More departures

[moomba]

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/443535/Man-City-2-Celtic-1-Headache-as-Kolo-Toure-limps-out-of-friendly.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/4 ... endly.html</a>

Hughes' summer reshuffle continued when long-serving player liaison officer Layachi Bouskouchi quit in mysterious circumstances. He had been at City for 30 years.

Club doctor Mark Whitaker and head physio Ally Beattie have also left the club.

 

[Bonol]

Club doctor Mark Whitaker and head physio Ally Beattie have also left the club.

Probably got sacked for not noticing Rocky's ligaments were shredded.

 

[Dyed Petya]

The physio and doctor went weeks ago, just after last season ended, I think. That's not news.

Don't know anything about the player liaison guy, but I guess this falls within Brian Marwood's remiut now. Maybe Marwood has ideas that the guy who's resigned didn't like.

 

[Chappie]

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/443535/Man-City-2-Celtic-1-Headache-as-Kolo-Toure-limps-out-of-friendly.html

Hughes' summer reshuffle continued when long-serving player liaison officer Layachi Bouskouchi quit in mysterious circumstances. He had been at City for 30 years.

Club doctor Mark Whitaker and head physio Ally Beattie have also left the club.

Wigley of Citymancs,said over a month ago,that he had been put on "gardening leave",so it takes about a month to get in the papers.

Wigley
Nic Anelka's brother
Online

Posts: 1,514



Re: Post here please TFM
« Reply #1937 on: July 03, 2009, 19:28 » Remove

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote from: bluebrendan on July 03, 2009, 19:19
Judging by some of the childish arguing in this thread you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference at times.

Personal abuse is not tolerated, it's been made clear enough times recently.

I am constantly abused,by a poster from Cleveleys and you do nothing.
Double standards.

Footnote,the biggest gossip employed by the club,has been put on "Gardening leave".
Normally known as the Mr Fixit of the club.
Well done Hughsey,he should have gone years ago.
1 to go now and you have got rid of all the old brigade

 

[Mike D]

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/443535/Man-City-2-Celtic-1-Headache-as-Kolo-Toure-limps-out-of-friendly.html

Wigley of Citymancs,said over a month ago,that he had been put on "gardening leave",so it takes about a month to get in the papers.

Wigley
Nic Anelka's brother
Online

Posts: 1,514



Re: Post here please TFM
« Reply #1937 on: July 03, 2009, 19:28 » Remove

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote from: bluebrendan on July 03, 2009, 19:19
Judging by some of the childish arguing in this thread you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference at times.

Personal abuse is not tolerated, it's been made clear enough times recently.

I am constantly abused,by a poster from Cleveleys and you do nothing.
Double standards.

Footnote,the biggest gossip employed by the club,has been put on "Gardening leave".
Normally known as the Mr Fixit of the club.
Well done Hughsey,he should have gone years ago.
1 to go now and you have got rid of all the old brigade

yeah and gettin rid of cassell and all the youth team set up will be a great move too. t

 

[CheadleBlue]

Before people get too bent out of shape over Jim Cassell's move I think we should take stock of where we are with the Academy.

The old adage is - if it isn't broke don't fix it. Yet the way we were rolled over by Arsenal last year at U18 level got me thinking that though the Academy has done brilliant under Jim he would be the first to recognise that we need to move on. The Arsenal lads were bigger and more skilled. We played well but last season at U18 level - undefeated in the league. Yet against the Arsenal team they beat us easily three times.

Perhaps Jim moving out to find new talent around the rest of the world is not such a bad idea only time will tell.

As for getting rid of the people who have been at the club for over xx years and tend to be the source of much of the gossip I say goodbye you won't be missed.

 

[scall11]

This is an article about Layachi:

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/manchester_city/s/1036813_mr_fixit_a_blue_hero" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... _blue_hero</a>

SHOULDER to cry on, loyal confidant, father figure, financial and legal adviser, interpreter, estate agent, baby-sitter, letter opener, taxi driver and sometimes even marriage guidance counsellor - how's that for a job description?

Receiving a call on Christmas Day from a player's wife asking to fix their satellite TV is run-of-the mill for the busiest men in football.

Liaison officers at the elite clubs are a relatively new phenomenon but they have quickly become the sport's unsung heroes in the game's global era - the Mr and Mrs Fixits of the Premier League.

And City have one of the leading lights in Layachi Bouskouchi.

The 57-year-old former newsagent and catering manager is one of the pioneers of the role, performing myriad tasks aimed at making life run smoothly for the young but perhaps less than worldly-wise millionaires that pull on the blue shirt.

Layachi's roles at the training ground could hardly be more diverse - goodness knows how older generation players ever got on to the pitch with a clear head.

With eight new players arriving in the summer and three more - Nery Castillo, Benjani and Felipe Caicedo - joining in January, there has hardly been time to draw breath for City's behind-the-scenes staff since Sven-Goran Eriksson took over as boss.

Language

Born in Morocco, Bouskouchi was sent to England from Tangiers for three months by his then-boss to learn the language and experience different working conditions.

Thirty-eight years later he is word perfect in many languages, lives in Sale, is married to a Manchester woman, Lynn, and has a son, Adam.

To say that he fell in love with England instantly would be an exaggeration. Even though his two brothers were already here working, he was homesick for the first three months of his stay.

But he grew to love Manchester and in particular working in the bar at the Midland Hotel, watering hole to the city's rich and famous.

"It is a wonderful city; one of the best and most welcoming in the world," he said. "I have been lucky enough to work in three of its great institutions: the Midland, the airport and City.

"I consider myself Moroccan, British and Muslim, and I am proud of all three.

"The people here in the North-West are unique and among the warmest and friendliest you can find."

He worked at the Midland for 12 years and it was through his friendship with his boss George Bergier that he first became involved with the Blues on a match day running the chairman's lounge.

Afloat

"George used to look after `Kazzy' Deyna, City's great Poland international midfielder of the late 1970s, and it was through him that I got to know City secretary Bernard Halford and the rest of the Maine Road hierarchy who used to come into the hotel," Layachi said.

In 1986, a once-a-fortnight visit became full-time when Layachi sold his newsagents in Chorlton - home to the town's first public phone box, which bizarrely was housed in a Mahogany cabinet - and was appointed catering manager at Maine Road.

"I looked after the executive suite from which the income helped keep the club afloat in the darkest days. I was always being asked to squeeze in more tables to generate more income," he said.

That was his job until the club left Maine Road in 2003.

But when the Blues moved, he did not go with them, branching off in a different direction that led to his present job.

"The then-chairman David Bernstein asked me to look after things at the new training centre at Carrington," Layachi said.

"At the time, I thought he was trying to get rid of me but in the end it was a great change in direction."

As more foreign players were signed, Layachi's role became player orientated, and soon he was one of the first full-time liaison officers in the country - a role he sees as vital in helping players settle in.

"I can remember what it was like arriving here as a young man, scared but excited with little knowledge of the language and not knowing the area, so I approach the job from that perspective," he explained.

Help

"It is hard to do any job well, let alone being a footballer in the pubic eye, when you are a long way from home, perhaps separated from your wife and kids and have nowhere to live or any friends.

"That is where City are great at helping their players.

"I speak French, Spanish, Italian and a little Portuguese.

"In Morocco when I was growing up, half the people spoke Spanish and half spoke French; and I was lucky to be brought up in Tangiers, which is one of the most cosmopolitan places in the world when it comes to languages.

"But I would stress though that my job does not just mean I look after the foreign players. I am here for the others too.

"It is a job in which no two days are the same but there are no set hours either.

"Players and their families have problems day and night, although some of them can be a little trivial!

"Some players come from a different culture, with different laws, and you have to explain that things like speeding and parking tickets will not go away here.

"One time an ex-player had been stopped while driving at 130mph on the motorway and he phoned me and asked me whether it was OK for him to give a false name!

"Another's wife rang me once on Christmas Day just as I was sitting down to turkey with my family and asked if I could get their satellite dish fixed! Then one player's wife arrived and gave me a list of her requirements for a chauffeur, a cook, a cleaner and a babysitter. Some of them can be quite demanding!

Culture

"But, by and large, they are ordinary young men trying to find their way around a different culture while attempting to win football matches.

