Newsletter #1523

A shocker of a performance against Fulham at the weekend came after last Thursday’s second half capitulation to Hamburg. With two poor games and results on the bounce there is of course plenty of opinion tonight on where the problems lie.

On the back of Ireland coming out and rightly accusing team mates of hiding after last week’s game, are there once again problems in the dressing room?

Match report from the Fulham game thanks to Phil, and next up the prospect of the Hamburg return leg.

Dare we?

MATCH REPORT ‘LIVE’: MCFC 1 FFC 3

City slumped to a sixth home defeat of the season after a second half collapse against a well organised Fulham side. As in Hamburg and many times this season, we were let down by a lack of desire as City switched off in the second half with minds clearly, and wrongly, on Thursday’s 2nd leg and squandered a relatively comfortable half time lead. This defeat means that it will be nigh on impossible to attain a Europa Cup spot next season, given our woeful away form. It was a very flat performance from City.

Shaun Wright-Phillips was out with an ankle injury and Robinho was rested on the bench with Thursday’s big game against Hamburg in mind. In their places came Kelvin Etuhu on the right, and Martin Petrov who received a very warm welcome from the home fans on the left. Bojinov came in for Danny Sturridge up front.

The first half was fairly even but Fulham threatened to break through on three occasions early on, Johnson’s pace being a threat and one of his shots was blocked by the covering Onuoha; Dunne made the mistake of letting the ball bounce, slipped and Zamora had an effort saved by Given, then Clint Dempsey shot wide after a clever pass by Fulham captain Danny Murphy who had left Ireland on his backside with a smart swivel.

Bojinov shot over for City after good interplay with Zabaleta and Ireland, and it was to be the latter who was to open the scoring with a goal of the highest quality. Receiving the ball well inside the City half, Ireland advanced unchallenged and from just outside the left hand side of the box, he unleashed a lob over Fulham goalkeeper Schwarzer, and high into the top right hand corner of the net. It was a goal that was worthy of winning any game of football, anywhere. Sadly it wasn’t to be.

City’s body language in the second half was that of a team that was going through the motions and waiting for Thursday, and we were duly punished for a very sloppy performance. Even the normally reliable Zabaleta gave the ball away inside the City half, Richards tried to intercept but Dempsey fired home in the 50th minute. The visitors soon took the lead with Dickson Etuhu firing in from long range after Konchesky’s searching cross had been cleared. The ex-City youngster was given too much room by the City midfield and it was another preventable goal. Unfortunately, his younger brother Kelvin was not able to offer any sort of challenge to Fulham left back, Paul Konchesky, on the right and, sadly, Martin Petrov didn’t look up for any kind of challenge. “We want Robinho” demanded the South Stand and it was no surprise when the Brazilian and Danny Sturridge came on for the two wide players, Bojinov had already been replaced by the eager Evans. It wasn’t long before Sturridge played in Robinho but his effort was just gathered by Schwarzer. At least we were creating chances and looked like a threat: Sturridge fired wide, and both Evans and Zabaleta had shots turned round for corners. Fulham were still a threat with Johnson having a shot blocked and Given saving Hangeland’s header from a corner, and they sealed the match with a breakaway: Dunne horrendously failed to nick the ball on the half way line, thus allowing Zamora to feed Dempsey who slotted home with unerring accuracy. Cue an embarrassing max exodus: at least the singing section were still there to sing “City til I die”. There was still time for the ever-willing Evans to have a good downward header well saved low to Schwarzer’s left, but the game was lost.

The victory was well deserved for Fulham, their manager Roy Hodgson an excellent tactician and a gentleman and fair play to them for repeating last season’s second half comeback. Even so, there is no doubting that we have been the authors of our own downfall. Too many players didn’t look up for it in the second half, and even ones that do give their all like De Jong and Zabaleta were below par. Micah Richards is clearly a weakness at right back right now, and is suffering a dip in form like so many youngsters do. He more than anyone needs a rest from the game if anyone does, in order that he can rediscover his best.

Surely we have to keep going all out for that 7th place, and to rest Robinho and Sturridge, replacing them with players who are either rusty or inexperienced, was a mistake. It was no coincidence that we looked far more inventive with Sturridge and Robinho on the pitch. Some of the talk on the way back to the car and phone-ins was of “Hughes must go”. Sacking yet another good manager is most definitely not the way forward. We need to give Hughes time to build a solid team. Pat Nevin, who is perhaps the most impressive pundit on radio and TV said in the build up to this game on Radio 5 Live that Hughes should be given time to buy some more dependable players in order to continue to build his own team, and he is absolutely right.

We don’t need any more fair weather players who only turn it on when it suits. Hughes has already made some very good purchases in Zabaleta, Kompany, De Jong and of course, Shaun Wright-Phillips, so he should be given time and resources to do this.

Att: 39,841.
Ratings (can I say that?):
Given: Less commanding in the second than he was in the first: 6
Richards: Some good interceptions but opponents know that the gaps he leaves on our right are a weakness and Fulham exploited these gaps several times: 5
Dunne: Some bad errors and more work is needed in his combination with Richards: 5
Onuoha: Pretty solid: 6
Garrido: Steady and good on the ball. Couldn’t be faulted: 6
Kelvin Etuhu: Offered no threat: 5
De Jong: Plenty of tenacity but his passing was erratic and he could have closed space down better for Fulham’s goals: 6
Zabaleta: His mistake cost us Fulham’s first goal, but he never gave up. Played with heart as ever: 6
Ireland: Scored a great goal, gave his all as an attacker and defender. Defeat clearly hurts him. It’s a pity that not enough of his team mates have the same attitude: 7
Petrov: Looked rusty and scared of injuring himself again: 5
Bojinov: Not fully fit and short of match practice: 5
Subs:
Robinho: Showed us what we were missing: flair and invention: 6
Sturridge: Gave us a creative spark and goal threat: 6
Evans: Willing, eager, and unlucky not to score late on: 6
Refwatch: Mark Halsey: Missed a blatant push on Bojinov and one or two other minor decisions, but not a bad performance: 6
Best oppo: Danny Murphy: always a wily, clever playmaker: 8

MATCH VIEW: MCFC 1 FFC 3

Once again Superman strikes with a great goal, other than that there was nothing, absolutely nothing from City. After the goal City had a 61% percentage of the ball, but that was because we kept going sideways with the ball, then someone would just boot the ball forward so that Fulham would regain possession without any effort.

So many times the long ball was used by City, and most of the time Fulham would win the ball. Too many times we gave the ball away in a sloppy and weak manner.

It is true that injuries have interrupted the team, but everyone is part of the squad, and we the supporters and fans deserve better. City have not been able to field the same team for several games, but our defence looks terrible.

I think that this defeat was to blame on the players, manager and coaching staff, and no excuses, none please. People say the twelfth man is the supporters , partly true, I say the twelfth man is “team spirit” – where is it?

We needed this game as a win to give us a real chance of that seventh place, now it looks so far away, and could mean no Europe next season, unless City can at least win 2-0 against Hamburg on Thursday to keep our hopes alive.

Could very well be our season is on the line on Thursday, we need all our best players fit for this game and with 100% effort and concentration from every player who puts a City shirt on.

It was great to see Petrov back in action, but I feel he should have had 20 minutes off the bench in the last game, he is clearly not 100% match fit. Now Sparky has something to prove, we have played Hamburg, so what tactics will he use, in probably the most important game of the season on Thursday?

Come on you Blues!

MATCH VIEW: HSV 3 MCFC 1

(With apologies to Mel Brooks) – It’s ‘Springtime for Hamburg and Germanee’!

I had bad vibes about this first leg when I found that I couldn’t access ITV4 on my ancient receiver (compulsory changeover to digital, in this part of the world, in October this year) and that the only way I could see the game was at the local hostelry at the sign of ‘The Strangled Ferret’. So, having parked myself behind the pool table and negotiated with the remote to access the channel, my reveries as to our chances were interrupted, precisely 40 seconds after Ireland’s brilliant opener by an influx of infants and the usual gaggle of single mothers from the local sink estate. The kids, cacophonous and unruly, indulgently smiled upon by their doting mums (‘Jason Don’t hit that man again!’), proceeded to monopolise the pool table wielding cues like battle axes in Braveheart. It was with a sinking heart and with one eye on their determination to blind me that I realised that the bad vibes were spot on.

After a string of brilliant point-blank saves by Given, he was beaten by a glancing header from Mathijsen after a near-post corner delivered by the outstanding Trochowski. Given is a brilliant ‘keeper. We could have been 4-1 down after 45 minutes. Bert was a superb goalkeeper and athlete but you’re only as good as the defence in front of you. The fact is that ours are poorly marshalled and too slow to mark their opponents, especially at set pieces.

I managed to fend off the assault of pool cues (and a rest!) until half-time and with the score at 1-1, I fondly entertained the thought that we had a chance (with the away goal) of making a decent fist of it in the second half. I dismissed the idea of escaping the bedlam and trudging the half-mile to town through the drizzle, across the causeway, to the (only) other pub screening the game at ‘The Sodomised Stoat’ until, as the whistle re-started the game, a bunch of local yobs, complete with a huge, slobbering mastiff, which would give the other runners a run for their connections’ money at Cheltenham or Aintree, entered the fray to complete my night. You guessed it! Glory hunters to a man!

As Hamburg completed our demolition, this unholy alliance of brats and Reds cheered their efforts and my discomfiture. The vibes were confirmed with a vengeance.

Were my circumstances different, say a more ‘civilised’ atmosphere, my vibes would have been far more positive. Indeed, I might have been able to ‘summon up spirits from the vast deep’ and, in my Celtic transcendental way, conveyed them to our embattled heroes far away in Germanee. I couldn’t and that’s the only reason we lost and now face a monumental task in the return leg.

For those of us unable to be at COMS or to view the return at home, and in order to restore positive expectations, I have written to my local MP asking him to propose emergency legislation that will (a) ban all dogs from public houses when football is screened and (b) likewise, force publicans to install a wire-fenced area, well away from the TV, within which it will be compulsory to deposit unruly kids hell-bent on making decent City – folks’ lives a misery.

The only problem then remaining would be to agree on the voltage.

OPINION: HAMBURG PERFORMANCE I

I have just finished watching the match from my home in Holland.

I have very rarely been so angry in my whole life as a City fan. I have been watching the Blues since 1963 and remember as a boy the fans chanting “sack Mac” during the matches.

Back to the match, where was Richards supposed to be playing? Was he a right winger or a right back? He was never on time to cut out danger the whole match and almost the only time he was in position he gave away a penalty. Was he instructed to play that way or did he take it on himself? Why was it not corrected during the game? How can we expect to achieve anything if during a match glaring faults in our play and game plan go uncorrected?

I am very, very angry tonight. It did not have to be this way!

OPINION: HAMBURG PERFORMANCE II

A brilliant start from City, a fantastic pass from Superman to Robinho, who held and controlled the ball long enough for Ireland to run at speed and slam the ball into the back of the net, within the first minute.

But it did not take Hamburg long with all their pressure to get the equalizer in the 9th minute.

I am not going to say who was the City star of this game; instead I will give the wooden spoon (as they say in rugby) to Micah Richards. My advice to Micah is forget the comments about other players and the team, and concentrate on your own game; we bought Zab to be the right back, put Micah on the bench (not the first time have I said this).

Sturridge, who won’t sign a contract for £40,000 a week – rubbish. I just hope that Chelsea saw this at a higher level game. On tonight’s performance, £20,000 is too much. I shall not be upset if he leaves (the greedy swine).

I am not ready to blame Mark Hughes for the 3-1 loss; the team that started would have been the same by me, but big disappointments from some players.

Hamburg attacked at speed but with more conviction, and always ready to have a shot at goal, and always looked dangerous. But for Given in goal it could very well have been a heavy defeat. If it was Hamburg 2 City 1 it would be a hill to climb, but 3-1 it is now a mountain.

Hamburg are not top of the German league for nothing, a very good team. We are not there yet, and on tonight’s game some way to go. What we have to hope for is a home ground performance, and we at least have that away goal, if it will mean anything after the result of the second leg.

At home we need all the support that City can muster, come on you supporters, sing loud, our most important game for years.

But I will say this: Sparky might be getting to be a little worried, we have a long way to improve.

I would just like to add this on substitutes: Elano was on the bench – why? Fernandes, who runs around like a chicken with its head off. Was Petrov not fit enough to play? Benji, sorry is out of his depth at this level.

MCFC need to strengthen the squad big time, the players that Sparky brought in, all but one (Taj) have been good, so he gets good marks for that, but the job is far from being done. This game versus Hamburg shows how frail that the team really is.

Come on you Blues!

OPINION: HAMBURG PERFORMANCE III

Well, what can be said after that start? For starters we were second best for most of the game, with Hamburg always looking likely to score.

Best money ever spent on Shay Given, without him it could quite easily been six or seven. An outstanding performance, pity some of the so-called stars didn’t take notice.

We were very slack at set-pieces (mainly corners), the marking at times was almost non-existent. Hamburg had a field-day down the flanks. The two full backs are still a problem. Can we actually afford to play with ten men for most of our games? Apart from the first pass, the 32 million dollar man was almost non-existent. I want players that play for City to actually roll up their sleeves and put in a good 90 minutes effort (Stevie I, Nedum, SWP, Dunnie, Zab for example). Sure, they might make mistakes, miss goals, concede goals, but fans take that into account when they can see them giving everything out on the pitch.

We missed Kompany and de Jong. But in saying all that, we are still in it, amazingly. Score two at home and we’re through! Hope Petrov is fit for the return.

At Easter, thank the good Lord. Always said He had a sense of humour, why else would He have made City?

Stay Blue.

OPINION: HAMBURG PERFORMANCE IV

What a fantastic start to the match, a goal inside a minute, but City being City, I just knew it would not last. It did not take long for Hamburg to get back on terms and it was only Shay Given in goal that prevented this happening even earlier. I guess most City fans must have watched this match on TV, so I am not going to give a match report, but just my views of where we are at and how far behind we are in terms of competing with the best teams in Europe.

I doubt if anybody in England could name one player in the Hamburg team, that’s how anonymous they are, but there must be loads of people worldwide that could name several City players. Given this information, one would have to assume that we have far more quality players than the Hamburg team? Yes… only on paper! Our guys get paid enormous sums of money, probably 2 or 3 times more than most of the Hamburg team, so how come they played so much better than us? Look at the likes of Pitroipa and Trochowski, who were a constant thorn in our side? I had never heard of either of them.

When they drew level, I was thinking to myself, these guys have just scored and also missed 3 good chances, we need to match them in midfield and protect our dodgy back four or else we are going to lose this, and my predictions came true. When is Mark Hughes going to read the game, and change things tactically to ensure a good result? Wayne Bridge and Micah Richards are poor full backs, over-hyped and overpaid!

Our midfield was nearly non existent in the 2nd half, Bellamy was a big risk with his dodgy knee, so why not use Caicedo to rough up some of their defenders? Zabaleta is not a holding player, even though he puts himself about. Trochowski for Hamburg ran the show, he needed to have been clamped down, and his influence on the game would have been minimised. Their bigger and more athletic players in the middle of the park and in defence, totally overwhelmed us.

I have been saying on MCIVTA since the start of the season, that Micah Richards does not read the game, and that we need a quality right back, and boy did his poor performance last night come home to roost! I feel for Shay Given, Richard Dunne and Onuoha as they are doing their utmost in the centre of defence, but their 2 colleagues constantly let them down. Then you read all about Sturridge’s agent wanting his man to get £65,000 per week or else he will go. Well, talented or not, we should let him go, as he is only 19 and proved nothing so far, apart from a few cameos. For that money, you can purchase a seasoned international.

If Hughes is still in charge for next season (which I doubt), he is going to need a massive re-building exercise. We need a mixture of quality, physical presence and experience. He needs to buy Glenn Johnson from Portsmouth (money should be no barrier), perhaps the Arsenal left back on loan to Portsmouth, a quality creative midfielder, and a big target man up front. Then get rid of some of the chaff.

Come on City, get back to winning ways… please!

OPINION: PLUS ÇA CHANGE

I feel like I write the same thing at this stage of each season – certainly for the last 2-3. We seem to not move forward after the turn of the year and recent performances have been very disappointing. I made a brief UK trip a few weeks and got to go to Stamford Bridge and then the home game against Sunderland. Most of the recent other games have been on some form of TV/broadband over here so a decent run of games leads me to make the following comments.

First, I am not anti-Hughes. I would like him to succeed but I would echo some other comments that suggest he is not quite sure how to respond in games. City were quite dreadful at Chelsea (and similarly at Arsenal). Chelsea are a good team but it appeared that our tactics were to defend all game and hope for something. it wasn’t that different at home against Sunderland. Which gets me to the second comment: why are we struggling to score? Is it really the Robinho factor and his lack of goals for ages or is it something more? Against Hamburg last night I gave up counting the number of times we gave the ball away before the forwards could be brought into the game. The passing at times is really poor and there are almost no exceptions to this. I don’t mean the one off passes such as Ireland can make which carry and are accurate but the passes needed for a steady build up. We just seem to have lost the ability to play the ball forward confidently.

Injuries and suspensions don’t help but other teams go through this. This is probably a comment on our overall squad strength, which is not that impressive. But the patient side of me says it will take at least one more year to see a marked improvement in the overall squad. I am not sure this is the time to give a chance to some of the younger players: there is no so much at stake with the return Hamburg game and some important league games. I would imagine our owners would feel that we should be in Europe again next year. It is always a challenge to make the transition from youth team to first team, and especially when the pressure is on. But I take note of what happened at Old Trafford last Sunday. What does disappoint me is that some of the young players who get on the bench don’t even get a few minutes in a game, even at home, where we are quite strong.

This all sounds like a lot of complaining and perhaps it is more a sense of frustration that we haven’t really moved forward this season: in other words it is very difficult to see where any overall improvements are happening. I find the way Elano has been treated a little strange and Jo has shown that it is quite impossible to score goals from the bench but quite possible when you actually are on the field. I do worry that we have a manager who likes solid, journeymen players but that is probably an unfair comment. How do we really know? At this stage I would not like to guess whether Hughes will be with us next year or not. As in some many previous seasons (Pearce, Sven) a lot will depend on the remaining games and whether we end with any optimism. I don’t think the manager himself can be too surprised if he is not there next year.

Having said all that, it was great to see City other than on TV. I was telling someone at the Chelsea game that the last time I went to see City at Chelsea Colin Bell scored! We have no one of that class at the moment and I am not being an old duffer in saying that. The Fulham game is on TV in the US as is the return game against Hamburg, two games that should tell us quite a bit. In the Fulham game, since there appears to be a number of injuries, will the manager “experiment” or he will be conservative? Will he give Petrov a run or play with a defensive midfield? Hamburg because it does need a 2-0 win and that is not impossible.

Enough. As always many thanks for all the wonderful updates twice a week and the opinions and views that bring all of us so much closer to City. While in Manchester I bought the History of Football in Manchester book. A great read but it underlines the topsy turvey world of following Manchester City FC.

OPINION: ENOUGH!

For me the Fulham game was the final straw. Are we all still saying ‘in Sparky we trust’? Are contributors to this forum still trying to defend the indefensible? Are people still not willing to see and accept what is happening in front of their very own eyes? Enough is enough! Hughes out! And the sooner the better. As I have repeatedly stated on this forum, no more excuses! This is his squad (you can hardly call it a team!). They are his players, his coaching, his tactics, his game plan and it is so manifestly clear Mr Hughes is so far out of his depth it’s untrue. And this time no one can even blame Robinho! This joke of a manager has spent £100 million and this is what we get, give me a break! It’s time to put the players, the fans and Mr Hughes himself out of the misery each week brings and do the decent thing and part company.

For me I have genuinely seen enough. I am a season ticket holder for almost 40 years. However, I will not be attending another game whilst Mr Hughes remains in charge. I don’t enjoy going anymore, I don’t look forward to it anymore and I don’t enjoy watching the team I love anymore serving up this total rubbish.

I will renew my season ticket for next season out of my blind loyalty to the club. However, my seat will remain empty for as long as Mr Hughes remains at this club. He has taken us backwards. Wasted untold millions and continues to trot out excuse after even more pathetic excuse. Just how long can this continue? A European place? Don’t make me laugh. We are now looking over our shoulder at the relegation candidates, we are now concerned about how the results go of those teams below us and some people still insist we are making progress! Nope, no more. Enough is enough.

OPINION: SHOULD HE STAY OR…

Some think Mark Hughes should be given a couple of more years and others think he should be tossed over the side without further ado. Surely it is now inevitable. Enough is enough. He’s got to go.

Watching City’s last batch of games, live or on screen, it is clear his team is bereft of ideas. Against Sunderland, we had a few pretty training ground-style flashes that came to naught. Against Fulham we didn’t have a clue, even when we were leading. The team is a spiritless shambles and boring to boot.

Jo’s resurgence at Everton confirms that Hughes and his training staff do not know how to bring the best out of elite players. Elano and Robinho haven’t suddenly lost all the skill they had prior to arriving at Eastlands but clearly, as with Jo, it has been suppressed. I don’t know what it takes to help elite players get their groove back and there is not much evidence that Hughes does either.

The “give him a chance” side of the argument make some good points but for better or worse, they are in conflict with the reality of today’s game. Frankly, I think the owners have been remarkably patient. By this point in the season, I would have wanted more for my 100 million quid.

Perhaps he won’t be jettisoned until season’s end but the prospect of next season without even a minor place in Europe will certainly seal his fate. I suspect, however, that the decision has already been made.

OPINION: DISGRACE

Hamburg vs. City was men versus boys, City vs. Fulham was boys versus men. It’s a long time since I’ve seen a City side play so badly and without any idea and or passion, that can only be down to 1 man, or 1 man and his dog. Hughes along with his ex-Norwich sidekick must be due for the sack now. Let’s remember that he was not brought in by the current owners but by a man days before he sold the club, but he has brought in quite a few of the current squad of which he can’t manage.

It would still be possible at this late stage for us to be playing Championship football next season, as the confidence runs out and the players start to panic, we have seen it all before. Some of the teams above us were all relegation candidates 2 months ago and some of those below us only need 3 wins to go above us, they easily look like a win whilst we easily look like losing.

Sparky out, sorry Ernie but I don’t trust him and nor should you (and his dog from Norwich).

Managing the Welsh national side and Blackburn Rovers does not make you a good manager.

OPINION: TIRED EXCUSES

Mark Hughes says on the official web site that “Tiredness took its toll”; we are talking about professional footballers who are supposed to be match fit?

Is the training too strenuous that the energy is sapped out of the players? How come players in other teams can cope with it?

I will not accept tiredness as an excuse for a poor performance; the only way that you can change my mind is by showing up collectively for the game versus Hamburg on Thursday. I think that the game on Thursday is crunch time for Sparky – he has to get the team ready and with a plan full of tactics to beat Hamburg.

In the meantime send the players home to bed with hot milk and an early night, and less of the night clubs.

Yes I like many other City supporters and fans are tired of the lacklustre performances from players who draw large amounts of money, whilst the supporters pay with their hard earned money to see it all.

Come on you Blues!

RESULTS

12 April 2009

Aston Villa           3 - 3  Everton               40,188
Manchester City       1 - 3  Fulham                39,841

11 April 2009

Liverpool             4 - 0  Blackburn Rovers      43,466
Chelsea               4 - 3  Bolton Wanderers      41,096
Middlesbrough         3 - 1  Hull City             32,255
Portsmouth            2 - 2  West Bromwich Albion  20,376
Sunderland            1 - 2  Manchester United     45,408
Tottenham Hotspur     1 - 0  West Ham United       35,969
Wigan Athletic        1 - 4  Arsenal               22,954

League table to 12 April 2009 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  31 13  1  1 34 11  9  4  3 20 10 22  5  4  54  21  33 71
 2 Liverpool       32 10  6  0 31  8 10  4  2 28 13 20 10  2  59  21  38 70
 3 Chelsea         32  9  5  2 28 11 11  2  3 27  9 20  7  5  55  20  35 67
 4 Arsenal         32  9  5  2 24 11  8  5  3 30 17 17 10  5  54  28  26 61
 5 Aston Villa     32  5  8  3 24 20 10  0  6 24 22 15  8  9  48  42   6 53
 6 Everton         32  7  5  4 27 17  7  5  4 20 17 14 10  8  47  34  13 52
 7 West Ham United 32  8  2  6 21 17  4  6  6 16 19 12  8 12  37  36   1 44
 8 Fulham          32  9  3  4 24 13  2  7  7  9 15 11 10 11  33  28   5 43
 9 Tottenham H.    32  7  5  4 17  9  4  3  9 21 27 11  8 13  38  36   2 41
10 Wigan Athletic  32  7  4  5 15 16  4  4  8 16 20 11  8 13  31  36  -5 41
11 Manchester City 32 10  0  6 32 15  1  5 10 15 27 11  5 16  47  42   5 38
12 Bolton Wndrs    32  7  2  7 19 19  4  2 10 20 30 11  4 17  39  49 -10 37
13 Stoke City      31  8  4  3 18 13  1  4 11 13 34  9  8 14  31  47 -16 35
14 Portsmouth      31  6  3  7 22 25  2  7  6 12 23  8 10 13  34  48 -14 34
15 Hull City       32  3  5  8 16 30  5  5  6 20 25  8 10 14  36  55 -19 34
16 Blackburn R.    32  4  6  6 18 23  4  4  8 17 31  8 10 14  35  54 -19 34
17 Sunderland      32  5  3  8 18 20  3  5  8 12 23  8  8 16  30  43 -13 32
18 Middlesbrough   32  5  7  4 16 17  2  2 12  9 30  7  9 16  25  47 -22 30
19 Newcastle Utd   31  4  6  6 21 27  2  5  8 15 24  6 11 14  36  51 -15 29
20 West Brom A.    32  5  3  8 20 30  1  4 11  8 29  6  7 19  28  59 -31 25

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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.mcivta.com/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: