Jun

2

Season ticket refunds certain to rise with an ex-Red in charge

Filed Under Opinion and debate | 6 Comments

So Sven has gone. Not even 12 months in charge. Played 45, won 19, drawn 11, lost 15. Goals for 51, against 58.

I realise this has been on the cards for a couple of months, but there was a little something in the back of my mind that said maybe, just maybe Thaksin Shinawatra would have taken the opinions of many City fans and the Supporters’ Clubs into account when deciding who manages the club next season. But no. The axe has been wielded.

Strangely, despite the 8-1 defeat in his last game, because of Shinawatra’s silence, Sven-Goran Eriksson has been able to portray himself to the world’s press as being treated unfairly, and has walked away with another large payout, and equally important, his reputation intact. 

What really concerns me more than ever now are the feelings of the current squad of players. Firstly, the new players that were brought in by Eriksson. They are most likely to mourn his leaving. How are they going to feel, playing under a new manager? Many may follow him if he remains in club football and will need replacing.

As for the established players, any bitterness will be towards Shinawatra. They will have every right to feel very unsettled because after the optimism that came with a change of owner, the introduction of one of the world’s proven coaches, and a massive injection of money, this resulted in a superb start to the season. I just can’t see Dunne, Richards, Johnson, etc being motivated to play for this club any more. My fear is that this summer will be worse than it was last July.

When the money dried up and the impetus was lost in the January window, the players and Sven may have doubted the Thai guy’s real motives. This was reflected in the results in the second half of the season, compounded with injuries to Richards, Onuoha, Castillo and Elano. The 8-1 defeat at ‘Boro was the embarrassing culmination of all the negativity and ill feeling washing around inside the club.

Many say that had the season been the other way round (a poor start and strong finish), 55 points would have been deemed a positive sign of things to come. In my opinion, City were extremely lucky in the first half of the season, especially at home, and there were too many 1-0 margins for my liking. I don’t think either that Eriksson’s formation was “sussed out” by Christmas, because he played with one striker most of the season, like many other clubs do.  It was sh*t to watch, but results are everything in this division as we know all too well, and although Sven achieved the owner’s first season target, there was a bad smell around the place after the Everton home defeat (just one week after the glorious derby win at Old Trafford). 

So what next? Unbelievably it is looking like Mark Hughes.

Will he last longer than Coppell? A formality.
Has he got more respect and pulling power than Sven? I think not.
Will he toughen the midfield up? Probably.
Will we qualify for Europe in 2009 via the Fair Play League next season? Definitely not. Blackburn finished rock bottom this season!

It sounds like many of you season ticket holders will be looking for refunds for next season, and I can’t say I blame you.

It breaks my heart to say this, especially after my 327-match unbroken run from 1998 to 2004, but apart from UEFA Cup matches, you probably won’t see me around the place.

I am sick to the back teeth of false dawns at this club.

Feel free to add your comments!!

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May

11

Boro 8 City 1 - Disgraceful - Dunne red card to rob City of Europe spot?

Filed Under Statistics | 10 Comments

Opinion: Being born in Newton Heath, the birthplace of MUFC, why did my Dad make me support Man City? That is probably a question on many lips. As if it wasn’t bad enough seeing the Scum winning the title for the millionth time, at the same time City imploded at Middlesbrough, with Richard Dunne’s sending off looking likely to deprive the fans of another back door entry into Europe via the Fair Play League and trips to the likes of Cardiff, Lokeren and Groclin (ah such sweet memories!). City need European football to have any chance of attracting decent players and this will be a big opportunity missed if confirmed.  Fulham were City’s closest rival, and they not only survived relegation by winning at Portsmouth, but did so with no bookings. Our worst fears will be confirmed in the next day or so. You just couldn’t make it up, could you?

Flicking between the matches on Sky, it reminded me why I despise Manchester United so much. They were leading 1-0 at half-time, but could and should have been losing 1-nil and down to nine men. Ferdinand’s blatant deflection off the upper arm in the box went unseen by two officials, then Scholes, after already having been booked decided to barge a player off the pitch with the ball three or four yards away. Steve Bennett, a clown amongst referees, was obviously not wanting to be responsible for United losing the title, and attract the wrath of Surly Alex, so bottled it and gave the Ginger Minger a warning. United were then given a not-so-obvious penalty to get the fairy tale back on track towards it happy ending, where Ryan Giggs came on to equal the appearances record, Sir Bobby was brought on to help with the celebrations, and everybody who wanted United to win lived happily ever after.  Mascherano gets a long ban for arguing with the ref, yet Rooney only gets a yellow for a tirade of abuse in front of Bennett when he didn’t get a penalty. It is one rule for United and a different one for everybody else.  Well it makes me want to puke!  

Shinawatra is to blame for this disastrous performance. His comments about the manager’s position in the last couple of weeks have unsettled the team. It is obvious he is a publicity seeker of the highest order, and boy will he be getting some publicity over the summer. I struggle to see how he can get the fans back on his side now.

Stat 1: This was the first time in nearly 46 years that City have conceded more than 6 goals in a match. That was August 18th 1962, when City also lost 8-1 at Wolves in a Division One League game.

Stat 2: With the 6-0 defeat at Chelsea earlier in the season, this is the first time in 50 seasons that City have conceded six or more goals twice in the same league season. In the 1957-58 season City lost away 6-1 at Preston and only three days later lost 9-2 at West Brom. An 8-4 defeat at Leicester that season made that one season to forget. 

Stat 3: Not surprisingly this was City’s worst defeat against Middlesbrough.

Season 2007-08 Match 45
FA PREMIER LEAGUE
MIDDLESBROUGH 8 MANCHESTER CITY 1
Riverside Stadium
Sun May 11th 2008 - Kick-off 15:00
Attendance: 27,613.
Ref: Phil Dowd.
 
MCFC team Changes: Isaksson, Fernandes and Garrido replace Hart, Johnson and Elano.
MCFC: Isaksson, Sun, Corluka, Dunne, Ball, Garrido, Ireland, Fernandes, Petrov (Elano 71), Vassell (Hamann 62), Benjani (Castillo 13).
Subs Not Used: Hart, Caicedo. 
Bookings: Sun (54).
Sent off: Dunne (15).

Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Young (McMahon 75), Riggott, Wheater, Pogatetz, Boateng, Rochemback, Arca (Johnson 62), Downing, Sanli (Aliadiere 62), Alves.
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Turnbull.
Bookings: Pogatetz (21), Young (26).
Sent Off: None.
Goaltimes: (16) 0-1 Downing (pen); (37) 0-2 Alves; (58) 0-3 Downing; (60) 0-4 Alves; (70) 0-5 Johnson; (80) 0-6 Rochemback; (85) 0-7 Aliadiere; (87) 1-7 ELANO; (90) 1-8 Alves.

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May

4

LFC 1 MCFC 0 - We don’t need no Phil Scolari.. Hey Thaksin leave our Sven alone!

Filed Under Statistics | Leave a Comment

Visit www.mcfcstats.com for all your Manchester City stats, and playing record and results against Liverpool. 

Opinion: Manchester City Football Club may well be Thaksin Shinawatra’s train set, but his alleged forthcoming dismissal of Sven is badly misguided and will have severe repercussions with the fans next season (many are already considering demanding a refund on next season’s season ticket as a protest). Whilst we are grateful for the money he has invested in the club, and indeed his vision in bringing Sven to the club, it is a bit scary when he supposedly gives the manager a 50 per cent pay rise within a few months of starting because he is doing such a good job, yet sacks him for only achieving his first year target. Like Liverpool, Chelsea and Man United, we now see that these power hungry foreign owners seem to have little empathy with the supporters and understanding of the English game.

I hope I am wrong, but players need stability, so I fear a mass exodus of players in the summer, including Elano, Geovanni, Richard Dunne, Martin Petrov, Micah Richards, Nedum Onuoha, Stephen Ireland and Michael Johnson, as well as the more predictable departures of Sun, Isaksson, Dickov, Mpenza, Bianchi, Matthew and Danny Mills, Schmeichel, Samaras and Corradi . That is 18 players, and would leave a new incoming manager with a mammoth task of rebuilding a squad.

With the recruitment of a Nike high-flyer, the days of some executives and Board members may also be numbered. Flicking through the last home programme, there are no fewer than seven photographs of Shinawatra in the first 16 pages, including one with Ricky Hatton on the front cover. Read into that what you want, but assuming that everything we read is true, even in the extremely unlikely event that Thaksin is big enough to back down, how would Sven feel? Can the relationship survive? I fear not.    

Season 2007-08 Match 44
FA PREMIER LEAGUE
LIVERPOOL 1 MANCHESTER CITY 0
Anfield
Sun May 4th 2008 - Kick-off 16:00
Attendance: 43,074.
Ref: Mark Halsey.
 
MCFC team Changes: Dunne replaces Fernandes.
MCFC: Hart, Corluka, Dunne, Ball, Sun, Ireland, Johnson, Petrov (Castillo 67), Elano (Hamann 67), Vassell (Garrido 81), Benjani.
Subs Not Used: Isaksson, Fernandes. 
Bookings: None.
Sent off: None.

Liverpool: Reina, Finnan, Hyypia, Carragher, Insua, Mascherano, Lucas (Alonso 74), Gerrard (Voronin 78), Kuyt, Babel (Benayoun 68), Torres.
Subs Not Used: Skrtel, Itandje.
Bookings: None.
Sent Off: None.
Goaltimes: (58) 0-1 Torres.

Stat 1: This was the sixth consecutive game against Liverpool when City have failed to score, although two were goalless draws.

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Apr

26

MCFC 2 Fulham 3 - How many times have we said “typical City”?

Filed Under Statistics | 1 Comment

www.mcfcstats.com is quite possibly the most complete statistical website for one football club. See for yourself now! Every match and player statistic for Manchester City FC and Ardwick since 1890, and full record and match list against Fulham. 

Stat 1: This was the first time this season that City have scored first in a game and lost.
Stat 2: Despite the defeat, this was the lowest number of home defeats achieved in a Premiership season (four).

Season 2007-08 Match 43
FA PREMIER LEAGUE
MANCHESTER CITY 2 FULHAM 3
City of Manchester Stadium
Sat 26th Apr 2008 - Kick-off 15:00
Attendance: 44,504
Ref: Mike Dean.
 
MCFC team Changes: Sun replaces the injured Dunne. Ball is captain.
MCFC: Hart, Elano, Corluka, Ball, Sun, Vassell (Caicedo 80), Fernandes, Johnson, Petrov, Ireland (Geovanni 56), Benjani.
Subs Not Used: Isaksson, Castillo, Logan. 
Bookings: None.
Sent off: None.

Fulham: Keller, Stalteri, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky, Davies, Bullard, Murphy, Dempsey, Healey (Kamara 64), McBride (Nevland 71).
Subs Not Used: Andreasen, Bocanegra, Warner.
Bookings: Dempsey (24).
Sent Off: None.
Goaltimes: (10) 1-0 Ireland: (21) 2-0 Benjani; (70) 2-1 Kamara; (79) 2-2 Murphy; (92) 2-3 Kamara.

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Apr

20

City 3 Pompey 1 - City’s 1700th League win!!

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Visit www.mcfcstats.com for everything Manchester City! 

Apologies for the delay in posting this update. I have had five different hospital appointments in five days this week!! Plus I had to drive to Barmsley to collect my BMW Z3 2.8 litre sports car. Nice!

Stat 1: Sam Williamson became the 1083rd City debutant in the 54th minute when he replaced the injured Richard Dunne.
Stat 2: This was City’s 1700th League win in their history.
Stat 3: It is 14 games since City last lost at home to Portsmouth in the League (1963/64 season).

Season 2007-08 Match 42
FA PREMIER LEAGUE
MANCHESTER CITY 3 PORTSMOUTH 1
City of Manchester Stadium
Sun 20th Apr 2008 - Kick-off 16:00
Attendance: 40,205
Ref: Andre Marriner.
 
MCFC team Changes: Vassell returns in place of Sun.
MCFC: Hart, Elano (Caicedo 91), Corluka, Dunne (Williamson 54), Ball, Vassell, Fernandes, Johnson, Petrov, Ireland (Geovanni 75), Benjani.
Subs Not Used: Isaksson, Castillo. 
Bookings: Williamson (65).
Sent off: None.

Portsmouth: James, Lauren, Campbell, Distin, Hreidarssen, Utaka (Baros 75), Diop (Aubey 75), Diarra, Muntari, Kranjcar (Davis 83), Defoe.
Bookings: Lauren (70).
Sent Off: Hreidarssen (41).

Goaltimes: (10) 1-0 Vassell; (13) 2-0 Petrov; (24) 2-1 Utaka; (74) 3-1 Benjani.

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Apr

12

Sunderland 1 MCFC 2 - Dunne and dusted - 300 up for Richard

Filed Under Statistics | 1 Comment

Visit www.mcfcstats.com for stats on every Manchester City FC and Ardwick FC match and player, as well as City’s record against Sunderland. 

Stat 1: Richard Dunne’s 300th appearance for City, which is the 34th highest in the club’s history.
Stat 2: City haven’t lost this season in any game where they have scored first; won 16 and drawn 3.
Stat 3: City need one more win to equal their best ever in the Premier League of 15.
Stat 4: City need five more points to equal their best ever bin the Premier League, which was 57 points (in 42 games).
Stat 5: City have now scored and conceded the same number of goals this season (45).