"My relationship with them has to be based on trust, because I see and hear lots of things and I am pleased to say that I am friends with many of them even when they leave the club."

That was proved last year when Nicolas Anelka flew Layachi out, at his own expense, to his wedding in Marrakech.

Even now, if he doesn't speak to former skipper Ali Benarbia for more than four or five days, he gets worried that something is wrong.

"I help find them houses, cars, insurance schools, doctors, dentists and all the stuff we take for granted as long-term residents," Layachi said.

"Over the years, City have built up a network of trusted plumbers, electricians, landlords, estate agents, car dealers, solicitors, and so on.

"I suppose I am the spider at the centre of that web connecting all these things together. Players come and go but I have been here a long time, so I have to make sure our contacts are respected and treated fairly.

"I have to ensure that all these people get paid by the players promptly. Again it is a matter of honesty and manners.

"As far as I know, all Premier League clubs now have liaison officers.

"But we pride ourselves among looking after our players better than most.

"The one thing I would say you have to have in this job - apart from patience - is an understanding wife, because she never knows when I will be home or when the phone will ring. But I love it."

 

[JohnMaddocksAxe]

Had to be sacked.

Got 10% on his Welsh GCSE test.

 

[Mike D]

Before people get too bent out of shape over Jim Cassell's move I think we should take stock of where we are with the Academy.

The old adage is - if it isn't broke don't fix it. Yet the way we were rolled over by Arsenal last year at U18 level got me thinking that though the Academy has done brilliant under Jim he would be the first to recognise that we need to move on. The Arsenal lads were bigger and more skilled. We played well but last season at U18 level - undefeated in the league. Yet against the Arsenal team they beat us easily three times.

Perhaps Jim moving out to find new talent around the rest of the world is not such a bad idea only time will tell.

As for getting rid of the people who have been at the club for over xx years and tend to be the source of much of the gossip I say goodbye you won't be missed.

So Cassells just all washed up now despite brining through the likes of Barton, SWP, Onhou, Richards, Sturridge, Weiss, and Ireland in most resent times and we are right to bin him becuase we are not good enough to beat Arsenal last year. You need to give your head a F*ckin big wobble and remember that without those players plus others that have been brought through and sold at a profit we'd pobably be peddling around in the championship with a pot to p*ss in becuase no sugar daddy would have been interested in us.

As for your disrespect for senior members just about sums it all up for me.

 

[Mike D]

This is an article about Layachi:

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/manchester_city/s/1036813_mr_fixit_a_blue_hero" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... _blue_hero</a>

SHOULDER to cry on, loyal confidant, father figure, financial and legal adviser, interpreter, estate agent, baby-sitter, letter opener, taxi driver and sometimes even marriage guidance counsellor - how's that for a job description?

Receiving a call on Christmas Day from a player's wife asking to fix their satellite TV is run-of-the mill for the busiest men in football.

Liaison officers at the elite clubs are a relatively new phenomenon but they have quickly become the sport's unsung heroes in the game's global era - the Mr and Mrs Fixits of the Premier League.

And City have one of the leading lights in Layachi Bouskouchi.

The 57-year-old former newsagent and catering manager is one of the pioneers of the role, performing myriad tasks aimed at making life run smoothly for the young but perhaps less than worldly-wise millionaires that pull on the blue shirt.

Layachi's roles at the training ground could hardly be more diverse - goodness knows how older generation players ever got on to the pitch with a clear head.

With eight new players arriving in the summer and three more - Nery Castillo, Benjani and Felipe Caicedo - joining in January, there has hardly been time to draw breath for City's behind-the-scenes staff since Sven-Goran Eriksson took over as boss.

Language

Born in Morocco, Bouskouchi was sent to England from Tangiers for three months by his then-boss to learn the language and experience different working conditions.

Thirty-eight years later he is word perfect in many languages, lives in Sale, is married to a Manchester woman, Lynn, and has a son, Adam.

To say that he fell in love with England instantly would be an exaggeration. Even though his two brothers were already here working, he was homesick for the first three months of his stay.

But he grew to love Manchester and in particular working in the bar at the Midland Hotel, watering hole to the city's rich and famous.

"It is a wonderful city; one of the best and most welcoming in the world," he said. "I have been lucky enough to work in three of its great institutions: the Midland, the airport and City.

"I consider myself Moroccan, British and Muslim, and I am proud of all three.

"The people here in the North-West are unique and among the warmest and friendliest you can find."

He worked at the Midland for 12 years and it was through his friendship with his boss George Bergier that he first became involved with the Blues on a match day running the chairman's lounge.

Afloat

"George used to look after `Kazzy' Deyna, City's great Poland international midfielder of the late 1970s, and it was through him that I got to know City secretary Bernard Halford and the rest of the Maine Road hierarchy who used to come into the hotel," Layachi said.

In 1986, a once-a-fortnight visit became full-time when Layachi sold his newsagents in Chorlton - home to the town's first public phone box, which bizarrely was housed in a Mahogany cabinet - and was appointed catering manager at Maine Road.

"I looked after the executive suite from which the income helped keep the club afloat in the darkest days. I was always being asked to squeeze in more tables to generate more income," he said.

That was his job until the club left Maine Road in 2003.

But when the Blues moved, he did not go with them, branching off in a different direction that led to his present job.

"The then-chairman David Bernstein asked me to look after things at the new training centre at Carrington," Layachi said.

"At the time, I thought he was trying to get rid of me but in the end it was a great change in direction."

As more foreign players were signed, Layachi's role became player orientated, and soon he was one of the first full-time liaison officers in the country - a role he sees as vital in helping players settle in.

"I can remember what it was like arriving here as a young man, scared but excited with little knowledge of the language and not knowing the area, so I approach the job from that perspective," he explained.

Help

"It is hard to do any job well, let alone being a footballer in the pubic eye, when you are a long way from home, perhaps separated from your wife and kids and have nowhere to live or any friends.

"That is where City are great at helping their players.

"I speak French, Spanish, Italian and a little Portuguese.

"In Morocco when I was growing up, half the people spoke Spanish and half spoke French; and I was lucky to be brought up in Tangiers, which is one of the most cosmopolitan places in the world when it comes to languages.

"But I would stress though that my job does not just mean I look after the foreign players. I am here for the others too.

"It is a job in which no two days are the same but there are no set hours either.

"Players and their families have problems day and night, although some of them can be a little trivial!

"Some players come from a different culture, with different laws, and you have to explain that things like speeding and parking tickets will not go away here.

"One time an ex-player had been stopped while driving at 130mph on the motorway and he phoned me and asked me whether it was OK for him to give a false name!

"Another's wife rang me once on Christmas Day just as I was sitting down to turkey with my family and asked if I could get their satellite dish fixed! Then one player's wife arrived and gave me a list of her requirements for a chauffeur, a cook, a cleaner and a babysitter. Some of them can be quite demanding!

Culture

"But, by and large, they are ordinary young men trying to find their way around a different culture while attempting to win football matches.

"My relationship with them has to be based on trust, because I see and hear lots of things and I am pleased to say that I am friends with many of them even when they leave the club."

That was proved last year when Nicolas Anelka flew Layachi out, at his own expense, to his wedding in Marrakech.

Even now, if he doesn't speak to former skipper Ali Benarbia for more than four or five days, he gets worried that something is wrong.

"I help find them houses, cars, insurance schools, doctors, dentists and all the stuff we take for granted as long-term residents," Layachi said.

"Over the years, City have built up a network of trusted plumbers, electricians, landlords, estate agents, car dealers, solicitors, and so on.

"I suppose I am the spider at the centre of that web connecting all these things together. Players come and go but I have been here a long time, so I have to make sure our contacts are respected and treated fairly.

"I have to ensure that all these people get paid by the players promptly. Again it is a matter of honesty and manners.

"As far as I know, all Premier League clubs now have liaison officers.

"But we pride ourselves among looking after our players better than most.

"The one thing I would say you have to have in this job - apart from patience - is an understanding wife, because she never knows when I will be home or when the phone will ring. But I love it."

A true legainnd gent his input willbe missed

 

[CheadleBlue]

Before people get too bent out of shape over Jim Cassell's move I think we should take stock of where we are with the Academy.

The old adage is - if it isn't broke don't fix it. Yet the way we were rolled over by Arsenal last year at U18 level got me thinking that though the Academy has done brilliant under Jim he would be the first to recognise that we need to move on. The Arsenal lads were bigger and more skilled. We played well but last season at U18 level - undefeated in the league. Yet against the Arsenal team they beat us easily three times.

Perhaps Jim moving out to find new talent around the rest of the world is not such a bad idea only time will tell.

As for getting rid of the people who have been at the club for over xx years and tend to be the source of much of the gossip I say goodbye you won't be missed.

So Cassells just all washed up now despite brining through the likes of Barton, SWP, Onhou, Richards, Sturridge, Weiss, and Ireland in most resent times and we are right to bin him becuase we are not good enough to beat Arsenal last year. You need to give your head a F*ckin big wobble and remember that without those players plus others that have been brought through and sold at a profit we'd pobably be peddling around in the championship with a pot to p*ss in becuase no sugar daddy would have been interested in us.

As for your disrespect for senior members just about sums it all up for me.

It never ceases to amaze me when someone puts their opinion forward that someone else comes on and insults them. i would take your comments more seriously but you miss my point entirely.

I am not saying that Jim is past it far from it. I think that for him to look for talent outside of the UK and to set up MCFC Academies in the Mid-East, States etc would be a good move forward. My comment about the Arsenal games were just a feeling I had that there set-up was more advanced than ours and we could learn from it. I am no expert though I do follow both first team, reserves and the U18s both home AND away. But why should I justify myself to the likes for you as I'll only get more abuse.

I have offered no disrespect to senior members though for too long have City had people at the club that have let out information/rumours etc. that in any other company they would have been sacked for.

I think in future I'll just observe and keep my opinions to myself. I had hoped for a rational debate.

 

[The Fat el Hombre]

I saw a programme on the liaison dude a while back i think, was pretty cool

Thing is with things like this you can't really comment on whether it's good or bad unless you're in the loop enough to know what's really going on.

 

[Damocles]

It's public knowledge that the club has been handing false sensitive information around to determine the sources of their leaks. Looks like they found one.

 

[Dyed Petya]

Whatever the reason for him going, there'll certainly be someone else employed in this role. It IS actually a very important position, and I'm sure the club will appoint someone suitably qualified, so I'm relatively sanguine about this.

 

[The Fat el Hombre]

It's public knowledge that the club has been handing false sensitive information around to determine the sources of their leaks. Looks like they found one.

I didn't know that, guess I'm just a bit too stupid to figure it out

The club should emply me in the role anyway. I'll wipe the players arses for them and keep my mouth shut!

 

[Eddie]

Interesting that Wigley calls Layachi a gossip-monger. Wonder who Wigley is and what axe he has to grind? If he profers that as fact, it is wholly inaccurate and possibly libellous.

If it is proferred as opinion then I would disagree completely

 

[Matty]

It's public knowledge that the club has been handing false sensitive information around to determine the sources of their leaks. Looks like they found one.

I didn't know that, guess I'm just a bit too stupid to figure it out

The club should emply me in the role anyway. I'll wipe the players arses for them and keep my mouth shut!

How will you get your tongue around the hard to reach bits?

 

[MCFC-alan88]

It's public knowledge that the club has been handing false sensitive information around to determine the sources of their leaks. Looks like they found one.

Gotta love the Ol' Red Herring.

 

[BibbyBlue85]

It's public knowledge that the club has been handing false sensitive information around to determine the sources of their leaks. Looks like they found one.

Gotta love the Ol' Red Herring.

Spursmad?????

 

[blueonblue]

Absolute balls to even sugest any gossiping, what he did do as part of his job was use his media connections to protect the players from unsubstansiated rumours by telling the truth.

As anyone who has to deal with the media will tell you, truth is what any trust is built on, without which there would be no connections to call on, in recent times it seems his honesty is in conflict with certain people who try to use the media to discredit players for their own ends.

Feel free to draw your own conclutions, but dont forget this man has been in a possition for many years where he has kept it shut to protect the club and players,