Newsletter #1552

A disappointing show on Saturday as we leave South Africa having won just the one game. There is opinion tonight on the performances, but meanwhile we seem to be winning the wind-up war back in Manchester with the Tevez signing and ad.

There’s also opinion tonight on City viewing online and the usual requests.

OPINION: WELCOME TO MANCHESTER, CARLOS TEVEZ!

“Can you hear them, talking about us, telling lies, well that’s no surprise…” (Hall/Wiedlin)

Can you smell the fear? The corridors of Old Trafford are being infiltrated by a Blue mist. It is official. City are getting to United. The so-called master of the mind games is now wound up. Like a spoiled child, in quintessential Man United fashion, he cannot take the fact that United are playing second fiddle to City this summer. I’m not going to suggest that we are going to finish above them next year, but he clearly fears for the future. City have signed Gareth Barry, Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz. Carlos Tevez prefers playing for City over United and has exposed Bacon Face for what he is, and showed up his last minute attempt to get our new striker to stay Swampside. The Pork-faced puritan is now rattled. He just cannot stop talking about City. He cannot stop telling porkie-pies about City! Because there’s panic on streets of Trafford, Essex, London, Humberside…

A brilliant bit of marketing has really got Bacon Face’s goat. That wonderful blue poster with a picture of Carlos Tevez on entitled ‘Welcome to Manchester’ has really got Bacon Face’s trotters in a tangle. He described us as ‘arrogant’ and grunted “They are a small club with a small mentality. All they can talk about is Man United. They think taking Carlos Tevez from Man United is a triumph. It is poor stuff.”

Oh, dear. Somebody got out of the Sty the wrong side! Spot the wind up. Spot the wind up that has worked!

If anyone is arrogant it is Ferguson and his club, and describing another club as ‘small’ and having a ‘small mentality’ is arrogance personified! United are hated by fans of other clubs up and down the land for their quintessential arrogance, so it’s rather hypocritical for him to trot that one out! City a small club? Smaller than United in size, yes, but it’s quality rather than quantity. I cannot imagine the captain of City ever berating us for a lack support or describing us as being the ‘prawn sandwich brigade’! Furthermore, no balanced person would describe City as a small club.

If anything is small minded it’s Bacon Face’s and United’s all round spoiled brat mentality, his inability to take the fact that everyone is talking about City, not United. His refusal to talk to the BBC is a perfect example of a ‘small mentality’! In any case, who at City is talking about United? None of Sheikh Mansoor, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Garry Cook or Mark Hughes have discussed United! In fact no other spokesman at City has discussed United’s business! It is United – Ferguson in particular – who are talking about City. And it is very entertaining. He can’t resist commenting on us whether it’s Adebayor’s transfer or John Terry. We’ve heard his hypocrisy, heard and read his untruths and now see can smell his fear! Long may it continue.

OPINION: SOUTH AFRICAN GAMES

Being a South Africa based supporter I was able to watch all three games on TV and so thought I would contribute my own observations and opinions for what they are worth.

I do not attach too much importance to the scorelines because Mark was trying out new combinations for the first time and so the blending together of the new team is always going to take some time. After losing the first game to City, the Kaizer Chiefs team obviously came into the second game with a plan worked out from the first encounter. Their defence worked its socks off blocking every attacking threat that City posed. Every time SWP and Adebayor got the ball they usually had 3 Chiefs’ players harassing them. SWP was virtually cancelled out but on one occasion Adebayor skilfully worked his way into a scoring position. He was about 10 yards out with the goal at his mercy but still ballooned the ball over. He hung his head in disappointment. The only time that I noticed Robinho was when he took two corners in quick succession, both of them very poorly.

Nedum Onuoha completely mistimed the estimated time of arrival of the ball in the air on one occasion and instead of making contact with the ball made contact with the back of an opponent’s head instead. He left the scene with blood pouring down his face. It is hard to understand why he was out of touch because he has recently been playing for the England U21’s.

Gareth Barry was impressive in all the games he played. He plays all over the field, defence, midfield and attack and looks strong and imposing. He too worked his way into a scoring position, but the shot was a bit weak and found the goalkeeper instead of the net.

But the greatest shining light for me was Vladimir Weiss. Mark brought him on later in the second half in an attempt to break down the Chiefs’ defence and this move might well have worked if he had come on earlier. He looked more threatening than in his first game and I think that he just needs some more encouragement and coaching and he will be a very useful player indeed with his skilful play. He looks to me like another George Best in the making.

So now I am looking forward to the new season with great anticipation. In Hughsey I trust!

MATCH VIEW I: MCFC 0 KAIZER CHIEFS 1

Watched City’s pitiful effort in the Vodocom Final against Kaizer Chiefs, and found myself muttering something I swore I would never say again: “Typical City”.

Playing against a team having had a one-day break after being taken to extra time on Thursday, City’s passing was absolutely dreadful, particularly in the final third of the field. Petrov and Bellamy looked totally lost, Robinho looked like he hadn’t kicked a ball in six months (thought he’d just starred for Brazil!) and the distribution from Barry and Zabaleta was shockingly bad. Adebayor was also out of touch but did show the occasional dangerous flash.

And this was a major trophy final seen around the world; not a great advertisement for our future global domination.

Yes I know it’s early days and these players haven’t played together. But in future maybe Sparky should arrange games against the likes of Barnsley, Stockport or Bury to get the kinks out before he showcases the team on foreign soil.

If I were a South African fan I would be wondering what all the fuss is about. Compare City’s performances against what United and Chelsea are currently doing and it’s easy to see that we haven’t got this PR thing down right.

Surely they have to get better but there was a nice trophy that City could have won.

MATCH VIEW II: MCFC 0 KAIZER CHIEFS 1

The game versus Kaizer Chiefs in the final of Vodocom challenge was frustrating to watch. Clearly the team is not ready; the next pre-season games will very much be needed. It was a difficult game to play against a team, the Kaizer Chiefs, who must be congratulated on winning.

There are many who will be out to discredit the team after this game, but this is only a pre-season game and as I have stated before, and as I have done every season, it is not the results that are important as the conditioning of the players.

I shall judge the team very seriously at the start of the new season; by this time City should be ready, no excuses whatsoever.

There will be a lot of pressure on Mark Hughes to have a winning team; he has been given the funds to produce a winning combination, and so far I am pleased with what he has done as regards to the new signings, and who has been let go.

I was pleased today with the performance of new signing Gareth Barry, and there was at times some good play between the players, but with all the strikers that we have, it was disappointing that no one could score a goal.

We can only get better with more games under our belt, as we move closer to the real thing, the Premier League games.

Come on you Blues!

OPINION: CITY TV

“How long now, with the global branding targets, before we have CityTV?” asked Dave Kilroy in MCIVTA 1551.

Well I think I can enlighten you on this one Dave. In the lead up to the launch of the new website the club issued several pieces about what to expect. They even took the time to consult several City fan site editors to get their input. In one of the pieces they talked about other teams (like United and Liverpool et al) having subscription based television channels. City have decided that they will not be charging their loyal fans to see friendlies, reserve and youth team matches. Having decided that it would be available free, the club then took the decision to stream these fixtures via the new website rather than on a TV channel that might not be available to long distance fans.

I think everyone will agree that the HD quality streams we got from SA were excellent, even allowing for the upload glitches experienced by the SA TV station.

OPINION: MANDELA A BLUE

Besides the football, Manchester City FC really did the club proud when the team and officials met with Nelson Mandela. There’s a great video of them singing “Happy Birthday” to Nelson Mandela whose birthday was the previous Saturday (video on MCFC). It was appropriate that the team gave Mr Mandela a City shirt with the number 91 (his age).

This was something special towards the “Global Image” off the pitch, to have been with the much admired and loved Nelson Mandela, and to have supported his Children’s Fund in Jo’berg. Proud of ya’ll.

Come on you Blues!

REQUEST: WOLVES TICKETS

My wife has sorted out travel (from NI) and accommodation for the City game against Wolves on Saturday 22 August as a birthday present!

If anyone can assist with tickets that would be greatly appreciated. I might be able to get tickets through the club closer to the time but just thought I would try this approach first.

REQUEST: BARCELONA BEACH PARTY

Manchester City fans are gathering on Barceloneta Beach Wednesday 19th August from 3pm.

Bring flags, banners, beach balls etc. It is only about 3 miles from the City centre and a mile from Port Olympic. There is a large bar on the beach and plenty of bars and a great cocktail bar nearby. It only about 15 minutes from the Nou Camp in a cab and only about 8-10euros. It will be a great way to spend the afternoon prior to going to the game. All welcome, the more the merrier.

REQUESTS: CITY SONGS

Further to my recent posting, recording starts 18th September. Will have Dave “King Of The Kippax” write a daily blog of all activities as we record and make “The Man City New Songs Project” in Barcelona.

We also had a Martin Hunt on-board but e-mails to him (on a works site I think) are now not getting through. Please could Martin call me on 00.34.686.819.655 or get to me his Tel No pronto please.

City Play Barça at the Camp Nou on 19/8/09 and I’m All Excited!

MCIVTA FAQ [v0708.01]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

Articles (Heidi Pickup)          : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org
News/rumour (Alex Rowen)         : 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 by email. Unfortunately we cannot accept email attachments.

[3] MCIVTA Back Issues and Manchester City Supporters’ home page

http://www.mcivta.com/ 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.mancitycsa.com/) 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: