Newsletter #1606

A lacklustre show on Saturday as we were beaten by Hull City, but thanks to other results this weekend still keep our 6th spot. We have opinion on the Hull performance, team selection, manager and individual players tonight including the recently departed Robinho.

Further to George Alexander’s piece last week about the player of the month voting problems, I am delighted to report that the Club have promptly investigated the issues raised and everything is now sorted for voting so a big thank you and get online!

Next up Bolton are the visitors.

OPINION: HULL GAME I

After watching the débâcle against Hull, needed to let off some steam.

What an absolute abject performance. As I have said before we need players who are willing to play for the shirt and not just the money. All the Hull players were at it non-stop the whole game, where we had several players who just are not up for it.

We should have bought Stephen Hunt, what a workhorse that guy is! Vieira, overpriced, overpaid and overweight! What were we thinking bringing him to City, he will be a disruptive influence in the dressing room and if he makes the French team for the World Cup, I’ll die! He is also a dirty player, got booked a few minutes after coming on for a reckless challenge.

Time to bench some of these so called superstars we have got and give some of the youngsters a run out. Top four? No chance, we are just not good enough.

Players who should be playing in the reserves are: Toure, Vieira, Adebayor and Petrov. My team would be Given, Bridge, Kompany, Boyata, Richards, de Jong, Barry, Ireland, SWP, Bellamy, Tevez. Subs: Taylor, Zabaleta, Johnson A. Onuoha, Santa Cruz (if ever fit!), Silvinho.

I’m sure you all have your opinions so let’s hear them!

OPINION: HULL GAME II

Hull played like their nickname the Tigers, and they deserved their win against a City side that looked second best for about 75% of the game.

This was in the same week when it was reported in the press that the City players are on a one million pounds a man bonus to get into the top four, and to win the FA Cup. I kept thinking what kind of bonus are Hull on today?

The Manchester City players are some of the best paid players in football; I am thinking why do they need such a large bonus to do a job that they are getting paid well to do, and a job that they love doing – playing football?

The City defence has had to change several times during this season due to injuries; I liked the way Boyata and Kompany played together.

Kompany’s injury was ill-timed, for Toure came back into the defence, and again the defence looked shaky. Hull’s first goal came as Toure turned his back on the goal scorer instead of getting stuck in and making an effort to tackle the player. As club captain I would like to see Toure have the defence settle down and not show signs of a panic attack.

Lescott should be fit by next week; I would not drop young Boyata, instead drop Toure, but will Mancini have the courage to drop his captain?

A positive today was Adam Johnson; he had a good game, and I liked his crosses. Boyata had another good game, nice to see Bridge back, but it was never going to be his day.

If City are to get that fourth spot they have got to play much better than they did today, it was a half hearted effort.

Come on you Blues, show more passion and spirit in your game!

OPINION: HULL GAME III

I am reminded of my friend’s dad towards the end of the 1969-70 season when City were struggling on a warm day at home. This was the time when there was a possibility that Lee, Bell, Summerbee and Pardoe might be in the England party.

My pal’s dad had followed City since the early 1930s and after one particularly uninspiring piece of play was heard to exclaim “Mexico? It’s too bloody hot for them here.” A feeling I am now having about this Holy Grail of 4th place.

What a poor performance on Saturday. I look forward to much better on Tuesday but Bolton will know they can be physical and it puts City off their stride. Quite ruined my weekend.

OPINION: TEAM SELECTION

If I have to criticize Mancini it is for playing players out of their positions.

Ireland, who right now is off form, is also playing out of his usual position. Besides giving Superman his kryptonite, he plays better in the position that Mark Hughes made him a City star in, and was voted player of the year!

Mancini keeps playing left footed players on the right wing whilst a City favourite SWeeP is left on the bench, just when his chances of a return to the England squad might need a boost.

At first I thought, and it might be correct, that Mancini is trying to confuse the opposition with his team changes, but now I can’t see how it is helping the team on the pitch; to change players’ positions is fine when the team has injuries, but is it right when the players are fit?

A happy team with the passion and commitment to win games is important. I still support Mancini, as I would do any City Manager/Coach.

Still some games to go until the end of the season, and still in with a chance in the FA Cup.

So come on you Blues!

OPINION: TEAM ROBINHO

Ernie, your post as ever is thought-provoking. With regard to Robinho, my specific take on it (agreeing with you, just wanting to add some more depth of disdain) is that I’ve got no respect for any player who claims to be interested in playing first-team football, and for such an insulting reason, but then when he’s put on, he plays so half-heartedly.

It is an insult to those who pay his wages, given his club should come first and international tournaments should be the icing, but it goes beyond the pale when I consider that he just thinks that if he’s seen to be playing first-team football in another country, it might slip the attention of his country’s management team whether he’s playing it well or not.

At least at Santos there will be nowhere to hide. I can’t resist saying I will have to stifle a snigger if he’s ultimately left out of the Brazil squad.

The ultimate loser is Robinho because when he’s no longer a footballer, he may have all the money he ever wanted (although is there such a thing for a modern-day footballer?), but he’ll be seen as a joke in all the cities where he ‘played’. Which makes his fortune and even any medals he picks up, worthless.

I stopped being fooled by the guy part way through last season. I support Manchester City and Corinthians Paulista. The Brazilian club is the only club that I’ve ever found makes my arm hairs stand on end in the same way as City – their extremist support, Gavioes da Fiel, actually has a rule in its code of honour against booing the team. I have, since the 90s, decided never to boo a City performance no matter how bad it is. I’ve always thought the best reaction to a worthless performance was silence, the fans simply staying to the end and not one shred of applause.

But when Robinho went off in the last match I saw him play in at Eastlands, I didn’t merely boo, I bellowed abuse at him (not that he heard) – and it’s because although he was wearing the City shirt, the guy is Team Robinho, nothing else. So he got it. Can you tell I don’t particularly like him?

RESULTS

7 February 2010

Birmingham City       2 - 1  Wolverhampton Wndrs   24,165
Chelsea               2 - 0  Arsenal               41,794

6 February 2010

Liverpool             1 - 0  Everton               44,316
Bolton Wanderers      0 - 0  Fulham                22,289
Burnley               2 - 1  West Ham United       21,001
Hull City             2 - 1  Manchester City       24,959
Manchester United     5 - 0  Portsmouth            74,684
Stoke City            3 - 0  Blackburn Rovers      27,386
Sunderland            1 - 1  Wigan Athletic        38,350
Tottenham Hotspur     0 - 0  Aston Villa           35,899

League table to 07 February 2010 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Chelsea         25 12  1  0 39  8  6  3  3 21 12 18  4  3  60  20  40  58
 2 Manchester Utd  25 11  1  1 36  8  7  1  4 25 12 18  2  5  61  20  41  56
 3 Arsenal         25  9  1  2 35 14  6  3  4 25 16 15  4  6  60  30  30  49
 4 Liverpool       25  9  2  2 31 11  4  3  5 12 15 13  5  7  43  26  17  44
 5 Tottenham H.    25  8  2  3 28  8  4  5  3 17 17 12  7  6  45  25  20  43
 6 Manchester City 23  8  3  0 28 14  3  5  4 17 18 11  8  4  45  32  13  41
 7 Aston Villa     24  6  4  2 17  7  5  4  3 14 11 11  8  5  31  18  13  41
 8 Birmingham City 24  6  5  2 12  8  4  2  5 12 16 10  7  7  24  24   0  37
 9 Everton         24  5  5  2 18 15  3  3  6 15 20  8  8  8  33  35  -2  32
10 Fulham          25  7  2  3 16  8  1  5  7 11 20  8  7 10  27  28  -1  31
11 Stoke City      23  6  3  3 18 13  1  5  5  4 13  7  8  8  22  26  -4  29
12 Blackburn R.    25  6  4  2 17 12  1  3  9  8 31  7  7 11  25  43 -18  28
13 Sunderland      24  5  5  2 19 14  1  2  9 12 27  6  7 11  31  41 -10  25
14 Hull City       25  5  5  3 18 20  0  4  8  7 30  5  9 11  25  50 -25  24
15 Burnley         24  6  4  2 17 12  0  1 11  8 35  6  5 13  25  47 -22  23
16 Wigan Athletic  23  3  3  4 10 14  3  2  8 15 34  6  5 12  25  48 -23  23
17 Bolton Wndrs    23  3  5  5 17 23  2  2  6 12 21  5  7 11  29  44 -15  22
18 West Ham United 24  3  4  4 18 20  1  5  7 12 20  4  9 11  30  40 -10  21
19 Wolves          24  3  3  6  9 17  2  3  7 11 25  5  6 13  20  42 -22  21
20 Portsmouth      24  3  1  7 14 17  1  2 10  5 24  4  3 17  19  41 -22  15

MCIVTA FAQ [v0910.01]

[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. You can also follow on www.twitter.com/mcivta to get the latest updates.

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

The official club web site can be found at http://www.mcfc.co.uk/ and the official club Twitter page at www.twitter.com/mcfc. The club also has a facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/mcfcofficial

[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: