Ferran Soriano & Txiki Begiristain

[BobKowalski]

For the above reasons I for one will not hold Pellegrini 100% accountable for what happens on the pitch be it good or bad. The Spanish duo are very much pulling all of the strings and hence will deserve their fair share of credit or blame at the end of the season.
I also don't buy the rubbish that this is a 'transitional season' - that is just a case of some people getting their excuses in early. With the squad Pellegrini inherited and the changes / additions that the Director of Football has made a top 2 finish a domestic trophy and thru to the knock out stages of the CL is an absolute minimum we should expect. Anything less will be failure and will be needed to be accepted as failure by all concerned.

That Feran & Txiki are running the show is fairly self evident. Barry was told at the end of last season that he was out and that was long before Pellers put a foot in the place. Pellers may regard Barry as vital to his plans but it wouldn't make a toss of difference as the reasons behind removing Barry are financial not football. Pellers will also carry the can if this season goes so tits up that we can't even pin a 'Transitional' tag on it and get away with it. Thats what the manager is for. Coach the team, get the plaudits if it goes well and the boot if it doesn't.

But thats the way it goes and Pellers knows the score and it would be folly to bring in the dynamic duo and ditch them after a year or so just because one season doesn't pan out. Ferran & Txiki (and Tom Glick) are here to reshape and run City so that it is a success both on and off the field and at all levels and yes holistic for them isn't about being 'nice' (much as we take the piss out of it) its about making sure all areas that go into making the club a success run smoothly and in harmony and by harmony it means doing what Ferran and Txiki tell you to do. They won't get everything right but they will get enough things right to make it work.

 

[brian the blue]

I think Ferran and Txiki get a unwarranted amount of flack over the dismissal of Mancini. I wouldn't of been surprized if the decision came from above them and even if it was their decision Mancini made it easy for them.

You look at where our club wants to be and that's successful, profitable, play attractive football and utilise our youth system. It is no wonder people often compare us to following a Barcelona model because they are one of a small number of clubs who have successfully implemented this model. Even more impressive is that they have dominated using this model in our current era.

It's no wonder Ferran was appointed our CEO with his previous track record and our task of meeting FFP requirements. Txiki was then appointed as he played a key role with Ferran in the Barca revolution. What a lot of people seem to dismiss is that the decision to follow this route obviously came from above the Spanish duo as they were brought in to implement this model.

From the off Mancini wasn't happy with having his authority challenged and his quote about how Txiki and Ferran were not above him was telling. I reckon than Mancini's biggest issue was with our model of business changing. Mancini didn't care for FFP after all he constantly called for us to sign RVP, DDR and Hazard. Don't forget that Mancini's success coincided with massive spending sprees.

I think that this was the main reason for the relationship breakdown as Mancini wanted things the carry on as previous where as the board wanted change. I think Mancini's departure was inevitable and no one covered themselves in glory with the whole affair. The Spanish duo and our media team could have dealt with the situation better and Mancini should have stopped playing out clubs affairs in public.

IMO Mancini was perfect for the club when he took over. His style made us winners and he took us to a new level. Unfortunately for Mancini our spending approach was unsustainable and when the funds lowered his weaknesses became exposed. He left at the right time IMO.

I also think that the Spanish duo are perfect for our club now and for getting us where we want to be. They have shown this summer that they are no mugs in the transfer window and our club looks a lot more professional with the more abrasive characters our of the club.

You need to spend money in order to remain at the top. It's simple.

One could argue that since we won the title, we spent £50+million on shit bar Nastasic in one window, and then £92million in this window.

RVP, Hazard and De Rossi would've cost much less that the £140+million we've spent since winning the league and if we had added just those 3 players to our squad from our title winning season then we'd be in a much better position than we are now in my opinion... And we would've won the league again last season.

Saying that I do feel the decision to sack Mancini was the correct one, but our transfer business since winning the title has been poor in my opinion with regards to who we've brought in.

 

[SWP's back]

For the above reasons I for one will not hold Pellegrini 100% accountable for what happens on the pitch be it good or bad. The Spanish duo are very much pulling all of the strings and hence will deserve their fair share of credit or blame at the end of the season.
I also don't buy the rubbish that this is a 'transitional season' - that is just a case of some people getting their excuses in early. With the squad Pellegrini inherited and the changes / additions that the Director of Football has made a top 2 finish a domestic trophy and thru to the knock out stages of the CL is an absolute minimum we should expect. Anything less will be failure and will be needed to be accepted as failure by all concerned.

That Feran & Txiki are running the show is fairly self evident. Barry was told at the end of last season that he was out and that was long before Pellers put a foot in the place. Pellers may regard Barry as vital to his plans but it wouldn't make a toss of difference as the reasons behind removing Barry are financial not football. Pellers will also carry the can if this season goes so tits up that we can't even pin a 'Transitional' tag on it and get away with it. Thats what the manager is for. Coach the team, get the plaudits if it goes well and the boot if it doesn't.

But thats the way it goes and Pellers knows the score and it would be folly to bring in the dynamic duo and ditch them after a year or so just because one season doesn't pan out. Ferran & Txiki (and Tom Glick) are here to reshape and run City so that it is a success both on and off the field and at all levels and yes holistic for them isn't about being 'nice' (much as we take the piss out of it) its about making sure all areas that go into making the club a success run smoothly and in harmony and by harmony it means doing what Ferran and Txiki tell you to do. They won't get everything right but they will get enough things right to make it work.

Simply not true in the slightest.<br /><br />-- Wed Sep 04, 2013 2:03 pm --<br /><br />

I think Ferran and Txiki get a unwarranted amount of flack over the dismissal of Mancini. I wouldn't of been surprized if the decision came from above them and even if it was their decision Mancini made it easy for them.

You look at where our club wants to be and that's successful, profitable, play attractive football and utilise our youth system. It is no wonder people often compare us to following a Barcelona model because they are one of a small number of clubs who have successfully implemented this model. Even more impressive is that they have dominated using this model in our current era.

It's no wonder Ferran was appointed our CEO with his previous track record and our task of meeting FFP requirements. Txiki was then appointed as he played a key role with Ferran in the Barca revolution. What a lot of people seem to dismiss is that the decision to follow this route obviously came from above the Spanish duo as they were brought in to implement this model.

From the off Mancini wasn't happy with having his authority challenged and his quote about how Txiki and Ferran were not above him was telling. I reckon than Mancini's biggest issue was with our model of business changing. Mancini didn't care for FFP after all he constantly called for us to sign RVP, DDR and Hazard. Don't forget that Mancini's success coincided with massive spending sprees.

I think that this was the main reason for the relationship breakdown as Mancini wanted things the carry on as previous where as the board wanted change. I think Mancini's departure was inevitable and no one covered themselves in glory with the whole affair. The Spanish duo and our media team could have dealt with the situation better and Mancini should have stopped playing out clubs affairs in public.

IMO Mancini was perfect for the club when he took over. His style made us winners and he took us to a new level. Unfortunately for Mancini our spending approach was unsustainable and when the funds lowered his weaknesses became exposed. He left at the right time IMO.

I also think that the Spanish duo are perfect for our club now and for getting us where we want to be. They have shown this summer that they are no mugs in the transfer window and our club looks a lot more professional with the more abrasive characters our of the club.

You need to spend money in order to remain at the top. It's simple.

One could argue that since we won the title, we spent £50+million on shit bar Nastasic in one window, and then £92million in this window.

RVP, Hazard and De Rossi would've cost much less that the £140+million we've spent since winning the league and if we had added just those 3 players to our squad from our title winning season then we'd be in a much better position than we are now in my opinion... And we would've won the league again last season.

Saying that I do feel the decision to sack Mancini was the correct one, but our transfer business since winning the title has been poor in my opinion with regards to who we've brought in.

And we tried to buy all three.

 

[BobKowalski]

For the above reasons I for one will not hold Pellegrini 100% accountable for what happens on the pitch be it good or bad. The Spanish duo are very much pulling all of the strings and hence will deserve their fair share of credit or blame at the end of the season.
I also don't buy the rubbish that this is a 'transitional season' - that is just a case of some people getting their excuses in early. With the squad Pellegrini inherited and the changes / additions that the Director of Football has made a top 2 finish a domestic trophy and thru to the knock out stages of the CL is an absolute minimum we should expect. Anything less will be failure and will be needed to be accepted as failure by all concerned.

That Feran & Txiki are running the show is fairly self evident. Barry was told at the end of last season that he was out and that was long before Pellers put a foot in the place. Pellers may regard Barry as vital to his plans but it wouldn't make a toss of difference as the reasons behind removing Barry are financial not football. Pellers will also carry the can if this season goes so tits up that we can't even pin a 'Transitional' tag on it and get away with it. Thats what the manager is for. Coach the team, get the plaudits if it goes well and the boot if it doesn't.

But thats the way it goes and Pellers knows the score and it would be folly to bring in the dynamic duo and ditch them after a year or so just because one season doesn't pan out. Ferran & Txiki (and Tom Glick) are here to reshape and run City so that it is a success both on and off the field and at all levels and yes holistic for them isn't about being 'nice' (much as we take the piss out of it) its about making sure all areas that go into making the club a success run smoothly and in harmony and by harmony it means doing what Ferran and Txiki tell you to do. They won't get everything right but they will get enough things right to make it work.

Simply not true in the slightest.

In your opinion...

Mine is also an opinion (obviously) but the fact that Barry was surplus to requirements prior to Pellegrini arriving and was given no chance to prove his worth to the new coach suggests to me that the reasoning behind Barry's departure was financial rather than football. Txiki wanted him out. So he is out.

 

[Shaelumstash]

Both men deserve huge amounts of praise. The transfer business we've conducted is the best of the top 6 clubs with possibly the exception of Spurs.

mmmm, not only is the jury still out it hasn't even been picked yet.

better than Ed across the road I suppose.

Bollocks. You can take your jury and deliberate wherever you want Bill ... our summer transfer business has been top draw. The only reason the whole forum isn't together in saying this is because the guys in charge of it sacked the previous manager. Had Mancini been in charge there'd be collective sticky biscuit sessions about how top our signings were and how Mancini had finally been backed by the board.

All this faux cynicism is very very transparent.[/quote]

I completely agree with De Niro. I think the one thing you can say about our transfer business is that the squad looks more balanced now, certainly the addition of Navas and Fernandinho add characteristics the squad was missing.

To call our business "Top draw" is extremely premature though. We're 3 games in, let's wait and see how they turn out. While the balance of the squad may be better now, the talent is in my opinion some way short of our title winning season. We've lost Balotelli, Tevez, De Jong and Barry, replaced them with Jovetic, Negredo, Garcia and Fernandinho. All of them, with the possible exception of Fernandinho are without question a step down in talent.

 

[Anonymous]

I completely agree with De Niro. I think the one thing you can say about our transfer business is that the squad looks more balanced now, certainly the addition of Navas and Fernandinho add characteristics the squad was missing.

To call our business "Top draw" is extremely premature though. We're 3 games in, let's wait and see how they turn out. While the balance of the squad may be better now, the talent is in my opinion some way short of our title winning season. We've lost Balotelli, Tevez, De Jong and Barry, replaced them with Jovetic, Negredo, Garcia and Fernandinho. All of them, with the possible exception of Fernandinho are without question a step down in talent.

Fernandinho > Barry
Rodwell > Barry
Navas > Milner

Jovetic I personally think for our squad is a much better player than Balotelli. In the sense that we needed a wide left forward which he isn't, and Jovetic is.

Negredo may not have the technical ability that Tevez had but do you want to bet against him scoring more goals this season than Tevez did in the last two ?

Like I say, top drawer business. When the season ends we can revisit this no problem.

 

[toffee balls]

Good thread this one.

The Barca "football" model is being copied lots of ways but , at this moment , appears to be missing one previously vital ingredient.

Ferran openly admits that Barca blantently copied the rags global financial marketing stategy as they were lagging behind terribly but they needed something / somebody to drive this ethos far and wide.

The missing ingredient Ronaldhinho , a global superstar.
Laterly replaced by Messi .

Who is ours ??

 

[LoveCity]

If not for an appalling offside decision, Negredo would already have 1/4 of Tevez's goal total in the league last season after 77 minutes on the pitch for us. As it is, he has 2 goals in 77 minutes (Tevez scored 11 in 2400 minutes).

You can't just base a squad on individual quality, but how each player fits into the system and performs. I mean, Balotelli last season for us contributed no more than a 17-year-old from the EDS would have. 1 goal in 14 games, because he couldn't be arsed and didn't want to be here.

The only place I'd say we're DEFINITELY weaker is Garcia in De Jong's spot, unless Pellegrini can get Garcia resembling the decent player he looked at Benfica.

 

[Anonymous]

If not for an appalling offside decision, Negredo would already have 1/4 of Tevez's goal total in the league last season after 77 minutes on the pitch for us. As it is, he has 2 goals in 77 minutes (Tevez scored 11 in 2400 minutes).

You can't just base a squad on individual quality, but how each player fits into the system and performs. I mean, Balotelli last season for us contributed no more than a 17-year-old from the EDS would have. 1 goal in 14 games, because he couldn't be arsed and didn't want to be here.

The only place I'd say we're DEFINITELY weaker is Garcia in De Jong's spot, unless Pellegrini can get Garcia resembling the decent player he looked at Benfica.

I think a DeJong/Garcia type is going to get very little football under Pellegrini simply because I don't think he thinks a holding midfield player is a prerequisite to success. The players in top teams who are considered to be "holding" players are more often than not technical footballers first, athletes second, and tacklers third. We have Yaya, Fernandinho, and Rodwell who fit those characteristics, and at a push even Milner. Garcia is way down the pecking order just as Barry would've been.

Agree with the rest of your post.

 

[toffee balls]

Riquelme and Senna both played (at different times) for Pelli in the role he is now asking Yaya to fill .

Another point is the players we have signed this year have seemingly bettered there opportunity of recognition and success and are therefore hungrier for it.

Time will tell but this is the start of the Sheikh's chosen blueprint and it's here to stay folks.