Hugo Viana to be new Director of Football (Official Announcement p17)

[Franny 1234]

It's not confirmed by the club that Txiki will retire yet either.

Everyone seems to believe a post from somebody on X. Not for me.

 

[cleavers]

So basically 13 pages of speculation & tosh?

I suspect these journo's know, and are just leaking the information. The club will make it official when they see fit.

 

[BlueAnorak]

Possibly the best replacement for Txiki Begiristain that we could possibly get.

BTW Txiki Begiristain proved me wrong in absolute spades.

BTW2 City want Hugo Viana to work alongside Txiki till Txiki eventually retires or goes back to Spain (whenever that is)

 

[M23 Citizen]

The most interesting part about our new sporting director, is what sporting fans have been saying online about him going to the lower leagues to pick talent. Finding hidden gems. Might see us look at the championship for players. Apparently he has an incredible eye for talent

At a guess, the Portuguese league is probably the 8th best league in Europe. Around Europe there are loads of teams from loads of leagues with a weightier hand to pick talent so you can see the need to look at things like that there.

The Premier League is the premier league in the world and we are currently the premier club from that league. He won’t have to look at the Championship, he now has the weight of City’s hand to pick talent from anywhere he sees it. They might not always come or be available or attainable, we aren’t the only weighty hand at this level, but he has that scope here that he didn’t have at Sporting

 

[Protein Junkie]

No idea who he is, is a **** or a genius ?

The two are not mutually exclusive Kaz :-)

 

[M23 Citizen]

No idea who he is, is a **** or a genius ?

Do you not remember him at Newcastle? Mid-00s, longer hair, left footed, took free kicks.

 

[BringBackSwales]

No idea who he is, is a **** or a genius ?

lol, no shades of grey there then!

 

[1961_vintage]

Is it time to dust-off the bananas?

 

[supercity88]

The most interesting part about our new sporting director, is what sporting fans have been saying online about him going to the lower leagues to pick talent. Finding hidden gems. Might see us look at the championship for players. Apparently he has an incredible eye for talent

The eye for talent is all we need. We definitely operate at the top table, there are rarely times we move for players who haven't got a decent profile already. But he can probably help us combine an approach of securing future talent, top quality ready made players and some very good plan B options if the first choice names don't land.

 

[Shazza458]

The eye for talent is all we need. We definitely operate at the top table, there are rarely times we move for players who haven't got a decent profile already. But he can probably help us combine an approach of securing future talent, top quality ready made players and some very good plan B options if the first choice names don't land.

I read an interesting article about being a sporting director at an elite club and apparently talent ID isn’t at the top of the list of what you need.

At a club like city the scouting network is so huge, all the scouts will be reporting and advising the sporting directors, makes sense really. I don’t think Txiki is watching hours of tape. He makes decisions based on advice from people that do. He’s a busy man

Far more important is negotiation skills, fostering relationships, protecting the clubs style of football and creating an environment in which the team thrives.