Txiki Begiristain

[BillyShears]

Fair point, but I do think he and Pep have to be apportioned blame for the shambles of the summer. We've tried to be far too clever in the market and have been bitten as a result. No idea who in their right mind decided it was worth keeping the current fullbacks, we signed one central midfielder, one.

Totally agree. Far too much faith in the dinasours in the squad. Too much cute "let's buy loads of goals" without addressing balance. Pep, Txiki, Khaldoon, the board all equally culpable.

 

[OB1]

You can't judge him for what he hasn't done when you don't know why he hasn't done it. For example. Two years ago the club were ready to send Kolarov on his way until Pellegrini stepped in and demanded he be given a new contract because he liked him. That's not Txiki's doing, that's the manager's doing. Same can be said for the summer just gone. The option was there to send Zaba and Kolarov on their merry way. Pep blocked both moves. Had they both been moved on we'd at least have seen either more of Maffeo OR we'd have moved with force for a full back.

I appreciate there's a rush to judgment when things go wrong and I appreciate that Begiristain must carry his share of the responsibility for a lot of these things. But he doesn't exist in a vacuum and the final say isn't really his but that of the manager and the board. He simply makes recommendations and presents options. It's time people accepted that rather than behaving like he's some transfer Darth Vader that does as he pleases from week to week.

The rush to crush individuals at the club when all is not perfect is often painful to behold. I'm guilty of heaping blame on the players but I try to stay away from bashing individuals; although I won't shy away from discussing clear individual errors. The situation when it comes to Txiki is that it is very hard to pin individual errors on him because he is not sat there running some sort of dictatorship: lots of people get involved in transfers and player decisions. Txiki is responsible for the first team and has to be held accountable and it is for Mansour and his deputies to hold him accountable, based on their knowledge of what actually goes on. Most of what Txiki does may well be successful within the bounds of the remit that he has.

No one can shy away from the idea that we could and should have done a better job of managing the composition of the squad but that is a collective responsibility that runs from Mansour to members of the coaching / technical staff. Mistakes will always be made and only time will tell if those that remain are learning from them.

 

[Wiirdo]

Whatever about the player recruitment which has been spotty at best, but the value we're getting for players is ridiculously low. United can play Schneiderlin for 10 minutes the whole season and get what they paid for him. If that was us it would've been a loan to Roma with an option to buy for £11m.

 

[jaiguruKun]

Whatever about the player recruitment which has been spotty at best, but the value we're getting for players is ridiculously low. United can play Schneiderlin for 10 minutes the whole season and get what they paid for him. If that was us it would've been a loan to Roma with an option to buy for £11m.

I was thinking that myself. I can't think of a single occasion post takeover when we've moved a player on without making a loss yet other teams such as Chelsea and the scum seem to do it all the time. Why?

 

[@BluePhil8]

I was thinking that myself. I can't think of a single occasion post takeover when we've moved a player on without making a loss yet other teams such as Chelsea and the scum seem to do it all the time. Why?

Negredo we bought for something like £16m and sold for £26m but that's about it.

Obviously an unforseen rising in Chinese finance but we sold Tevez to Juventus for £8m. I think Boca have just sold him to China for £70 odd million. That's a tough one to swallow.

 

[supercity88]

You can't judge him for what he hasn't done when you don't know why he hasn't done it. For example. Two years ago the club were ready to send Kolarov on his way until Pellegrini stepped in and demanded he be given a new contract because he liked him. That's not Txiki's doing, that's the manager's doing. Same can be said for the summer just gone. The option was there to send Zaba and Kolarov on their merry way. Pep blocked both moves. Had they both been moved on we'd at least have seen either more of Maffeo OR we'd have moved with force for a full back.

I appreciate there's a rush to judgment when things go wrong and I appreciate that Begiristain must carry his share of the responsibility for a lot of these things. But he doesn't exist in a vacuum and the final say isn't really his but that of the manager and the board. He simply makes recommendations and presents options. It's time people accepted that rather than behaving like he's some transfer Darth Vader that does as he pleases from week to week.

Txiki is responsible for Pep's arrival, he kept Pellegrini in for the transition and he has recruited in line with the preferences of both managers. Perhaps more could have been done to get the players in for Pep earlier, but as Bayern manager we couldn't converse with him until early 2016 when he'd signed a contract with us. Therefore we had to work with Pellegrini. We were waiting for Pep but we couldn't not buy players Pellegrini wanted, or keep those he wanted to retain.

