Ferran Soriano & Txiki Begiristain

[OB1]

Re: Is there any way back for Cook?

What would make anyone think he wants to come back? He's doing well now by all accounts and probably with a lot less stress. To compare like for like though I think at the very least we're no worse off with Soriano in the CEO role.

I liked Cook and he had a lot of good qualities and ideas, he also seemed to be very much on the side of the supporters but I have not seen anything yet that suggests to me that Soriano is anything but a top notch CEO for a football club. From what I see from the outside, he is doing a good job.

How well Txiki is doing is more open to question in my mind but that is because the most visible thing that he is involved in is transfers and I would deem the job done there during his incumbency as DoF as OK but not great. Buying players is not just about one man though and mistakes will always be made so I envisage him need a few years to fully prove his worth on that front. Furthermore, the role of the DoF amounts to far more than just player acquisition. I do though foresee this summer being a potentially pivotal one for Txiki.

 

[BlueAnorak]

Txiki really does have a lot to answer for. 4 transfer windows now and only one quality buy (Fernandinho) and one reasonable buy Navas. Mangala may make it (though the jury is out) and Fernando is completely unserviceable - thank God we didn't get him in the previous winter window or the title would have gone last season. The rest are squad fillers.
The thing is, even the quality buy is a bit old in the tooth.
I expected a hell of a lot more to be frank especially after the rave reviews some on here gave him.
Anything less than a great summer window and one has to wonder if he can cut it.

 

[BigOscar]

What exactly is the job of a director of football? It's not just buying first team players is it? Isn't it also about building the academy, signing players for the academy and all that sort of stuff as well? I have to be honest, I don't know exactly what Txiki's job is, or how much he's responsible for. I see him get blamed for a lot, but I have next to no idea what he's actually responsible for?

 

[Manchester_lalala]

What exactly is the job of a director of football? It's not just buying first team players is it? Isn't it also about building the academy, signing players for the academy and all that sort of stuff as well? I have to be honest, I don't know exactly what Txiki's job is, or how much he's responsible for. I see him get blamed for a lot, but I have next to no idea what he's actually responsible for?

He buys players and implements a style of football throughout the whole club. He's done very well in getting the academy lads playing well, but his transfer dealings have been below par.

 

[BigOscar]

What exactly is the job of a director of football? It's not just buying first team players is it? Isn't it also about building the academy, signing players for the academy and all that sort of stuff as well? I have to be honest, I don't know exactly what Txiki's job is, or how much he's responsible for. I see him get blamed for a lot, but I have next to no idea what he's actually responsible for?

He buys players and implements a style of football throughout the whole club. He's done very well in getting the academy lads playing well, but his transfer dealings have been below par.

Well that's sort of my point, are the first team signings purely his, or does Pellegrini have a say, if so how much? The youth signings for the academy have been excellent by the looks of things, some really special young players have come in lately. Is he responsible for them? I honestly have no idea, nor do I think anyone outside of the process can really know how exactly these things are decided, or how much of a say he has over things like "the style of play". Does he go in and tell Pellers off if they don't pass it around enough, or does he just hire managers based on who he thinks will play that way? It's kind of a mysterious job that is mainly behind the scenes, making it pretty easy to be a scapegoat.

 

[Marvin]

Re: Is there any way back for Cook?

Nasri has had a good season. Why are you posting this rubbish, and to what end?

Just like Fernando had a good game against Barcelona? Shut up and don't reply if you think it's rubbish.

So you can slag off every City player on Bluemoon expecting zero comeback. I don't think so.

Fernando is there to stop opposition players playing. The whole City team stood off Barca in the 1st half, but in the 2nd it was a different story. I think he had a good game, because he managed to disrupt their game, and was one of the few City players who was able to do so.

 

[OB1]

Txiki really does have a lot to answer for. 4 transfer windows now and only one quality buy (Fernandinho) and one reasonable buy Navas. Mangala may make it (though the jury is out) and Fernando is completely unserviceable - thank God we didn't get him in the previous winter window or the title would have gone last season. The rest are squad fillers.
The thing is, even the quality buy is a bit old in the tooth.
I expected a hell of a lot more to be frank especially after the rave reviews some on here gave him.
Anything less than a great summer window and one has to wonder if he can cut it.

Not looking to make a habit of disagreeing with you but I don't think Txiki has a lot to answer for. The biggest problem with his purchases has been that they have not discernibly improved our best XI and that has to be the primary objective of the exercise this summer. You have to regard the work so far though against the backdrop of FFP.

You have also failed to mention Negredo and MDM, neither of whom represents a stick with which to beat the Manchester City Transfer Committee. I should not need to extol their virtues but both were value for money and played crucial parts in last season's trophy success. Come this end of this season, MDM should have a good claim to have been City's most consistent performer out of the back four options.

The biggest question mark against Txiki - and he has poor form in this respect from his Barca days - is over the vastly expensive centre back purchase made last summer. As you mention, the jury in the case of Blue Moon vs its latest scapegoat is still making its deliberations; although I am still hopeful that the verdict will eventually go in favour of the defendant, even if it has to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court.

 

[Wio Gumflapdinand]

Doing a cracking job, bought some great players for real value. No complaints from me, I promise. People don't realise that in the last two summers they've been working on a shoestring budget of £200,000,000 but got quality despite this.

 

[cleavers]

What exactly is the job of a director of football? It's not just buying first team players is it? Isn't it also about building the academy, signing players for the academy and all that sort of stuff as well? I have to be honest, I don't know exactly what Txiki's job is, or how much he's responsible for. I see him get blamed for a lot, but I have next to no idea what he's actually responsible for?

Good post. Most of those shouting loudest for his head, have little or no real idea what his job entails either, they just like a scapegoat to shout at. Its laughable that people complain about "squad fillers", yet you don't have a squad without them, and one of last seasons biggest complaints was not having good enough back up players, when we got injuries, a problem addressed last summer.

In this thread Soriano even gets grief for signings, yet I doubt he has any input at all, and in his time here, financially he's over seen our rise to one of the wealthiest clubs in europe.

 

[prestonibbo_mcfc]

Can't believe the negativity towards all things that make up our great club.
I know the season hasn't panned out as we all hoped, but you would be mistaken
for thinking we were relegation fodder, reading most of the comments on the forum.

For me, the main problem has been that too often this season our team hasn't
turned up with the right attitude. People have sat there before the game and agreed
with Manuel's selection only to crucify him after we have not got the required result,
due to imo, lack of team effort.

So the bottom line is, you can blame the manager, the DOF et al, but if the players
don't deliver on the day, then maybe they should take more responsibility.