Newsletter #1782

Well I would say so wouldn’t I, but I think this is a lovely issue of MCIVTA. A nice response to James Nash’s review of our recent history and, of course his second part is a great bedrock. It’s supported by a memory-provoking “Top 10 of Headers”… well, actually Top 11.

News on Yaya and the latest edition of KOTK and some comment on the international scene in respect of Gareth Barry, Mickey Richards and the… erm… inimitable(?) Sepp Blatter.

As an aside, pleased to say the Dennis Tueart interview was conducted this week and thanks to Dennis for agreeing to two sessions as the first over-ran!

If you want to see him yourself he will be at Eastlands (sorry, The Etihad) tomorrow to turn on the Xmas lights at 2pm.

LATEST NEWS I: VOTE FOR YAYA

Yaya is up for African Footballer of the Year; if MCIVTA readers can click on the link and vote!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specialreports/bbc_african_footballer_of_the_year_2011.shtml

OPINION: BLATTER MUST GO

So Sepp Blatter says there is no racism in football and that the victims of racial abuse should resolve it with a handshake. If he really believes that he is naïve, as racism is an evil that exists the world over and whilst there have been some significant improvements, particularly in the UK, racism still happens in football at different levels.

Whether Blatter actually believes what he is saying or not, he is stupid and is not fit to lead FIFA. Indeed, Blatter must go.

Of course he should have gone already for presiding over such a corrupt organisation as FIFA not to mention his previous sexist remarks, but surely now he is beyond the pale. I have no faith, though, that Blatter will resign or that any Football Association (including our own) will have the guts to call for him to resign, which is shameful in itself.

I have been racially abused as a fan at football matches in the past, very badly when I was at school, and even at a job interview. I have never wanted to resolve such situations with a handshake.

To be on the end of racism is an almost indescribable feeling. I felt violated, demeaned and very angry. In Blatter’s world, it is all right to abuse people based on their skin colour or race for 90 minutes, and then he expects us to want to shake hands with someone who has abused us racially. Why should we?

Someone who uses racist abuse is a racist. It isn’t just “banter”. By saying what he has said, Blatter has given the racists carte blanche to say what they want on park pitches the world over. Racism is actually illegal in this country, so who does Blatter think he is?

If Suarez can be proved to have racially abused Evra then he should be banned for a long time and fined heavily. The same applies if it can be proven that Terry racially abused Anton Ferdinand.

Some might say, oh, Phil you’re just being PC, but they’d be wrong. Why should anyone be discriminated against or abused for being different?

There can be no tolerance of racism, sectarianism, bigotry or homophobia. Clearly there is still much work to be done.

ANNOUNCEMENT: KING OF THE KIPPAX

I’m pleased to say that we have given birth (again!) to the latest KK, number 192. It should be in the outlet at Aleef (corner of Cross Street/ Market Street) on Friday November 18th and our selling points around the Etihad stadium at the Newcastle and subsequent games.

As usual it’s an A4 48 page issue selling at just £2.50 with a front cover showing, surprisingly perhaps, Roberto celebrating the 6-1 with the caption: Bob on, and on and on…

This issue includes stuff on the 6-1, a Liverpool fan’s experience in Napoli, Rise and fall of Manchester City 1894 to 1904, Andy Morrison and Dennis Tueart book reviews, Hillsborough, HWIFY (we’ve won every game in this issue), Tévez (yawn), Adam and Micah, Hughes, Alan Turing Way, Us and Them book advert, and all the usual regulars plus cartoons and pics etc.

It sells at just £2.50 and can also be purchased for £3.50 (inc P&P) from (cheques to) King Of The Kippax, 25, Holdenbrook Close, Leigh, Lancs, WN7 2HL.

ARTICLE: HEAD TO HEAD

Two weeks without my dose of City has meant that I have had to linger hard and long on the memory of Yaya’s glorious winner at QPR. This prompted me to recall other great City headed goals in my lifetime watching City (since about 1976, I was a trophy hunter in those days!).

So for discussion here is my top ten… and these are my most memorable / favourite, not necessarily the best.