This summer will be a big transfer window. Until then, we work with what we've got. The summer will see lots of players out of contract and moved on, some promotion from the academy and the purchase of several players. Kompany's injury will have ended his career or eased so we've have closure one way or another. Sane and Jesus will have more experience and both look very exciting.

Further down the line we've got young academy players who will have the footballing brain and technique that those at Barca have had. The likes of Sancho, Diaz and others will be at an age they can play more frequently for the first team, or go on loan and the future remains bright. Unfortunately we're just seeing more inconsistency this season that we expected. We're creating lots of chances without scoring and conceding few but they're so easy for the opposition to score from. We just need to find that balance because it's still not working.

 

[Georgian Maestro]

I agree that rather than blame Txiki the whole board need to be scrutinised. When Khaldoon appointed Soriano and Txiki in 2012 to start this project off I wonder if one title and if we're honest only one genuine title challenge in 5 years was the expectation?
Khaldoon stated that top 4 was the bare minimum. I'd love to know what he's thinking right now and if he's genuinely fearing for his job

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

Txiki is responsible for Pep's arrival, he kept Pellegrini in for the transition and he has recruited in line with the preferences of both managers. Perhaps more could have been done to get the players in for Pep earlier, but as Bayern manager we couldn't converse with him until early 2016 when he'd signed a contract with us. Therefore we had to work with Pellegrini. We were waiting for Pep but we couldn't not buy players Pellegrini wanted, or keep those he wanted to retain.

This summer will be a big transfer window. Until then, we work with what we've got. The summer will see lots of players out of contract and moved on, some promotion from the academy and the purchase of several players. Kompany's injury will have ended his career or eased so we've have closure one way or another. Sane and Jesus will have more experience and both look very exciting.

Further down the line we've got young academy players who will have the footballing brain and technique that those at Barca have had. The likes of Sancho, Diaz and others will be at an age they can play more frequently for the first team, or go on loan and the future remains bright. Unfortunately we're just seeing more inconsistency this season that we expected. We're creating lots of chances without scoring and conceding few but they're so easy for the opposition to score from. We just need to find that balance because it's still not working.

A good post...:.

I think the thing that feels a little tainted for me is the promises of promotion of youth, again we have a saturated, unbalanced squad where no real trust is afforded the kids we have.... There has been ample opportunity for Pep to have bled a few, results have fluctuated anyway, however, the reality is we have a system that suits a more dynamic team, this ultimately means the old guard, who will always be turned to over kids, will get the nod until ushered out...

United last year uncovered 2/3 players by default who would be starting if it wasn't for the chequebook kid....

I've said this over the weekend but why can Poch be authoritative enough to throw in a few kids in his first year, mindful that results will be inconsistent?? Clearly expectations of our fanbase.

I'd sooner Pep had come in this year and displayed transition with an excuse, currently he doesn't have one other than an aging squad, something Txiki and Pep need to be accountable for!

 

[Shirley]

I agree that rather than blame Txiki the whole board need to be scrutinised. When Khaldoon appointed Soriano and Txiki in 2012 to start this project off I wonder if one title and if we're honest only one genuine title challenge in 5 years was the expectation?
Khaldoon stated that top 4 was the bare minimum. I'd love to know what he's thinking right now and if he's genuinely fearing for his job

Khaldoon is not a football man that is why he hired the spaniards.
To suggest Khaldoon is fearing for his job is laughable, the City project is loose change to him.

 

[oakiecokie]

I keep saying it mate, but this thread is kept alive by the sad lamenters who started it in 2013. I'm not tarring everyone who posts in it with the same brush and absolutely we should be able to discuss Begiristain (good and bad). But it's a bit like the boy who cried wolf. You've got a series of them who've been after Txiki the Underminer since he "undermined" their beloved. And for that reason this thread is an absolute abortion of nonsense.

Before the day's out someone will come in here and suggest that we bring Cook & Mancini back.

You obviously missed a near full thread about them yesterday mate.Fucking ridiculous.We`ve moved on,as do every other clubs and you can`t still bring up the same shit "Mancini should never have been sacked".Its fucking history and as you rightly point out people still harbour a grudge against certain bigwigs at City because of his demise.He (Mancini) was his worst enemy,especially when he lost the respect of some players.