Season 2007-08 Match 41
FA PREMIER LEAGUE
SUNDERLAND 1 MANCHESTER CITY 2
Stadium of Light
Sat 12th Apr 2008 - Kick-off 15:00
Attendance: 46,797
Ref: Mike Riley.
 
MCFC team Changes: Sun replaces the injured Onuoha, who will be out until next season with a dislocated shoulder.
MCFC: Hart, Sun, Corluka, Dunne, Ball, Ireland (Sturridge 58 - subbed for Vassell 83), Fernandes, Johnson, Petrov, Elano (Hamann 89), Benjani.
Subs Not Used: Isaksson, Geovanni. 
Bookings: Fernandes (40), Corluka (73).
Sent off: None.

Sunderland: Gordon, Bardsley, Nosworthy, Evans, Collins, Chopra (O’Donovan 79), Whitehead, Reid, Richardson (Leadbitter 46), Jones, Murphy (Edwards 62).
Subs Not Used: Fulop, McShane.
Bookings: Whitehead (18), Bardsley (22), Nosworthy (78).
Sent Off: None.

Goaltimes: (79) 1-0 Elano (pen); (82) 1-1 Whitehead; (87) 2-1 Vassell.

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Apr

5

1 win in 20 and 1 goal in 12 for City against Chelsea

Filed Under Statistics | Leave a Comment

Get all your Manchester City match and player stats at www.mcfcstats.com , along with City’s complete record against Chelsea. 

Stat 1: The 400th time City haven’t scored in a game (out of 5214 games).
Stat 2: Only one win in the last 20 games against Chelsea since 1993.
Stat 3: Only one goal in the last 12 games against Chelsea, and none in the last 7 games.
Stat 4: Sixth consecutive defeat against Chelsea.

Season 2007-08 Match 40
FA PREMIER LEAGUE
MANCHESTER CITY 0 CHELSEA 2
City of Manchester Stadium
Sat 5th Apr 2008 - Kick-off 15:00
Attendance: 42,594
Ref: Chris Foy.
 
MCFC team Changes: Corluka, Ball, Johnson and Petrov replace Sun, Hamann, Garrido and Vassell.
Manchester City: Hart, Corluka, Dunne, Onuoha (Sun 59), Ball, Ireland (Caicedo 75), Fernandes, Johnson, Petrov, Elano (Vassell 65), Benjani.
Subs Not Used: Isaksson, Hamann. 
Bookings: Fernandes (45).
Sent off: None.

Chelsea: Cudicini, Belletti (Ferreira 86), Alex, Terry, A. Cole, Essien, Mikel, Lampard, Wright-Phillips (J. Cole 52), Anelka, Kalou.
Subs Not Used: Hilario, Ballack, Shevchenko.
Bookings: None.
Sent Off: None.

Goaltimes: (6) 0-1 Dunne (og); (53) 0-2 Kalou.

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Mar

29

BCFC 3 MCFC 1 - Woeful performances from City and Styles

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Visit www.mcfcstats.com for every Manchester City match and player statistic, and City’s record against Birmingham City. 

Season 2007-08 Match 39
FA PREMIER LEAGUE
BIRMINGHAM CITY 3 MANCHESTER CITY 1
St Andrews
Sat 29th Mar 2008 - Kick-off 15:00
Attendance: 22,962
Ref: Rob Styles. How can this man be respected following the penalty he gave against Sun Jihai who was shoulder-charged by Birmingham’s McSheffrey? This is the same ref who sent off Martin Petrov for tapping the ankle of an Everton player. Pathetic!!
 
MCFC team Changes: Elano, Hamann and Sun replace Corluka and the injured Petrov and Johnson.
MCFC: Hart, Sun, Dunne, Onuoha, Garrido, Vassell (Caicedo 59), Ireland, Fernandes, Hamann (Geovanni 72), Elano, Benjani (Mpenza 81).
Subs Not Used: Isaksson, Corluka. 
Bookings: Caicedo (74), Geovanni (91).
Sent off: None.

Birmingham: Taylor, Murphy, Kelly, Jaidi, Queudrue, Muamba, Larsson, Johnson, McSheffrey, Forssell (Parnaby 69), Zarate (O’Connor 90).
Subs Not Used: Doyle, Nafti, Jerome.
Bookings: None.
Sent Off: Queudrue (57).

Goaltimes: (40) 0-1 Zarate; (54) 0-2 Zarate; (59) 1-2 Elano (pen); (77) 1-3 McSheffrey (pen).

Stat 1: Hamann’s 50th appearance for City.
Stat 2: 555th time City have conceded three goals in a match.

Comment: I only saw the highlights on Match of the Day, but the City defenders especially gave the impression with their laughing and joking that this wasn’t an important game. Sven was quite right to blast the team after such an inept display. Six points from these last two games was what was required against inferior opposition, and the team did not deliver. After his goal-scoring debut at Old Trafford, Benjani has gone six games without scoring. I wonder if he is looking enviously at Portsmouth in next week’s FA Cup semi-final, and his replacement at Pompey, goal machine Jermaine Defoe?

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Mar

22

Bolton Wanderers 0 MCFC 0 - City’s 650th goalless league away day

Filed Under Statistics | Leave a Comment

Visit www.mcfcstats.com for details of every Manchester City match and player, and their record against Bolton Wanderers 

Season 2007-08 Match 38
FA PREMIER LEAGUE
BOLTON WANDERERS 0 MANCHESTER CITY 0
Reebok Stadium
Sat 22nd Mar 2008 - Kick-off 15:00
Attendance: 22,633
Ref: Andre Marriner.
 
MCFC team Changes: Petrov and Vassell replace Elano and Castillo.
MCFC: Hart, Corluka, Dunne, Onuoha, Garrido, Ireland (Elano 58), Fernandes, Johnson, Petrov, Vassell ( Caicedo 58), Benjani.
Subs Not Used: Isaksson, Sun, Castillo. 
Bookings: None.
Sent off: None.

Bolton: Al-Habsi, Steinsson, Cahill, A. O’Brien, Gardner (J. O’Brien 46), Nolan, Campo (McCann 63), Guthrie, Taylor (Giannakopoulos 83), Diouf, Davies.
Subs Not Used: Walker, Rasiak.
Bookings: Nolan (34).
Sent Off: None.

Goaltimes: None.

Stat 1: 650th time City have failed to score in an away league game, which is 30 per cent of matches.

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Mar

18

Singing Section on www.mcfcstats.com - Contributions wanted

Filed Under Opinion and debate | Leave a Comment

I was speaking to Noel Bayley, Editor of Bert Trautmann’s Helmet the other week, and we were reminiscing about things, and Noel reminded me of just a couple of really sad things I did around ten years ago now. The first was something called DOSLA (Division One Stats and Leagues for Anoraks) which was a weekly series of weird and wonderful tables based on matches played in the season we were relegated from the “new” Division One to Division Two in 1998. The torment it caused me meant it only lasted that season, but every Sunday night I used to spend hours compiling stuff using Microsoft Works, and then paste pages of tables and stats onto an email and send it out to a couple of hundred like-minded souls around the world (not all City fans I might add). The next season I did an equally sad thing and compiled a “Chant Analysis” which actually appeared in an issue of BTH. I basically kept a count of how many times each song\chant was uttered during the season. If I ever manage to did it out, I will post it on MCIVTA to show how very sad it was. Anyway when I read the recent debates about the origins of the “Invisible Man” chant, it gave me an idea for the www.mcfcstats.com website.In the near future I will be replacing the “Trivia” section of the website with “City Songs”, so I need as much input as possible from everyone out there. This is your chance to get your name in lights, as I will give a credit on the page to the supplier of any unique or long forgotten chants. The more obscure, the better. We City fans are amongst the most creative fans in the world when it comes to making up original songs and chants, so I need you all to get your thinking caps on, and send me your City chants. I need:
1. All the words of the chant \ song.
2. The tune it was sung to if known.
3. The “composer” if known.
4. The story behind the song if known.
5. When and where it was first sung.
6. Any memories it brought \ brings.

The only chant I ever started that got “lift off” was at the 1-1 draw at Palace in March 2000 (Robert Taylor’s majestic headed equaliser I think). There was a full house because Palace were in deep financial doo-doo and the club had basically begged their fans to support them with cut-price ticket prices. At some appropriate moment I shouted out “Here ‘cos you’re bankrupt, you’re only here ‘cos you’re bankrupt…”, and immediately another twenty joined in a reprise with me that spread to most City fans in the Arthur Wait stand after the fourth time around. I was quite chuffed. That’s the sort of thing I am after, so get typing NOW!

Please post any contribution here as a comment or send it to me at STEVE AT MCFCSTATS.COM

Cheers in advance

Steve

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