Newsletter #1027

Heidi’s not around for this issue, so I’m standing in for her in her absence. Quite a small edition tonight, a couple of opinions on DvB signing for Hamburg, a view on the possible departure of Stephen Jordan to Peterborough and comments on Zidane’s free kick, but first of all we start with Don’s news roundup! Good win for England this evening, finishing 3-0 against Switzerland; next up for England, Croatia on Monday.

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

Soul Brother #1 Retires:Assistant Manager Arthur Cox has announced his retirement from football.This ends Cox’s long association with KK, which began in 1982 when City’sassistant manager was in charge at Newcastle, and signed the bubble-permedKeegan from Southampton. “I am sixty-five this year and it istime to make way for someone else,” said Cox this week. “Alongside manyother people my contribution to football has been negligible but whateverI have done and whichever club I have been at I have always doneeverything in their best interest. I have made this decision in the bestinterest of Manchester City and Arthur Cox.” Mr. Keegan commented “It’snot a father/son relationship we have, but he is my soul brother. Arthurhas been a wonderful servant to football and great influence on mycareer. I’ve known him a long time and I owe him so much. He’s been atrue friend and confidante. I hope he enjoys his retirement to the full.”Chairman John Wardle paid his own tribute: “Arthur Cox is a true footballman who is respected throughout the game. He is a man of great knowledgeand dignity and I would like to thank him for his service to our clubthese past three years. He will always be welcome at the City ofManchester Stadium and our Carrington training complex.” It has beenwidely reported that Stuart Pearce will be appointed as Keegan’s newAssistant. The Sunday People revealed that Pearce “will also takeresponsibility for the fitness of the City players. He is expected toadopt a hardline approach. Senior figures in the City boardroom believePearce is just the man to help revive the club’s flagging fortunes aftera season spent looking over their shoulders. There were genuine fears atCity that the club would be relegated last season and the board believePearce will bring discipline and organisation to the team if he is givena more senior rôle. The former Nottingham Forest star was fourth in thepecking order at City behind Cox and Fazackerley – but has jumped thequeue to work alongside Keegan. Instead, Fazackerley will remain on thecoaching staff, with Pearce in a more senior rôle as part of a plan toshake up some of the club’s under-achieving stars.”

Claudio’s Famous: Claudio Reyna has been inducted into the USA Hall of Fame after making his 100th appearance for the United States. Reyna reached this milestone when he faced Honduras at the Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Boston on Monday. Reyna is the seventh player make 100 appearances for the US and he presented his shirt from the Honduras game to the Hall of Fame after the game. Hall of Fame chief Jack Huckel said: “We are proud to accept this jersey. We will have it on display in short order. This jersey represents an important achievement for Claudio and for US Soccer. We are proud to play a part in honouring this achievement.”

Transfer News and Gossip

Van Buyten’s a Hamburger: You’ll remember that our Beloved Leader said that the chances of signing Daniel van Buyten “were at best, zero”? Well it has come to pass – City have missed out on the permanent signing of DvB after he decided to join Hamburg. The 26-year-old defender has signed a four-year contract with the German side for a fee of £3 million. “I really wanted to move to Hamburg,” said van Buyten. “I was convinced after holding talks with the management. I think that there’s something really big about to happen at Hamburg and I’m glad to be able to do my bit to help.” And Hamburg coach Klaus Toppmöller said: “He was undoubtedly our player of choice for the position in the centre of defence. I am as delighted as an excited kid that he has joined us.”

City to Catch Thatch:KK has decided to reinforce the left full-back area by signing BenThatcher from Leicester City. The fee has not been announced, althoughlast week it was speculated that Thatcher had a clause in his contract(like Paul Dickov’s) allowing him to leave for £100,000 if the club wererelegated. This suggests that the weekend speculation linking Portugalleft-back Nuno Valente with a £2 million move to City from Porto wassadly wide of the mark (thanks Matt Thomas for the item). There wasalways some doubt about the Valente link anyway – where was the money, asKK has already announced City’s poverty?

Posh Goes for Jordan: Fear not, gentle reader, you haven’t strayed onto the celebrity gossip pages. BBC Sport’s website reports that Peterborough boss Barry Fry will be holding talks with Stephen Jordan on Friday. The impending arrival of Ben Thatcher suggests that Jordan’s future at the club is bleak. The same article also said that Fry is considering signing ex-City player Spencer Prior, who has just been released by Cardiff City.

Home, Michael! Just to continue with the left back vibe: Michael Tarnat has joined German club Hannover 96. The 34-year-old left back has agreed a two-year deal at the AWD Arena after successful talks with Hannover coach Ewald Lienen. After turning down a return to his home city of Munich, where relegated 1860 had made the former Bayern full-back an offer, Tarnat has instead joined Hannover.

Italians Milk Wanchope Interest: In Italy, Lecce’s new coach Zdenek Zeman is interested in making Paulo Wanchope one of his first signings. The experienced former Lazio boss is an admirer of the leggy Costa Rica international and has reportedly already forwarded Wanchope’s name to the club’s board.

Other News: In other news: City, you’ll remember, were recently linked with Javier De Pedro of Real Sociedad. De Pedro signed this week for Blackburn Rovers Football Club on a two-year deal. De Pedro, who’s 30, was available on a free after his contract with Real Sociedad ran out and had also been linked with Bolton and City. The Sunday People reckons that Robbie Savage is on KK’s wanted list should Joey Barton quit Manchester City.

Ex-Blues’ News

Georgia on His Mind: “Kinkladze Set for Return” screamed the headline in the M.E.N. – was this the sign of a sensational return to the Sky Blue shirt for Kinky? Err, no actually. He’s actually set to re-join Dinamo Tbilisi. The 31-year-old, without a club for 13 months, has agreed a short-term deal to return to the Georgian outfit he first played for 13 years ago, according to newspaper Olimpi. Kinkladze tried his luck with Greek side Panathinaikos and several English clubs including Leeds, Bolton and Portsmouth, but failed to find a permanent home due to lack of fitness. However, Dinamo Tbilisi’s new manager Gia Geguchadze is eager to sign Kinkladze to help the former Georgian champions with their forthcoming UEFA Cup campaign. “Kinkladze is in negotiations with us and likely he will sign for us in near future,” Geguchadze told the newspaper.

Eyal Be Seeing You: Eyal Berkovic will retire when his contract with Portsmouth expires in two years, the midfielder said on Friday. Speaking to the Israeli daily Maariv, the 32-year-old said he felt trepidation as the end of his playing career approaches. “I’m scared of the day my career will come to an end,” he said and admitted that he promised his wife, Tali, that he would not make any further contractual commitments as a player after he finishes with Portsmouth. “It’s fear of the unknown. You need a lot of courage to hang up your boots,” Berkovic said. “Thirty four is a nice age. I see players continue to 38 but they do it only for the money. I love football but I promised Tali and promises have to be kept,” Berkovic said. Berkovic said that he plans to return to Israel after his contract expired but would not play there. “After playing in England it is difficult to go back and play in Israel,” he said. It’s not clear how much KK will be donating to Eyal’s retirement present.

Blue Euro 2004

Video Nasty: It was an eventful opening match in Euro 2004 for England’s No.1, David James. England were beaten 2-1 by France, due to two injury time goals from Zinedine Zidane. The TV pundits were critical of Jamo, claiming that he should have arranged the defensive wall better for Zidane’s first goal from a free kick, and then could have avoided conceding the penalty. James later commented: “We’ve watched the video of the game for technical reasons and it wasn’t happy viewing. The frustration was that we played well for 90 minutes. We can take a lot of positives from the match. But those last three minutes are still hard to take. We’ve just got to get on with it and I’m sure we’ll emerge as a stronger team for that experience. The dressing room was a very glum place immediately after the game and Sunday evening wasn’t a good one for any of us. But now we’ve collected our thoughts and there’s a much more positive mood. We’re not in a bad position and our situation hasn’t actually changed. It’s still a case of two wins and we’re through. The focus is now on Thursday and the fact we had such a good game on Sunday can be taken into that match with the Swiss. But we can’t assume the Swiss are no good and, if we take any team lightly, we’ll be out. They’re in the tournament and they deserve to be here. We’ll treat them as seriously as we treated the French. We’ve just got to make sure it’s a different result. Thursday is about winning – nothing else. As good as Sunday’s performance was, it got us no points. If the performance on Thursday is rubbish and we win, then we will be happy.” City’s other player at the tournament, Paul Bosvelt, was on the bench as an unused substitute as the Dutch earned a point in their Euro 2004 opener against Germany.

Squad News

For Knees a Jolly Good Fellow: Paulo Wanchope has completed remedial treatment on his knees and will be ready to join City for pre-season training on July 7. Wanchope has been treated by Dr Jaime Ulloa in his homeland for the last three weeks with a drug that helps to stop cartilage degradation. Ulloa told Wanchope’s official website: “Paulo is not injured, he just needed this treatment that is very effective for patients who have suffered several knee injuries.” And Wanchope revealed: “Before coming to Costa Rica, Manchester City’s doctors recommended me to do it, so now I’m happy because I know it gives good results.” This is the third time the striker has undergone treatment. He added: “Since I returned to my country I go to the gym to strengthen my knees. I want to be in great shape to begin the pre-season training.”

News Note:

Sara Longshaw has kindly agreed to provide the News Summary for next week, issue 1029. Please send all news items to Sarah, at the usual news address.

OPINION: HAMBURG BOUND

I am very disappointed to read this news. I saw van Buyten as a symbol of City’s willingness to accept that the squad needed strengthening in certain areas and Keegan’s willingness to see that defence is very important. On both counts we are now back to square one and I can only reflect that earlier transfers by the club have now left us in a position of not being able to bring in players where they are needed. Are we really so bereft of funds? Are there other central defenders out there? Possibly, but will they come at the price Hamburg paid?

I thought the England game yesterday was depressing enough (but I am going to say something I never thought possible… Gary Neville had a very good game!) but this City news doesn’t cheer me up at all. I still see the need to be able to squeeze out 1-0 wins in order to do well in the Premiership – for that you do need a very good defence.

This is why this is such a great newsletter… I keep up with all the possibilities and news and in all the years of reading this newsletter I can’t remember such unanimous comments about a particular player and their worth to City. I look forward to the next chapter in the story of who the heck will be coming to City this summer.

OPINION: VAN BUYTEN

OK, further to my rant about DvB, he has now gone to Hamburg for approximately the cost of one of Vuoso’s old socks (by the way, a player we have hardly seen).

So the question is this: what is Keegan doing? Is his interest just in making Kevin Keegan look good in the short term, and sod what happens when he goes?

There is a plethora of our young talent on its way out. Danny Tiatto, a player who dragged our team up 2 divisions when others weren’t interested or not wanted on journey. Gerard Wiekens, someone who never let us down; someone is going to get a bargain there, a team with ambition maybe? What’s next? Sweep for Arsenal, Joey for Liverpool, Anelka for Mecca? I am normally the eternal optimist, “It will be okay, because KK told us it would”, but the DvB thing has really got to me; as someone said in MCIVTA 1026, he was worth the money just for the 3 or 4 places up the league he would have taken us, the man would have paid for himself! But apart from that, buying him would have been a sign that we actually had an ambition to build a team. All I see with what we have is a KK “live for the minute” squad.

We will probably be ok, mid table-ish for the next couple of years, (until KK gets his pipe and slippers out) but then look out Burnley and Wigan, we’re going to be gunning for you again!

It’s hard, but keep the faith.

OPINION: THE FUTURE

Manchester City have got to depend on the players already at the club to do well next season, and City do have some very good players and a very good manager in Kevin Keegan.

Next season will be better, but all the players must roll up their sleeves and give their best for the club. Any personal differences must be put aside with a clean slate to the new season.

The young stars at the club have become more important than ever before, because of City’s financial problems.

The only players that might join City are the ones on Bosmans, who are nearly always not wanted by their previous clubs, or they want too much money through their agents, not that they are bad players.

Some fans might be upset that City have said no more cash for players to KK, but to be realistic the club are right. There is a limit to spending and it had to stop for the future of the club.

City are not the only club with financial problems, there are many, so look on the bright side that we still have some decent players with a great stadium; all is not doom and gloom.

Pre-season games start on July 21st at Bury. We know that all the young players will not make it to the senior side, for odds are against it, but just to see the club give some of these players a game or two in pre-season will be encouraging. Who knows, someone might come through playing even better under pressure.

Dennis Tueart (Director), Jim Cassell (Coach) and his coaching staff, are doing a tremendous job at the Academy. They would be very proud to produce a first team player, and perhaps save the club millions.

Come on you Blues!

OPINION: STEPHEN JORDAN

Stephen Jordan is reported (BBC) to be having talks with Peterborough manager Barry Fry on Friday.

For Jordan to leave for Peterborough might be the wrong thing for this young player to do in his career, but agents have their priorities and playing in a team each week is a big factor.

The coaching staff at City have their reasons for letting this young player have his talks with another team.

It’s always sad to hear of a young player wanting to leave City when his reports were encouraging but this will, as another reader pointed out, make room for another Academy player to step forward, and maybe he will be a better prospect for City in the future.

OPINION: ARE THESE ‘PROFESSIONAL’ PLAYERS?

I am flabbered and indeed also gasted by the statements today about Euro 2004; that the FA provided David James with the highlights of France’s last 7 games but did not include any footage of double Z’s free kicks. I’m not stunned that the FA screwed up, heck that seems to be par for the course, but that David James relied on the FA or anyone else for that matter in this regard. Given that earlier this season I was able, it appears, to find out more about our Polish opponents than the City backroom (or more accurately the team certainly played as if I knew more) I had suspected that the following was the case but really I am amazed.

Are you seriously telling me that in this day and age a professional footballer doesn’t record every single game that is available and make sure he knows what his opponents do; especially so for a goalkeeper? James should have a “book” on every tendency of every player he is likely to face. Apparently not. Wish I lived back in the UK, it would seem there would be a business opportunity.

And going off on a tangent (would you expect any less? No? Good, then I shall proceed) I’ve seen this level of “professionalism” hinted at before. You’ll get statements from managers, not just ours, that they were contacted by an agent because (in words to the effect) “we didn’t know Joe Smith’s contract was coming to an end.” Well why not? Is it not the rôle of a club to know the status of every potential player? Or you’ll hear of a video being sent in by a player’s agent that reveals a player the team knew little about!

I just don’t understand the lack of organisation that implies. Surely if you unearth one good player a year the cost savings in transfer fees alone would justify any spending?

What am I missing?

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.

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

Editor: