Newsletter #1274

Match view and opinion tonight on our latest visit to Charlton, it seems we just can’t cope with the journey away from CoMS. Just so long as CoMS remains a fortress, although Saturday’s game promises to be an interesting one given the Newcastle result at the weekend and their fans phoning into radio stations with pretty much identical comments and complaints about the plight of their club as the City fans. Maybe we should join forces, we could always play in black & red and surely get a half decent team between us!

MATCH VIEW ‘LIVE’ I: CAFC 1 MCFC 0

Weaver – good saves, good kicking, nice 1989 Hacienda flourescent green spiderman motif goalie top
Richards – more last ditch interventions than Kevin Costner in JFK
Dunne – Richard Dunne is a football genius (TM)
Distin – Quicker than mercury that’s late home for its tea
Thatcher – Like his universally reviled namesake, uncompromising, controversial and ruthless (cut to the image of Dennis Romedahl dressed as an Orgreave flying picket and Ben meting out justice, Thatcher style)
DeMarcus Beasley Street – “Where the action isn’t, that’s where (he) is” – paraphrased from Beasley Street by John Cooper Clarke
Barton – like a pork chop you put out to defrost today, he’ll be off by January; what a waste and what a shame
Sinclair – like most nostalgia, better when looking back
Reyna – plays with all the urgency of the element Americium, which has a half life of 7380 years
Dickov – can hold it up better than Bonnie and Clyde, but like many in the away end, didn’t get fed
Samaras – “What a twisted web we weave, when we practice to deceive” 14 clearances lumped in the air toward him: 14 failed attempts at heading – the You Tube clips of his mazy runs and goals before we signed him must have been computer generated from FIFA 2004!
Corradi – upside: played very well when the sum total of our ambition was lumping the ball long and high. downside: the sum total of our ambition was lumping the ball long and high
Vassell – flashes of adequacy; give him a run with Corradi with new Beano style gameplan – kick-high-ball-at-big-man-hit-head-Vassell-run-score-goal-win-game

Thoughts:
When Reyna plays well, we play well (go figure that!), but he doesn’t play well often enough.
Sinclair great at getting it back, good at passing, low on pace if also supporting up front.

So, Sinclair sitting in front of the back 4; Barton in front of him with license to go forward on either side à la Gerrard, Trabelsi on the right seemed quite good when fit. This leaves the puzzle of the Rive Gauche. Why not accept that, like New Labour, we don’t have a left wing, and play with Steven Ireland who is good enough to play anywhere. He would nominally be a bit more left sided when they have the ball, but would play more centrally when we have it. This would mean that, à la Ajax total football, the four midfield players would tend to be closer to each other and we would be more likely to keep the ball, especially away from home where we seem to give it back after 4 or 5 touches. Also if Distin wants to come forward then Trev can cover in. Nobody knows what to do when Distin comes forward and he does have a good left foot (remember 1st Division vintage attacks). It makes us more unpredictable, rather than the bland, damp squib we are this season.

Finally up front. Defenders tell me they don’t like two things; big lads and quick lads so put Corradi properly up front to give the centre halves a job to do and release Vassell to feed off the better quality passing of Ireland and Barton and Trabelsi for crosses and wing play.

OPINION: SAME OLD, SAME OLD I

Well those cardboard, over-inflated, under-performing, over-paid rabble that we call City turned up again. What a difference a week makes.

And to make it worse Alan Ball wants to coach our New Zealand Knights. Talk about the blind leading the blind. I reckon we could bring some of the sixties/seventies team out and they’d still give a decent account of themselves. What we’d give for Colin Bell, Mike Doyle, Neil Young, Mike Summerbee, Alan Oakes etc. They played with a passion that’s long, long gone, and they could play a bit, which is a bonus.

What to do? Feel sorry for Stuart Pearce, player with immense passion for the game, a pity players’ contracts can’t be torn up like managers’ ones are. Now there’s a thought. But we’ll do it all over again, next week I suppose, just glad there are worse teams than us. But judging by the points table, not many. As the old classic starts… “Memories”.

OPINION: SAME OLD, SAME OLD II

In the last issue of MCIVTA, I stated that all the creating of goals was never going to be good enough unless we finished the job by scoring goals.

Against Charlton we did all that, but could not score. We could say Carlton for Charlton in goal made some great saves, but that’s what he’s paid for, our strikers are paid to beat him. I am not going to point fingers, but something is wrong at City.

And before I say any more I am going to blow my own trumpet, I was the coach/manager of British teams to win the coveted Atlantic Cup twice in 1966 against the Germans and in 1969 against France, so all I am trying to say is that I am not naïve about football (sure, what I did was lower than Football League, but when you play 8 games and win 8 with 46 goals for and only 1 against it means something in any league). So I just feel when I contribute I know something about the game. Sadly we do not have the strikers to do the job.

I think that Stuart Pearce is being used as the City scapegoat, he is a young manager who I admire, but has never had the full backing of the MCFC Board and has had to do his best on shall we say scraps being given to him by the MCFC Board because they gave all the money to KK to be in part wasted.

Stuart Pearce cannot work miracles, he is full of energy to do his best, but there is a limit. When you cannot beat the bottom of the table Charlton away something is seriously wrong.

I say no more other than what I have said before: “Pay the piper now, or pay much more later on”.

Stay Blue.

OPINION: YOUNG GEORGE

There are some superstars with long hair (e.g. Ronaldinho of Barcelona) but it’s never in his eyes. Drogba of Chelsea but never in his eyes. No one can make a player change their hair style. But come on Georgios Samaras, at least tie your hair back, how can he see everything that’s going on around him with hair flopping around in his eyes? Get a band or something to hold it back at least whilst playing football; if a band does not work then ask a girl what to do.

If Georgios Samaras was scoring goals with long hair in his eyes I guess no one would care, but let’s get realistic, things happen so fast in the EPL, you have to use everything that you can to your advantage.

I wonder if Andy Johnson (Everton) would wear his hair likes Samaras if he had any hair?

Anything that helps City get some goals.

OPINION: YOUNG ALBERT

Our Albert’s having fun according to SkySports News:

“Former Manchester City winger Albert Riera had a mixed night, putting Espanyol ahead on 23 minute but then seeing a dubious red card for an alleged elbow on Curro Torres whilst competing for a header.”

REQUEST: BLUES VIEWING IN SHARM EL SHEIKH, EGYPT

We shall be in Sharm 18th November when the home game against Fulham is played and I believe on SkyPlus.

Does anyone know anywhere in Sharm el Sheikh we should be able to watch the match on TV?

Thanks.

REQUEST: BLUE MOON

I’m looking to get hold of the song Blue Moon for the version that Ricky Hatton also uses to get into the ring to when he fights and I’m told that Man City fans would know. Can you help me?

RESULTS

5 November 2006

West Ham United       1 - 0  Arsenal               34,969
Aston Villa           2 - 0  Blackburn Rovers      30,089
Tottenham Hotspur     2 - 1  Chelsea               36,070

4 November 2006

Bolton Wanderers      0 - 1  Wigan Athletic        21,255
Charlton Athletic     1 - 0  Manchester City       26,011
Fulham                1 - 0  Everton               23,327
Liverpool             2 - 0  Reading               43,741
Manchester United     3 - 0  Portsmouth            76,004
Newcastle United      0 - 1  Sheffield United      50,188
Watford               2 - 0  Middlesbrough         18,951

League table to 05 November 2006 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Manchester Utd  11  5  0  1 13  2  4  1  0 13  3  9  1  1  26   5  21  28
 2 Chelsea         11  4  1  0  9  3  4  0  2  9  4  8  1  2  18   7  11  25
 3 Bolton Wndrs    11  3  1  2  5  5  3  1  1  5  4  6  2  3  10   9   1  20
 4 Portsmouth      11  4  0  1  9  2  2  1  3  7  7  6  1  4  16   9   7  19
 5 Arsenal         10  2  3  0  9  3  3  0  2  7  3  5  3  2  16   6  10  18
 6 Aston Villa     11  4  2  0 10  3  0  4  1  4  6  4  6  1  14   9   5  18
 7 Everton         11  3  2  0 10  4  1  3  2  6  6  4  5  2  16  10   6  17
 8 Liverpool       11  5  1  0 13  3  0  1  4  1  9  5  2  4  14  12   2  17
 9 Fulham          11  3  1  2  5  5  1  3  1  7 10  4  4  3  12  15  -3  16
10 Tottenham H.    11  4  1  1  7  4  0  2  3  1  7  4  3  4   8  11  -3  15
11 Wigan Athletic  10  2  1  1  7  4  2  1  3  6  7  4  2  4  13  11   2  14
12 Reading         11  2  1  2  5  8  2  0  4  5  9  4  1  6  10  17  -7  13
13 Blackburn R.    11  2  1  2  7  7  1  2  3  3  8  3  3  5  10  15  -5  12
14 Manchester City 11  3  2  0  4  0  0  1  5  3 14  3  3  5   7  14  -7  12
15 West Ham United 11  3  1  2  7  6  0  1  4  2  8  3  2  6   9  14  -5  11
16 Middlesbrough   11  3  0  2  5  7  0  2  4  4  9  3  2  6   9  16  -7  11
17 Watford         11  1  4  1  7  6  0  2  3  2  7  1  6  4   9  13  -4   9
18 Sheff. United   11  1  2  2  4  6  1  1  4  1  8  2  3  6   5  14  -9   9
19 Newcastle Utd   11  1  2  3  5  7  1  0  4  2  7  2  2  7   7  14  -7   8
20 Charlton Ath.   11  2  1  3  4  6  0  1  4  3  9  2  2  7   7  15  -8   8

MCIVTA FAQ [v0607.01]

[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 Radio Manchester (née GMR) pre and post match phone-in is available on the web at http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/sport/manchester_city/index.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://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer, 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 Plus Markets Group web site http://www.plusmarketsgroup.com/ 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] I hear there is a TV programme specifically about City?

InsideMCFC is broadcasted by ChannelM. It is available on the SkyDigital (ch.203) and NTL (ch.26) platforms as well as being transmittedtraditionally within the Manchester area (ch.39). In addition, theprogramme is available to watch via the web. More details and schedule:http://www.channelm.co.uk/features/city.html

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: