Newsletter #1939

A bumper edition today on the back of a splendid performance and victory at the weekend. As flaky as we looked in the League game against Chelsea, we were rock solid on Saturday and thoroughly merited our quarter final place. Pleasingly, that will be against our old hero, Uwe Rösler. It will be great to see him back at the club.

Before then though is the small matter of some Spanish outfit! Seriously, we’ve had this debate quite often recently but I think the case that this may be the biggest tie in the club’s history is a compelling one. Certainly when viewed from a global viewing public perspective. Let’s just hope we don’t roll over and have our tummies tickled like Bayern did to us earlier in the season but give a good showing and, hopefully, take a lead into the away game.

Come on you Blues!

MANCHESTER CITY 2 CHELSEA 0

Manchester City totally outplayed Chelsea to progress serenely to the FA Cup 6th Round. City worked so hard to dominate this match and played so well that Costel Pantilimon didn’t have a single save to make all night. It was significant, not to mention a relief, that City were back on top form, which bodes well with Barcelona coming to town on Tuesday.

It was an evening of scintillating football from City, which prompted a chorus of “City, tearing Cockneys apart again”, which was nice. Revenge was very sweet indeed. Joleon Lescott returned in defence alongside Vincent Kompany. In midfield Javi Garcia came in alongside Yaya Touré with James Milner moving out to the right and Stevan Jovetic partnered Edin Dzeko up front. Chelsea fielded as strong a side as they could muster as well, so there was no question of any quarter being given, or anyone devaluing the FA Cup. City were quickly into this game, showing more energy than in in the League game and pressing Chelsea into surrendering possession. In the 15th minute Yaya robbed Matic deep in Chelsea half, drove a powerful shot that Cech couldn’t hold and Jovetic could not quite keep the ball down, smiting the bar with the rebound. Chelsea’s escape was only temporary as Jovetic made no mistake with his second attempt barely two minutes later. In a classic sweeping City move, David Silva played a diagonal pass to Dzeko who in turn fed the advancing Jovetic in the inside right position, and he cleverly steered a low shot to the left of Cech and into the net. It was so intelligent that Cech didn’t know which way to dive, and was lucky not to twist his knee as he tried in vain to stop Jovetic’s fizzing shot. We exploded with joy, the juvenile utterances of Mourinho giving us extra reason to relish putting his team down.

With City pressing far up the pitch and Chelsea’s football being blunt in front of a well-drilled City defence, there was only one side creating chances. Yaya fired a shot wide in the 23rd minute. Silva, Jovetic and Dzeko combined again to free the giant Bosnian who forced a save from Cech. Jovetic was relishing his opportunity and lost his marker with a delightful turn on the edge of the box and again Chelsea had Cech to thank for keeping the score down. Chelsea were becoming desperate with some reckless challenges and it was no surprise when Luiz deservedly found his way into the book.

City’s tempo was fast and Chelsea were hanging on by their fingernails. In another swift move, Milner fizzed a dangerous low right wing cross but Dzeko just failed to get in a decisive touch. The large contingent of Chelsea fans who occupied the whole South Stand tried to encourage their team with “Chewwsey, Chewwsey, Chewwsey…” but their team was not inspired by the complexity of their lyrics.

City were given a well-deserved warm ovation at the break, and strode out with purpose for the second half. The football “genius” that is Mourinho, in his wisdom, decided to play without a recognised striker for a while, replacing Samuel Eto’o with a winger, Mohammed Salah. It made no impression on the match whatsoever as City continued to ask the questions and Chelsea struggled to answer. A lovely move that featured an intelligent exchange of passes by Clichy and Dzeko resulted in Jovetic firing over. City were harrying Chelsea all over the pitch, and the visitors struggled to get up the pitch. City were rampant and our football was magnificent. When we had the ball, we had the confidence to hold the ball and move it quickly, with subtle changes of pace and finding angles to play intelligent, progressive football that was a sheer delight. It was great to see City flowing again.

The sight of Samir Nasri warming up on the touchline was also very welcome indeed and he appreciated the applause that he received. This was surpassed by the warm welcome that he received when he came on for Jovetic, and again when he sealed the match 7 minutes later with a goal of the highest quality. Nasri carried the ball deep into Chelsea territory, then played a perfect pass to Silva on the left and timed his run expertly to side foot home Silva’s precise cross. It was a sublime move, thrilling and perfectly executed. Joy was unconfined. Nasri showed his appreciation to the magical Silva and shared his joy with the crowd. When the joy of that wonderful goal itself had been celebrated by all concerned, Mourinho was promptly invited to go forth and multiply with extra gusto by the City faithful.

There was no stopping City, and in true City style, we went for more goals. Lescott had a goal disallowed for offside after he bundled in the rebound from Garcia’s goal-bound header. Nasri’s shot was blocked. Chelsea enjoyed a little possession but they were pedestrian and never looked like scoring. Their night was summed up by Azpilicueta firing wildly over. Mourinho’s tactics were wide of the mark and their performance was far from what was required.

Mourinho was serenaded with chants of “Your football is sh##e, your football is sh##e, Jose Mourinho, your football is sh##e”. Quite. There was no excuse for Mourinho. Chelsea’s team was as strong as he could field. Terry was injured but so was Agüero: modern football is a squad game. Not that we didn’t hear a litany of excuses in the aftermath with him moaning about Jovetic being our “fourth striker”. Mourinho only has himself to blame as he sent out his fourth striker, the talented Lukaku, on loan. He laughably whined about the performance of referee Phil Dowd, who if anything missed a lot of fouls on City players! If he’d have spent more time training and organising his players than bitching about other managers, his team might have had a shot on target. Might…

What was the difference between this game, which we thoroughly deserved to win, and the League game 12 days before in which Chelsea merited the three points? Pellegrini clearly righted some of the mistakes from the first game. Firstly, City were better set up and stronger in central midfield, with Garcia having an excellent game alongside Yaya Touré. Milner’s contribution was significant too. This time we out-muscled and out-ran Chelsea, and we pressed them into surrendering possession all over the pitch. Even our full backs won the ball deep into the Chelsea half throughout the evening. Our domination of midfield subsequently starved Hazard, Willian and Ramires of the ball. Our full backs were a little deeper when they needed to be in order to counter the threat of Hazard and Willian, who were not allowed to turn and run at our defence on the rare occasions that they did get the ball. As a result we had more of the ball and this time our game flowed as we pinged passes around the pitch in a manner that we have become used to. It was if you like “Typical City”. Typical of Pellegrini’s modern City! Silva and Yaya Touré were so graceful and delightful to watch as City played slick, sublime, and highly skilful football again, and the whole team played as a well oiled machine. There was so much to enjoy. It was wonderful to watch. Significantly, City were back on top form, and that is well timed with Barcelona in town in a momentous fixture.

Att: 47,013

Goals:
1-0: Jovetic (17)
2-0: Nasri (68)

Ratings:
Pantilimon: Didn’t have a shot to save. Fumbled one cross in the first half but gathered at the second attempt after the ball pin-balled in our box. Otherwise caught high crosses very well indeed: 7
Zabaleta: As skilful on the ball and industrious as ever. He was frequently pressing like a midfield player, most notably when he won a header in the final third to keep up the pressure and set up another attack: 8
Kompany: Brilliant all night in another assertive captain’s rôle. He was always proactive and sharp in the tackle: 9
Lescott: A very good good showing alongside the skipper. He read the game well and when a header or block was needed in his area of the pitch he was there: 8
Clichy: An efficient showing at left back, he handled whatever was thrown at him: 7
Milner: Added muscle, running power and intelligence, never giving the accomplished Azpilicueta a moment’s peace: 8
Garcia: His best game in a City shirt, which was especially commendable as he was returning from injury. A key factor in City winning this game. Yes, really! Read the game superbly well: intercepted, tackled and blocked with excellent timing and positional play. His passing was simple, no nonsense and accurate all night: 9 (Man of the Match)
Yaya: Elegant, magnificent and, oh so skilful. His ability to time a pass and weight it superbly is a God-given skill: 8
Silva: Such a joy to watch. He makes the game look so easy with his excellent, intelligent passing and movement. He glides round the pitch, weaving intricate patterns that tie the opposition in knots. His talent can never be taken for granted: 9
Dzeko: Had one of those days when everything stuck to him and he linked play really well, the zenith of his game being when he supplied the pass for Jovetic to score: 7
Jovetic: Had a really good game and took his goal very well. It was a pity that he blotted his copy book by getting booked for going down far too easily under a challenge. It’s not really the City way, but he is a young man and will learn: 8
Subs:
Nasri (for Jovetic 62): It was like he’d never been away. His intelligence was significant in sealing this win, and it was impossible not to be pleased for him when he scored: 8
Navas (for Silva 69): Couldn’t get the better of Azpilicueta but kept him busy: 6
Negredo (for Dzeko 81): Too late to mark: n/a
Best Oppo: Cech: Saved Chelsea from further humiliation: 7

Refwatch: Phil Dowd: Let Chelsea get away with a lot of fouls, but somehow didn’t manage to spoil the game: 4

P.S. Thank you – Thank you very much for your warm welcome back to MCIVTA. It means a great deal to me to get those messages and a nice Editorial from Phil Alcock as I continue my recovery from illness! I have a wonderful family and friends who have been a great support to me through it, and I have also made some new friends through MCIVTA. I hope to meet at least some of you one day! It is an honour and privilege to indulge in my hobby, writing for you all, in this wonderful publication. As ever, it was great to read and receive MCIVTA in my absence. I have really missed writing, but I was really not up to it to be totally blunt. Now I am well on the road to recovery and your messages have certainly helped me at a difficult time. Thank you so much.

HAVE THE WHEELS COME OFF?

With regard to the last 2 league games where City have failed to score after being so prolific, I would like to add my thoughts to the issue. Against Spurs (1-5) I thought I saw the emergence of a bright new star in the making: Lopes. He combined cleverly with Agüero to provide the assist from which Agüero scored. Indeed, his style of play and physique is similar to Agüero’s. Although he was named as a substitute against Chelsea and Norwich, he was not used. Why ever not? His presence, instead of either Dzeko or Negredo, might have been the key with which to unlock a very capable Chelsea defence and a Norwich defence that pulled almost everybody back into their own half and blocked most of the gaps.

I am encouraged by Jovetic, who after a few more injury-free games might evolve into the player that Pellegrini was hoping he would be. Also the substitution of Negredo by Kolarov yesterday was a strange one for me. The situation was crying out for his presence but his wing play and crosses might have provided the food on which Negredo thrives. Why not substitute Clichy instead? Kolarov is not really a centre forward and it showed.

DON’T YOU EVER, DON’T YOU EVER, LOWER YOURSELF, FORGETTING ALL YOUR STANDARDS…

Isn’t it pathetic how large sections of the written and broadcast media hang onto every word that Jose Mourinho says? Every sentence that he utters from his poisonous mouth is swallowed and digested by them as if he were Confucius or Plato. Either they aren’t intelligent enough to see through the huge tissue of hypocrisy and lies that he spouts, or choose not to challenge him, and are therefore complicit in his tissue of lies. Check mate!

They make me thoroughly sick. They are quick to condemn City and yet fawn all over him and refer to him as “Jose” as if he is their best mate. Not an edifying thought I know, but it’s a surprise that they haven’t thrown their underwear at him as if he was George Clooney (apologies to George Clooney fans for mentioning him in the same sentence as Chelsea’s obnoxious little cretin, or Maureen as he is also known, as Clooney seems a thoroughly decent fellow who, in contrast, is deservedly very popular, for a variety of reasons!).

The more intelligent members of the national media of course, e.g. Henry Winter, Martin Samuel, can see through the nonsense that Mourinho spouts, and are a breath of fresh air in a stale football media world dominated by half-witted idiots (the Italian and Spanish media could see through him, so why can’t most of ours?). The more enlightened writers and broadcasters have recognised what a hypocrite Mourinho is in making remarks about City and so-called “Fair Play”, and written to that effect. How anyone can Chelsea can talk about so-called “Financial Fair Play” and other clubs is a bit rich, given their spending. And how, exactly, did their owner get rich so quick after the break up of the communist Soviet Union? For the record, Ferran Soriano is confident that City will not be in breach of Platini’s half-baked, so-called Financial Fair Play regulations. Many of our losses by the way are for costs incurred in infrastructure and pre-2010 contracts, which are not counted. Still, the world turns and seldom has a day passed recently without Mourinho obsessing about City or Arsenal.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but if you spend huge amounts of cash on players and spend the whole week lecturing the football world about what is right and what is wrong then you really shouldn’t be playing dour football, trying to hang on for a 1-0 win against relegation strugglers, then fail to win! What’s more, haranguing and lecturing a respectable man of senior years (who is widely renowned as a gentleman) about arithmetic amongst other things, whilst telling lies about what you’ve spent in the transfer market doesn’t do much for your credibility either. Oh, and if you’re handing out lessons in what is right and what is wrong, then you really shouldn’t have a history of eye gouging. Just a thought… You may recall that Mourinho targeted his biggest threat, Arsène Wenger last time he was in charge of Chelsea (and is making a fool of himself in doing so again), though in cowardly fashion, he didn’t dare take on the biggest bully in the playground back then – remember him! He’s having a go at Wenger again as well as Pellegrini (who next – that nice chap Brendan Rodgers?). So Mourinho is only doing what he always does. He thrives on confrontation and hopes to unhinge his opponents into mistakes. He failed with Guardiola, and hopefully he will fail with Pellegrini. He left Spain, universally hated and despised, and even by a lot of Real Madrid fans that didn’t like his behaviour or his relative lack of success. It takes some doing to be hated by Barcelona and Real Madrid: a “special” talent, one might say.

Manuel Pellegrini is well equipped to deal with him, being an intelligent man with a mild temperament. He seems a tad (just a tad, mind) irritated by Mourinho but, the odd comment aside, has just about managed to keep a lid on it. He hasn’t gone down the old Wenger route of losing it and responding to his every word, and has said as much. So far he has alluded to Mourinho’s lies and advised that he stick to talking about his own club. A mild public rebuke, but not the out and out confrontation that Mourinho wants. I like the fact that Pellegrini responds when he sees the need to and keeps his dignity. He doesn’t need to lower himself to the level of Mourinho. I hope he manages to keep it that way and assertively put him in his place when needs to be. The best way to do that would be by results and winning the League and a few other trophies (why not!). Beating Chelsea 2-0 in the FA Cup was a good start.

Pellegrini has clearly learned some lessons from the painful league defeat to Chelsea where we were repeatedly caught on the break and outnumbered by swift counter attacks, and it was especially sweet to soundly beat Mourinho’s team. Unfortunately there was trouble after the game, and Mourinho’s irresponsible, immature comments will not have helped matters, creating unnecessary animosity, not that there is any justification for violence from anybody. Given his serial bad behaviour, and disrespectful comments to other managers and clubs, there is a need for action from the FA and he should be charged with bringing the game into disrepute. We needn’t hold our breath though with that shambles of an organisation, though.

This season’s football has been the best as a spectacle that I have ever watched in 33 years of following Manchester City, but is it going to be as effective as Mancini’s team of 2011/2012? That team also played excellent football, particularly in the first three months of the season, but it was more defensively aware. Having our full backs pushed right on, often in the opposition penalty box has been a big part of our thrilling attacking football this season. It does leave us exposed at counter attacks. Surely we need to be a little more discerning about when our full backs need to attack, particularly against better teams?

We have one of the most auspicious fixtures in our history against Barcelona on Tuesday, but the FA Cup represents a better chance of a trophy, and we need to have a strong side out there on Saturday tea time.

Large sections of the media are always keen to moralise and are not slow to castigate Manchester City, e.g. Sky Sports News droning on about Yaya’s incident with van Wolfswinkel for a whole day after it had been reviewed by an independent disciplinary tribunal. Isn’t it strange that Sky and certain Match of the Day pundits have conveniently ignored the skulduggery of the likes of Rooney, van Persie and Gerrard down the years? I wonder why! If the bloated, biased and yes, unintelligent rump (emphasis on rump) of our media place great importance in Mourinho’s utterances and are happy to set their moral compass by him then they are not really in a place to judge City! It is a concern, though, if decisions about retrospective action are being taken on the say so of certain pundits and media organisations. As for Yaya, he has been a lucky boy several times. He could have been red carded or retrospectively banned for the incident at Norwich, but the evidence is not conclusive and this was reflected by the disciplinary tribunal being unable to reach the required unanimous verdict to ban him. Yaya needs to be careful because his every action will be watched. He is a very important player for us and we need him.

It’s going to be a momentous few days, and hopefully we can still to go to the second leg in the Camp Nou with a great chance of advancing to the next round of the Champions’ League. After that we have the League game against Stoke, and that Championship surely is our most important target this season.

Come on City.

OPINION

Having watched the Chelsea match, it was very obvious that we were playing against a full strength Chelsea team, whilst we were shorn of some of our best players. IMHO, Pellegrini is not as astute a tactician as Mourinho (or some of us LOL!). One has only to look back at the match we lost to Bayern Munich, when his tactics were crazy, even gung-ho to say the least. It does not take a genius to know that generally, if you win the midfield battle, you win the game, so why let the opposition out-gun you in midfield? City cannot play 4-4-2 and think they will blow every team away, certainly not Bayern or Chelsea! I would have matched Chelsea’s team like for like, playing a 4-5-1 formation, with Dzeko as the lone striker, with either Rodwell, Milner or Jovetic making the 5th midfielder.

I am sure everyone must have noticed that Chelsea are slowly strengthening their team, whilst City have not. They already have Obi Mikel, but went and bought Matic, a young, tall and mobile holding midfielder. They then bought Salah, the “Egyptian Messi” as a forward, and Zouma, a young centre half, thus strengthening an already strong squad. Again, IMHO, Chelsea’s squad is far stronger than City’s; just look what happens when we use our fringe players; they are just not up to it. Players like Rodwell, Richards, Nastasic, Garcia, Demichelis, would never get into the Chelsea team, and very rarely put in an outstanding performance for us! Chelsea have a stronger back 4 than us, and they have a trio of players in Hazard, Willian and Oscar that not only have talent, but also have the work rate to track back and defend. In Ramires, Matic and Luiz, they have real muscle and energy. I am sure when City are back to their full strength we can match them, it’s just that they have such depth in midfield strength, allied to them hardly having any injuries. They genuinely have 2 quality players for every position, and you cannot argue that City have that.

I really think City will rue the fact that they did not strengthen in the January transfer market, especially as we are fighting on 4 fronts… Mangala and Fernando would have been fantastic additions. Touré only seems to raise his game for the big matches, Dzeko needs 10 chances before he can score, Demichelis’ best days are behind him (a good squad player), Nastasic has gone backwards, Lescott is not top drawer any more, Garcia is hopeless, Richards lacks positional sense, Rodwell is always injured, Negredo is blowing hot and cold. These are going to be really trying times for City, and we could just blow it after some scintillating performances to date. I am trying to be positive, but with so many crucial matches on the horizon, it’s hard to see how we will manage.

Come on City!

LIKE A BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED STOCKPORT…

I was hoping to write a match report on the Sunderland game for you, but as you all know, the weather in the UK took a turn for the worse last Wednesday afternoon and early evening. I set off from Derbyshire on the train, with the game on, and no hint of it being postponed, but mindful of predictions of gale force winds. My train made it across the Pennines and waited outside Stockport for a few minutes before stopping on the platform. Having just left the station, the train stopped on the Stockport Viaduct. Not the best place to stop in gales! My dear friend Geoff, an Everton season ticket holder, texted me at 6:39pm to tell me City’s game was off, and sent me a picture of a programme booth on its side at The Etihad. Isn’t technology wonderful? The news of postponement was on the club’s website at 6:53pm so at least the club kept us quite up to date (though I received a text from MCFC at 7:51pm telling me the game was off!).

OK, the timing of the storm was unfortunate, but in the interests of safety, couldn’t the police have had the game called off before, especially given that trees had reportedly been felled in Manchester in the storm that afternoon? It’s not as if the gales were not forecast by the Met Office. In England we just don’t deal well with such adverse weather, be it snow, or heavy rain. It’s time for a total rethink to avoid situations like Somerset where homes and livelihoods are ruined, and in the worst cases, deaths occur. There has to be more foresight and an emphasis on prevention. Yes, it will cost money but what price do we put on lives and livelihoods? I don’t want to complain too much about my experience, especially given the misfortune suffered particularly by people in the Somerset Levels and West Country in general, but the authorities could have done more for any football fan travelling in the North West to City or Everton (their game was called off even later than ours, with tiles falling off the properties immediately opposite to Goodison). This wasn’t just a few flakes of snow or gust of wind that normally sends London and the South East into meltdown. Whether we were driving from Ashton-Under-Lyne, Cheetham Hill or travelling the length of the country to The Etihad, as travellers, our safety was compromised. In future it may be prudent to call off games where gales are forecast within a reasonable radius (say, 25 miles) of the ground.

On a personal note, it wasn’t the best feeling having the train swaying in the gale on an exposed viaduct, and an explanation from East Midlands Trains staff that there were overhead power lines down between Stockport and Manchester and that they didn’t know how long we would be stopped wasn’t great either! After 15 minutes the train went back to Stockport with another train full of Blues from Buxton and Hazel Grove arriving. Stockport Station was certainly getting busier. Anyway, after about 20 minutes the line between Manchester and Stockport was reopened and I caught a train back (at a reduced speed) in time (from Stockport’s “Platform Zero”, pop pickers, or is it train spotters?) to enjoy the end of a mentally bruised Arsenal and some mid-table team, whose name escapes, holding onto each other like spent, shot punch-drunk heavyweights in the 12th round. Despite the weather, with West Brom holding Chelsea the day before, it wasn’t a bad night for City, even if Liverpool grabbed a last minute winner (yes, they are title contenders) to move within a point of us. Hopefully when we play Sunderland in the League and Cup we will have more players fit, and a better chance of taking three points towards, hopefully, regaining that League title.

TAKE OUTS FROM THE CHELSEA FA CUP GAME

Whilst admittedly watching the game from afar on the box – there were a few really interesting take outs from the game as far as I was concerned:

James Milner: Continues to be Mr Reliable – and surely a better option in midfield versus Barca than ever Demichelis would be… he tracked back and was a thorn in the Chelsea side all evening.
Javi Garcia: Well – for the first time since he arrived at City he had a match where he wasn’t an embarrassment – and the first time I ruefully have to admit played well and contributed substantially to the overall performance. Whether he has the overall ability to do this again on Tuesday – hmmm… I’m still not sure.
Joleon Lescott: A solid game as well – but again good enough for Barça? Better than Demichelis though – always.
Samir Nasri: You wonder how much we miss him until he returns – then you immediately remember – a lot.
Stevan Jovetic: A great game in constantly worrying the Chelsea defence with runs pulling defenders out of position – and a great example in how even by not having the ball at feet what an influence a player can be. Blotted his copybook in my eyes hugely though by that awful dive and rightly booked. Would hope that the management take a dim view as well – but have no great hope of this. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to hear a press release saying he’d be docked a week’s wages or some such punishment?

FLYING… FROM YORK TO BARCELONA

“Ah, can you aim high to the sky?
You never know unless you try,
Can you aim high to the sky?
Now you wanna fly, so reach the sky
Come on, come on
I see the world you live, remain so big
So come on, come on
Come on come on
You’ve got to fly…”

(John Power, “Flying”)

I was there along with a couple of thousand others in December 1998 when Manchester City lost 1-2 at York to leave us 12th in the 3rd Division, and we have all experienced a bumpy ride as City supporters. So, please forgive me if I keep saying or writing that I can’t believe what has happened to us and that we have chance of beating Barcelona! Thank you everyone who has contributed to making this all possible, particularly Sheikh Mansour. Come on City, don’t be overawed. Be bold, play the brilliant football that you can do, give it your best shot and attack attack, attack! Given this team’s talents, on our day we can beat anyone. Even if we draw at home we can still go to the Camp Nou and win. Come on City.

RAIN STOPPED PLAY

The bad news was the terrible weather that stops the game versus Sunderland, MCFC thinking about supporters getting to and from the Etihad Stadium, safety first! The good news is that all players have extra time to get over injuries and other players stay fit. We see that Kolo Touré is a City secret weapon at Liverpool, trying to do a good job for City! In case you did not see it, Kolo sliced the ball and scored against Liverpool (own goal).

Mourinho (Big Mouth) was at it again, screaming for our Yaya to have a three match ban; fortunately for City he was cleared by three FA judges. Although cameras caught Yaya tap a Norwich player, it was not vicious! Now Yaya, get your own back and score against Chelsea in the FA Cup!

Gooners failed to beat our rivals United, which now leaves everything in City’s own hands to win the title race. Win every game, for Chelsea would have to score a fantastic amount of goals even if they won all of their games; it’s tough to catch City with a great goal difference.

The snow out here is so deep I could not open my doors; a friend came over and rescued me. A new meaning to be free, free at last! With all the floods and storms in the UK, and snow and ice on east coast USA, everyone stay safe, and never give up on City, keep the faith!

I hugged my City dog Miss Penny last night… it’s OK it’s a girl dog!

In Pellegrini I trust!

Come on City, shut up big mouth Mourinho!

CHICAGO BLUES

I will be in Chicago for the day of the Capital One Cup Final. Does anyone know where there will be a bar showing the final versus Sunderland?

AND FINALLY… CITY SONG

The song Alan referred to was our anthem from the lads on away trips. He nearly got the words right with a few slight changes as follows:

“City’s the team
We’re the best team in the land
Playing away games, always in command
(shouts of “now and then”)
May we lose a point or two
But we never do despair
Because you can’t beat the boys in the old light blue
When they come from Manchester”

It was sung to an old tune called “Sons of the Sea” or colloquially as “Bobbing Up and Down Like This” and can be heard in its original form here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGbdoQk9EIA

I remember it well because I never missed a match home or away from about 1958 and for many years.

MCIVTA FAQ [v1112.01]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

Articles (Philip Alcock)         : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org
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[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.

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

Editor: