MAN CITY INFO VIA THE ALPS "McVittee!" #1579

Date: Thursday 29 October 2009

A 5-1 scoreline against Scunthorpe ensured our passage into the last 8 of the Carling Cup, with the draw to be made this weekend.

Tonight we have Alex's news summary with the club and player reactions to the game, charity game, ex-Blues' news and more on the Robinho saga.

We also have opinion on the recent run of form and a request for the Player of the Month award.

NEWS SUMMARY

General News

33 Years and We're Still Here: Progress to the quarter finals of the Carling Cup will have boosted the morale amongst City's multi-million pound squad and it is this confidence that manager Mark Hughes thinks will bring silverware this season. It's been a long wait for the Blue half of Manchester, having not won a trophy in thirty three years, but with this summer's investment and arrivals, fans will have never been more hopeful of success. Last season the Blues were knocked out in the early rounds of the domestic knock out competitions having fielded under strength squads but this season is different and Sparky has acknowledged that the club's loyal support has waited long enough: "It's been too long. We want to do well in a domestic competition. It's important to us this season and I think we have shown that, in terms of the strength of the sides we have put out. That is going to continue. I think there would be a lot of people happy. It would show signs of steady progress and that's what we're aiming for. It's up to other people to decide whether that would be value for the investment. But I would suggest if we won a trophy this year it would be a good start and a good return, so it would be viewed as a success."

Moving Forward: This summer's signings of Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz had tongues wagging when the influx of strikers was considered detrimental to City's hopes of success but with the Blues' expensive forward line currently leading the charge, the City chief believes he has had the last laugh. Goals from Craig Bellamy have also added to the club's attacking prowess this season and with record signing Robinho still to return, even the Premier League's top guns will be worried about the impending barrages on their defences: "I am happy with what we have in terms of striking ability. We also have Robinho to come back into the frame. We have looked at different combinations and different things and still produced at least one goal in every game. That's a positive especially as we have not investigated all the possibilities yet. As the season progresses we will see different formations, personnel and combinations. A lot of the comments about our collecting of strikers came before we had finished our business and strategy which was always to make sure we were never weaker before we were stronger. We always knew with what we were doing in that respect and I am quite comfortable about where we are in terms of an attacking threat."

Manchester Sheiky vs. Chelski: Sheikh Mansour burst Roman Abaramovich's balloon when he first arrived on the Premier League scene with a wealth that far surpasses anything that the Russian Chelsea owner can compete with. Now, Chelsea star, and possible title rival, Frank Lampard believes that City are a threat to the league's established order. Six years ago, Chelsea underwent their own revolution as Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the club and invested hundreds of millions of pounds into the transfer market. As City aim to succeed where Chelsea did, Frank Lampard admits that the 'Big Four' do consider the riches of the Citizens a threat: "Normally the four rise to the top. I think Man City will be different. I think they will stay the course. If you spend £150 million then you should stay the course. I think it ('The Big Four') is more under threat this year with the emergence of Man City and the money they have got. And I think it's a simple fact. Whether Tottenham and Villa can stay up there for the rest of the season remains to be seen. Every year there is one of them - Everton, Villa or Tottenham - and everyone says 'it is under threat'. Maybe they have impressed. But when you break it down and look at their team you expect it. We did the same obviously here six years ago and it wasn't easy in year one; year two and year three is where you really gauge (progress) and I am sure they are looking at the same things we were at that time. They have bought players who have been there before. Individually if you look at them, Tevez, Toure and Adebayor, they have been in very successful teams before anyway so I don't think that is the issue. It is just the idea of throwing it all together which is not always easy but they can do it, for sure."

The Dream Team: The Regional Athletics' Arena will play host to a star studded charity event on November 15th as a former Blues XI go head-to-head with St Helen's Town for the Bert Trautmann Trophy. Trautmann, who earned cult status amongst City fans for his heroic performance during the 1956 FA Cup final in which he broke his neck but continued playing to help his side win 3-1, joined the Blues from St Helen's Town in 1949 and fifty years on, the two clubs will compete in the name of charity. The proceeds from match day will be divided between The Trautmann Foundation, St Helen's Town and an unnamed charity of the players' choosing. With tickets on general sale for only £4 and concessions, seasoncard holders and Citycard holders only being charged £2, the club hopes that the Blue faithful will turn out for a worthy cause. Asa Hartford, Andy Morrison and Ian Brightwell will all be on show for the City XI who will be managed by another fan favourite, Paul Lake.

Squad News

Kompany Committed: A week on from signing a new five year contract, Vincent Kompany has explained the motivating factors behind his decision. The 23-year-old, who joined from Bundesliga side Hamburg SV last year, was a first team fixture in last season's campaign and now hopes to regain his place in Hughes' XI. Despite repeated interest from Barcelona, Kompany has proved his loyalty to the Citizens and has no plans to join the European Champions: "City is the right club for me. Sometimes you have to follow your feelings and that is what I did when I came here. Even back when I signed for the club City had a good name abroad. Even if the team had not been doing so well there have always been names at the club who have been recognised in other countries. Mark Hughes told me what he was trying to build when I signed and I believed him. I have always had the highest ambition for my career and this club is moving forward towards those ambitions. There was a feeling as soon as I joined this club that it is right for me. I feel comfortable here and I have enjoyed the Premier League so much. The ambition I have for this club is my big motivating factor. I have always wanted to be part of a team where competition for places is part of the daily routine and that is the case here and that is perfect for me. We brought in a winning mentality in the summer. Last season we had a lot of talent in the team also but it is just that the mentality was completely different. Most of the training we do now is pretty close to what we do in a game in terms of intensity and that was not always the case last season. That changes everything for the better. If I keep working like I am now then I will be a serious option for the manager. I hope to be a reliable player when needed and then I hope to become one of the big players at this club."

Samba Setback: It had been hoped that Robinho would return to first team action in the Carling Cup tie against Scunthorpe this week but a setback to his current ankle injury has extended the time the period of time that he is expected to be out for. 'Robbie' has been sidelined for the majority of this season and will be desperate to return before the in-form Craig Bellamy makes the position his own but Hughes admits that we're looking at at least another two weeks before the Brazilian returns: "He has had a setback and the likelihood is that it will be nearer to 10 to 14 days. The area where the stress fracture is hasn't healed as quickly as we first anticipated. He could probably join in with the group, but the fear is if he got a direct bang where the stress fracture is then there is a chance he may re-break the leg. So we don't want to put him in those circumstances, it would be crazy, so we are going to stay on the side of safety. We have got options and it is important that we don't put him at risk."

Family Values: Emmanuel Adebayor may not have left Arsenal under the most friendly of circumstances, but Manu, as he is affectionately known at his new club, claims he has never felt so at home. The Togolese international asserted this week that if footballing talent isn't enough, City's team morale is capable of bringing silverware to Eastlands this season and ultimately provide a firm foundation for future success. Manu has made no secret of his great friendship with skipper Kolo Toure but has claimed that the bonds of friendship throughout the whole squad are as strong as he has ever experienced: "When I heard that City were interested in Kolo, when I finally had the chance to speak to him, I knew straight away that he would be joining us. He is a very good friend of mine, our wives are like sisters and I made things easy for him when he came here like he has made things easy for me in the past. We're like brothers, we help each other out on and off the pitch. If he needs something, I'm there to help him and if I need something he does the same. I'm really happy to call him my brother, and he really believes in what he is doing. Stephen Ireland is one of the most talented players I have seen, and Nigel de Jong is doing really well, he fights for his team all over the pitch and he has a lot of character. I have been very pleased to see Michael Johnson back in action. I did not really know about him before, but when I came here a few people told me that he was a great player. He's coming back from injury but now I have seen him in training, and I like his style of playing. He's very calm, even when it gets difficult he keeps calm, takes the ball and does what he think is the right thing. I've always admired that kind of player. In training everyone is tackling, fighting for the ball and talking to you, but that's what we need even in training because that's what will happen in every game. They are there to give you those difficult moments at the training ground, so everyone is fighting for the club, and it makes training very interesting!"

Ade' was not only full of praise for his new team mates but the striker also took time out to apologise for his goal celebration against Arsenal. The 25-year-old received a charge of improper conduct from the FA after sprinting one hundred yards and sliding on his knees in front of his former fans and despite apologising straight after the game, he has once again acknowledged that his actions were unacceptable: "The emotions took over, but I did not insult anyone. I slid on my knees, I was showing that you can insult me but I am not the bad player that you think I was. Do I regret it? Yes, of course. I am a human being. I wish I had not done it, but we are all human beings and we all make mistakes. We all have to fight through our mistakes to become a better man."

Tackling the 'Big Four': Former Hamburg anchorman Nigel de Jong will win most fans' votes for 'unsung hero' this season but the Dutch midfielder is just happy to be playing in a side with such potential. The £17 million January signing looked set to sit it out on the sidelines when Gareth Barry joined the club but after a run of no-nonsense performances won him consecutive man of the match awards, de Jong has become an established member of Hughes' first XI and has set his sights on Champions' League football: "I'm very happy now to be out on the pitch every game and playing the best I can for Manchester City. My qualities aren't about trying to get into the box and score goals. I tackle people and protect the back four. I am the player in the holding rôle and I always try to do my best. I hope I can continue that way for the rest of the season. For me, a great tackle is better than scoring a goal, to be honest. I take real satisfaction if it is an important one. OK, it's difficult, but I love to make those challenges."

Transfer Speculation

Robbie's Reasoning: City's record signing has fuelled the fire this week with regards to his possible move to Barcelona by declaring he has a better chance of becoming the world's best player if he were to move to the Nou Camp. Rumours have been circulating all month about a loan or permanent deal for the Samba star as the Catalan giants aim to bolster their attacking options. Now Robinho is reported to have told a Brazilian radio station that though he has no plans of forcing a move away from Eastlands, a move back to Spain would be best for his career: "I'm very happy for the interest that Barcelona have shown in me because playing in the Nou Camp it is much easier to be the best player in the world than to do so at City. I'm not trying to force my departure from England, and I have no problem with my coach. I'm going through a good moment, my level of football had a drop in performance. I'm very aware that I have to improve and I think now is the time when I explode."

However, Barcelona's Sporting Director Txiki Bergiristain refuted suggestions of a fresh approach: "Robinho is an interesting player who we asked for last summer. City refused to talk of transfers and since then we have not made any movement."

And Mark Hughes repeated the same sentiment by asserting Robinho is 'not for sale': "It doesn't really surprise me because I knew that anyway, it's a non-story from our point of view. Nothing changes with respect to Robi. He won't be leaving us so that's the top and bottom for us."

Johnno Spurs Harry On: City midfielder Michael Johnson may be subject to a bid from Tottenham Hotspur this January should a comment by Harry Redknapp in this week's press materialise. When grilled about possible targets, Redknapp let slip that he is a big fan of City's 'next Colin Bell' and may consider a bid come the winter window. Hughes may be reluctant to let the Academy graduate go however, having already rejected an £8 million bid by Newcastle United and stayed loyal to the 21-year-old despite his recent injury worries. Redknapp had said: "Johnno? Johnno's a top, top player. I'd love to have him here. But it's nothing to do with me. He's a Man City player. And if Daniel Levy wants to make an offer that's his business."

Post-Match Reaction

Same Old City: This season's squad may cost significantly more than any other team to line up in the blue of Manchester's finest, they may have dreams of competing in Europe's elite competition and they may be threatening to challenge England's established order but no matter who, where and when, City fans will never expect three points. Two goals up, one hour gone and Mark Hughes in the driving seat - two points dropped as the Blues faltered to a 2-2 home draw against Fulham. Joleon Lescott's first goal for the club put City in front after Bobby Zamora had missed a sitter for the London club and when Martin Petrov scored his third goal in three starts to double the lead, the Blues looked set for all three points. Unfortunately things are never that easy and Damien Duff pulled one back for Roy Hodgson's side only two minutes later. Then the moment of truth, Clint Dempsey rose unchallenged to head past City's £50 million defence and equalised for the visitors. The Blues remain sixth having earned a point, but there's no doubt City's boss will consider it two dropped as Hughes was left berating his side's defensive display: "At set pieces we need to do better in terms of positioning and personnel. We've been caught out a few times but it's not just us. Decent balls in are difficult to defend, though that wasn't the case today. We started really well with four clean sheets but we're conceding now. We're working hard on that. There are areas we need to focus on and we pick the bones out of the games we have played. At 2-0 up we should have seen the game out comfortably but we allowed them back in and we're disappointed. The key was Duff scoring, it gave them that boost. If we could have seen it through for ten or 15 minutes after our second goal the game would have petered out and we'd have won. That goal gave them a lift at the right time and then we didn't really deal with the ball into the box. Dempsey is good in the air - it was a good goal, but I think he was as surprised as most people. But give them credit - probably the two most difficult games we've had here this season have been against Fulham. They get everybody behind the ball, make it very difficult for their opponents, and they keep you on the back-foot with their counter-attacks."

Gareth Barry was disappointed to be punished for a push when Micah Richards looked to have headed the home side in front and the England midfielder has warned his team mates that more and more clubs will park the bus in front of the goal when they come up against the Blues: "The ref said at half time that it was me, but I don't see myself too close to the incident. I don't remember too much about it and I was surprised when my name was mentioned. Now we're being talked about as a big club who can achieve things, the lesser teams are going to raise their game - it's going to be their cup final coming here and playing us. It's something that the top teams have had to put up with over the years, and there's no reason why we shouldn't get used to it. Birmingham's confidence will be high after a brilliant win over Sunderland, so that's another tough one next. But it's shaping up to be an exciting season in terms of how close teams are, and we want to make sure we are in the mix at the top end."

Goal scorer Joleon Lescott was quick to blame himself for Clint Dempsey's equaliser and has promised that by learning from his mistakes, he will become the player who warrants his £25 million price tag: "It was probably my fault that Dempsey got a header and that is something I will try to address. We are all professionals and can take criticism. No one was pointing the finger at me in the dressing room but I point the finger at myself because I know I can do better. We are all winners and we all want to do well. There are no excuses. Being two goals up we should be able to see the game out and disappointment was the main feeling in the dressing room after the game. The best way to get something like what happened on Sunday out of the system is to get a win under the belt and we have the chance to do just that on Wednesday in the cup against Scunthorpe. After that performance on Sunday we just want to get out there as soon as possible and prove that wasn't the real City. We want to win that one and then go into the Birmingham game next Sunday with confidence. We have the capacity to score goals from all over the pitch but we must also stop conceding at set plays and we have to address that."

Five Star City: With talk of Champions' League qualification and a possible Premier League challenge on the lips of most City fans, the Blue faithful seem to have overlooked the even more realistic possibility of a trip to Wembley before the end of the season. On Wednesday night, Hughes' men took one step closer to the national stadium with a 5-1 thrashing of Scunthorpe United. Stevie Ireland, Roque Santa Cruz, Carlos Tevez, Joleon Lescott and Michael Johnson all provided the goals for City's biggest win of the season and Sparky declared he was very satisfied with the performance: "There were lots of positives to come out of the game tonight when we played with the necessary intensity and tempo that made it difficult for Scunthorpe. We put on plenty of pressure and in the end they were not able to cope with it and we ran out comfortable winners. We were determined to finish the tie off and not allow a repeat of Sunday's match against Fulham. I thought in the second half in particular we were excellent in all departments."

Roque and Johnno have returned with a bang following their long term injuries and the boss believes that having such quality players return to first team football will only boost City's hopes of silverware this term: "Roque got a start and a goal as well. I thought his general play was outstanding. He allowed players to flourish around him. I was pleased for him because I think he showed everybody what he is capable of. People could see his qualities and he will only get better. It is always important for strikers to get off the mark as soon as possible. In addition to that Michael has come on and scored an outstanding goal as well and we are delighted with that because for long periods while he was out it was a worry whether or not he could get back to the level of the first team. Now we understand the problem that he had and hopefully he will be able to stay fit and well. It is like having a multi-million pound player back in the team. A strong squad and competition drives a team forward. We are improving the standard and the depth."

Former Everton centre back Joleon Lescott scored his second goal in two games during the Citizens' rout of the Championship club and admits that his team-mates had been joking about his failure to convert chances having been a persistent goal threat for the Toffees: "We always knew that tonight was going to be a tough game; with our second half performance we deserved the goals, but in the first half no-one could have predicted that we would score five. We knew they would press us, and that's what they did, but we did enough to get into the next round. It was great to get on the score sheet again tonight, it was a bit clearer for me tonight than on Sunday so I'm pleased. Ade was great about it on Sunday, he knew I got the last touch then, but no-one's too fussed who's scoring as long as we are scoring. Fortunately for me I'm in the right place at the right time, most of the time, so I'm grateful when they go in. There's been a bit of banter, people were saying to me before Sunday, 'if you were at Everton you would have scored by now!', but the main thing for us is just to win games. What the gaffer wants from us is consistency, and at the moment we're not losing games so we're doing that. We're going to go into the next game full of confidence having scored five goals tonight, but we know every game in the Premier League is tough and it will be no different against Birmingham."

OPINION: THERE MAY BE TROUBLE AHEAD

If it is the end of October it must be time for me to don the robes of an Old Testament prophet and roll out my refrain of worry as we hit late fall. I found yesterday's display against Fulham quite dreadful (and that is being polite) and hope it is a blip. Others have pointed out where we are fragile. I still think we should never have let van Buyten leave but then I also think we should still be picking Freddie Hill, Tommy Booth and Denis Tueart so what on earth do I know?

I still think there are a lot of positives about what is happening with the club and the fact is we are not losing and if we want to paint a bright picture we have only lost once and that was to a goal in the 97th minute. But I have always felt the season begins to get going around about now so how this defensive fragility will be dealt with remains to be seen. Is Mike Doyle available?

Blue skies, smiling at me
Nothing but blue skies do I see

OPINION: THERE'S ONLY ONE

James Terry at Greatestplayer must have forgotten one of our anthems: Number one is Colin Bell, Number two is Colin Bell, Number three is Colin Bell...

REQUEST: PLAYER OF THE MONTH

The PFA's official Fan's Player of the Month award has been running since 2001. The fans' award is the only official award voted by the fans nationwide. The awards are endorsed by the players and supported by the Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two clubs and The Fans Supporters Federation.

The winner for the player of the month will be decided by the most votes, which come from all fans across the country. Bellamy is in the running for the October player of the month, please get online and vote!

This is the voting link: http://fansaward.givemefootball.com/vote

RESULTS

League table to 28 October 2009 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Chelsea         10  5  0  0 15  1  3  0  2  9  7  8  0  2  24   8  16  24
 2 Manchester Utd  10  4  1  0 11  7  3  0  2 10  4  7  1  2  21  11  10  22
 3 Arsenal          9  4  0  0 17  4  2  1  2 12  9  6  1  2  29  13  16  19
 4 Tottenham H.    10  3  0  2 10  6  3  1  1 11  8  6  1  3  21  14   7  19
 5 Liverpool       10  4  0  1 17  4  2  0  3  7  9  6  0  4  24  13  11  18
 6 Manchester City  9  3  1  0 10  5  2  2  1  8  6  5  3  1  18  11   7  18
 7 Aston Villa      9  3  1  1  7  4  2  1  1  6  4  5  2  2  13   8   5  17
 8 Sunderland      10  4  0  1 13  7  1  1  3  5  8  5  1  4  18  15   3  16
 9 Stoke City      10  3  0  2  6  5  1  3  1  3  6  4  3  3   9  11  -2  15
10 Wigan Athletic  10  2  1  2  5  8  2  0  3  7  9  4  1  5  12  17  -5  13
11 Burnley         10  4  0  1  8  5  0  0  5  2 17  4  0  6  10  22 -12  12
12 Bolton Wndrs     9  1  2  2  8  9  2  0  2  6  6  3  2  4  14  15  -1  11
13 Fulham           9  2  0  2  4  4  1  2  2  6  8  3  2  4  10  12  -2  11
14 Everton          9  2  2  1  8  9  1  0  3  4  6  3  2  4  12  15  -3  11
15 Birmingham City 10  2  1  2  4  4  1  0  4  4  8  3  1  6   8  12  -4  10
16 Blackburn R.     9  3  1  1  8  6  0  0  4  3 16  3  1  5  11  22 -11  10
17 Wolves          10  1  2  2  4  6  1  1  3  5 10  2  3  5   9  16  -7   9
18 Hull City       10  2  1  2  4  7  0  1  4  4 15  2  2  6   8  22 -14   8
19 West Ham United  9  0  2  2  7  9  1  1  3  4  6  1  3  5  11  15  -4   6
20 Portsmouth      10  0  0  5  3  8  1  1  3  2  7  1  1  8   5  15 -10   4

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/.

Heidi Pickup, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org