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Manchester City supremo Txiki Begiristain has thanked manager Manuel Pellegrini for making them a ‘happy club’ once again after the turmoil of their previous boss Roberto Mancini.
The contrast between Pellegrini’s gentlemanly approach and the remote and distant Mancini comes up repeatedly in a fly-on-the-wall documentary, Inside Manchester City, to be broadcast on ITV4 on Tuesday.
In a rare interview, director of football Begiristain, a key voice in the decision to sack Mancini 10 months ago, praises Pellegrini’s man-management skills for getting the best out of revitalised striker Edin Dzeko, one of several stars to fall out with Mancini.
And long-serving and popular kit man Les Chapman tells the programme the atmosphere among the players is ‘infinitely better’ under Pellegrini.
City granted the programme-makers unique access, with players and staff including Dzeko, Martin Demichelis, Aleksandr Kolarov, Pellegrini and Under 21s coach Patrick Vieira interviewed both at the club and going about their daily lives.
But it will be the comments of Begiristain that are of greatest interest. The Spaniard, recruited from Barcelona to deliver the football vision of City’s Abu Dhabi owners, clearly feels vindicated in the decision to bring in Pellegrini, even though the club were mocked at the time for talking about a ‘holistic approach’.
In a dig at Mancini, Begiristain said: ‘We want to play good football but we also want to be happy when we are working. Manuel Pellegrini always helps us to make things easier and make us happy. We know the kind of football we want. There are some managers in the world who can apply this philosophy.
‘He [Pellegrini] likes to play attractive and brilliant football and he played wonderful football with his three clubs in Spain.’
Begiristain hails the form of Dzeko, who has scored 21 goals this season including two in last week’s Manchester derby win at Old Trafford, as proof of Pellegrini’s magic.
‘I am seeing a different player to the one when I came in one year and five months ago,’ said Begiristain. ‘The talent was there, all the qualities were there in this player but now he has the confidence from the manager.’
Chapman says there is a better atmosphere around the whole club since Pellegrini arrived. ‘It is infinitely better this year. Players are a lot happier, the club is a lot happier,’ he said. ‘He [Pellegrini] is a very polite man. He says good morning, which is a big difference.’
Mancini won the FA Cup and Premier League at City but his success was often overshadowed by bust-ups with leading players such as Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli, Joe Hart and Dzeko. He recently claimed he built the current City team.
Despite winning the Capital One Cup and remaining firmly in the Premier League title race, Pellegrini will be expected to improve on their European record next season, according to Begiristain.
City have failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League in three attempts and were knocked out by Barcelona at the last-16 stage this year. Begiristain says: ‘We want to compete for all the trophies. We want to be there. One year you win the Premier League and in a short time we will fight for the Champions League. We are already working for next year.’
In one amusing scene, Chapman reveals how a dispute between Tevez and Sergio Aguero over a dressing-room locker led to City having to make alterations to keep them happy.
Chapman points and says; ‘This was Carlos Tevez’s [locker], then we signed Aguero and Tevez went missing so Aguero took that over. Then Tevez came back so they both wanted that one.
‘So they both shared which wasn’t practical so two sticky-out seats were built. Aguero has ended up the other end [of the room] now. It makes life easier when everyone has a seat.’
dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2592552/Manuel-Pellegrini-Manchester-City-happy-club-claims-Txiki-Begiristain-director-football-makes-sly-dig-old-boss-Roberto-Mancini.html#ixzz2xPlAPNUl