1. Andy Hinchliffe in the 5-1: great pass from Bishop, great cross from White, great header, great celebration, great day.
2. Johnnie Macken winner in the Spurs 4-3: another great move to complete the greatest comeback ever.
3. Tommy Hutchison in the ’81 Cup Final: looked old enough to be my granddad but defied gravity to throw himself at Ranson’s cross.
4. Maurizio Gaudino vs. Liverpool (about 1994): remember him? German/Italian… nice hair but a bit of dodgy car dealing. Horizontal as it flew in the Platt Lane end for a late winner.
5. Edin Dzeko at Spurs: heading from behind and above him, a goal that defied both physics and most people’s opinion of Edin.
6. Dennis Tueart at Leeds, FA Cup 3rd round 1978: one from the archives this but a power diving header that set us on the way to a famous victory. ‘Dirty Leeds’ fans then attacked big Joe and tried to get the match abandoned.
7. Yaya Touré at QPR. Power, poise and grace not to mention a sublime cross.
8. Bobby McDonald vs. Everton FA Cup quarter final replay 1981: broke the stalemate and set us on our way. He should have had a hat-trick that night.
9. Ian Bishop, the 3rd in the 5-1: to see City score 3 before half time and Bishop to score a header unbelievable. The counter-attack tore through United and the header was a beauty.
10. The Goat at the Swamp 2003: had to have from one the Goat. First touch after coming on as sub and gets the equalizer (should have had a winner a few minutes later but wrongly disallowed).

And just for sheer (dark) comedy value to take us back to another time and place…

11. Jamie Pollock vs. QPR: one of the all time great own goals and a moment that so typified City in the ’90s. He even managed to get the assist as well!

Anybody got any others they can think of?

ARTICLE: THEY JUST CAN’T RESIST HAVING A CHIP CAN THEY?

We used international weekend to get away for a weekend in Dublin, and a fine weekend it was too.

As we waited for our plane to taxi away from the terminal at Ringway, my baby son was playing with my light blue and white bar scarf that bore the slogan “Pride of Manchester” (it’s a bit of a special scarf as I’d bought it on another happy Eastlands derby day when we beat The Filth).

A grand-fatherly man across the aisle started making a fuss of my son and piped up to my wife: “He’ll soon be wearing the right colour scarf”.

My wife said with a smile: “My husband is thinking “6-1″, and that’s the clean version!” Not for the first time, my wife was right.

The man, retorted in his mild Mancunian accent: “We’ve won 19 titles”. Funnily enough, though, he didn’t mention the intimidation of referees or the cheating and kicking.

“Give us time,” replied my wife.

I added: “We deal in the present rather than the past. That’s history now.”

“And you have some history, haven’t you?”, chipped the Rag with a hint of a sneer.

“Yes, and I was there at York when we lost”, I retorted matter-of-factly. He looked rather blankly, not quite knowing what to say. It was as if he didn’t comprehend the notion of going to watch a rubbish team, losing at all sorts of places. Maybe he was puzzled that being in the Third Division actually constitutes ‘history’. The Rag offered rather weakly “There’ll be loads and loads of red and white scarves in Dublin”. “It’s about quality… not quantity,” I replied, and save for him and his wife tickling my son, he fell silent after that. To be fair it had been relatively good natured knockabout stuff, and the Rag’s wife piped up saying her dad was a Blue.

As our Aer Lingus jet pulled into its stand at Dublin airport, to our delight, we noticed that an Etihad Airways jet, painted in a beautiful light blue and bearing the legend “Manchester City Football Club”, was parked immediately to our left. I’d seen pictures of it on the web (http://www.mcfc.co.uk/news/club-news/2011/july/etihad-unveil-new-manchester-city-livery-plane), and what a beautiful sight it is in the flesh too (it’s an Airbus A330 for all you plane spotters out there!). Still there was no squeak from the Rag. His face was a picture. Not a pretty picture unlike the Etihad/City plane! All’s well that ends well.

Aside from the sadly few die-hards who follow Bohemians, Shamrock Rovers, Shelbourne, St Patrick’s and University College, Dublin is of course a city that is dominated by the support of three football clubs: Celtic, United and Liverpool, in that order. For the record, though, I didn’t see anyone wearing a single Rag shirt or scarf in the whole of our two days in Dublin, though there’s plenty of their tat in the shops (loads of un-bought rubbish!). I saw a few people wearing Liverpool, Republic of Ireland (I’m well pleased for Dunney and the Irish), Saint Patrick’s and Bohemians attire, but curiously no one wearing Rag merchandise. Couldn’t be anything to do with that 6-1 battering, thrashing and trouncing, plus being a five point 2nd best to City in the table, could it (Ed – No, don’t go sounding smug… remember we are not like them!)?

I did, though, bump into two lads who were City fans in a Dublin souvenir shop. They were checking out some City retro shirts in the sports section, and noticed my City badge and we got talking, which was nice. Indeed it’s always a pleasure to bump into Blues on our travels. These young Dubliners had followed City for a few years, and knew their stuff. They’d seen some of the rough times, and I have to agree with them in that I am sorry that Dunney is no longer at the club. What a player. We wouldn’t be in this division without his sterling defending, and I am not alone in believing that he is still good enough.

All in all it was a great trip to a friendly city that we love visiting. There’s plenty to do there, and of course a drop of the black stuff never goes amiss. We’ll be back again next year when hopefully we’ve either won the title or are well on the way to winning it.

RESPONSE: GOLDEN AGE

Really enjoyed James Nash’s Part I and looking forward to the next 2 instalments. I am sure his reminiscing will bring back in floods plenty of memories for MCIVTA readers; like them I will share my one stand out most poignant memory from that “golden age”. This was triggered off by James’ reference to Swindon away; I too recall being literally soaked to the bones.

I lived with my girlfriend at the time in a block of flats that actually stood inside the land owned by Brentford FC, nudging up against the away end. I could look out the kitchen window and see part of the pitch, comic book style. Despite the distance, I made the trip North most weekends to Maine Road; a few weekends she would come with me, and I attended the majority of away games too. She came to all the games played in the South and Midlands (back in the day when tickets were easier to come by and “loyalty” was not complicated). She was a convert to the cause after having met me and I promised her great things following City.

Golden Age? It took her just over 2 years and 4 months to see us win a match!

Ironically… after 1,000’s of miles of motorway… Brentford away in FAC3 – 50 yards from home!

Never ever ever bemoan the state of affairs today.

ARTICLE: BARRY and RICHARDS

Gareth Barry may not have bagged England’s 2,000th goal on Tuesday, with the ball going in off a defender, but he is most definitely enjoying a very good season thus far, both for City and England. His industrious midfield shows have been an important reason why City are top of the League and England have qualified as group leaders.

He was always the stand out player for me when he played for Villa against us. It has been more difficult for him to reach prominence since he moved to a multi-skilled City squad, but he has still performed to a high level for us. At 30 it could be argued that Barry’s best years are behind him, yet his contribution has become more and more significant thus far this season. That he is keeping the excellent Nigel de Jong out of the team in some crucial games is a credit to Barry, his professionalism and skills. Indeed he faces stiff competition in midfield, and I do expect the excellent James Milner to play in Barry’s central rôle more and more in time, but for now Barry deservedly plays centrally on merit.

If there is a tackle or block to be made, Barry delivers, giving City’s midfield durability. His game is based on good common sense passing, and he rarely wastes a ball. Barry’s awareness of his team mates allied to his solid distribution mean that he often starts up a City attack. Whether he is playing central midfield or left midfield, his positional play and discipline are commendable. His covering of Clichy and Kolarov means that we can release another dimension to our attack down the left. On a rare occasion that Barry did give the ball away (albeit inside the Napoli half at Eastlands) we got punished, but it was a rare error. To his credit, and like a true pro, this did not affect Barry: he dusted himself off and got on with the game.

Indeed, Barry is a steely character who reacts positively to setbacks. He is widely respected at City and indeed throughout the game, and rightly so. He was left out of the England squad for 4 years from 2003 but this did not affect his form, barely missing a game for Villa, before earning his place back in 2007.

Maybe that is a lesson for Micah Richards to learn. Clearly Micah should be in the England squad now as he is certainly a better all round full back than Glen Johnson, who is poor defensively. Micah may face very stiff competition in the future from Kyle Walker who made a highly impressive début this week, but he should not be disheartened. Capello either does not rate him or does not like him if he is picking Johnson, as the Liverpool full back has only just come back from injury and isn’t pulling up any trees there, whereas Micah has been excellent this season.

Not that I blame Micah for his expression of disbelief on Twitter. Not being picked by Capello is not a bad thing, though. After all, Capello is the man who reinstated the slow, off the pace and disgraced John Terry as captain. How can a man who has slept with the girlfriend of a team mate and friend and who has brazenly parked on a disabled parking spot truly have any respect within the England dressing room?

These are the warped values that Capello overlooks. How can a man who is under investigation by the Police be allowed to play in, let alone captain, the England team? Yes, Terry is officially ‘innocent’ until proven guilty but in most walks of life he’d be suspended from duty. Not in Capello’s world, though.

On a lighter note, though, if Terry really wanted to wind up Anton Ferdinand, why didn’t he just say “You’re a rubbish centre half… just like Rio”?

Micah should have been playing against Spain and has been dealt an injustice, but he needs to bide his time, and wait for his opportunity, because as we know, England are likely (hopefully) to have an English manager next summer, whether or not ‘Arry goes down for tax evasion. Surely even the FA are not daft enough to give Capello another extension to his contract?

Hopefully Micah will hang in there, continue to focus on his club form, winning trophies along the way and make it impossible for the next England manager to ignore him.

OPINION: CLUB RENAMING

I really like our new name, ‘League Leaders’. I think we should keep it (Ed – Note my earlier caution on sounding smug!)!

RESPONSE: MOON RIVER

In response to Trevor Bevan and the location of the River Medlock, the river flows under the North Stand car park. If you drive / walk down Alan Turing Way adjacent to Phillips Park, the road passes over the river, which can be seen at this point, before ‘going underground’ under the car park and on its way towards the city centre.

RESPONSE: BLUE MOON BEER

I would like to point out New Zealand has a Blue Moon Brewery in Amberley, north of Christchurch.

RESPONSE: FROM THE ED!

Thanks to everyone who has contributed with articles, thought and opinion in these few weeks I’ve been editor. It certainly makes it a very enjoyable experience from my perspective.

When I get an article I look to review it and try to add some consistency to the overall look and feel of MCIVTA in terms of checking spelling, punctuation and layout. This includes removal of any language that firewalls might reject and occasionally inserting paragraph breaks.

Unfortunately, I upset a recent contributor by inserting a paragraph break. Whilst this ‘absolutely dismayed’ the individual in question it is solely done to make articles easier to read on screen.

Ok, enough from me… carry on you lot.

TICKETS: NAPOLI TRIP

We have only 5 seats left for this trip! If you need any further information, or wish to make a booking, give us a ring on 01925 755222. All e-tickets have now been sent out. Please find below a copy of the itinerary, for your information and convenience.

Itinerary for Napoli Trip

Outbound – LS6410 – Monday 21st November – 7:30am
JET2 – Manchester Terminal 1 – Down stairs Lower Level
Direct flight to Naples
On arrival we will transfer to Sorrento where we will stay at the 5* Hilton Palace http://www.sorrentopalacehotel.com/
You will have the remainder of the day and evening at your own leisure.

Match day, we will leave Sorrento and go direct to the Napoli Stadium – time TBA.

After the game we will go direct to the Airport and take our flight back to Manchester.
Flight No. LS 6411 – Departure time 00:50 – arriving back in Manchester at approx 03:00.

Reminder: We do not supply travel insurance. It is essential that you take out your own insurance prior to travel.

AND FINALLY… GOLDEN AGE (PART TWO OF THREE)

In part one of this article, I talked of the beginning of the wilderness years that saw City sinking lower and lower until the salvation of the Division Two Play-off final. In part two, I chart the bumpy road back to success and the end of a 35-year jinx.

That “unbelievable” Lazarus act against Gillingham was not the end of the turbulent years. Joe Royle gave us a proper roller-coaster ride up and down the leagues, following up that Wembley triumph with an immediate and unexpected return to the Premier League. The victory that sealed promotion from Division One, at Blackburn on the final day of the season with the grassy knoll army in attendance, is the stuff of legend. Maddeningly, we went straight back down again the next season. “Blue Moon, you got promoted too soon”, we were told.

The 2001/02 Division One promotion season under Kevin Keegan was probably the highlight of that era. For the first time in memory, we got to experience what United fans must feel like, wondering how many we were going to win by today, as we walked up to Maine Road with a spring in our steps. The rest of the time, we could only look disdainfully over the City boundary into Stretford to see the Evil Empire relentlessly grinding its way to success. Wistful dreams of jumping on the runaway Champions’ League gravy train were all we had to comfort us. In truth, it was accelerating over the horizon and we had no hope of catching it or United.

By the mid-2000’s, City had established some stability under the stewardships of Chairmen David Bernstein and then John Wardle; Bernstein in particular was a creditable steward. The club had carved out a Premiership niche, finishing mid-to-lower table with a few relegation scares and quick sorties into Europe, but nothing too vexing or memorable. Most of the time it was a tad dull – especially under Stuart Pearce – however I think we mostly welcomed an oasis of calm after the turmoil of the previous years.

There was one unforgettable match – a fourth round FA Cup tie at White Hart Lane under Keegan in early 2004. City were trailing 3-0 at half-time, with Nicolas Anelka off injured and down to ten men after Joey Barton’s needless sending-off. Some of my friends still thank me to this day for my advice to “give it ten minutes in the second half and see what happens”. If they had left, they would have missed the greatest FA Cup comeback of all time, as City turned it around to win 3-4. Of course we lost the next leg to United but, on one of my rare visits to the Swamp, at least I got the pleasure of seeing Gary Neville sent off for a head-butt on Steve McManaman.

The move away from Moss Side to the new stadium in East Manchester was the key to where we are today. Some traditionalists understandably did not want the move. For most, however, the gift of a brand new stadium was impossible to refuse. We had no money to build our own anyway. I personally felt we had tormented the hallowed ground of Maine Road enough and a clean break was needed from the ghosts – some say curses – of the past. That said, I was going to miss the post-match curries in Rusholme.

The cornerstone for the new City of Manchester Stadium – to be used in the Commonwealth Games of 2002 and then handed on to us as tenants – was laid by none other than Tony Blair. Another despot, Thaksin Shinawatra, was the prime mover in the next chapter of our recent history and, as our new owner, he would prove to be both hero and villain. Thaksin came seeking redemption from his woes in Thailand by attempting to establish a friendly public persona in the U.K. City fans welcomed him, despite his dubious provenance, as we were desperate for investment and success. Another ex-England manager Sven Goran-Eriksson was established in the ‘ejector seat’ and a happy sequence of results against the Rags ensued.

Of course the silverware drought continued and the relationship with Sven and the fans soured as Thaksin meddled and much money was wasted. By the end, Thaksin’s funds were frozen in Thailand and he was effectively on the lam. Once again the club had no money and another crisis was looming.

As an aside, I will never forgive Shinawatra or anyone at the club for signing Jo. I hope my typing of that name does not cause too many swearword filters to activate and block MCIVTA from peoples’ mailboxes again. The only explanation I can imagine – for paying £18 million for the worst player I have ever seen in a City shirt – is that Thaksin was in hock to some dodgy Russians and this was his debt repayment. Jo was not worth 18 pence never mind £18 million.

Regardless of what happened under his stewardship, the Thai was the one with the contacts that snared the attention of Sheikh Mansour, when Abu Dhabi came looking for a Premiership club to invest in. The new stadium was our key selling point against potential rival suitors like Everton, who are bitter to this day that we won the lottery, not them. Without Eastlands, it is unlikely we would ever have seen our Arab Autumn.

Monday 1st September 2008 must rank up there with the Wembley recovery nine years previous, as a key date in City’s history. No-one could believe that our club had been bought by some of the richest people on the planet and then, within hours, we were splashing millions on Robinho and almost stealing Dimitar Berbatov’s signature from under the noses of United. It was like waking up in one of those alternate universe realities found in trashy sci-fi TV dramas.

Add to this the background of an ongoing global financial market collapse and these were strange days indeed. If you have a spare hour or two, you can still relive the giddy otherworldliness on the BBC live text feed from that day here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7590492.stm

Since the takeover, the club has been like a snake shedding skins. We started with an outer layer of mercenary attacking players brought in to protect a developing inner core of potentially excellent defensive players. This constantly evolving outer layer has been needed to help push us up to the Champions’ League spots and win our first trophy in almost two generations. There is one man who has brought the process to its culmination – Roberto Mancini.

Before praising Bert, I think we need to recognise we took a bit of a diversion off the road to success by sticking with Mark Hughes as long as we did. I was never his biggest fan from the off, retaining a childhood dislike of him from his playing years at United. Whilst not campaigning for his removal like some did, I was happy to see him go. Yes the manner of his departure was handled very badly by the club yet the bottom line is that he was not good enough to take us where we wanted to be.

To be fair to Hughes, he did bring in some very good players such as Vincent Kompany and Nigel de Jong. His track record elsewhere was poor though. For me, anyone who spends £17.5 million on a one-season-wonder perma-crock like Roque Santa Cruz simply is not fit to handle big money.

Garry Cook, for one, knew this. There is an apocryphal story that says the decision was made to replace Hughes as the pair flew back from an abortive attempt to sign Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Hughes said he was glad not to have signed someone who would have been a disruption in the dressing room because of his massive wages. With Joe Hart’s subsequent emergence as England’s number one, it has been proved to be the right decision but, from then on, Hughes’ card was marked as the wrong person to manage the Sheikh’s petrodollars.

Under Roberto Mancini, we have spent much more wisely and most definitely grown and prospered. Many say we were far too defensively minded in his first year in charge. This does not acknowledge the team building that was underway. A key result for me was the 0-0 at Arsenal a few days into this calendar year. We were castigated something proper by the press and pundits and the world and his wife for that negative showing. “All that money and that’s how you play?” they cried.

Yet I left the Emirates that night with a great big grin on my face. I knew we’d just taken a massive step along the road to having a fighting spirit in the defensive unit that would stand us well in the future. I tried to explain this to non-City fans at the time but no-one would have it. It was a touchstone result and it was where I first heard the “boring, boring City!” chant, as we cheekily co-opted it off the Arsenal fans.

Roberto Mancini knew exactly what he was doing then and is having the last laugh right now. If we had lost that game in some gallant but futile fashion then, all other things being equal, we would have finished fourth behind Arsenal. We would have had to qualify for the Champions’ League and, maybe, we might not have been able to sign Sergio Agüero at the time we did. As a result, this season could have run a very different course. One can even argue that we would have lacked the defensive discipline to withstand United’s early assault on our goal in the recent derby.

A few short months after that Arsenal game, those tears I talked of before returned, except these were tears of joy. Two glorious Yaya Touré goals spread over two Wembley games won us our first real piece of silverware in 35 years. First we deservedly beat United in the semi, which laid many demons to rest and is seen as a watershed result by many. Then, after one of the lustier renditions of ‘Abide With Me’ in North London’s history, we powered past a subdued Stoke in the final.

The first time I saw Yaya play for City, I prophetically thought to myself: “this boy could be the one to win us something”. Then he put in a few unconvincing performances over the winter of last season and I started to doubt my prediction. I was mad to do so. He can still be a lazy so-and-so from time to time but he is a key player for us and a proven winner. I will forgive him the odd “will this do?” performance, for breaking that hoodoo and winning us a pot.

That 35-year ticker banner could now finally be consigned to the dustbin. The blue boys were back in business.

End of Part Two…

RESULTS AND TABLE

League table to 18 November 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 11  5  0  0 16  2  5  1  0 23  8 10  1  0  39  10  29  31
 2 Manchester Utd  11  5  0  1 18  9  3  2  0 10  3  8  2  1  28  12  16  26
 3 Newcastle Utd   11  4  2  0 10  5  3  2  0  7  3  7  4  0  17   8   9  25
 4 Chelsea         11  4  0  1 15  9  3  1  2  9  6  7  1  3  24  15   9  22
 5 Tottenham H.    10  3  0  1 10  7  4  1  1 11  8  7  1  2  21  15   6  22
 6 Liverpool       11  2  4  0  8  5  3  0  2  6  5  5  4  2  14  10   4  19
 7 Arsenal         11  5  0  1 12  4  1  1  3 11 17  6  1  4  23  21   2  19
 8 Aston Villa     11  3  2  1 10  6  0  4  1  6  9  3  6  2  16  15   1  15
 9 Norwich City    11  2  2  1  9  7  1  2  3  7 11  3  4  4  16  18  -2  13
10 Swansea City    11  3  2  0  8  1  0  2  4  4 14  3  4  4  12  15  -3  13
11 QPR             11  1  3  2  5  9  2  0  3  5 11  3  3  5  10  20 -10  12
12 Stoke City      11  2  2  1  5  4  1  1  4  3 15  3  3  5   8  19 -11  12
13 Wolves          11  2  1  3  8 10  1  1  3  4  8  3  2  6  12  18  -6  11
14 West Brom A.    11  1  1  3  3  5  2  1  3  6 11  3  2  6   9  16  -7  11
15 Sunderland      11  1  2  2  9  7  1  2  3  5  6  2  4  5  14  13   1  10
16 Fulham          11  1  3  2 11  9  1  1  3  3  6  2  4  5  14  15  -1  10
17 Everton         10  1  1  3  5  7  2  0  3  6  8  3  1  6  11  15  -4  10
18 Bolton Wndrs    11  1  0  5  9 17  2  0  3  9 10  3  0  8  18  27  -9   9
19 Blackburn R.    11  1  0  5  6 13  0  3  2  7 11  1  3  7  13  24 -11   6
20 Wigan Athletic  11  1  1  3  5  8  0  1  5  2 12  1  2  8   7  20 -13   5

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[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.

Philip Alcock, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

Editor: