Newsletter #1382

Plenty of news tonight, despite the lack of action, on Blue tie-ups (or Thai- ins), potential targets, signings, departures and news on the injury front.

We also have plenty of opinion on the way forward, the state of football generally following England’s abject performance and a look back.

Next up, Mr Coppell’s Reading are visitors to CoMS.

NEWS SUMMARY

World Domination News

Blue Planet: City have announced links with a further three clubs in far flung corners of the globe. The Blues revealed last week that partnership agreements had been struck with Shanghai Shenhua, Thanda Royal Zulu, and FC Moscow. Now, deals have been reached with Swiss club Grasshoppers Zurich, Thailand-based Chonburi FC and Australian side Perth Glory. The alliance will see the clubs work together in a variety of areas as Thaksin Shinawatra seeks to turn the club into a major global brand. The former Thailand Prime Minister has targeted Asia, in particular, as a region where City can increase their fan base (of which more later). Grasshoppers, currently sixth in the ten-club Swiss Super League, have a proud history but have fallen on relatively hard times. The Zurich club have won 27 Swiss championships and 18 national cups but last won their domestic league in 2002/03. Australian A League side Perth Glory’s co-owner John Spencer said: “We believe this type of deal will greatly help the club and allow us to do some very exciting things. We could also tap into City’s sports science and coaching set-ups to ensure best practice is applied here and we also anticipate having some of their players coming to Perth to play with the Glory. On the flip side, our players here will be given a platform to visit Manchester City during the off-season to help in their development and showcase their talent.” There is a pre-Thaksin connection with Perth – back in 2001/02 season, KK signed Simon Colosimo from Glory. The defender made a handful of appearance for the Blues during an injury hit stay at the club. The club also announced the signing of the three Thai internationals from Chonburi who came on trial in August. Kiatprawut Saiwaew, Suree Sukha and Teerasil Dangda will train with City on their return from international duty, but will then be farmed out to one of City’s partner clubs – Perth Glory and Grasshoppers Club Zurich are the early favourites for the players.

Blue China: Thaksin Shinawatra announced the launch of a Chinese language club website this week, and used the occasion to give his vision on the kind of global profile he wants to give the club. “My goals for the football team are ambitious – to secure Manchester City a position as one of the world’s biggest football brands,” he said on mcfc.co.uk. “I intend to increase the club’s fan base by reaching out to Manchester City fans across the world, not least in Asia and specifically in China and my home nation of Thailand. I intend to deepen the links between the club and its international supporters. We are looking at now how best to link our fans through membership and other schemes. I hope the unveiling of the new Chinese-language website will provide a gateway for Chinese-speaking football fans and media into the exciting and developing Manchester City club story. Our modest ambitions for City don’t end with domination of the world game; we want to be a major brand in the commercial world too.” It’s surely no co-incidence therefore that three Chinese players will be arriving at the club for trials from Shanghai Shenhua. Twenty-one-year-old striker Gao Lin, 19-year-old goalkeeper Wang Da Lei and 22-year-old midfielder Mao Jianqing are on their way. Thaksin also stated: “I plan eventually to establish Manchester City Football Club academies in Asia, firstly in my home nation of Thailand, then in China. The Academies are designed to identify and foster talented Asian youth and give them new opportunities in life through the beautiful game of football. It’s my hope that they will become as famous in their own country as our City star Sun Jihai is to China and that young Chinese prospects will follow his shining example. Jihai has helped City become a better known club in China.” You may remember that Academy Chief Jim Cassell was part of the City delegation that went to Thailand and China last week, and he’s very enthused by the owner’s plans. “I think it’s very exciting for the club,” Cassell said. “Dr Thaksin has outlined his vision to all the departments at the club, and I think it’s a fantastic opportunity to move into areas we never thought we would get into. We don’t know the true benefits at this stage, but what we’re all determined to do is make sure this project works how the club wants it to work.”

Blue Velvet: (Sorry I ran out of suitable ‘Blue’ Headlines, will this do? – News Ed.) Sven’s back in England following his trip way out East with Sun Jihai, and rather sensibly the Boss said that it had been a useful and instructive trip. Sven said: “I am amazed at the reception we received, both in China and in Thailand. I knew a little bit about the interest in English football in that part of the world, but to experience it first hand was a revelation for me. The partnerships we announced with the various clubs around the world are very exciting, and I think they will be a benefit to everyone concerned. The way that Jihai was greeted everywhere he went also brought it home to me just how popular the game is out there, and the potential for City to get even bigger is there as well. I’d like to thank everyone I met for their kindness and their interest in Manchester City. It’s so pleasing that the way we have started the season has made as much of an impact with our fans in Asia as at home.” Sven certainly wants City to develop Academies in Asia. “I think, sooner or later, there will be a Maradona, a world class player, coming from Asia,” mused S-GE. “To have contacts out there will be good because football is growing across the globe, and from what I saw the quality of the young players is getting better all the time.”

General News

A Million More Reasons to Stay: How would you feel if your boss offered you a million pounds a year extra to stay in your job? That not-too-hard decision may be about to be made by S-GE, who is set to win an improved contract. The Sun says the club want to open talks on a new four-year contract for the manager, who only signed a three-year deal worth £2.5 million a season last summer. City owner Thaksin Shinawatra wants Eriksson, 59, on a new four-year agreement worth £3.5 million a year to stop him being head-hunted by other top European clubs. City’s impressive start to the season could bring a host of clubs to Sven’s door, so the management want to head off any interest from other clubs.

Moore Success: On Wednesday night, City’s Reserves were in Manchester Senior Cup action, at home to Oldham Athletic. The Blues won 2-1, thanks to a brace of goals from Karl Moore. Coach Ian Miller said that “It was a decent performance in the first half, getting two goals in front, but some sloppy defending gave them hope at 2-1 and we put ourselves under some unnecessary pressure. I was happy to get the win and after the chances we had it could have been by a greater margin. The lads will learn though that we have kill games off or you will invite pressure late on in matches.”

Transfer News and Gossip

Spend, Spend, Spend – But Where Will it End? In Sven’s absence, Assistant Hans Backe told the M.E.N. this week that City would almost certainly be strengthening the team in January. “We have this squad until the end of December, but good clubs are working all the time at identifying possible new players that will take them forward and we are no different,” said Backe. “I am in a good position because I don’t have to talk too much about that – it is the manager’s job – but it is natural that players will come and players will go in January. I will have my input and Tord Grip is watching games every week in Europe. The whole scouting system has been alerted to the type of player we want to see come in. We are very well prepared for January if we get the chance to get the players we want.” The Daily Mail was sure that Sven would be given a humongously huge pot of cash to spend “THAKSIN WILL GIVE SVEN £150M AND SAY: BUY THE BEST”. Names like Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi were mentioned (steady on there, chaps), although the Mail did mention later on the Peter Crouch was a more likely candidate. Later in the week, the press reckoned that the tidy sum mentioned in the Mail was a touch on the high side – the figure of £30 million was a favourite.

Striking Out for a Striker: A big chunk of that war chest could be going on the prodigal son known as Nicolas Anelka. The Mirror says Chelsea and City are in a cheque book war for Anelka – but they will have to fork out £30 million to sign the France striker – that’s £15 million in a transfer fee, and then £4 million a year in wages until 2011. Elsewhere, a deal which seemed a near certainty is floundering. Tord Grip has said that the move for Afonso Alves, is “at a standstill”. Alves is a leading target for City, with recent reports in Holland claiming a big-money deal had already been agreed for January. Heerenveen have denied those suggestions, but City’s first-team coach Grip has hinted talks have taken place. However, Grip has acknowledged that the transfer has reached an impasse, telling the Daily Mirror: “The deal is at a standstill.” The issue concerns Alves’ eligibility for a work permit, with the Brazilian yet to reach sufficient caps for his country. Alves’ countryman, Elano, is keen to see the striker join City; “I have talked with coach Sven Goran Eriksson about him,” Elano told Brazilian TV: “Alves seems to have a problem with his passport, but I hope that he comes to the United Kingdom.” Or how about another Brazilian striker – Real Madrid’s Julio Baptista, according to The Sun, who read it in the Spanish sporting press. Tottenham have already been linked with the player who had an underwhelming loan spell at Arsenal last season but now City are apparently in the market for an £8 million bid. Any player nicknamed “The Beast” is a headline writer’s dream, so Sven, bring him in!

Not So Handy for Andreas: Andreas Isaksson admits he is considering his future as Joe Hart has the become the club’s first-choice goalkeeper. “Sven has promised that I will play,” Isaksson told the Mirror. “But he hasn’t given me an explanation why he hasn’t given me a chance earlier.” Injury early this season prevented Isaksson from challenging Kasper Schmeichel and Hart for the No.1 spot, and the Swede admitted it set the tone for a depressing campaign for him. “I got the injury at a very inconvenient time, it was like last year all over again,” said Isaksson, who will review his options in January. “Of course it’s tough,” he added. “Now we have to wait and see what happens in the coming games.”

Sam-One Will Have Him: Corriere dello Sport says Greece international Samaras is on Lazio’s shopping list for the winter market. Big George isn’t objecting: “I feel part of the team at Manchester City and the coach has told me I will get my chance, but that I must wait,” Samaras said. “But he has also said he will not stand in my way if I want to leave. I don’t know if they (Lazio) have made an offer to Manchester City. But if Lazio show an interest that would make me happy. They are a big side and play in the Champions’ League. I would be proud to play for one of the biggest sides in Europe.” Or he could stay in England, as Middlesbrough are reviving their interest in the Greek striker.

Suree’s Sure: While in Bangkok, S-GE put the finishing touches to the deal bringing Suree Sukha, Kiatprawut Saiwaeo and striker Teerasil Dangda to the club. Suree insists that it’s his talent, and not Thaksin’s political ambitions in Thailand, that mean he’s now a City player. “I believe in myself, I believe I can make it, this doesn’t have anything to do with politics,” Suree said after Thailand’s 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Yemen on Sunday. “It’s great that Thai players have this chance. I want to do a good job at City. Thaksin is the owner, and he says he wants to improve Thai football – there’s nothing wrong with that.” Thai national team coach Charnwit Polcheewin said he expected Teerasil and Kiatprawut to go out on loan but for Suree to be part of City’s first team squad. “I think Suree can make it because City have some problems in the right-back position. He will improve a lot there.”

Blue Planet (2): It’s lucky City have all these feeder/partner (delete where appropriate) clubs dotted around the world, because there have been reports in the week of yet more players coming to the Blues on trial. I speak not of the Thai threesome or the Chinese trio already mentioned – but three players from Slovakia and two from Africa. So, City have handed trials to Slovakia trio Vojtech Milosovic, Albert Rusnak and Filip Orsula, according to their agent, Emil Kovarovic. “Manchester City have given three-day trials to Vojtech Milosovic from Slovan Bratislava, Albert Rusnak from MFK Kosice and Filip Orsula from Spartak Trnava. All three of them are expected to arrive in Manchester in December to undergo another trial.” And one report suggests that City’s scouting net has trawled in two of the most promising young players in Africa. Ghanaian Ransford Osei, a star of the recent U17 World Cup, and Matthew Edile, whose penalty shoot-out goal helped Nigeria win the tournament, are both having trials with the club. As I say, thank the Lord for the partner clubs, or else the squad number at the COMS would be up into three figures…

Having a Sporting Chance for Marat: City are stepping up their interest in Russia international winger Marat Izmailov. The Sun says City boss Sven Goran Eriksson will try to land Russian star Marat, 25, for around £4 million. The Russia international is on-loan at Sporting Lisbon from Lokomotiv Moscow and was watched by City scouts last week in action against Roma. However, Izmailov’s agent Paulo Barbosa immediately denied that his client has any desire to move on. “Izmailov is enjoying his football at Sporting. He has adapted well to the city and to Portuguese football and wants to progress with his career at the club,” said Barbosa. “The wishes of the player will always come first and Izmailov has no desire to leave Sporting at this moment.” Plus, Sporting have first refusal on Izmailov next summer, for a fee agreed at £3 million. Barbosa admitted that “it will be very difficult to change what has already been agreed.” And now the Daily Star says that City must see off competition from Internazionale if they want to land the winger. And while we mention the Milan club…

They Tried to Make Me Go to Rehab, But I Said – OK… Inter Milan striker Adriano has returned to his native Brazil, to attend a fitness camp (or “rehab” as one paper put it) in an attempt to put his career back on track. The 25-year-old has hardly featured for Inter over the past two seasons as he struggled with a range of fitness problems, but City were are thought to be keen on bringing Adriano to England. One of the forward’s agents, Josue Pinto, has said Adriano is to undergo the training plan – which will see him stay in Brazil until January when the transfer window opens – and says that any prospective move away from Inter will wait. Pinto did not rule out talk of Adriano leaving the Giuseppe Meazza stadium, but insists his fitness will come first. “At the moment we are not worried about the transfer,” Pinto told the Italian media. “First of all we are trying to help Adriano with his problems. Adriano will be travelling to Brazil next week but not on holidays, he will be working a lot. We will be in touch all the time with the officials of Inter.” Back in Italy, however, Inter have dismissed speculation linking the Brazil striker with a move away from the San Siro in the transfer window. “Adriano will remain at Inter in January,” said Inter President Massimo Moratti. “I can rule out now any talk of his departure.” Adriano has been linked with a number of clubs in England as well as Sao Paulo, Flamengo and Santos in his homeland.

Fresh Move for Bres? Reported City and West Ham target Djibril Cisse has confirmed that he would like to stay in France at Marseille. “Did I think about leaving? If I say no, I am a liar,” Cisse told L’Equipe. “It has come to my mind, because it is too much now. But I have calmed down and talked with my family. I didn’t come just for six months.” Another name we’ve seen before has popped up again relating to City – Premiership interest in Ajax striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar is heating up again, with City, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool all said to fancy him. Ajax are now confident of getting over £15 million for the Holland international. And lest we forget – City will try again for Palermo midfielder Mark Bresciano in January. City had a bid for the Australia international rejected in the final week of the summer market, but will make a new £4 million offer when the transfer window reopens in January.

Diary Day? Tottenham are planning a bid for Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby, although City are said to be challenging for his signature. The People says the Gunners are willing to sell Diaby in January for around £7 million, although whether he would sell a highly-rated youngster to arch foes Spurs is less clear. Sven Goran Eriksson is said to be monitoring Diaby’s situation.

I’m Gyan to City: Udinese’s Asamoah Gyan is a confident young fellow – the Ghanaian striker says his agent is close to finalising a deal that will see him pitching up at MCFC. The 21 year-old scored the fastest goal in last year’s World Cup after just 63 seconds against the Czechs. Gyan, who admitted recently that he is a boyhood United fan, has never hidden his admiration for the English game. “I’m aware that Manchester City have nearly completed negotiations with my club, so hopefully I will be playing in England next season,” Gyan is quoted in The Sun as saying. He’s scored three goals in 11 appearances for Udinese this season, and a fee of £6 million was mentioned in the report.

Ex-Blues’ News

You Can Leave Your Hat Off: Hatem Trabelsi’s transfer to Saudi club Al-Hilal has been called of due to a contractual dispute. The former Tunisian international left City in the summer and has subsequently been without a club. However, last season’s Saudi runners- up were prepared to offer him a well paid deal to ply his trade in the Kingdom. But at a late stage, the ex-Ajax man returned to Tunisia amidst a contractual disagreement that has rendered the transfer void.

.

Paulo Chop-ped Off: Paulo Wanchope, who had a great talent to either delight or frustrate his fans, has called time on his 12-year career because of persistent injuries. The Costa Rica striker has played for nine clubs in seven countries, most recently Chicago Fire in US. “I always gave 100%. Sadly, my last performances were far from good enough and I have taken the decision to retire,” said Wanchope, 31. “In the last six months I had to make a great effort to recover after games and training with my knee problems.” Wanchope, who scored 29 goals in 75 appearances over four years for City, began his career in Costa Rica with Herediano in 1994. Three years later he signed with Derby before moving on to West Ham and City. He also had spells with Malaga, Al-Gharrafa, FC Tokyo, Rosario Central and finally moved to Chicago (thanks Vince Docherty).

No Road to Tehran for Reid: According to reports in Asia, City’s former midfielder, coach and manager Peter Reid has turned down an offer to take over the Iranian national team. The ex-England midfielder told the Asian Football Confederation’s official homepage that while he thought a three-year contract was a tempting prospect, he decided to say no. Reid he did not give any reasons for his refusal. “It’s international football and they’ve got some decent players around Europe,” the 51-year-old told Asia’s governing body.

International Blues’ News

Fifteen Minutes of Fame: Steve McClaren’s reign as England manager finished today (Thursday), following Wednesday’s 3-2 defeat at home to Croatia, thus ensuring no Euro 2008 participation for England next summer. Two City boys were present at Wembley last night, one on each side – Micah Richards for England, while Vedran Corluka was in Croatia’s team. It was a triumphant turnaround for Corluka and his colleagues, who had succumbed 2-0 on Saturday to their near neighbours Macedonia. Micah meanwhile had the pleasure of representing his country in a meaningless friendly on Friday, as England snuck a 1-0 against Austria in Vienna. In South America, Kaka produced a superb strike as Brazil drew 1-1 away to Peru in Sunday’s World Cup football qualifier. Our boy Elano played for the last 15 minutes, coming on as a sub for Robinho. After what was for them a disappointing result, Brazil bounced back on Wednesday. Newcomer Luis Fabiano scored a pair of goals and goalkeeper Julio Cesar thwarted several chances to as Brazil triumphed 2-1 against Uruguay. The Brazilians felt no need to include Mr. Blumer in the squad this time, so with sky blue spectacles on, you hope he’d be that bit fresher for Reading on Saturday. At under 21 level, Ched Evans was in blistering form for Wales, as they beat France 4-2 no less, thanks mainly to a hat-trick by the City youngster. He said afterwards: “If we continue to play like this we have a good chance of qualifying. It was a great match to be involved in, I enjoyed every minute. We were ahead early on but when the French got back to 2-1 up you start to feel that you are not going to be able to beat such a big nation. I did not really think we would come back but it shows how competitive we are in, we never gave up. Maybe we could have thought that we would not get back at them, but this shows we have faith in ourselves and each other.” Joe Hart played twice for the English Under-21’s last week – he kept a clean sheet at Milton Keynes on Friday as the home team beat Bulgaria 2-0, and he was again between the pots for Stuart Pearce’s team on Tuesday, in a 1-1 draw in Portugal. And Ishmael Miller’s fine season on loan at West Brom was rewarded with a call up by SP for these two games. Ishmael remained on the bench as an unused substitute on both occasions.

Squad News

Taking Out a Loan, or Two: Sven is planning to send more City youngsters out on loan, to give them competitive experience. He told the club website (the English language version, I’m guessing): “Logan is on loan, we’ve got Kasper out, Ishmael Miller is scoring for West Brom and maybe before the deadline we might be able to give one or two more of the young players the chance to go out on loan. I think it’s the right policy to have and to let them play football. The important thing is that we find the right clubs for them, first of all where they play football, good football and where they can play regularly. For some of them I think it would be very good if they go out on loan because I think it’s better to play football in the league than in the reserve league.” West Brom fans would love Miller to sign up permanently for the Baggies, but S-GE has urged the 20-year-old to consider another go at the COMS. “If I were in Ishmael’s shoes, I would stay with City at least until next pre-season and see what’s happening,” he said. “This is because he’s doing very well and maybe getting better and better. So who knows? Instead of signing for another club, he could stay.” And another good young ‘un has gone out on loan this week – Norwich City have completed the paperwork to sign Ched Evans until New Year’s Day. Evans has made just one appearance for Sven Goran Eriksson’s side – as a substitute in September’s 1-0 Carling Cup win over the Canaries – but will go straight into Glenn Roeder’s squad to face Coventry on Saturday. Evans told the Norfolk club’s official website: “It’s just a great club and it’s a good opportunity to play in the Championship and play at a good level of football. I’m doing well at the minute but I want to see if I can do it in the Championship. That is the challenge. If I can go out on loan and do well then hopefully I can break into Man City’s first team.” Meanwhile, City have allowed Kasper Schmeichel to remain at Cardiff City on loan until the new year, at which point the loan can be extended to the end of the season. The Blues are expected to insert a clause allowed them to recall Schmeichel should they suffer injuries in the goalkeeping department. Cardiff’s goalkeeping coach is Martyn Margetson, a former City stalwart of course. “Martin’s great to work with,” Kasper says. “He’s only just stopped playing himself so he’s very up-to-date with the new balls, the way pitches are and that kind of thing. He’s got some good ideas and I’m learning from him. I’m enjoying it at Cardiff, the results have not gone our way, but we’re working hard to turn it around.” And to cap it all, young Kas has been named the Danish FA’s Young Player of the Year for 2007. “I’m very pleased, it’s a huge honour to get this award especially as it’s such a well-known one in Denmark. Daniel Agger won it last year, and I just hope I can fulfil the expectations that come with it. Denmark’s a small country so there’s a lot of coverage, especially with playing for the Under 21s as well, but it’s nice to rewarded like this. It’s been a good year for me, things are going well, I’ve been playing a lot and I’m really enjoying my football.”

My Pal Didi: Stephen Ireland says Didi Hamann is the top man when it comes to football ability. “Didi is the best I have ever played with,” he praised. “He has great footballing intelligence in the way he reads the game even to the point where he draws free-kicks from the opposition.” Hamann meantime admits he fancies coaching when he eventually hangs up his boots. He told liverpoolfc.tv: “I’ll probably do my badges over the next few years. Whether I actually do want to manage or coach I’m not sure yet. But I’ll get the paperwork and see what happens. It’s certainly an option.”

Hart Beats Drum for Pearce: Joe Hart admits this season’s success at City is partly down to Stuart Pearce calling him up for England’s Under 21 squad for the summer’s European Championships. Hart said: “I learned a massive amount from the European finals. There were some big names in front of me. It’s definitely helped me now I’m in the first team at City and with the Under-21s, so it’s evidence that it’s had a positive effect on me.”

Three Cheers: Sven gave his press conference audience good news today – three of his injured squad are either fit for Saturday, or should be fit for the week after. Richard Dunne, having missed out on international duty this week, should be back this weekend to face Reading. “Richard will be fit,” stated the Boss. “He trained on Monday and Tuesday but we gave him a day off on Wednesday because he is not quite 100 per cent yet. He has had to take it easy a little bit, but I hope he can play against Reading on Saturday and I think he will play.” He also said that Nedum Onouha and Michael Johnson should be available for the trip to Wigan Athletic on December 1. “I am almost sure that Nedum and Michael Johnson will not be ready for tomorrow but will be available for the week after at Wigan,” confirmed Eriksson. “The doctors and physios think that another week will see them both fit and that is good news because we are going to need everyone over what will be a busy period.” And Nedum believes he’s become a better player for the influx of foreign stars at City. He said: “At the beginning of the season, a commentator said I was the Manchester kid with the Brazilian style, which was a nice compliment. Quite a few newspapers have been saying that watching City is just like watching Brazil this season. They might just be looking for a nice line, but we do have that little bit of flair. You might not hear too much Portuguese being spoken in Manchester, but there is a bit of Brazilian style rubbing off around the place.”

OPINION: OLDIES AND GOLDIES

It just goes to show that the old adage of “Quality not Quantity” still rings true. Although a short edition, I though MCIVTA 1381 was an absolute cracker! A passionate tale from afar from Shalom, Ernie’s usual heartfelt contribution, a brilliant 10 year nostalgia trip from Andy (more on that below), Joel’s sharp wit in fine fettle and what sounds like a cracking night in Mid-Sussex. Incidentally I have just moved to Berkshire from Manchester – does anybody know if Berkshire has any events/organisations to match the Sussex Blues’ appetite for Blue-based frivolity?

Ah, thank you Andy Morris. 1997, a fine vintage… unless you were a fan of Manchester City. The year of our relegation to Division 3 is not one to be celebrated 10 years on – sorry Messrs van Blerk, Bradbury, Briscoe et al but the memories aren’t always fond – although I do remember being at the (typical City) impressive last day 5-2 hammering of Stoke that saw us… go down! Sort of Happy Days. So to think of then and now really shows how far we have come.

So with that in mind readers, next time you are about to whinge, don’t be a Liverpool fan on 5-Live (has anyone else noticed over the last 10 years how many times their fans have called for managers’ heads? Oh for a 10th of their success, ie one trophy!) and celebrate the fact that we are for once doing rather well. And not in Division 3 either! And enjoy it, for one does not know for how long it will last. How many muscles to frown / smile etc.?

Keep up the good work all, and keep positive!

OPINION: TEACH ‘EM RIGHT

Well, my annual pilgrimage came and went. I still maintain my unbeaten record. City have not lost a match that I attended since I moved to the US in 1980 (don’t get excited, it is usually one game per year)!

This time the opposition was Sunderland. We attacked once and scored, they did not but it was still wonderful. I had the privilege of taking my brother-in-law who took me to my first match at Maine Road in the late 50’s. My memory is fading but I know it was West Ham and for some reason I think the score was 5-3! I think I remember Clyde Best playing for them. I am sure someone will correct me.

The only thing that bothered me last Monday was a couple with 2 small boys in front of us and they were teaching their kids to annoy and antagonize the Sunderland fans. When I was small I was taught that City fans were there to enjoy the football and the banter with the fans behind the goal at the open end, which was to be enjoyed by all. How times have changed? Teaching youngsters to pronounce the curse words properly while smiling in admiration is not how it should be done is it?

OPINION: THE WAY FORWARD

We are now getting to the crucial time of the season, where matches will be coming thick and fast, and we need quality back-up players. Currently we have so much dead-wood in the club, that surely the likes of, both the Mills, Ousmane Dabo, Paul Dickov, Samaras, maybe Vassell, and perhaps Bianchi need to be moved out, before we replace them with the players that SGE and the Club require to keep us in the top 6 of the Premier League.

If you check on Skysports, the newspapers etc., we seem to be linked to every striker in Europe, from Afonso Alves, Peter Crouch, Stevan Jovetic, Berbatov, Adriano, Anelka, Asamoah Gyan, and now Julio Baptista. Half of those names can be dicounted for various reasons but the 2 strikers whom I think could be possibilities are Baptista and Crouch. Crouch’s value must have risen appreciably though after his performance yesterday (by the way, my view that Micah Richards needs to improve his positioning and spatial awareness was made more obvious last night, hopefully he will get better).

If we don’t get Crouch, then Baptista will be a right handful as he is a big bloke (should give defenders a problem in the air) and he also has good feet with the ball on the ground, plus he has had Premiership experience with Arsenal, is young enough and is a Brazil international. I am sure Elano must be giving SGE a lot of advice on his compatriots. Samaras has to go, and the chances are that Bianchi might also be on his way out, and could be used in a player swap, so you never know, maybe there will be 3 or 4 players coming in, instead of 1 or 2.

In midfield we need a Hargreaves type of player (should have been used last night – tons of energy and bite in midfield), as we can be a bit lightweight in that department, and I am sure SGE has his eyes on a few targets. It’s pleasing to know that the Chairman is right behind SGE and the Club in general, and who would ever in their wildest dreams be thinking City are forging links with feeder clubs around the world, and our Chairman’s desire to make us one of the biggest and most successful Clubs around. As they say, “the future is bright, the future is Man City”.

I feel sorry for Geovanni, has not had a look-in since his goal against Man Utd. Surely he must be restless and a bit chessed off? On a last note, I was quite impressed with Gelson Fernandes in the game against Portsmouth, I thought he acquitted himself very well in Johnson’s position and hope he is given another opportunity. He is young and has energy that we will need against Reading, who always seem efficient without big star names.

C’mon City.

OPINION: THE STATE OF THE GAME I

So England are out of the European Championships – the first time that we have not qualified for a tournament since Graham Taylor’s flops failed to reach USA 94.

At least he managed to qualify for a Eurpoean tournament and though disappointed, he should be quietly relieved that he no longer is known as the worst England manager in history. Of course England’s failure to qualify is not just down to Steve McLaren’s myriad of failings. Too many overpaid Premier League prima donnas (Lampard and Co.) failed to deliver anything like their best in qualifying matches. Even Gerrard who always does his best, was abject on Wednesday night against the skilful Croatia (and has been poor for England for a while in all truth) and the team ended up playing alehouse long-ball football to Peter Crouch, the only player who truly did himself justice.

English football’s problem is deep rooted and starts in school where the coaches and the parents are bawling at their kids instead of allowing them to learn the game and express themselves. Too many English footballers hoof the ball because they don’t have the required skills. They aren’t encouraged from a very young age to do something different; there’s too much emphasis on workrate and getting rid of the ball and so what you end up with is stereotyped players without the skills or imagination. We, England that is, got what we deserved. Nothing. Croatia are a decent team who made light of the poor, shameful Wembley pitch. Wasn’t Vedran Corluka impressive? A Rolls Royce of a defender who never wasted a ball and read the game brilliantly.

I don’t believe in putting quotas on foreign players. If English players are good enough, they’d be playing in the Premier League. The fact is that so many English players are not good enough. That’s why we don’t have the depth. It’s no good blaming the clubs: they have always had their own interests at heart and always will have in any nation. You have to question the people at the FA who run the game though. Who failed to get Scolari? Whose idea was it to select McLaren? Those people should be following McLaren out of the door.

Thankfully we at City have our own club and players – young and old, foreign and local – to give us optimism. How often have we been able to say that?

OPINION: THE STATE OF THE GAME II

Comments on England’s defeat, tonight:

Peter Crouch: For me, still a not-very-effective one-trick pony. Took his goal very well indeed but, overall, I do not rate the player as highly as some people. His first-half performance was quite lame. Not a player I would ever be desperate to buy, but I have a feeling Sven does not feel the same way.

Vedran Corluka: What a polished, professional and classy player this man is! A very, very talented performance tonight, which shows exactly how astute Sven is, by his purchase of this defender. Classy and confident, in the extreme. Great, solid game, Vedran!

First goal, tonight: What every schoolboy goalkeeper is taught: “Always get your body behind the ball!” What a basic error and calamity.

I have a feeling Sven shall sleep well. This evening. England basically got no more than they deserved. Stuart Pearce just got a step closer.

OPINION: PEARCEY

How much I agree with regular contributor Ernie Barrow’s comment on our former manager Stuart Pearce. Yes, it’s true what Sven is doing is fantastic job but let’s not forget it was SP who came in when we were in a downward spiral and heading towards relegation. His enthusiasm and dare I say it ‘football nouse’ saved us from the dreadful drop. Most fans at the time (even those with short memories) loved him for what he did at the time and saw a new horizon. Sadly things did not work out on his limited budget and was it his fault some of his expensive signings, Corradi and Samaras with their proven records, could not hit the onion bag a bit more often?

I’m ecstatic under what is happening with Sven but I won’t forget Stuart Pearce’s valuable contribution to our present team and like Ernie Barrow I think he has the ability to become a top class Premier League manager.

I’ll finish by nicking Ernie’s favourite saying, c’mon you Blues.

OPINION: THE TABLE

Does anyone else look at the league table from about the middle down and wonder why City aren’t there, only to remember with a smile to look up a bit higher?

Or is it just me?

REQUEST: CITY VIDEOS AVAILABLE

I’ve got quite a few City videos that I no longer need (as I now have them on DVD). If anyone is interested, please contact me, I’m looking for £20 for the lot and can give you a full list of those available.

I’d rather they go to a City fan than in a charity bag.

RESULTS

League table to 20 November 2007 inclusive

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

MCIVTA FAQ [v0708.01]

[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 Points of Blue (formerly the Fans’ Committee)?

The committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. Points of Blue appears 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] 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/.

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: