouth against the dirty Rags. This would give us a bit of breathing space in the relegation struggle. The Rags failed to deliver and so did KK’s team.

What followed was a masterclass of quality defending and clinical finishing on the break by Southampton. How it could be such a different story if Anelka, when put through one and one, had tucked the ball away like any other world class player would have. Instead he skewed the ball wide of Niemi’s goal. We can’t lay all the blame at Anelka’s door. The first goal was weak. Sun was either fouled or lost his bottle in a 50-50 challenge (I couldn’t see from where I was sat), and Pahars went down the wing, placed a quality cross in the box for Beattie to finish clinically. 0-1 and you could see City visibly falling apart. City came out for the second half and there was no change to our formation or style. This is a relegation fight, we need points, yet our management team seem devoid of ideas of how to change our system. The second goal was equally devastating and clinical but a gift, as once again we lost concentration, once again from a set piece. City managed to give themselves a lifeline when Wanchope was played through by a lovely ball by Reyna, he looked to have missed the opportunity by taking the ball too wide only for his weak shot to fall kindly for Anelka to slot home. At this stage the crowd was roused and you sensed City were back in the hunt possibly for an undeserved point. What followed was yet more inexcusable diabolical defending. City had a corner deep and were pressing for the equaliser, only Phillips remained up for Southampton and was covered by Sun and Reyna. For some inexplicable reason both pushed on 10 yards in front of Phillips, the ball was punted over their heads and Phillips was given a free run from the half way line and scored a peach (take note Anelka). 1-3 and we were stuffed. You have to give Southampton credit, they came and defended well and hit us brilliantly on the break, but equally as much as Southampton won the game we lost it (or rather we never wanted to win it).

Match Ratings

James 5/10 Didn’t stand a chance with any of the goals due to the quality of the finishing/defending. A couple of scary moments (handling and kicking) but at least he was giving Distin a rollicking when Beattie and Phillips were winning free headers and not being picked up.

Sun 4/10 Possibly at fault for the first, certainly a partner in crime with Reyna for the third. Showed more commitment and willingness than most but that was about it.

Distin 4/10 Out of position on too many occasions and consistently gave the ball away. Not a leader, right now we need a captain that is going to stand up and be counted, encourage the rest of the team and lead by example. He should make a note to watch Andy Morrison at the testimonial (if he’s still with us then).

Dunne 7/10 The only player worth anything today, won balls in the air, cut through balls out. Distribution could have been better but certainly the pick of a very poor bunch.

Tarnat 3/10 Awful. I fail to see what he gives us. 1 in 10 balls are delivered with accuracy, the rest either go to the opposition or 10 yards behind the player, he never gives the option for an overlap and with Sinclair slows play down… get rid.

McManaman. Went off after 10 minutes. Started brightly but unfair to mark him given how little he played.

Bosvelt 6/10 Did the normal Bosvelt thing, broke up play quite effectively and passed sideways. I’m happy with that, that is his function in the side, but the rest of the midfield around him have to chip in and start winning balls and running into space.

SWeeP 5/10 Quiet game, few chances and was well marshalled by Southampton.

Sibierski 5/10 Needs to get stuck in more. Largely ineffective but I can’t help but think it’s due more to the system we are playing.

Fowler 3/10 Dire. Since Anelka came back for the Leeds game, Robbie has been a shadow of his form up and to the derby. Fowler and Anelka does not work. The comparison between these two and Phillips and Beattie was huge, face it Keegan you have to drop one of them. Everyone can see it, why can’t you and your coaches?

Anelka 4/10 Missed a sitter in the first half but entirely no service after that (you can tell as I don’t think he was caught offside once today). Did track back and got involved a few times but still not enough effort given our predicament.

Sinclair 4/10 Came on for McManaman and as the same all season, did nothing. Never beats a man, always slows down the flow of the game when more urgency is needed. I have defended him in the past saying he was playing on the left but as SWeeP wasn’t having much success they swapped wings in the second half and he was equally ineffectual on the right. We cannot afford to carry players in this situation.

Reyna 6/10 Came on for Bosvelt, managed to provide the same service as Bosvelt and introduced some urgency into the game, running the ball forward and trying to thread some neat passes around the Southampton area. Bad mistake for third goal.

Wanchope 5/10 Usual Wanchope, awkward and unconvincing, made space for the City goal but nearly contrived to miss by taking the ball too wide.

Crowd 3/10 I agree with Sam Duxbury (MCIVTA 1009) that the players have to lift the crowd and we are entitled to moan at the pathetic display on show given the money we spend, but get behind them when on the pitch, slating them during the game achieves nothing. As for the racial abuse one guy and his giggling girlfriend behind me was hurling at Sun each time he got the ball I only hope you’re ashamed of yourselves. I’d rather have two empty seats than “supporters” like this.

At the start of the season I would have said this (on paper) is the best City side I have seen, yet the team displays in the last few weeks has been easily been some of the worst. We have a side that is mercenary and doesn’t seem to care. Southampton had nothing to play for today, they can’t get into Europe, they won’t be relegated, yet they won every single ball and 50-50 challenge. You’d think they were the relegation threatened side from the passion they showed. We should be fighting for our Premiership survival but we are simply lying down and rolling over. We have to hope that teams below us slip up because at the current rate I really can’t see us taking another point this season. Leicester is a must win game (they all have been must win games for weeks). If I was KK I’d play:

            James
Sun     Distin  Dunne   Tarnat
SWP     Bosvelt Barton  Tiatto
       Macken or Siberski
            Anelka

We need to start winning the midfield battle and have players that will either get to the byline or make runs from midfield. By placing SWP and Tiatto wide it gives us balance, pace and aggression. Bosvelt and Barton can boss midfield and Macken/Sibby can then look to hold the ball up and support Anelka. The Fowler/Anelka partnership has to be dropped, it just doesn’t work; why KK perseveres with it is ridiculous. I’ll be upset if we get relegated but if we are not good enough I can accept that, what I can’t accept is players not being fully committed. They may be “nervous” but nerves don’t stop you running back, putting in tackles and fighting for the cause. On today’s evidence you could have picked David James, Richard Dunne and any nine from the stands and you would have got a better display of passion. I can only hope that we find our form quickly otherwise the Nationwide and financial disaster (if you believe the article in the Telegraph) are just around the corner.

MATCH VIEW I: MCFC 1 SOUTHAMPTON 3

This match has to be the worst I’ve seen City play all season. As far as I can recall it was even worse than the game against Leicester. Soton were quicker to the ball, more incisive in their passing and certainly more deadly in front of goal. If ever Keegan’s selection policies were exposed as the sham they are it was today. McManaman did the right thing and got off before 10 minutes elapsed, he could probably see what was coming!

Now can Keegan et al see that Fowler and Anelka do not meld as a partnership and that Jihai Sun is simply not good enough at this level? The team were spineless and totally lacked leadership (anyone else see the excellent interview with Barton in Saturday’s Guardian? Confirming what most fans have seen all season, no leadership on the pitch). Again we struggled to gain dominance in the midfield. When will Keegan learn that we need more strength there? As for Fowler, surely he’s had enough chances now (mind you being worth £25 million doesn’t exactly make one hungry, does it?); again he missed a simple opportunity to bring us back in to the game. Similarly with Anelka, a one-on-one and the goalkeeper did not even have to make a save.

Will Keegan make changes for the Leicester game? Well he certainly should. Surely, Fowler will be droppped and Barton could be recalled to the squad. Can we please have Jon Macken against them (he scored there in the Cup) and a tough midfield (both Bosvelt and Barton?). If we play 4 at the back, no Jihai Sun. I’d like to see Wiekens given a chance if he is fit, although I don’t think he is, and Danny Tiatto on the bench. This club started going downhill when Fowler arrived and players were selected on ‘name’/reputation rather than form. And that’s why Keegan should go at the end of this season, whatever position we attain.

MATCH REPORT: MCFC RESERVES 1 WBA RESERVES 2

West Brom Bag a Share of the Points

City blew the chance to finish second in the league and improve on their third place position of last year by dropping two points in the first of their games in hand. A goal for each team either side of half time earned them both a one all draw. City scored from our leading goalscorer, Stephen Elliott, on sixteen minutes and West Bromwich equalized four minutes after the break from an Artim Sakiri penalty.

A game where City fielded Marc Laird, who struggles to last ninety minutes in normal circumstances, in midfield when he had only just stepped off the plane that morning from his long haul flight from Thailand is quite blatant stupidity on the part of the coaching staff. But then they decided to double the blunder by not substituting him late on, instead, taking off Bradley Wright-Phillips and replacing him with Michael McGinlay, the son of former Scottish international John, to make his reserve team début. The thinking behind the substitution has to be questioned, as Michael has not started an U17 Academy game since well before Christmas and he is not half the player that Kelvin Etuhu is, who was also on the bench.

Compared to City’s young and inexperienced side, West Brom fielded a side that was full of first team experience. That experience proved to be of little use to them in the first half as City controlled the game. This was shown where Bradley had two good chances to score in the first ten minutes. The first effort came from a poor mis-directed cross from Lee Croft, but the West Brom defence failed to deal with it and it ran to Bradley but he shot well over the bar. The second effort came when Elliott played Bradley free in the box but Tamika Mkandawire put a good block in, near the goal line.

A minute later saw Elliott head a Croft cross back across the edge of the six yard box but Glenn Whelan was unable to keep his shot down. Man of the match Glenn then made amends for his miss by floating a great long crossfield pass to Jamie Tandy, who beat the full back and ran to the dead ball line and cut the ball back perfectly for Elliot to slot the ball into the right corner of the net.

West Brom’s only chance of the first half fell after twenty-four minutes when Sakiri was put through on goal but Kevin Ellegaard came out sharply and saved well at Sakiri’s feet.

Glenn was again at the heart of City’s next good chance when Tandy made another strong run down the left and he released Glenn who delivered a well weighted cross only to see Bradley miss the target once again and head over. Surprisingly, with all City’s possession, they took until the thirty-third minute to win their first corner, but nothing came of it and City were unable to create any further chances as the half drew to a close.

The half time substitution of Senegalese international Alassane N’Dour for Tom Barnett proved to be decisive as only three minutes after the restart when the ball was taken to City’s dead ball line by Barnett whilst being under close scrutiny from Stephen Jordan, Barnett fell over the ball and took it over the dead ball line, but the referee’s assistant failed to see this and give a goal kick. Jordan then obviously thought that it was a goal kick and pulled Barnett back when he thought that he had kicked the ball away to waste time. As the ball was not dead and Barnett was just inside the penalty area, the referee rightly awarded the penalty. The referee then made matters worse by booking Jordan and Paddy McCarthy for their protest for the incompetence of his assistant.

Artim Sakiri, the Macedonian international who scored direct from a corner against England in October 2002, then stepped up to fire an unstoppable shot from the penalty spot to give an undeserved leveller to the visitors.

For the next twenty-five minutes City pressed forward to try to gain back a deserved lead in the game. Elliott nearly doubled his tally when again Glenn had found a City player in space, this time Bradley, and he squared it to Elliott, but his shot went inches wide. Five minutes later Ellegaard pulled off a fine save from James O’Connor, the former Irish youth International and summer transfer from Stoke City.

Bradley was then unlucky to see a shot deflected wide for a corner off Berndt Haas’ sliced clearance that was nearly an own goal, when Croft had played Bradley in on goal. Two minutes later Sekou Berthe was called into a goal line clearance to prevent Stephen Elliott from scoring what looked like a certain goal.

City’s late substitution of Bradley did nothing to enhance City’s chances of getting a winner and allowed the chances of an improvement on last season’s finish slip away as second place Liverpool pull further away. City’s next game is where they entertain Aston Villa, who are effectively reserve league champions elect and because of their involvement in the Youth Cup final were forced to postpone the fixture twenty four hours to Wednesday 21st April.

Ellegaard: Pulled off some good saves and good distribution. 8
Warrender: Played well and strong in the tackle after his long flight. 7
Jordan (capt): Will learn to play to the referee’s whistle after this costly mistake. 6
Whelan: The reserves will be a lot poorer for his absence to Wednesday next season. MoM. 9
McCarthy: We’ve come to expect high standards, and he delivers time and again. 8
Onuoha: A much better ninety minutes than last week at Birmingham. 8
Croft: Why oh why can’t he use his obvious talents to more effect? 7
Laird: Never got settled into the game and really struggled at the end. 6
Elliott: Worked hard up front as always and was a constant threat. 8
Wright-Phillips (81): Never hid, appeared to leave his usual shooting boots at home. 7
Tandy: Worked well in the first half, quieter in the second. 7

Subs:
McGinlay (81): A wasted substition as he’s not even a regular in the U17s. No Rating.
Not Used: Timms, Russell, Etuhu, Williamson.

West Brom: Miotto, Haas, N-Dour (Barnett 46), Mkandawire, Berthe, Volmer, O’Connor (Crane 72), Hulse, Skoubo, Sakiri, Wallwork (capt).
Not Used: Cudworth, Walmer, Paszouvwic.

Attendance: 355.

OPINION: THE TWELFTH MAN

I, like most of you out there, am well p**sed off after another dismal performance courtesy of our overpaid footballers. I have read in the last few issues where fans are disgruntled about so many issues, and for the most part I agree with them, but the bottom line is we need to win two games to stay where we belong. I believe we can do it, for what it’s worth, so we the fans have to be the extra man for the rest of the season.

I was at a good few games this season including the game on Easter Saturday and I was a bit p**sed off that almost from the kick off, as soon as one of our own players made a mistake, the heckling started. I was in the south stand, and for the whole game three t**sers must have slagged off every City player on the pitch. I get frustrated like all football fans, but have never seen the sense in this continuous abuse from so called City fans.

There will be 3,300 Blues in Leicester next week and I have no doubt that they will do their bit for our club, but when we play Newcastle at home the week after, and I will be there God willing, let’s raise the roof, big time. I will finish by making a simple request, if you don’t love City please stay away.

We are City, Super City,
We are City from Maine Road,
We are City, Super City,
We are City from Maine Road.

OPINION: DEFEND TO SURVIVE

Well it was too much to expect that we could have two seasons on the run without being embroiled in relegation or promotion and well it wouldn’t be City otherwise would it? In the “olden days” this was the time of year when Dave Ewing was brought back from the reserves to apply his “they shall not pass” approach to defending to help avoid relegation, and perhaps there is something to learn from that approach.

Our best recent run has come with three central defenders. Now van Buyten isn’t available but surely that formation has to be worth another try with Wiekens in the middle of the three. Neither Tarnat nor Sun Jihai are the securest of defenders and it makes sense to me to have a back three behind them and allow them more space to move the ball forward, which is both their strengths.

Up front, for whatever reason, the Fowler/Anelka combination doesn’t seem very threatening and the choice should be either Anelka with Wanchope, which should be entertaining if not effective, or Fowler with Macken which would probably more effective though perhaps not so entertaining. As response to the question “where would we be without Anelka’s goals?” the league answer seems to be that if Anelka hadn’t played all season and his replacement(s) hadn’t scored any goals at all we would be 11 points worse off. Sadly, since the Bolton game in October we haven’t won a league game when Anelka has played.

Ah well, back to the ice pack.

OPINION: SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT?

Ian Burgess’ comments in MCIVTA 1008 in response to Stephen Miller made me think of putting the Keegan situation into a non-football context. I work as a software engineer, so consider the following:

You give me control over a large budget to develop an application for you (read: good football team). I can hire my own team of developers (read: backroom staff) and I ask only to be judged after a reasonably long timeframe (read: 3 years). Initial versions of the application run well in a simple scenario (read: Division 1) and looks initially successful when deployed in its target environment (read: the Premiership, 9th place, derby victory).

However, as time goes on the application shows serious performance problems (read: Groclin, Portsmouth, Spurs [Carling Cup], etc.). There is murmuring of discontent over my choice of old and seemingly incompatible tools (read: most of last summer’s signings). The end users (read: the fans) are not happy with the application and I am eventually summoned to a meeting to decide on the future of the project.

Do I:

a) Defend everything I’ve done with a Ferguson-style “what the hell do youse know about football” (read: software development!) attitude? Carry on with the same approach.

b) Reflect on what has gone well and what has gone badly. Do some analysis on why certain things have worked and see how the application can be tailored to meet the immediate needs of the users (read: avoid relegation).

Sadly, I think that too many football people take option a) at this point. Reversing the rôles, I could question what a football manager would know about software. The answer is that he does not have to know how to write software but he can recognize a lot of bad software just by running it. Similarly, as Ian noted, we would not all stand up as football managers but we can recognize poor results and unbalanced teams when we see them.

Despite this sad meandering, I’m not sufficient of a statto to analyse the performance of the team when we have had Anelka and Fowler up front as opposed to Macken + anyone else. However, I would be very surprised if the former out-performed the latter (note here, I’m talking team results, not just goals scored by individual strikers). I have no personal agenda against any of the players here, I just would like us to build a winning team (not try and throw together). Oh, and at this stage of the season I’m afraid that “performance” is measured in terms of games won and drawn, not exciting football let down by lack of a killer ball or poor finishing.

The next time you watch our first choice strike partnership failing to gel, remember that one definition of madness is to repeat the same actions and expect a different outcome 🙂

Here’s to 15 points from the next 5 matches (this was written after the Spurs match but before Southampton).

OPINION: ADDING IT ALL UP?

I’m writing this on the Friday before the Southampton game and I’ve got a nasty feeling that Soton will do to us what they did, before my very disappointed eyes, at the last Maine Road league match. Furthermore, it would not surprise me if Leeds repeated last season’s Highbury result, which leaves us…!

Anybody who catches a glimpse of Abramovitch’s face during and after a Chelsea match will realise that the guy is no real ‘fan’ of either the team or, I suspect, the game. I’ve seen more enthusiasm lying on a bed of ice in my local fishmonger’s. The plain fact is that he, and a number of nouveau riche Russians, are anxious to transfer their wealth out of Russia and away from the predatory gaze of Putin. A prime site in west-central London, owned by a debt-ridden listed company, which happened to include a football club, was an ideal target. Let’s not forget that the zillions invested in players who, even in these depressed markets, have a residual sale value, pales into relative insignificance when compared with the value of the Chelsea Village and Stamford Bridge freeholds, which he got on the cheap.

In any case, a substantial part of the, purely football, outlay is already being defrayed by the income engendered by Chelsea’s UEFA Champions’ League run.

Compare that scenario with the nightmare facing City. If we go down, our immediate cash-flow forecasts will be slashed by £20 million (estimates vary). We’ll be forced to off-load high-wage big name non-performers at fire-sale prices. Despite the magnificent support of those 25,000 plus season ticket holders who have stumped up, sight unseen, for next season’s voyage of discovery, if we are relegated, our attendances will suffer. Sunderland are not doing too badly but they are lucky to exceed 26,000 at the SofL. Any parachute sops we get by way of compensation for loss of Premiership status will be subsumed in propping up a punctured balance sheet that reflects the asset losses when our ‘stars’ are sold.

Reportedly, we are currently some £50 million in the red overall and trading, so far, at a £13 million loss. We’ve exchanged the freehold of Maine Road for the long-term lease of Eastlands and I bet there is no buy-back provision clause contained in the agreement. Unlike Chelsea, therefore, we have no solid collateral to underpin the notional equity in the club. Do we really believe that hard-nosed investors, whether they be Russians, Arabs or Americans are going to invest a single penny other than on the most disadvantageous terms to us and with the direst implications for the future well-being and prosperity of our club?. On the other hand, and looking on the bright side, if we go down, there won’t be much ‘asset’ to strip. That should put them off!

OPINION: ENOUGH ALREADY?

Several weeks ago after 12 games without a win, I put forward my views to MCIVTA, about the team and Keegan in particular, that he was not the manager for City and he should go. Well as all are aware, the situation is much worse now. Much, much worse, and we are staring at disaster. Yet another woeful, gutless performance from the team. While those teams around us are fighting for their very existence, City seem happy to just go through the motions.

A letter on the M.E.N. website just about sums it up, and I hope the author (Adi, Prestwich) doesn’t mind sharing it with MCIVTA readers. He or she says:

Sorry Kev, I’ve tried to back you all season (which has been almost impossible at times) but I can’t any more. What I witnessed on Saturday was beyond description. Seventy million pounds has produced that? How much have Southampton spent on their vastly superior team? And Charlton? Fulham? Birmingham? In fact every team in the Premiership other than the big four. I am dumbfounded that you have failed so spectacularly to produce any semblance of a team capable of challenging for anything other than relegation. You have bemoaned City’s bad luck all season, but you are well wide of the mark Kevin. It is bad management that is responsible for our position and nothing else. If you are not able to organise and motivate a team brimming with experience and talent, playing in front of 47,000 fervent supporters every other week, in one of the best stadiums in Europe, then you should leave it to someone who knows what they are doing. You have sacrificed the future of our beloved club by lavishing millions of pounds on poor signings in order to pursue your own brand of hopelessly misguided attacking football. The whole footballing world was telling you to sort out the defence, so what did you do? Wasted all of your kitty on useless midfielders. You are naïve at best and arrogant at worst. This is far from being the worst side ever, in fact it is potentially the best. However, it is by some margin the worst managed side that this club has ever seen (and that is saying something). I began this season with so much hope and have defended you all season. Thanks for shattering my dreams.

I agree with Adi 100%, except that I lost faith in KK much earlier, when he insisted on getting rid of the Goat and Berko. The inclusion of these two players in the team would have made the world of difference this season.

What I find so sad is that if we do go down, and with the effort and attitude of most of the current crop, that would seem now to be a forgone conclusion, all that we have hoped for the future will be gone. SWP is sure to move on, as are any other players of any talent. Van Buyten will certainly not be making the move permanent (even if we could afford it) and as for the Russian billionaires (if there was any truth in the stories) they would take no interest in a 1st Division team.

If the attitude and effort of the players does not improve dramatically over the final four games, then I see a real disaster. Sure we have been relegated in the past and have bounced back, but this time it is different, we are £70 million in debt, revenue will fall dramatically in the First Division, and short of a miracle, I cannot see how we could ever repay that sort of money.

Thanks Kev.

OPINION: POSITIVE VIBES

I’ve decided to say nothing at all until the season is over. I am directing all my energies to the team so that we can remain in the Premiership. If we achieve that then I know we will all have lots to say about management, players, board, length of grass in spots from where City forwards shoot etc. But for now, I will hide my disappointment in results and send positive vibes for the last four games.

OPINION: THE WAY FORWARD? I

I’ve always supported KK for all the good things he has brought to the club and forgiven him for some poor signings of late. Not many managers can get it right all the time and I am all for stability and continuity, but after Saturday I wonder whether KK’s position can be tenable for much longer.

A manager is judged mainly on the players brought into the club being an improvement on present players, motivation, and playing a system bringing the best out of the squad. In my 48 years watching City I can’t remember many teams with so many below average players for the division we are in playing in such a casual manner devoid of any shape, urgency and will to win. Most fans would show the door to all but 3 of Saturday’s team for one reason or another and the 2 outfield players out of those 3 were signed by the previous manager!

Stop the talk about bad luck, it is true but Southampton was the game they lay down and died; is this because most will just go to Ringway (or back to West Lancashire) after the last game never to be seen again? Whose fault is that?

Still hoping for a miracle.

OPINION: THE WAY FORWARD? II

Mr Keegan, glad you’re back.

Stay up! Do a QPR if necessary (with Vinnie Jones as coach a couple of years ago, draw 7 straight games at end of season, just to pass, well it surely made it for them).

Sell whoever you want but make sure that Big Dan stays.

Play 3-5-2 with Big Dan in the middle (he is like two central defenders). Biggie is the best signing ever.

REQUEST: TICKET FOR LEICESTER I

I’m desperately after one or two tickets for the Leicester, I can be contacted on 0775-864-883 or email.

REQUEST: TICKET FOR LEICESTER II

Has anyone got a spare ticket for the Leicester City game please? Call 01509 611548 or email.

REQUEST: TICKETS FOR LEICESTER AVAILABLE

Two tickets for Leicester available, City end, face value. Need to do this by post or meet, as I now can’t go to the match. Contact 07768 661755 (mobile) or email.

REQUEST: BLUES VIEWING IN BRUSSELS

On 24 April I will be in Brussels trying to find a pub to watch the Leicester game in. Are there any Belgian Blues out there who can help me locate a bar that will definitely show our game in front of the Rags?

REQUEST: BLUES VIEWING IN UK!

According to the satellite listings, the Leicester match is live on various euro channels.

Does anyone know of anywhere (in the Manchester area) that might be showing the game?

REQUEST: ICELAND AND JAPAN BASED BLUES

Without trawling through the subs list, please could any of our readers/subscribers in Iceland and Japan get in touch with me?

REQUEST: 5-A-SIDE COMPETITION

The Centenary Supporters’ Association (CSA) is holding its annual 5-a-side football competition on Saturday 19th June 2004 at the MCFC Platt Lane Complex, Manchester. The competition commences at 10am and finishes at 2pm. A buffet and presentation of trophies takes place in the Oasis Suite following the final game.

The CSA welcomes and invites any group of City supporters to take part. We already have an application from the MCFC sponsored amputee team and invites have been extended to the OSC and MCFC Ladies. I’m wondering if there is anybody out there who would like to organise a team to represent MCIVTA readers or any of the websites.

Entrance to the competition is £10 per team and cheques should be made payable to MCCSA and forwarded to myself. All enquiries should also be directed to myself by email or tel no 0161-281-7517.

REQUEST: KITS FOR HAITI

I have just returned from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where I was doing a bit of radio and press. While I was there I visited L’Athletique d’Haiti, a soccer school for kids from Cite Soleil, Haiti’s worst slum. It’s run by a friend of mine on voluntary donations from his friends, and it provides soccer training, food, medicine and education for up to 300 kids a day. Its successes are significant: up to 20% of the Haitian national league trained there. Perhaps more significant is the escape route it offers young people in a country where drug-running and gangsterism are the only growth industries. In short, they need football kits, and I’m asking everyone I know for their cast-offs. Any size, any condition, any team. The kids are small because they’re underfed, so literally any size will do. They needn’t match. Drop me a line if you have any old kits knocking around, or any leads at all. I’m shipping over a container-load of stuff at the end of the summer, so there’s plenty of time.

RESULTS

18 April 2004

Aston Villa           0 - 0  Newcastle United      40,786

17 April 2004

Portsmouth            1 - 0  Manchester United     20,140
Blackburn Rovers      1 - 0  Leicester City        22,749
Bolton Wanderers      2 - 0  Tottenham Hotspur     26,440
Charlton Athletic     1 - 1  Birmingham City       25,206
Chelsea               0 - 0  Everton               41,169
Liverpool             0 - 0  Fulham                42,042
Manchester City       1 - 3  Southampton           47,152
Wolverhampton Wndrs   2 - 0  Middlesbrough         27,975

16 April 2004

Arsenal               5 - 0  Leeds United          38,094

League table to 18 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         33 14  3  0 38 13 10  6  0 29  9 24  9  0  67  22  45  81
 2 Chelsea         34 10  4  3 29 13 12  2  3 31 14 22  6  6  60  27  33  72
 3 Manchester Utd  33 11  3  2 34 13 10  2  5 25 19 21  5  7  59  32  27  68
 4 Liverpool       34  9  3  5 26 14  4  8  5 22 22 13 11 10  48  36  12  50
 5 Newcastle Utd   33 10  4  3 30 12  2 10  4 15 21 12 14  7  45  33  12  50
 6 Aston Villa     34  8  6  3 23 17  5  4  8 21 23 13 10 11  44  40   4  49
 7 Charlton Ath.   33  6  5  6 25 26  7  4  5 19 15 13  9 11  44  41   3  48
 8 Birmingham City 34  8  4  5 24 19  4  7  6 16 23 12 11 11  40  42  -2  47
 9 Southampton     33  8  4  4 19 11  4  5  8 19 22 12  9 12  38  33   5  45
10 Fulham          34  8  4  5 27 20  4  5  8 20 24 12  9 13  47  44   3  45
11 Middlesbrough   34  7  4  6 22 20  5  5  7 18 22 12  9 13  40  42  -2  45
12 Bolton Wndrs    34  5  8  4 20 18  6  3  8 20 33 11 11 12  40  51 -11  44
13 Everton         34  8  5  4 26 17  1  7  9 16 30  9 12 13  42  47  -5  39
14 Tottenham H.    34  8  3  6 30 25  3  2 12 12 29 11  5 18  42  54 -12  38
15 Blackburn R.    34  4  3 10 23 30  6  4  7 25 27 10  7 17  48  57  -9  37
16 Portsmouth      33  9  2  5 28 16  1  5 11  9 31 10  7 16  37  47 -10  37
17 Manchester City 34  3  9  5 25 23  4  4  9 22 27  7 13 14  47  50  -3  34
18 Leeds United    34  5  6  6 21 26  3  2 12 14 43  8  8 18  35  69 -34  32
19 Leicester City  34  2  9  6 15 26  3  4 10 26 33  5 13 16  41  59 -18  28
20 Wolves          34  6  5  6 21 32  0  5 12 12 39  6 10 18  33  71 -38  28

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.

Heidi Pickup, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

Editor: