Newsletter #1188

City crawled back from the ignominy of Wednesday night to eventually win 3-1 against Scunthorpe and ensure we progress to round 4 of the FA Cup. A shambolic first half, however, where we reverted to the “hoof it and hope” approach, for things finally to change second half as some more appropriate substitutions were made by Pearce. We now face Wigan or Leeds, at home, on the weekend of 28-29 January.

Tonight we have a match report of the FA Cup game, thanks to Colin, Svenn’s view of the Spurs débâcle, and plenty of opinion in reaction to comments from Thursday’s issue.

We also have prediction league updates, and the usual requests ahead of this weekend’s derby.

MATCH REPORT: MCFC 3 SUFC 1 (FA CUP 3)

It’s the FA Cup, we are playing lower league opposition and nervously wondering which City was going to turn up. Are we going to hit the headlines for the right or wrong reasons on Saturday night? Ah the joy of being a City fan!

First observations on the game were on the way to COMS. The traffic was much lighter than usual on a match day indicating that there wasn’t going to be a big crowd. Inside the stadium at 2:30 was the most astonishing sight – the South stand was jam-packed with Scunthorpe fans while the other three stands were sparsely populated. It was a bit better by kick-off but it was clear the crowd was well under 30,000. There were three changes from Wednesday, Jordan unsurprisingly in for Thatcher and Sibierski and Fowler up front instead of Cole and Vassell. This time though Sun was on the left and Ireland in central midfield after Psycho’s dreadful miscalculation on Wednesday. It was also great to see old favourite Peter Beagrie in the starting line-up for Scunthorpe. It would be great to see his trademark back-flip after a goal but only once we had the game safely won.

City started quite brightly with an early chance for Fowler but it quickly seemed to fall apart and we were soon back where we were on Wednesday, with passes going astray, tackles not being made and Scunthorpe generally being given far too much room. They realised that we were fragile and it was no great surprise that they went one up. A ball in from the right was cleverly dummied leaving Distin in no-man’s-land and Dunne wasn’t near enough to close the gap before Keogh calmly slotted the ball past James. Seventeen minutes gone and we are one down. Any thoughts that the goal might have woken City up were soon dismissed as they went from bad to worse. A quick free kick should have led to a second for Scunthorpe but fortunately they fluffed it. At this stage it was clear that we would be lucky to go in only one down and in the last ten minutes of the first half they nearly scored again after a scramble in the goalmouth. The whistle went and you have to say that the visitors deserved their lead and it could easily have been more. The teams went off to a chorus of boos from the City fans, which, in my opinion, were wholly justified. There were very few plus points – Barton gave his all as ever but too many passes just gave possession straight back to Scunthorpe. Sinclair was also full of running but you would be forgiven for thinking that City were the League One outfit. The ugly crowd mood wasn’t helped by a referee who made some very strange decisions for the most innocuous challenges, usually in favour of Scunthorpe.

There was one change for the second half with the wretched Onuoha, whose confidence seems to be shot at the moment, replaced by Croft on the left wing, with Sun going to right-back. They had clearly had a rollicking at half-time as they started off much brighter. It only took a few minutes for Croft to wriggle his way to the bye-line and pull the ball back. It came off Barton and went to Fowler, who buried it confidently from the edge of the six-yard box. Although the hugely impressive Keogh continued to tie Dunne and Distin in knots, City now had the upper hand and it wasn’t long before we were ahead. Ten minutes after the first goal, we pressed forward on the right and Fowler stayed deep. Ireland pulled the ball back to him on the edge of the area and he calmly sized up his shot before placing the ball inside the far post as coolly as you like. A few minutes later, Sun burst into the penalty area and the full-back got between him and the ball but slipped. As Sun was about to retrieve the ball in what would have been a dangerous position, the Scunthorpe player pushed the ball away with his hand. As a man all of us in the East stand stood up and screamed for a penalty but the referee was on the wrong side. However, the assistant had seen it and the referee pointed to the spot. Fowler had to take it of course but our hearts were in our mouths, remembering his effort last season. No worries – he stroked it left as the goalkeeper dived right and it was game over. Scunthorpe had shot their bolt and we were now stroking the ball around confidently for the last quarter, in contrast to our first-half performance. Wright-Phillips replaced Sibierski and Beagrie was taken off to a standing ovation from both sets of supporters.

It was with great relief at the final whistle that we were able to laugh at Everton, Birmingham and Boro, who all failed to dispose of lower league opposition but if Scunthorpe had made the most of their first half domination then it might have been a different matter. Fowler as Man of the Match was an easy decision but Sinclair ran him close. Overall the defence was still at sixes and sevens but we did enough, helped by the workrate of Barton and Sinclair, the guile of Ireland and the class of Fowler. We could also do worse than pay a few hundred thousand for their striker, Andy Keogh. He has a great touch, is strong and direct and kept Dunne and Distin occupied all afternoon. Somewhat reminiscent of a stretched Paul Dickov. But where were you Blues fans?

Marks: James – 6, Onouha – 4, Dunne – 6. Distin – 5, Jordan – 5, Sinclair – 7, Ireland – 6, Barton – 7, Sun – 6, Sibierski – 5, Fowler – 8. Subs: Croft – 6, Wright-Phillips – 6.

MATCH REPORT: MCFC 0 THFC 2

I have only three things to say to summarize this game: “Boring, Boring, and Boring”. There were no commitment from the players, no pressure on the ball, no invitations, no runs and no cunning plan. I mean even Baldrick could have done better serving our two front-players this evening.

City lined-up in the usual fashion. Up front it was Vassell and Cole. Barton and Sun made up the centre midfield in Reyna’s absence and Ireland filled up the left wing, while Sinclair had his usual place on the right. The back four consisted of Onuoha, Dunne, Distin and Thatcher, with James between the posts.

Spurs opened the game the better team. After the first 10 minutes City hardly got hold of the ball and could never establish any sort of play in the opposing half. Spurs had 4 corners against City’s 0 during the opening 15 minutes. Still, the visitors didn’t look particularly dangerous and James was never tested during the first 30 minutes.

So what do you do if your opponent doesn’t look especially dangerous? Well you could gift them with a free chance just to see what happens. That could have been what raced through Distin’s mind after 31 minutes, although I doubt it. Our skipper was in complete control of the ball at the bye-line. He had quite a few options to pick from. He could have passed the ball back to James and guarded the goalie while he made the clearance. He could have sheltered it out of play, or he could have put it in row Z (my personal favourite when you’re under pressure).

So with this multitude of choices, what did our skipper do? Well he somewhat tried to lure Lennon by letting the ball pass between his feet and then turn to guide it safely over the line for a goal-kick. There were only two things missing from that equation. Firstly, the speed of the ball was so slow that it was not going over the line easily. Secondly, by turning the back to the ball he gave the advancing Lennon the advantage of his head start so the Spurs winger managed to get past Distin and reach the ball at the line. James could do nothing but stretch to his full length, but it was too late and Lennon’s pass found Mido who easily put the ball into the virtually empty net.

Keep in mind that City had not produced anything but claims of a shirt grabbing on Cole inside the area so far in this game.

Barton never got started during the first half, and if Sun looked out of place, our boy Ireland on the left was nowhere to be seen. Spurs even managed to get a second good chance after 37 minutes when the ball bumped into Keane’s path inside the area. Luckily he managed to mis-kick the ball completely and all the City fans in the stadium could start breathing again as the ball spun wide of the goal.

Our fans had to wait until injury time to get City’s only “half-chance”. The ball was played behind the Spurs back four and the outstanding Dawson was tracking down Vassell who suddenly had his running boots on again. Our man entered the box and the sliding Dawson took away his feet for what would have been a sure penalty and possibly a red card. Somehow, the linesman flagged for offside, something the TV-replay clearly documented to be incorrect. At that moment City could have equalized, gone one player ahead and had the second half at their mercy. It may have been against the run of play and it may have been unfair to the immaculate Dawson, but this is how football can be. As the linesman blinked the pass was made and when he opened his eyes again Vassell looked to be offside.

