Newsletter #1758

With the Tottenham clash coming up this weekend and the current but bizarre gulf of 6 points and a massive 19 places between the two teams, we look to continue our early assault on the season.

Nasri has finally signed: will he get an outing? And what of the reluctant Tévez? We’ve opinion on the Nasri signing tonight and a quick view on last week’s game.

The Champions’ League draw made tonight gives City the appetising prospect of Bayern Munich, Villareal and Napoli to contend with.

Finally there’s an editorial request!

EDITORIAL REQUEST

After 10 years as editor of this august newsletter, yours truly is moving onto pastures new with a relocation, which means that I won’t have the opportunity to continue with MCIVTA on a weekly basis.

As you know, we’ve been going for some 17 years now and were the first Manchester City site on the web back when Svenn, Paul and Ashley got together to create MCIVTA so we’ve had a long and enjoyable history over those years (at least off the pitch) and the number of readers and subscribers who have become friends along the way has been terrific. Finally our club is on the up and we’ve got that long-awaited trophy so it seems perfect, if inadvertent, timing to move on.

If anybody out there would like to take up the mantle as editor and keep McV going then please do drop myself and Paul a line at the addresses below as we would love to hear from you. It’s all very straightforward as a non-techy like me can manage. We’re open to ideas for perhaps reformatting, or going to a once a week issue or whether in fact there’s still a place for McV across the globe now that the Internet and social media are so prevalent. Do let us know.

OPINION: TRANSFER DEALS

Yesterday Samir Nasri signed on the dotted line and became the 4th incoming player at our beloved City this summer.

Back in the day, the first summer signing I recall City making as a 13 year old was when Dennis Law when he returned to the fold from the dark side in 1973, so I’ve seen a few but none to match the sheer quality of players signed this close season. Gone are the days when we were chasing has-beens (Weah) or never will-be’s (Bradbury, Adcock, Christie etc.) or hitting and hoping with players like Anelka, Allen, Cross, thus putting all our financial eggs into the one basket.

All I can say is Thank You Sheikh Mansour, for your investment and your vision of making Manchester City the best club not only in England but in Europe too. Thanks also to the City fan who sold his soul to the devil; how else can the dramatic turnaround at our club be explained? The future is bright, it’s blue and white!

OPINION: WELCOME… BIENVENUE… AHLAN WA SAHLAN, SAMIR!

Roberto Mancini has had his frustrations during the summer with regards to transfer targets, but there is no denying the quality or the profile of the men who have been brought in.

City have been linked with Samir Nasri on and off over the last few years, and indeed even before Thaksin Shinawatra took the reins of the club. At Arsenal he has matured from being a precocious Marseille youngster to a world class midfielder, and Arsène Wenger can take a lot of credit for that. For all Wenger’s problems as Arsenal and the criticism that he is getting (much of it justified), it is a measure of the esteem that he is held in and his brilliant coaching ability, that both Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas have given the Frenchman rich credit for their significant improvement and progression under his tutelage.

Yes, Nasri has more than doubled his wages by signing for City, but that is not the sole motivating factor for him joining us. He is ambitious and he wants to win things, talking about making history at City. At Arsenal they are not going to win anything in the near future. How times have changed! Manchester City is most definitely the place to be for an ambitious young footballer.

Nasri has always looked like a superbly balanced player with considerable skill and an eye for goal. On his last visit to Eastlands, he was clearly Arsenal’s best player, marking the occasion with a goal and an assist.

This signing has given the squad even more resilience. David Silva has been a brilliant signing and we miss him if he is not on the pitch. Lord forbid anyone sustains a serious injury, but should Silva be unavailable for any reason, we now have another playmaker to take that burden.

I love the fact that we have so many attacking options now at City: so much creativity to go with the obvious steel that the side have. Roberto Mancini can play Silva and Nasri together behind a lone striker or when appropriate, behind a front two. Nasri is well used to playing with another playmaker in Fabregas let alone all the other highly skilled Arsenal players, so there should be no problem with him being paired up with the sublime Silva in an attacking midfield rôle. Adam Johnson of course offers us a different threat from a wider position. Roberto’s Mancini’s dilemma is getting the balance of the side right, and he has done a very good job of that so far.

As Ernie often says on here, In Roberto we trust!

OPINION: BOLTON GAME

Just watching the highlights again on CityTV. Lescott was at fault for both goals. Let his man drift away for the 1st and likewise for the 2nd. If I noticed I’m sure that our Roberto noticed. Pretty bad error for the 1st goal. Hmmm.

RESULTS AND TABLE

22 August 2011

Manchester United    3 - 0  Tottenham Hotspur    75,498

League table to 24 August 2011 inclusive

                            HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  GD Pts
 1 Manchester City  2  1  0  0  4  0  1  0  0  3  2  2  0  0  7  2   5  6
 2 Manchester Utd   2  1  0  0  3  0  1  0  0  2  1  2  0  0  5  1   4  6
 3 Wolves           2  1  0  0  2  0  1  0  0  2  1  2  0  0  4  1   3  6
 4 Aston Villa      2  1  0  0  3  1  0  1  0  0  0  1  1  0  3  1   2  4
 5 Liverpool        2  0  1  0  1  1  1  0  0  2  0  1  1  0  3  1   2  4
 6 Chelsea          2  1  0  0  2  1  0  1  0  0  0  1  1  0  2  1   1  4
 7 Newcastle Utd    2  0  1  0  0  0  1  0  0  1  0  1  1  0  1  0   1  4
 8 Bolton Wndrs     2  0  0  1  2  3  1  0  0  4  0  1  0  1  6  3   3  3
 9 QPR              2  0  0  1  0  4  1  0  0  1  0  1  0  1  1  4  -3  3
10 Norwich City     2  0  1  0  1  1  0  1  0  1  1  0  2  0  2  2   0  2
11 Stoke City       2  0  1  0  0  0  0  1  0  1  1  0  2  0  1  1   0  2
12 Wigan Athletic   2  0  1  0  1  1  0  1  0  0  0  0  2  0  1  1   0  2
13 Sunderland       2  0  0  1  0  1  0  1  0  1  1  0  1  1  1  2  -1  1
14 Arsenal          2  0  0  1  0  2  0  1  0  0  0  0  1  1  0  2  -2  1
15 Fulham           2  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  2  0  1  1  0  2  -2  1
16 Swansea City     2  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  4  0  1  1  0  4  -4  1
17 Everton          1  0  0  1  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  1  -1  0
18 West Brom A.     2  0  0  1  1  2  0  0  1  1  2  0  0  2  2  4  -2  0
19 Blackburn R.     2  0  0  1  1  2  0  0  1  1  3  0  0  2  2  5  -3  0
20 Tottenham H.     1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  3  0  0  1  0  3  -3  0

MCIVTA FAQ [v1112.01]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

Articles (Heidi Pickup)          : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org
News/rumour                      : 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/Twitter

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?

The Official Supporters’ Club and the Centenary Supporters’ Association have merged to become the Manchester City Supporters’ Club (http://www.mcfcsupportersclub.com/). The club also recognise the Manchester City Disabled Supporters’ Association (http://www.mcdsa.co.uk/).

[6] Where can I find out about Points of Blue?

The committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. Points of Blue appears on the club website under the “Fans” heading (http://www.mcfc.co.uk/Fans).

[7] What match day broadcasts are available on the web?

Live match commentary can be found on the club website. The Radio Manchester pre- and post-match phone-in is available on the web at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/england/manchester/.

[8] Where can I find out if City are live on satellite TV?

http://www.satfootball.com/ provides a listing of Premier League games being shown on UK domestic and foreign satellite channels. A useful site for North American viewers is http://msn.foxsports.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://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/Usenet

[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] Do any squad members have their own Twitter accounts?

A list of genuine player accounts is maintained at http://twitter.com/#!/MCFC/players

[12] Where can I find match statistics?

Statistics for the current season are available from the club site, but for a more in-depth historical 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: