PHP problems with COLLATE ?

[Bogdan Enache]

OK, so I have this PHP code:

if ($dbc->multi_query($s)){

$ret = array();
if($res = $dbc->store_result()){
$no = $res->num_rows;
for($i = 0; $i < $no; $i++){
$ret[$i] = $res->fetch_assoc();
}
if($res){
$res->close();
}
return $ret;
}
}
else{

echo 'Query failed: '; var_dump($s);
if (mysqli_connect_errno()) {
printf("Connect failed: %s\n", mysqli_connect_error());
}
exit;
return FALSE;
}

IF I set $s="SELECT * FROM view_cl_all WHERE (cl_name LIKE '%al%' )"it's working, i get a number of results.

But if $s="SELECT * FROM view_cl_all WHERE (cl_name LIKE '%al%' COLLATE utf8_general_ci)"

Then query silently fails. Goes directly to the else section, diplays 'Query failed: ', but no mysqli error !!!!

BUT, in Query Browser both work... I don't get it !