Half-time score: City 0, Spurs 1.

The second half was no better than the first. City managed to move the team forward a bit and Barton got more involved. Sun was still having a nightmare in the midfield, and our target-men didn’t seem to know where the goal-posts were. I have one hint to Cole in this matter. The crossbar is not located 10 meters above ground level.

Barton showed a lot more commitment during the second half and almost created a chance out of nothing on the right when he dispossessed the Spurs defence of the ball and went on a run of his own. He managed to get all the way into the Spurs area, but the final pass lacked just a little to brimg City back into the game. After 71 minutes Barton was at the heart of the action again when old City-boy Michael Brown threw in a horrendous tackle far out on the right flank. Barton went down in a heap, but luckily he had managed to jump into the air just before the clash so that a serious injury was avoided. Instead it was Spurs player Lee Young-Pyo that had to be stretched off after his knee made contact with Sommeil’s studs in the tackle following Brown’s horrendous tackle. The incident seemed more of an accident than anyhing else (and nothing as bad as the stretched foot aimed at Barton’s ankle that Brown threw out at full speed), but still the FA decided to investigate the case further due to the seriousness of the injury.

Throughout the second half it became obvious to me that Sun was not the correct choice to partner Barton in the centre. Barton has developed into a great box-to-box man, and when he plays with Reyna he can do this type of running because the American does a lot of defensive work in his place. Reyna is also capable of keeping up with Barton and throw in the tackles that are necessary to keep the ball up in the opponents’ half. Sun is more of a holding player. He looks good with the ball, but (looks) very poor without it. Unlike Reyna he doesn’t look like a natural tackler in the sense that you seldom see Sun running 50 yards and throwing in a sliding tackle to win the ball. Against Spurs the ball would often be played behind our two centre midfielders into a space where there were only Spurs players. Also, Ireland on the left looked out of position. He was never really involved and when he started to drift inwards to keep himself occupied, the Spurs defence angled the ball on the outside of him and started lots of attacks on our left side.

Ten minutes from time City got their only decent chance to equalize. Barton put the ball through for substitute Bradley Wright-Phillips. The youngster managed to get into a good position inside the box before firing a low shot that left Robinson stranded, but also shaved the outside of the far post.

Instead of City getting one back it was Spurs that put the final nail in the coffin a few minutes later. Mido beat Distin on a high ball and the header found Keane who raced past Dunne and Thatcher. Faced with only James to beat Keane made no mistake and smashed the ball into the net. 2-0 down and City were not going to rise from the ashes this time.

Performances:
James (4) Not to blame for any of the goals. Didn’t make any spectacular saves either.
Onuoha (3) Many mistakes and poor passing let him down. Still, he was more involved in the attacks than Thatcher.
Thatcher (4) Made a solid defensive job as usual. Had a handful to take care of in Lennon, but he kept the youngster quiet for most of the game.
Dunne (4) Not a lot to do today despite the two goals. Won nearly all the high crosses that came in from corners or open play.
Distin (1) One of his worst performances in a City shirt. Was to blame on both goals. The first is a nightmare. The second he lost to Mido in the air. We’re just not used to Distin making these kinds of mistakes. Hopefully he’ll be back to his usual 8 against the Rags.
Sinclair (4) A couple of nice runs. Likes to get involved, but got frustrated throughout the game.
Sun (1) A very, very, very poor performance in a very, very, very, wrong position for him.
Barton (5) Had a stinker of a first half. The second was much better. In my opinion he was the only City-player that managed to lift his game noteworthy in the second half.
Ireland (2) Who where?
Vassell (2) Where was the speed and tricky runs? Looked tired and made way for BeeP after 70 minutes.
Cole (3) Came into good positions from time to time, but never managed to get his shot between the posts or beyond the defenders. Must do a lot better next week!
Substitutes:
Sommeil (4) Looked committed, but could not change the cause of events.
BeeP (3) 21 minutes for Vassell. Got our best chance of the game.
Croft (2) Did nothing more than Ireland.

OPINION: SPURS AND THE STANDING

I agree with everything Fleetwood Blue said in the last issue. As for Chief Executive Alistair Mackintosh, I think he should resign ASAP; he doesn’t listen, comes across as arrogant and as someone who just thinks we will all carry on our support (pay our hard-earned cash) no matter what the club does or says, or doesn’t do or say.

I am becoming totally disillusioned with football in general and question why I still go these days (match times, standing, prices, catering etc.). Especially now I am hassled for 90 minutes by morons from Showsec and have someone who whinges about standing behind me like an old woman. Why do they buy season tickets in the south stand if they want to sit? There are plenty of empty seats to the right and left of the goal at both ends of the ground. Common sense tells you move! Standing has taken place in this stand both here and at Maine Road for years; it will probably never stop unless the stand is closed or supporters are banned. If that does happen, believe me you will have zero atmosphere at this club. Most of the vocal support emanates from standing fans. It takes passion and pride to win. To win? To fade to mediocrity? Ask the club, ask the FA? Ask Manchester City Council safety officials? Ask Sport England? Ask the Government? Do we have ambition at MCFC? Drive?

I may fill one of the thousands of empty seats next year for top games instead of blindly following MCFC after years of loyal support and season ticket purchases. I will not have the p*** taken out of me nor will I be treated like a moron.

By the way, the catering company also need to have their contract terminated. Frozen bread? Try to defrost properly before you put the burger on! Whinge over.

Please God don’t let Scunny win!

[Got to agree about the catering company, hard going indeed – Ed)

OPINION: CLOSER THAN WE THINK

Judging by the last MCIVTA, it seems like there are one or two unhappy City fans around right now. But perhaps things aren’t as bad as they seem. Or perhaps they were just never really as good as they previously appeared – let me explain.

I think there’s a lot more randomness (luck) involved in a game of footy than most people appreciate, and it’s human nature to engage in a little post hockery (coming up with an explanation of events based solely on what just happened). So we lose 2-0 against Spurs and everything we did is viewed in the most negative possible light. But think about this – apart from the goal we gifted them, were they really that much better than us?

I think it’s true that we didn’t have a single shot on target, but we had a lot that weren’t far off (BWP’s effort, a couple of shots from Barton that were narrowly wide or blocked, several headers from corners that admittedly didn’t end up being that close, but which might have gone in if they’d been hit just a fraction earlier or later or higher or lower – just a fraction). And how many shots did they have on target? The gifted goal and one late (very well-finished) effort from Keane (does he always score against us?). That’s about it. And did they dominate the game and come close to scoring time after time? Not really. And did we give the ball away that much more than they did? Not as far as I can remember. I could go on, but my point is this; we weren’t very good against Spurs, but they weren’t that good either. One freak error and one very good late strike when we were pushing on for an equaliser was all that separated the teams.

Anyone remember our famous victory over Liverpool last season? Did anyone say how poor we were for large stretches of that game, or was that all forgotten when we got a late goal out of nowhere from Musampa? I seem to remember Gerard almost scoring right at the death too. That was another game decided by almost nothing. A slight bounce here, a fractionally different ball contact there and we lose. How would we have judged the performance and Pearce’s success then?

So here’s the thing; with very few exceptions at the top and bottom, I’m suggesting that there’s really not that much difference between the teams in the Premier League. I’m suggesting that you could almost toss a coin for each game and get about the same distribution of results (give or take a bit of confidence here or there). If you study statistics you notice something unexpected – when you toss a coin a bunch of times you get a lot more runs of 3, 4, even 5 heads (or tails) than you expect – it’s not all H T H T H H T. So teams go on winning runs and teams go on losing runs, and the press and the fans and even the players and managers go looking for reasons to explain it that might not even be there.

Imagine sitting around having thrown 4 heads in a row wondering what’s wrong with your flipping technique. Wondering how come some other guy just threw 4 tails in a row. What’s his secret? How come Everton and David Moyes were brilliant last year and now they don’t have a clue? How come Ipswich got into Europe a few years back and got relegated the next season? How come Middlesbrough, Aston Villa, Blackburn etc. fluctuate from European contenders to relegation contenders year in, year out?

So City might not be quite as bad right now as you think, but from the same theory comes the suggestion that we might not have been quite as good at the end of last season or the start of this season as we thought either. The good news (if I’m anywhere close to being right – a big ‘if’) is that SP seems to feel the same way. He didn’t get carried away when we were ‘good’ and he’s not panicking now we’re ‘bad’. But it must be mighty tough to be a manager in his position and not believe the press and the fans when it’s so obvious that we stink because we just got 1 out of 12 points over Christmas, right? Sure, there are always things to improve, but until you have the money of a Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool or Man United, all you can do is weight the coin a little bit in your favour – but you still have to flip it and hope for the best.

OPINION: CHANTS INITIATIVE I

It seems a long time ago now that I first wrote about the offensive chants towards the Munich disaster, but thanks to lots of people with friends in high places we have now got the backing of our club in this campaign.

Big thanks to Heidi and MCIVTA for giving me the forum and for using their energy to get all the other supporters’ clubs behind this. It really is great to see that we can make ourselves heard on important points.

The only thing that remains, of course, is for it to actually work and on the eve of the derby game let’s hope that we can say goodbye to this rubbish forever.

Let’s also hope that we can beat them 5-0.

Keep the faith (and sing City songs).

OPINION: CHANTS INITIATIVE II

I do not condone the chants, and personally have never sang them. However, my belief is that by writing the open letter you are just going to fuel the idiots who sing the “Munich” chant, which as far as I was concerned was beginning to disappear.

What I also believe to be trueis that you will also fuel those Rags at “Red Issue” etc. to pour more scorn on the Blue half of Manchester, and also to give them more justification to sing “Going down like a Russian Submarine”, and also it has to be noted all the sick songs they sing about Hillsbrough.

And if we are being really honest here, the Rags have made millions down the years over Munich and probably will do about Best. Plus I don’t think the families of those who died or who were seriously injured were helped much by the Rags.

In summing up I think you have just made matters worse for everybody, and let’s get in the real world; unfortunately you are not going to change everybody.

Opinions welcomed.

[We’ll wait and see Paul, but what has been positive is that representatives of many thousands of fans who are heartily sick and tired of putting up with this chanting and the sickening “runway” song have got together to do something about it. Now to see what the club and others can do – Ed]

OPINION: SPURS DÉBÂCLE

I read and totally agreed with just about every word in Fleetwood Blue’s missive and would to thank him personally for taking the time to put those thoughts down for all, and hopefully for City’s management who I believe reads ‘our’ newsletter, to read and ponder upon, but unfortunately you didn’t include his email address.

So could you please include my thanks to him in the next newsletter, and if the M.E.N. editor is reading this, then you’ve just found ‘the man’ to write your match reports for you in future.

Well done sir!

[Thanks Peter, Fleetwood Blue didn’t want his email address publishing, but he will certainly receive the comments – Ed]

OPINION: TIME TO BUY

The article from Fleetwood Blue in MCIVTA 1187 was one of the best ever written to you.

Recent performances/efforts have not been good enough by a long way and this man’s analysis was 100% correct.

We hear that there is a money problem to buy good players, so therefore offload the deadwood/deadbeats and look for quality. Proven players that are not past their “sell-by date”.

OPINION: FOWLER

Well we hadn’t scored for three games, and Robbie Fowler scores a hat-trick. Doesn’t that tell you something Stewie! Okay, against weaker opposition and all that.

I hope that, as a commentator said in the Spurs game, Fowler isn’t playing because the next game we have to pay Leeds some money (or a lot of money?) that this is not the case. Memories are short, when we kicked up a stink after Reading wouldn’t pay a Shaun Goater instalment.

Gee, there were some angry responses to the Spurs game weren’t there? After forty years following City, nothing surprises me, especially the uncertainty of it all; at times it’s laughable (I’m not allowed to cry, my wife said so!). Still, we’ll probably beat United, such is the uncertainty that is City.

OPINON: LORD OF THE BALLS PREDICTIONS

Lord of the Balls (LOTB) update

A few months have past since we kicked off in the Lord of the Balls League. By now we have reached 29 participants, and that includes a couple of Chelsea, Liverpool and ManU fans as well.

The overall leader is David Chambers with his “Beecroft Blues”. He has done really well all over and is a cracking 94 points ahead in the competition. Another Blue is second; A. Norris with his team simply called “Manchester Blue”. In third place so far comes our best placed United-supporter; Edy Azizul from Malaysia.

We are still a few months away from the end, so nothing is decided. Although I have decided to grant the winner with a copy of Neil Young’s Autobiography “Catch a Falling Star”. It’s a great read and it’s nice to support a man that was in many ways forgotten by the club.

The top ten list after January 4th is as follows:

Pos     Team                Manager             Score   Supports
1       Beecroft Blues      David Chambers      994     MCFC
2       Manchester Blue     A. J. J. Morris     900     MCFC
3       Trespuntos fc       Edy Azizul          888     MUFC
4       Allessandros        Alexander Hanssen   876     MCFC
5       Bottesford Town     Joe Douthwaite      861     MCFC
6       Championeies        Micky Daly          860     MCFC
7       Wes City            Wesley robinson     859     MCFC
8       Avra Cadavra XI     Svenn Hanssen       848     MCFC
9       Maine Road Blues    Paul Johnson        847     MCFC
10      Veni, Vidi, Vici    Ian Buckley         831     MCFC

December was won by Alexander Hanssen and his team “Allessandros”, and he is currently number 4 in the overall standings. The monthly competition has so far ended like this:

Month   Team                Manager             Score
Aug     Wes City            Wesley Robinson     224
Sep     Beecroft Blues      David Chambers      158
Oct     Manchester Blue     A. J. J. Morris     286
Nov     Beecroft Blues      David Chambers      220
Dec     Allessandros        Alexander Hanssen   346

For more information check out the Supporters’ Homepage: http://www.uit.no/mancity/

OPINION: STAT ATTACK PREDICTION UPDATE

Anorak’s Final League Position Prediction 2005-6

Oh dear, the wheels have come off City’s chances of getting into Europe this season. What’s more,if our current recent form keeps up, we’ll be looking down into the abyss of a relegation dogfight. So it’s definitely time for SP to step in and use the SWP money, make some good buys in the transfer window to stop the rot. We desperately need a defensive midfielder and probably a striker too (as our attempts to goals ratio is appalling).

Anyway, on to the predictions.

The first prediction (p1) replaces last season’s score with this season’s score (with the relegated clubs replaced by the equivalent promoted clubs). According to this measure we’ll finish on 50 points, which means we finish 10th.

The second (p2) is a rolling average that averages how we’ve done so far over the rest of the season. This is calculated as follows, where gr = games remaining, gp = games played, and p = current points total:
p2 = gr/gp * p + p
p2 = 18/20 * 28 + 28 = 53 points – 2 points less than last year in 8th spot

The third (p3) is a rolling average based on the points obtained from the last 6 games played. This is calculated as follows, where ls = points in last 6 games, gr = games remaining, and p = current points total:
p3 = ls/6 * gr + p
p3 = 4/6 * 17 + 28 = 39 points.

This, my friends, is potential relegation and a sure sign that the wheels have totally fallen off.

The following table indicates how our form has changed over the season, with the columns specifying:

• result last season (and the points obtained)
• result this season (and the points obtained)
• +/-/NC = change from last season
• g = gr/gp = games remaining divided by games played
• p = current points
• ls = points from the last six games
• 1, 2, 3 = each points prediction (and league position)

January 2006

Spurs    (H) 0-1[0]0-2[0]NC g=17/21 p=28 ls=04 1=50(10) 2=51(10) 3=39(16)

December 2005

Boro     (A) 3-2[3]0-0[1]+1 g=18/20 p=28 ls=07 l=50(10) 2=53(08) 3=49(10)
Chelsea  (H) 1-0[3]0-1[0]-3 g=19/19 p=27 ls=06 1=49(10) 2=54(08) 3=46(11)
Wigan    (A) 3-2[3]3-4[0]-3 g=20/18 p=27 ls=07 1=52(08) 2=57(07) 3=50(10)
B'ham    (H) 3-0[3]4-1[3]NC g=21/17 p=27 ls=07 1=55(07) 2=60(05) 3=52(08)
WBA      (A) 0-2[0]0-2[0]NC g=22/16 p=24 ls=07 1=55(07) 2=57(07) 3=51(10)
Charlton (A) 2-2[1]5-2[3]+2 g=23/15 p=24 ls=07 1=55(07) 2=61(04) 3=51(10)

November 2005

L'pool   (H) 1-0[3]0-1[0]-3 g=24/14 p=21 ls=07 1=53(08) 2=57(07) 3=49(10)
B'burn   (H) 1-1[1]0-0[1]NC g=25/13 p=21 ls=10 1=56(07) 2=61(04) 3=63(04)
Fulham   (A) 1-1[1]1-2[0]-1 g=26/12 p=20 ls=09 1=56(07) 2=63(04) 3=59(05)

October 2005

Villa    (H) 2-0[3]3-1[3]NC g=27/11 p=20 ls=09 1=57(07) 2=69(04) 3=61(04)
Arsenal  (A) 1-1[1]0-1[0]-1 g=28/10 p=17 ls=07 1=57(07) 2=65(04) 3=50(10)
West Ham (H) 2-1[3]2-1[3]NC g=29/09 p=17 ls=10 1=58(05) 2=72(04) 3=65(05)
Everton  (H) 0-1[0]2-0[3]+3 g=30/08 p=14 ls=10 1=58(05) 2=67(04) 3=64(04)

September 2005

N'castle (A) 3-4[0]0-1[0]NC g=31/07 p=11 ls=10 1=55(07) 2=60(05) 3=63(04)
Bolton   (H) 0-1[0]0-1[0]NC g=32/06 p=11 ls=11 1=55(07) 2=70(04) 3=70(04)
Man Utd  (A) 0-0[1]1-1[1]NC g=33/05 p=11 ls=12 1=55(07) 2=84(02) 3=77(03)

August 2005

P'smouth (H) 2-0[3]2-1[3]NC g=34/04 p=10 ls=14 1=55(07) 2=95(01) 3=89(02)
S'land   (A) 2-1[3]2-1[3]NC g=35/03 p=07 ls=14 1=55(07) 2=89(02) 3=89(02)
B'ham    (A) 0-1[0]2-1[3]+3 g=36/02 p=04 ls=12 1=55(07) 2=76(04) 3=76(04)
WBA      (H) 0-0[1]0-0[1]NC g=37/01 p=01 ls=12 1=52(08) 2=38(17) 3=75(04)

Notes:
[1] 2004-5 Season: Points: 52 Goal Difference: +8 League Position: 8 last5=11, last4=8, last3=7, last2=4 last1=1
[2] Last season’s relegated teams are replaced with:
18 Crystal Palace = Sunderland
19 Norwich City = Wigan Athletic
20 Southampton = West Ham

OPINION: STAND IN ‘KEEPER

In a recent newsletter I asked the question as to who is the designated stand-in goalie when we don’t have a goalie sub on the bench and should DJ get injured.

If anybody submitted an answer I didn’t see it, so earlier in the week I contacted the club by email with the question but I’m still waiting for a reply. As a coincidence, in the run-up to the Spurs game shown on ESPN out here in Thailand, their reporter sounded the alarm bells that we didn’t have a goalie sub on the bench and the designated stand-in goalie, Danny Mills, was out injured.

So now we know. But what would have happened then if DJ had hobbled off against Spurs… doesn’t bear thinking about does it!

REQUEST: POINTS OF BLUE

Next Points of Blue will be on Thursday 9th February at the Stadium, 6.30 p.m.

The delegate meeting with club officials is provisionally down for lunchtime on Wednesday 15th.

REQUEST: PERTH BLUES VIEWING

A few weeks ago I wrote to MCIVTA asking if there were any Blues in Perth Australia up for watching the derby game.

Someone got back to me but unfortunately my hotmail account was terminated for reasons best known to itself so I have lost all the details. I would be much obliged if he could get back in contact with me.

REQUEST: HELSINKI BLUES VIEWING

If there are any City fans in Helsinki or nearby, please get in contact and let’s arrange the meeting in the pub on Saturday to see when we beat Rags.

RESULTS

League table to 08 January 2006 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Chelsea         21 11  0  0 28  6  8  1  1 18  4 19  1  1  46  10  36  58
 2 Manchester Utd  21  6  3  1 20  6  7  3  1 20 11 13  6  2  40  17  23  45
 3 Liverpool       19  8  1  1 16  4  4  4  1 12  7 12  5  2  28  11  17  41
 4 Tottenham H.    21  7  3  1 17  7  4  4  2 14 11 11  7  3  31  18  13  40
 5 Arsenal         20  8  1  1 20  4  2  3  5  7 11 10  4  6  27  15  12  34
 6 Wigan Athletic  21  6  1  4 16 14  5  0  5  9 12 11  1  9  25  26  -1  34
 7 Bolton Wndrs    19  5  3  1 11  4  4  2  4 14 16  9  5  5  25  20   5  32
 8 Blackburn R.    20  6  1  2 15 10  3  2  6 11 15  9  3  8  26  25   1  30
 9 Manchester City 21  5  2  4 13  9  3  2  5 14 15  8  4  9  27  24   3  28
10 West Ham United 21  4  1  5 15 15  3  4  4 12 15  7  5  9  27  30  -3  26
11 Newcastle Utd   20  4  4  1 10  8  3  1  7 10 15  7  5  8  20  23  -3  26
12 Aston Villa     21  3  3  4 11 12  3  4  4 14 18  6  7  8  25  30  -5  25
13 Charlton Ath.   19  3  1  6 11 16  5  0  4 13 14  8  1 10  24  30  -6  25
14 Fulham          21  6  2  2 17 12  0  3  8  8 18  6  5 10  25  30  -5  23
15 Everton         21  3  1  6  8 15  4  1  6  6 16  7  2 12  14  31 -17  23
16 Middlesbrough   20  3  5  3 15 17  2  2  5 10 13  5  7  8  25  30  -5  22
17 West Brom A.    21  5  1  5 17 14  0  3  7  3 17  5  4 12  20  31 -11  19
18 Portsmouth      21  2  4  4  6 11  2  1  8 10 22  4  5 12  16  33 -17  17
19 Birmingham City 20  2  2  6  9 14  2  2  6  6 15  4  4 12  15  29 -14  16
20 Sunderland      20  0  3  8  7 21  1  0  8  8 17  1  3 16  15  38 -23   6

MCIVTA FAQ [v0506.02]

[1] 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

[2] What are MCIVTA’s publishing deadlines?

Deadlines for issues are nominally 6pm, Monday and Thursday evenings bu email. Unfortunately we cannot accept email attachments.

[3] 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.

[4] What is the club’s official web site?

The official club web site can be found at http://www.mcfc.co.uk/

[5] What supporters’ clubs are there?

Manchester City FC recognises three supporters’ clubs: The “Official Supporters Club” (http://www.mcfcosc.com/); the “Centenary Supporters’ Association” (http://www.reddishblues.com/CSAWebsite/CSA.htm) and “The International Supporters’ Club”.

[6] Where can I find out about the fans’ committee?

The Fans’ Committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. The Fans’ Committee has been relaunched as “Points of Blue”. It has appeared on the club website as a minor entry under “Fans Zone”.

[7] 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://mcfc.videoloungetv.com/do/preLogin?clubSiteCode=MCFC&CMP=AFC-003.

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

http://www.satfootball.com/pl.html provides a listing of Premiership games being shown on UK domestic and foreign satellite channels. Useful sites for North American viewers are http://www.foxsportsworld.com/named/FSW/Index/Soccer, http://www.soccertv.com/, and http://www.livesoccertv.com/.

[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] Where can I find a list of City-related websites?

Try Wookie’s Lair: http://www.wookieslair.com/modules.php?name=Web_Links

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: