Txiki Begiristain...

[JoeMercer'sWay]

Txiki will have his fingers on the pulse of La Liga. As someone already said there are a lot of good players at poor or debt ridden clubs in La Liga who could in particular be good squad players without paying OTT in our new era of prudency. Like Michu at Swansea, would anyone object to him being a squad player? Not necessarily a first choice but someone in the rotation system. Attacking midfielder who scored 15 goals last season for Vallecano and has 6 goals in 9 for Swansea which would have been 7 in 9 if not for a tremendous Joe Hart save. Cost £2million.

Yeah, you'd pray on Falcao, but there are lads like Isco & Beñat etc. who are players we should be scouting out and buying like Bayern & Dortmund do Shaqiri & Reus etc.

 

[squirtyflower]

We've just sent the Lanson back and ordered Cristal

Let the games begin...............

Cristal's a bit girly, I hope it wasn't the premier Crüe Lanson

Lanson always gave me indigestion, this guy will only give us a good future.........I'm excited

I can stomach any dry champagne, like my women and weather, but I'd hoped we would be aiming for an 1893 Veuve Cliquot by now, before I leave this coil

 

[jollylescott]

Txiki will have his fingers on the pulse of La Liga. As someone already said there are a lot of good players at poor or debt ridden clubs in La Liga who could in particular be good squad players without paying OTT in our new era of prudency. Like Michu at Swansea, would anyone object to him being a squad player? Not necessarily a first choice but someone in the rotation system. Attacking midfielder who scored 15 goals last season for Vallecano and has 6 goals in 9 for Swansea which would have been 7 in 9 if not for a tremendous Joe Hart save. Cost £2million.

I think this is undoubtedly one of the benefits of the appointment. I think there are other Michu's running around in La Liga. I am positive we will see the benefits of this very shortly. After watching Chelsea play just then, players with speed would come in very handy!

 

[Danamy]

Cristal's a bit girly, I hope it wasn't the premier Crüe Lanson

Lanson always gave me indigestion, this guy will only give us a good future.........I'm excited

I can stomach any dry champagne, like my women and weather, but I'd hoped we would be aiming for an 1893 Veuve Cliquot by now, before I leave this coil

We'll save that to toast our new signings when Tixi does his magic

 

[S04]

I think many are in danger on here of contemplating their own navel rather than looking objectively at the two appointments made today and in August.

Firstly, I don't think the Sheikh or his advisers have any “agenda” aimed at Brian Marwood or Roberto Mancini, though I suspect that the original intention to reduce expenditure in the transfer market was theirs. It was probably modified late on because of Roberto's insistence that more players were needed but this is a sign of the strength of Roberto's position rather than its weakness. I don't think Van Persie was considered good business and I think Hazard's demands were considered unacceptable. Our owners now exactly what they are doing and they work to plan – in fact they have plans of what should be achieved in the next 6 months, a year 3 years, 5 years and so on. They do not press blithely on and then react in a state of panic. FFPR will not be something they have not thought about! Nor would they give Roberto a new 5 year contract after he had delivered the title ahead of schedule but then bring in two new executives and be dazzled by the thought that Guardiola might be brought in.

I also can't see that thay are manoeuvring to get rid of Marwood. The players he brought in seem to have done well enough – we are the champions. Nor does Marwood's position seem to have been weakened by his new job. The owners stressed, on the day they took over, the importance of youth development and they are spending the thick end of £200 million on the new training facilities. Again Brian Marwood's new job seems a sign of trust and confidence rather than a demotion.

The new appointments are, in fact, a continuation and development of existing policy rather than a palace coup or revolution. The two did excellent work at Barcelona, particularly in the fields of finance and the ethos and image of the club. Sorriano has been a target almost since the day Gary Cooke resigned and the club has shown patience in waiting for him to be free. This does not suggest any rush to sack anyone, but rather another step in a long term vision and process.

What I do fail to understand, after years of sitting watching second rate City teams yo yo between the divisions, is why, when we are enjoying success we thought had gone forever, under the best owners in the world, some supporters have to have this attitude that the club, and in particular them personally, are being betrayed by employees from within. There are always players who should be shipped out, executives who should be shown the door and managers who must get every player a group of fans want – or be shot for counter-revolution. I was used to a City which hardly ever won: now the expect a City which, not only wins all the time but gives them exactly what they want in football immediately. Those people used only to inhabit a swamp near here...

You can´t run in here being sensible..The flappers and kippers are running the show on Bluemoon and they demand instant gratification

 

[squirtyflower]

Lanson always gave me indigestion, this guy will only give us a good future.........I'm excited

I can stomach any dry champagne, like my women and weather, but I'd hoped we would be aiming for an 1893 Veuve Cliquot by now, before I leave this coil

We'll save that to toast our new signings when Tixi does his magic

I shall look forward to it

On board a yacht in the harbour off Monaco whilst awaiting our appearance as the CL winners against the Europa winners

 

[taconinja]

Txiki will have his fingers on the pulse of La Liga. As someone already said there are a lot of good players at poor or debt ridden clubs in La Liga who could in particular be good squad players without paying OTT in our new era of prudency. Like Michu at Swansea, would anyone object to him being a squad player? Not necessarily a first choice but someone in the rotation system. Attacking midfielder who scored 15 goals last season for Vallecano and has 6 goals in 9 for Swansea which would have been 7 in 9 if not for a tremendous Joe Hart save. Cost £2million.

Yeah, you'd pray on Falcao, but there are lads like Isco & Beñat etc. who are players we should be scouting out and buying like Bayern & Dortmund do Shaqiri & Reus etc.

I do find Isco an intriguing prospect.

 

[Jumanji]

Sign Benat. He's like a more mobile Alonso with better ball skills but of course worse (but still awesome) passing.

 

[Danamy]

I can stomach any dry champagne, like my women and weather, but I'd hoped we would be aiming for an 1893 Veuve Cliquot by now, before I leave this coil

We'll save that to toast our new signings when Tixi does his magic

I shall look forward to it

On board a yacht in the harbour off Monaco whilst awaiting our appearance as the CL winners against the Europa winners

I'll bring the ice!

 

[FantasyIreland]

If Manchester City's long term aims are to land Pep Guardiola and win the Champions League then it would have been impossible for them have picked anyone better suited to the job of hiring him than Txiki Begiristain.

A winner of the European Cup once as a player and twice as a sporting director, he was also the man who convinced Barcelona in 2008, when they were picking a new manager, that while candidate Jose Mourinho would bring silverware; Guardiola would deliver a golden age.

Roberto Mancini may have breathed a sigh of relief at Brian Marwood being moved to the club's academy but now not only does he have the architect of Barcelona's greatest-ever team working over him, but also the shadow of the coach he sponsored, looming large.

When Begiristain took over as sporting director at Barcelona in 2003 the club had gone four seasons without winning anything but in seven years at the helm they won 12 trophies – four league titles and two Champions Leagues as well as Barça's first-ever World Club Championship. The president of the club during that time, Joan Laporta, has described Begiristain as his best-ever signing.

When things soured under Frank Rijkaard and Mourinho applied to take over at the club he had worked at as an assistant to Bobby Robson, Begiristain took his biggest decision. Mourinho met with the vice-president Marc Ingla and the plan he laid out for the club's future convinced Ingla. But Laporta's trusted right-hand man Begiristain, also in the meeting, persuaded everyone that Guardiola was the man for the job.

To say that Begiristain called it right could be football's greatest understatement. Guardiola won everything in his first season – contesting six trophies and lifting them all with a type of game that reached its peak at the home of Barça's greatest rival – Real Madrid.

Begiristain watched that famous 6-2 win at the Bernabeu from a Madrid hotel with his family because it was his son's birthday and he did not want to take him to the stadium. It had been a Begiristain-made victory too. Six of the 11 players on the pitch had been his signings.

Asked once for balance about Begiristain's seven years at the club Guardiola joked: "Did Txiki do well? Well he signed me didn't he". The question now is "Can he sign him again?"

The two men did not part company on perfect terms in 2010 when Begiristain decided to leave with out-going president Laporta and Guardiola felt let down by his former dream team team-mate. But too many good things had happened prior to the parting for any bad feeling to last.

If Mancini wins the league this season then the decision will perhaps not have to be made but should City's new director of fooball become kingmaker, Begiristain has form for picking his former team-mate... even when Mourinho is the other option on the table

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