" Sunday 16th January 2011 Update "

There were a few issues at Watford with the amount of coaches that travelled there on Dec 28th. The club and police believed there would be 27 coaches of city fans attending the game but in fact 32 turned up, this caused the problem of double stacking the coaches on the road outside the stadium.

With regards to Bristol City the club have told them that we will not be accepting any more full bubble trips off them and if we are unfortunate enough to play them again then we will move to a voucher/exchange at most and then move to normal practices after that. The only incidents there have been in recent years has been between Bristol City fans and the police after the 6-0 win where the Bristol City fans attacked the police.

The Stoke game, the police were aware of a risk group out of Stoke fans and rightly so informed travel groups not to go to certain areas, like Newcastle under lyme for fear of trouble. There was 438 City fans located in the power League pub where the doormen were informed that it would be a City pub for the day, the police are disappointed that the doormen let 5 ' known ' Stoke older lads into the pub and this resulted in trouble at the venue. 3 stoke fans were arrested to do with that incident. On the day 8 City fans were arrested for separate incidents, 2 were cautioned trying to enter the stadium drunk and the other 6, including 3 x 15 yr olds, 2 x 16 yr olds and a 24 yr old for minor offences.

There were no police present in the City compound after the game as a directive from Staffordshire police and there was a 200 strong group of Stoke fans who attacked the police on the top road above the compound. Gethin Jenkins was asked to make a statement admitting to 6 minor offences and that he deplored any disorder, I cannot say if that statement was ever released as I have not seen it if it had.

You are all aware of the pricing details of Swansea away but just in case look here viewtopic.php?f=2&t=32428

Our next fixture is home to Stoke in the replay and we were informed that if the club win and Wolves beat Donny then the club will speaking with the new F.I.O at Wolves and requesting a voucher exchange and not a full bubble as like years gone by.

For Nottingham Forest away coaches have ended up going directly to the City Centre in previous years but this has been causing issues amongst rival fans so coaches are advised not to travel into the centre. I must stress as well that the Forest stewards are very strict on being drunk and trying to gain entry, they simply will not let you go in. Also be careful in the stadium as any minor offence that you may commit no matter how small they often use the standing rule to eject supporters, you have been warned.

I met up with John Hartson yesterday and I wished him all the best on his interview he is having on Tuesday for the Newport County job, John and I chatted about many subjects including Sam Hammam and it was pleasing to hear John's comments " Sam is a legend, a top guy, I was lucky to have worked for him ". Not that it is relevant but it will appear somewhere someone will question how I know John and now I claim to be friends with him, so before you think of writing it, yes I do know him and have done since we played for the same team together Afan Lido, read his autobiography he does mention the team.

We are all aware that the club has been bailed out in recent months by Vincent Tan and without his input we would have been ruined. It is probably around £17million that he has pumped in so far so those who claim he is not splashing the cash should think about that figure before doing so, the £17million is constantly rising too.

I am concerned though with the amount I am told that our club is losing each and every month, I am told that we are losing between £1million and up to £1.5million each month. This is wages and other commitments we have which drain our resources, don't forget that the current owners did not see the season ticket money as this was all spent prior to them investing.

Just to clarify, I said in November that the Malaysians would back DJ if we were in the top two and it is my belief that they are still backing him.

We haver signed Parkin, I agree not the largest sum but still a signing nevertheless.

We bid on Vaughan and committed to paying £1million over 2.5 years, of which £500k would be paid immediately. That deal is, afaik not dead and could still happen.

We offered Andy O'Brein a very good contract but the player obviously used our offer to gain the same at a club he loves.

We tried to strike a deal with Newcastle for Routledge and the Geordies wanted £2million up front, we are not in a position to pay that and also go after other targets, I do not know the basics of the deal that we offered Newcastle but I can guarantee you it would have been at least £750k up front.

Dave Jones has been busy scouting himself last week and has done a lot of travelling and there is talk of players coming in this week.

To do the deals on Routledge and Vaughan alone would have cost this club £3million alone and still we would need more players, so they are backing DJ but Gethin and DJ have to juggle the balls a bit to get the players in DJ wants and do it within a budget set by Vincent Tan.

I am aware like everyone else that apparently there are 2 players having medicals tomorrow but I have not spoken too none of my usual sources so I cannot confirm this story, I am told by another that a player from Dundee Utd is one of the players but again it is a matter of wait and see.

I can only tell you what players he has been looking at and who we have tried to sign I cannot be blamed if those deals do not come off or the club fail to secure the deal, so far I have given names of the players DJ wants and the games he has been attending.

I do have some very good news regarding Michael Chopra and that is Chops has told close friends that he is staying with City and wishes to realise his ambition of taking the club into the Premier league this season and he believes we will do it. He was aware of interest from QPR but after the heartbreak of last season he wants to stay and bury the demons.

It is my opinion that Jay Bothroyd will stay and he has said so much himself too, it is whether or not an offer comes in for Jay that the club feel they have to take but talk of Jay not playing because he is on the move is very wide of the mark and he is recovering from a hamstring injury that will hopefully see him fit for Saturday against Watford.

The Malaysians invited Scott Young and his staff to go to Malaysia and look at the set up that they have in place over there, Scott says that they are impressed with how we run our set up and have asked for his advice on helping them do the same, this is also very similar to the invitation that Steve Borley had to help build a House of Sport over there similar to the one we have in Cardiff

Talks will take place this week between Langston represented by Sam Hammam and the club, talks thus far have been amicable and very friendly. Both sides are approaching the series of meetings with positive vibes and we can only be hopeful that this will continue in the actual meetings and a settlement can be reached.

I have it on very good authority that TG has really become really passionate about the team and the club in general and also Sam Hammam has been advising TG on certain issues regarding handling players etc for the good of the club.

plenty of info again, cheers carl

cheers carl great info

cheers carl great info

thanks carl top info yet again

top read carl,

Thanks Carl

You did miss out 1 important bit of info.

Next Saturdays mascot

Cheers Carl

Cheers Carl

The Echo should sack Phillips and employ you.

Then again im sure part of this update will appear in his column tomorrow or Tuesday

In danger of sounding a nerd, I found your post to be positive. Thanks for your time Carl, no doubt you'll upset a few due to the lack of great news of signings but if you read the post in detail it is positive. We are quite fortunate really. Cheers

Nice one Carl.

Cheers Carl

The Echo should sack Phillips and employ you.

Then again im sure part of this update will appear in his column tomorrow or Tuesday

i was thinking exactly the same

Cheers Carl.

thanks for that carl

Thanks Carl

You did miss out 1 important bit of info.

Next Saturdays mascot

carl any truth in michael brown?

good info

an update that makes the belief real again

There were a few issues at Watford with the amount of coaches that travelled there on Dec 28th. The club and police believed there would be 27 coaches of city fans attending the game but in fact 32 turned up, this caused the problem of double stacking the coaches on the road outside the stadium.

With regards to Bristol City the club have told them that we will not be accepting any more full bubble trips off them and if we are unfortunate enough to play them again then we will move to a voucher/exchange at most and then move to normal practices after that. The only incidents there have been in recent years has been between Bristol City fans and the police after the 6-0 win where the Bristol City fans attacked the police.

The Stoke game, the police were aware of a risk group out of Stoke fans and rightly so informed travel groups not to go to certain areas, like Newcastle under lyme for fear of trouble. There was 438 City fans located in the power League pub where the doormen were informed that it would be a City pub for the day, the police are disappointed that the doormen let 5 ' known ' Stoke older lads into the pub and this resulted in trouble at the venue. 3 stoke fans were arrested to do with that incident. On the day 8 City fans were arrested for separate incidents, 2 were cautioned trying to enter the stadium drunk and the other 6, including 3 x 15 yr olds, 2 x 16 yr olds and a 24 yr old for minor offences.

There were no police present in the City compound after the game as a directive from Staffordshire police and there was a 200 strong group of Stoke fans who attacked the police on the top road above the compound. Gethin Jenkins was asked to make a statement admitting to 6 minor offences and that he deplored any disorder, I cannot say if that statement was ever released as I have not seen it if it had.

You are all aware of the pricing details of Swansea away but just in case look here viewtopic.php?f=2&t=32428

Our next fixture is home to Stoke in the replay and we were informed that if the club win and Wolves beat Donny then the club will speaking with the new F.I.O at Wolves and requesting a voucher exchange and not a full bubble as like years gone by.

For Nottingham Forest away coaches have ended up going directly to the City Centre in previous years but this has been causing issues amongst rival fans so coaches are advised not to travel into the centre. I must stress as well that the Forest stewards are very strict on being drunk and trying to gain entry, they simply will not let you go in. Also be careful in the stadium as any minor offence that you may commit no matter how small they often use the standing rule to eject supporters, you have been warned.

I met up with John Hartson yesterday and I wished him all the best on his interview he is having on Tuesday for the Newport County job, John and I chatted about many subjects including Sam Hammam and it was pleasing to hear John's comments " Sam is a legend, a top guy, I was lucky to have worked for him ". Not that it is relevant but it will appear somewhere someone will question how I know John and now I claim to be friends with him, so before you think of writing it, yes I do know him and have done since we played for the same team together Afan Lido, read his autobiography he does mention the team.

We are all aware that the club has been bailed out in recent months by Vincent Tan and without his input we would have been ruined. It is probably around £17million that he has pumped in so far so those who claim he is not splashing the cash should think about that figure before doing so, the £17million is constantly rising too.

I am concerned though with the amount I am told that our club is losing each and every month, I am told that we are losing between £1million and up to £1.5million each month. This is wages and other commitments we have which drain our resources, don't forget that the current owners did not see the season ticket money as this was all spent prior to them investing.

Just to clarify, I said in November that the Malaysians would back DJ if we were in the top two and it is my belief that they are still backing him.

We haver signed Parkin, I agree not the largest sum but still a signing nevertheless.

We bid on Vaughan and committed to paying £1million over 2.5 years, of which £500k would be paid immediately. That deal is, afaik not dead and could still happen.

We offered Andy O'Brein a very good contract but the player obviously used our offer to gain the same at a club he loves.

We tried to strike a deal with Newcastle for Routledge and the Geordies wanted £2million up front, we are not in a position to pay that and also go after other targets, I do not know the basics of the deal that we offered Newcastle but I can guarantee you it would have been at least £750k up front.

Dave Jones has been busy scouting himself last week and has done a lot of travelling and there is talk of players coming in this week.

To do the deals on Routledge and Vaughan alone would have cost this club £3million alone and still we would need more players, so they are backing DJ but Gethin and DJ have to juggle the balls a bit to get the players in DJ wants and do it within a budget set by Vincent Tan.

I am aware like everyone else that apparently there are 2 players having medicals tomorrow but I have not spoken too none of my usual sources so I cannot confirm this story, I am told by another that a player from Dundee Utd is one of the players but again it is a matter of wait and see.

I can only tell you what players he has been looking at and who we have tried to sign I cannot be blamed if those deals do not come off or the club fail to secure the deal, so far I have given names of the players DJ wants and the games he has been attending.

I do have some very good news regarding Michael Chopra and that is Chops has told close friends that he is staying with City and wishes to realise his ambition of taking the club into the Premier league this season and he believes we will do it. He was aware of interest from QPR but after the heartbreak of last season he wants to stay and bury the demons.

It is my opinion that Jay Bothroyd will stay and he has said so much himself too, it is whether or not an offer comes in for Jay that the club feel they have to take but talk of Jay not playing because he is on the move is very wide of the mark and he is recovering from a hamstring injury that will hopefully see him fit for Saturday against Watford.

[url]The Malaysians invited Scott Young and his staff to go to Malaysia and look at the set up that they have in place over there, Scott says that they are impressed with how we run our set up and have asked for his advice on helping them do the same, this is also very similar to the invitation that Steve Borley had to help build a House of Sport over there similar to the one we have in Cardiff[/url]

Talks will take place this week between Langston represented by Sam Hammam and the club, talks thus far have been amicable and very friendly. Both sides are approaching the series of meetings with positive vibes and we can only be hopeful that this will continue in the actual meetings and a settlement can be reached.

I have it on very good authority that TG has really become really passionate about the team and the club in general and also Sam Hammam has been advising TG on certain issues regarding handling players etc for the good of the club.

This is the best news for me, as it signals an interest in youth and the long term benefits of CCFC.

Top post again Carl

cheers for the info carl

can we please not quote the whole of carls update...

great update

Thanks Carl ......btw will city be signing anyone else before the transfer windows shut ......and any news on Woodgate

Good news on the whole,
Got to say I would prefer VT to put his money in to keeping this club afloat rather than into Transfer fees and that is exactly what he is doing, while at the same time allowing DJ to sign good players as long as they are on our terms regarding the payment schedule!
Cheers Carl.

Thanks Carl,very illuminating you have answered a lot of my questions ,let`s hope these two medicals are succesful anf we have two good squad members.I hope we have a defender and a middle field "terrier"
Looking foreward to Watford on Sat and 3 PTS WE NEED TO GET SOME REVENGE !!!!!

hope its david goodwillie and Michael Brown

Thanks for taking the time to tell us Carl. I enjoyed that read.

Awsome carl cheeers

Great update Carl. Always a pleasure to read them.

Bluebirds!

Thanks very much Mr Curtis

great update thanks again carl

cant you ring your sources and find out if two players are having medicals tomorrow?

much would be appreciated i guarantee