Newsletter #1615

News tonight from Alex with reaction to the league games, international Blues, development at CoMS and more trouble for Johnno.

We have opinion on European action and favouritism, money worries and the usual requests.

Next up, a trip to the North East.

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

Only as Good as Your Next Result: Stamford Bridge played host to City’s result of the season last week when Mancini’s men beat Chelsea 4-2 in their own backyard, but despite admitting that completing the double over Chelsea has brought great confidence to Eastlands, the City Chief has told his players that they must look ahead to the next game. The Blues will visit The Stadium of Light this weekend, a tie which would have been much more straight forward had Steve Bruce’s men not earned their first win in fifteen attempts against Bolton on Tuesday night, and Mancini is wary that if his side become complacent, City’s challenge for that invaluable fourth place may be compromised: “It’s a nice memory, it was a great game and the award I received for performance of the week is for the players, not for me. They played very, very well but now that’s all finished. It won’t be important for the next game, it will not influence the result on Sunday and Sunderland had a great win too on Tuesday night. Chelsea is in the past and while we should take great confidence from that win we must only think about Sunderland, because that’s going to be a tough match. We have a good chance for the top four, but it all depends on us and what we do. It is on our own hands to finish fourth. If we play like we did against Chelsea, and how we did at times in other recent games, we have a real opportunity to qualify for the Champions’ League. It’s important that now we prepare well for Sunderland.”

USA! USA! Whilst City fly high under mega-rich owners from Abu Dhabi, arch-rivals Manchester United are flailing financially under the American ownership of the Glazer family and the ‘USA’ chant has became famous at CoMS as a means of mocking the Premier League champions but the Blues themselves are set to dip their toe across the Atlantic. As a part of the club’s plans to dominate the globe, City had reportedly been making enquiries about the possibility of purchasing an Indian Premier League cricket franchise, though this has fallen by the wayside and it is rumoured that the Blues are now planning to create a side in the American Major League Soccer. MLS commissioner Don Garber revealed this week that there had been initial talks with not only City but also Real Madrid and Barcelona about the intricacies of creating a franchise and City’s particular interest may lie in New York or Philadelphia: “Part of the relaunch of that team is for them to think strategically about their business and where international expansion fits into that, and where the US might fit into that. We’ve had very preliminary discussions about that.”

Statement of Intent: In a development that would see the Blues move away from their current Carrington training ground, the club looks set to spend £50 million on a brand new state-of-the-art training complex. Manchester City council are planning to sell off much of the surrounding land around Eastlands and the ambitious board are keen to develop every area of the club in a way that will attract the world’s best players: “This will be much more than just a training ground. It will be the club’s headquarters and will be the envy of football. It is more proof that the owners are serious about turning City into one of the biggest clubs in the world. It will also help to attract the top players because it will be the best of its kind in terms of training, medical and rehabilitation facilities.”

This statement of intent has been acknowledged by Spanish left back Javier Garrido who believes that if the club continue to progress as they are doing, the world’s best players will soon be queuing up to join the Blue half of Manchester: “City are doing things seriously, and we hope to achieve our goals, but nothing is possible overnight. We are a club that are respected in England and we have a desire to seek a better present and future. The club maintains an upward trend that should allow us to go on an equal footing with the largest clubs in Europe. If we start playing in the Champions’ League regularly, then we are not far away from the day that this club would appeal to the likes of [David] Villa.”

Squad News

Arrested: City midfielder Michael Johnson has been arrested and bailed for an alleged assault. The incident is said to have occurred back in December when a group of United fans started singing club chants in a Manchester nightclub. It is reported that Johnson, who has missed he best part of two seasons with ruptured knee ligaments, proceeded to head butt one such fan and kick him while on the ground. The 22-year-old has been bailed until April 14th when he will face a charge of common assault.

Shaun Not Treated Wright: Arsenal legend Ian Wright has been slating City this week having claimed that his son, Shaun Wright Phillips, is not being treated with the respect he deserves. As reported last week, contract negotiations between SWP and the club have stalled due to the City’s unwillingness to grant the England international parity with the club’s big money signings and Wright senior feels that his lad is being treated poorly by the club that Shaun wants to “end his career” with. Wright argued that Shaun has a great love for the club and only hopes to be allowed to continue his great relationship with its fans in what could be the side’s most successful period ever: “It’s been a really hard couple of months with Shaun with what’s going on at City. They (Manchester City) called him in and he wants to sign his deal, wants to sign for the rest of his career so he can be settled and get ready to go (to the World Cup). But there’s these people like Brian Marwood and Garry Cook mugging him off, treating him like a youth team player and not someone who actually wants to be there because of what he thinks Manchester City can do. He signed before all the money came. He’s played and then they’ve left him out. He’s lost form and so I’m thinking to myself that he’s not going to make the (England) team, not even make the bench, and then for him to come on (against Egypt) and do what he did and be really positive like we’ve told him be. I would love him to be settled so he could just concentrate on getting City into the top four, which would be brilliant for all of them.”

Shaun himself spoke out this week about the contract situation and conveyed his desire to resolve the situation as quickly as possible: “I try not to get personally involved because I just want to concentrate on giving 110% for City to make sure we get that fourth place in the Premier League. But it does hurt. It is disappointing. And I repeat it’s nothing to do with money or me being greedy. One thing that I definitely don’t want to do is get into how much other players earn at this football club. Obviously, I know there are players here who earn more than twice what I do. But that’s not the issue for me. This is not about my bank account; it’s about where I want to be and doing what I want to do. I can’t work out why there’s still a delay, unless they don’t want me and are trying to get me out.”

Joe’s Harty Performances Mean Competition is a Given: He may not have played for England in this week’s international friendly against Egypt but there’s no doubting that City’s Joe Hart has fully deserved his place in Fabio Capello’s squad. The 22-year-old ‘keeper has been in magnificent form since singing on loan for league surprise package Birmingham City this season and though there had been talk of a move away for the former Shrewsbury Town player, Hart remains Shay Given’s obvious successor. City’s current man between the sticks, however, has no plans to hang up his gloves just yet and believes that Joe Hart is fantastic competition for him, be he at City or temporarily elsewhere: “Joe has done fantastic and on form alone he deserves to be playing for England – and if he keeps his form right until the end of the season there is no reason why he shouldn’t play in the World Cup. That can only be good for Manchester City and for me as well. The competition has always been there since I joined the club. Just because Joe is at Birmingham doesn’t mean I don’t feel the competition from him. He is still a City player and is doing very well.”

One solution to keeping both goalies happy could be to allow Hart to stay on at St Andrew’s for another season – an idea that Alex McLeish is extremely keen on: “It is early days for Joe but his progress is fantastic. He should be proud of that. He doesn’t have to be too disappointed about not featuring with England at the moment. I am sure his time will come. We want to keep him; we’d like to see him stay for another season. He wants to stay. City are his club, in terms of the ownership of the contract, and we respect that. But we hope at some stage that City can give us a bit of goodwill. They have a top class ‘keeper in Shay Given and, unless someone comes in with a ridiculous offer for Given, you can see him staying at the helm with City for the next two or three years. It would have to a loan deal because City have said under no circumstances will they sell Joe.”

Don’t Cross Bridge! Carlos Tevez continued the long running Terry-Bridge saga this week by revealing just what he thought of the Chelsea skipper following their ‘difference of opinion’ during City’s 4-2 win last week. Tevez and Terry came to blows in the Chelsea penalty area when the Argentinian striker took umbridge at Terry holding on to his shirt and though the travelling support were angling for Tevez to ‘teach Terry a lesson’, the situation was quickly diffused: “It’s complicated to say something about what Terry did to Bridge. I don’t think you can do that with the wife of another player. It’s wrong. In my opinion, Terry has no moral code for what he did to Bridge. In my neighbourhood if you do that, you lose your legs, or more – you don’t survive. I didn’t fight with Terry because of that. I fought with him because he took me by the shirt and I didn’t like it. I became furious with him because of that.”

Great Expectations: Club captain Kolo Toure has been speaking of his side’s growing ambition and of the faith that they have in the club’s next ‘batch’ of young talent. Much has been expected of the Blues ever since the multi-million pound takeover by Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi and Toure knows that success must come quicker than usual though he also feels that his side are much more prepared that Chelsea were following the Abramavic takeover in which they went on to sign players mainly playing at their peak: “When you think of such as Dedryck Boyata, Abdi Ibrahim and Greg Cunningham coming through, plus Adam Johnson signing in the transfer window, the future looks bright. We have a lot of good people here who really want to work for the club and believe in the club. From the manager down, we are all determined to take this club as far as we can. But it won’t be easy. Success doesn’t just come like that – you have to go through some hard times, and that’s when you have to be strong and stick together, to fight for each other. High expectations are normal. With the players we have now, we expect to be up at the top. But we know that, to show the world we have a good team, we need the results. You have to try and lift yourselves as high as you can – we want to be really high and one of the best clubs in the country, but we know we will have to fight to get there.”

Playing the Right Way: City’s Adam Johnson continues to impress the City faithful with bright and vibrant performances on the wing though many have questioned the manager’s thinking behind playing a naturally gifted left footer on the right wing. Both Petrov and SWP have played on wings which are not their ‘natural’ positions this season without overly impressing but Johnson has admitted that he revels playing in the position that he was forced to play when Stewart Downing dominated the left hand side at Middlesbrough: “I like playing out there on the right, and if you look at the top wingers in the world, I think they can all play on opposite sides. I played there at Boro now and again – more so when Stewie (Downing) was there. I learned a lot playing on the right because Stewie would be on the left all the time. I enjoy it just as much as playing on the left now. You have the option of cutting in and you can maybe go for goal, it mixes your game up a bit more. Obviously the manager has worked with a lot of top-class players and he’s seen what effect it can have. He likes doing it that way and it works in our favour.”

Of his international hopes, Johnno admitted that the World Cup will probably come too soon for him this time round but revealed that he has high hopes for the future: “It was nice to be in the 30-man squad for England. I know I didn’t make the cut for Egypt, but just to see my name in the senior call-up was brilliant. The next step is to play. I’m closer to that now I’m at City. The World Cup squad would be difficult, but there’s a lot of football to be played and there could be injuries along the way. It was a bit disappointing not to be involved at Wembley but I’ve still come a long way in a short space of time. But this World Cup has probably come a bit too soon for me.”

Doing It For the Kids: Arsene Wenger may have tipped Patrick Vieira to become one of the Premier League’s best coaches should he choose to gain his badges when he hangs up his boots, but the French midfielder has dismissed any suggestion that he will move into coaching come the end of his career. Instead, the Senegalese born star intends to focus on his Africa-based Diambars Academy for youngsters. The academy, which he opened back in 2003, currently provides ninety 13-18 year olds with the opportunity to play competitive football and Vieira hopes he is doing some good for those who have less than him: “I want to stay in football because I love the game and I know that I can put something back, but not by coaching – I don’t want to do that! I will want to stay in the game, but in Africa. The talent is there but they don’t have the facilities that we have here. We have the Diambars institute of football in Senegal to promote education. We tell the kids they will have the chance to be a footballer, but they also have to go to school and do well. It’s amazing how much you can achieve with football. Most of the kids are doing really well at school, and they train every day to try to achieve their dream. Education and football is the future for kids in Africa. I already go over there when I can, and spend a week or ten days. I try to make them understand that to be selected as a professional footballer, you need the luck. But with education, maybe some of them will be teachers or doctors.”

Vieira’s not the only City star currently giving something back to the game as Craig Bellamy has created a foundation in Sierra Leone. The foundation raises funds to be invested into football projects around the war-torn country and it is something that City’s ‘hard man’ Bellamy holds very close to his heart: “I first went to Sierra Leone in 2007 because I had a couple of friends working out there. I was also interested in seeing a part of Africa that I’d never been to before. I was amazed by the warmth of the people on my arrival. I was taken aback by their passion for football which is obvious wherever you go. It was an incredible experience for me. Football motivates these kids like you wouldn’t believe. The new Academy will give kids who are selected the chance to live, eat, be educated and play football there twice a day. Hopefully, it will help change their lives for the better.”

A little closer to home, it must be remembered that Stephen Ireland is doing great things for St Francis House. The City midfielder has been a great supporter of the Didsbury based charity and his self titled foundation continues to raise funds. Alongside the usual sportsman’s dinner fund-raisers, Ireland and his wife hosted a Valentine’s Ball last month which in turn raised £100,000 for the good cause.

Kieran Enjoyed Trip: 19-year-old Kieran Trippier has returned to his parent club following a month long loan at Championship side Barnsley. The FA Youth Cup winner feels that his experience of first team football will have stood him in good stead to challenge Richards and Zabaleta for a place in City’s first XI though he has also stated that if his manager would prefer, he would be happy to go out on loan again: “It’s been an enjoyable month. It’s been good to see things from a different perspective and the lads at Barnsley have been really good to me. I haven’t played as many games as I could have because I picked up an injury at Scunthorpe that kept me out for about 10 days. It’s a competitive league but I think I did quite well. I don’t think there is any substitute for first team football and this had made me doubly determined to kick on again at City. The training has been different and I’ve had to adapt to the style Barnsley play, but I’ve enjoyed the whole experience and I think going out on loan benefits everyone – the loan club, the parent club and the player. It means being away from your family and friends for a while but it gives you a taste of independence and standing on your own two feet. There are quite a few City players out on loan at the moment and we’ll all return more rounded individuals and, hopefully, better players, too. I’m looking forward to coming back but if another opportunity to go out on loan came up I’d be happy to take it if the manager felt it would help me to continue to improve. Of course, my main aim is to break into City’s first team and I think Roberto Mancini has already shown that he’s not afraid to give younger players a chance if he thinks they are ready.”

Right Back at City: Javan Vidal has also retuned to the club this week though in different circumstances as the club recalled him from his spell at Derby County. The 20-year-old failed to make an impression at Pride Park and made only one substitute appearance for Nigel Clough’s side. Despite not really providing Vidal with the chance to prove himself, the son of English football legend Brian Clough has thanked the Blues for allowing Vidal to move to Derby in the first place: “Javan picked up a knock playing for the reserves and has been ill, so I don’t think we have really seen enough of him to make a judgement. Javan’s position is right-back, but with Nicky Hunt doing so well there; it is difficult for anybody to break into that position. We are grateful to Manchester City for allowing Javan to come to us on loan.”

The Rumour Mill

Serie-As About Spending: The Italian Premier Division has been subject to constant rumours this week about possible transfers to CoMS. Whilst Mario Balotelli, Mauro Zarate and Andrea Poli were all said to be ‘in talks’ with the Blues, Juventus’ Gianluigi Buffon dismissed any speculation about a possible move. Marek Hamsik of Napoli is another deal that is supposedly ‘off the table’ after his agent revealed that he is set to sign a new deal: “The current deal expires in 2013, but the interest is reciprocal and we hope to extend it until either 2014 or 2015. The conditions of the deal have been improved, and Napoli would be delighted if he signs his new deal before the World Cup.”

Although Catania’s Jorge Martinez is almost certain to leave the Serie A side in the summer, his agent Daniel Delgado revealed that the only expressed interest was that of league rivals Lazio and rumours of a move to City were unfounded: “I don’t know anything about Manchester City. We have received many proposals but right now we are not talking about anything because Martinez is playing for survival with Catania and it is not right to talk about the transfer market. There will be serious proposals in the summer, we’ll evaluate the most advantageous one for the boy and for Catania.”

Italian giants AC Milan were the other Serie A side mentioned in the same breath as Manchester City this week as Emmanuel Adebayor was linked with a move to the San Siro. Some sections of the media this week suggested that the Togo skipper had grown weary of his time at City and planned to move in the summer but the former Arsenal man refuted the transfer talk: “I signed at City for five years. I am very happy here so far, but you never know. For me, I am a Manchester City player and I hope to be for a long time.”

International Round-Up

Winging His Way to South Africa: Shaun Wright Phillips improved his chances of travelling to South Africa this summer with an excellent off-the-bench performance against three-times African Champions Egypt. The former Chelsea winger replaced the out-of-form Theo Walcott to both set up Peter Crouch and score a goal himself to ensure that Fabio Capello had a lot to ponder ahead of his World Cup selection. With Aaron Lescott and David Beckham also possible options for the England boss, SWP’s performance will have done much to claim a place in the first XI. Although fellow team-mate Joleon Lescott never made his way off the bench, Gareth Barry was handed the captain’s armband towards the end of the game having played the full ninety minutes. Barry praised SWP’s performance but warned Shaun that he will have to continue his good form if he hopes to be selected by the former AC Milan boss: “Has Wright-Phillips, taken a big stride towards the final 23? Yes, I think Shaun realises that on the right side, there is so much talent out there and you’ve really got to take your chance when it is there. Shaun had a point to prove and I think came through with flying colours. He is competing with Aaron Lennon, Theo Walcott, David Beckham. Shaun realises that and I’m sure the other players do as well and it is important they take their chance when asked. The manager will also be watching your club form so you’ve got to keep it up.”

Barry also spared a thought for Wayne Bridge as England played their first game since the left back’s international retirement. Given that Capello has left the door open for Bridge, there is a chance that he may still be a part of the South Africa campaign and Barry hopes that his team-mate will one day return to the England fold: “I think at this moment in time, we are all respecting Wayne’s decision. But the manager has left the chance for Wayne to come back so he has still maybe got a decision to make. He can do that on his own rather than anyone else pushing him. Will seeing myself and Shaun doing well for England only help? Definitely. I am not sure if he watched the game but Wayne knows all about playing for England. We showed (against Egypt) it is all forgotten. Even if Wayne changed his mind, we’d all be together, even more so.”

Tackling the Critics: The ever under-stated Nigel de Jong isn’t the sort of player who often goes around making headlines but the Dutch midfielder was plastered all over his nation’s back pages last week following a controversial tackle on Bolton Wanderers’ Stuart Holden. Though Holland overcame England’s World Cup opponents, the USA, by two goals to one, the media spotlight was on Nigel de Jong’s challenge, which earned the holding midfielder a booking. Some reporters claimed that de Jong should have seen red but the man himself feels the challenge has been blown out of proportion: “Such offences are part of football. I went for the ball and got the opponent at the end. I had no evil intent. If the ball is between me and the opponent, you have to go in full. If you do not then the opponent takes you. And if you’re scared in a game you get injured yourself. In England it is more accepted, that is just how it is.”

The return of ‘Robbie’? City stopper Shay Given came head-to-head with out-of-favour Robinho last week as Brazil beat the Republic of Ireland at the Emirates Stadium. Ireland never truly gained a foot hold in the match and thanks to a little second half Brazilian magic and a goal from Robinho, the Samba boys ran out 2-0 winners. Speaking about £32 million record signing, Shay Given revealed that he was unsure as to whether Robinho would return from his loan spell at Santos but hoped that if he did, he would come back with a bang: “I don’t know what he wants. But he is a Manchester City player, so if Manchester City want him back, he’s got no choice in the matter. I don’t regret him going. Robinho was out for a good bit this season with an injury and he was only getting bit-parts off the bench when he got back. He’s gone off to Brazil and looks a lot sharper and a lot fitter. I think that’s only going to benefit Manchester City if he’s playing regularly, has a great World Cup and comes back to us in the summer a stronger and maybe more confident player.”

Elsewhere… Although Roque Santa Cruz returned to the international scene with a goal and an assist for Paraguay in their 3-1 win over Spanish La Liga side Athletic Bilbao, there wasn’t much luck for any of the other Blues whilst on duty. Micah Richards was a part of the England under 21 side that lost 2-1 at the hands of Greece whilst Ryan McGivern’s Northern Ireland came unstuck in their tie against Albania who won 1-0. Kolo Toure could do nothing to stop South Korea overcoming the managerless Ivory Coast by two goals to nil at QPR’s Loftus Road and Vincent Kompany’s Belgium were beaten 1-0 by a Niko Krancjar strike in the all European tie against Croatia. Rumours of Craig Bellamy’s possible impending retirement from the international scene were rife as he was omitted from John Toshack’s squad to face Sweden and Carlos Tevez had very little to do in Argentina’s 1-0 win over Germany having replaced goal-scorer Gonzalo Higuain on the hour mark.

OPINION: EURO BLUES

More Favouritism as the Chimps League Chase Hots Up

Steven Gerrard this week was allowed to flick a V-sign and mouth obscenities at the referee, Andre Marriner, after he had been booked for a bad challenge on Wigan’s James McCarthy. Marriner strangely deemed Gerrard’s appalling dissent unworthy of any further punishment and didn’t include it in his match report. The FA under their procedures are, therefore, unable to take further action. One can be sure that if it was a player from a club outside the so-called top four that further action would have been taken. Can you imagine Craig Bellamy getting away with that? Too many referees do not apply the rules, especially when applying them properly would have an adverse affect on the so-called top four, and one suspects that they are scared to do so for fear of character assassination.

Another problem is that the FA’s procedures simply don’t work. They should be able to override a referee’s mistake. Why should Gerrard be allowed to get away with what he did? It makes a total mockery of the ‘Respect’ campaign when Steven Gerrard (MBE) can do what he likes. Whether the FA would take action if they could, given their unwillingness to act against the established top four, is another matter. Furthermore, Gerrard should have been off at Eastlands for his diving on top of his foul (which had earned a booking) on Lescott. He gets away with it time and time again because of who he is.

Liverpool are getting more desperate by the game. Six bookings at Eastlands as they tried, and failed, to intimidate us, and they weren’t averse to putting in a few choice ‘challenges’ (just the five bookings) on Wigan the other night foiled again! Indeed, Liverpool are looking less and less likely to retain their Champions’ League gravy train spot, despite Benitez’s preposterous and arrogant ‘guarantee’ that looks rather hollow now. As things stand, I cannot see all three of City, Villa and Tottenham imploding and finishing below Liverpool.

The race for fourth is still hot and it is unclear which of Villa and Tottenham is the biggest threat to our chances. My biggest fear is ourselves rather than any other team. We are in a great position to make fourth, but can all our players themselves all the way until the end of the season? We have to play to the same standards against the other teams that we did against Chelsea. Sunderland may have won by a handsome margin against lowly Bolton, but we need to be going there and getting another win. Gareth Barry has talked about City needing a killer touch. Quite right. We need to be ruthless and take our chances when they come along.

Come on City. Do the business.

OPINION: SWEEP

I can’t disagree with Kevin Williamson and some other MCIVTA supporters more, over the SWP articles.

How quickly we forget that Shaun Wright Phillips was a major, major reason that Man City were put back on the map. Many days he strapped the whole team on his back and pulled us in the right direction. He won game after game for us and if it were not for him, we may be lucky to have survived in the Premier League. His dominating games, especially over the Rags, made him an absolute hero to new and old fans alike. If you asked any true Citeh fan, if we were bitter he went to Chelsea, we would have to say no, as our club were badly in need of the money and it was his time to move on… no matter how badly we wanted to keep him.

To say go out and get a job in “the real world” was laughable. If we had god given talent matched with hours upon hours upon hours of giving up enjoyable moments in life with our friends and family, to train and train and train, maybe we would be in the position to earn 60, 70 or 80 grand a week. I just fear that stupid idiot Garry Cook will eventually push SWP out of Citeh, before his time. He is a business man, who thinks he can run the show at a football club. A complete waste of time.

In closing let’s not forget that he is still getting into the England squad and although he is going through a bit of a rough season, he is still a very serviceable player. One poor season, does not make a poor player.

Go on SWP! Go on lad! Skin these non-believers just like you skin the Rags on a regular basis!

REQUEST: BLUES VIEWING IN AUSTRALIA

I’ve done so many web searches but does anyone would know how I could listen (or watch) to City’s games live online in Australia?

REQUEST: BLUES VIEWING ONLINE

For Stan Ayres and anybody else interested, Blue Moon has a match day forum with all the links to various places to watch the games free on the Internet: http://www.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/Forum/

Then go to match day forum, and then near the top will be the official match thread and free live stream threads – links normally in there! Some you will have to download players to watch; I normally go for the SopCast ones!

REQUEST: MCFC GENTLEMAN’S MORNING

The End of Season Gentleman’s Morning will take place on Sunday 11th April. Newton Heath Working Men’s Club. Tickets £7.50 – buy 10 get one free.

We will have all the usual pre-match entertainment. For more info please have a look at http://mcfcgentlemans.blogspot.com/ or email me.

RESULTS

10 March 2010

Burnley               1 - 1  Stoke City            20,323

9 March 2010

Portsmouth            1 - 2  Birmingham City       18,465
Sunderland            4 - 0  Bolton Wanderers      36,087

8 March 2010

Wigan Athletic        1 - 0  Liverpool             17,427

League table to 10 March 2010 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  29 12  1  1 39  8  8  2  5 28 16 20  3  6  67  24  43  63
 2 Chelsea         28 12  1  1 41 12  7  3  4 24 14 19  4  5  65  26  39  61
 3 Arsenal         29 12  1  2 41 15  7  3  4 28 17 19  4  6  69  32  37  61
 4 Tottenham H.    28  9  2  3 30  9  5  5  4 20 18 14  7  7  50  27  23  49
 5 Manchester City 27  9  4  0 30 14  4  6  4 22 21 13 10  4  52  35  17  49
 6 Liverpool       29 10  2  2 33 12  4  4  7 12 17 14  6  9  45  29  16  48
 7 Aston Villa     26  7  5  2 23 10  5  4  3 14 11 12  9  5  37  21  16  45
 8 Birmingham City 28  7  5  2 13  8  5  2  7 15 21 12  7  9  28  29  -1  43
 9 Everton         28  8  5  2 28 18  3  3  7 16 22 11  8  9  44  40   4  41
10 Fulham          28  9  2  3 21  9  1  6  7 11 20 10  8 10  32  29   3  38
11 Stoke City      28  6  4  4 20 17  2  7  5  8 16  8 11  9  28  33  -5  35
12 Blackburn R.    28  8  4  2 21 12  1  3 10  9 33  9  7 12  30  45 -15  34
13 Sunderland      28  6  6  2 23 14  1  3 10 13 30  7  9 12  36  44  -8  30
14 Bolton Wndrs    29  4  5  5 18 23  3  3  9 14 31  7  8 14  32  54 -22  29
15 Wigan Athletic  28  4  5  5 12 18  3  2  9 15 35  7  7 14  27  53 -26  28
16 West Ham United 28  5  4  5 24 22  1  5  8 12 23  6  9 13  36  45  -9  27
17 Wolves          28  4  3  8 10 20  2  3  8 11 26  6  6 16  21  46 -25  24
18 Burnley         29  6  5  3 19 15  0  1 14 11 46  6  6 17  30  61 -31  24
19 Hull City       28  5  5  3 18 20  0  4 11  8 39  5  9 14  26  59 -33  24
20 Portsmouth      28  3  2  9 17 22  2  2 10  7 25  5  4 19  24  47 -23  19

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: