Txiki Begiristain...

[sam-caddick]

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

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/could-trusted-friend-lure-guardiola-to-the-etihad-8229963.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foot ... 29963.html</a>

I said in another thread that the next 6-12 months are going to be so interesting to see how the relationship between Txiki Begiristain and Mancini pans out.

Txiki Begiristain has been hired as a director of football, a position very rearely found in English football and a position that has a lot of power over most personnel in the club. Directors of football have visions for where their team is to go, they pretty much decide most if not all the players who will be signed to create this vision and they also decide who will be sold if they beleive do not fit their vision.

You have to have a manager that is willing to work alongside such a powerful position and most of all be dictated to! Do you really think Mancini is going to enjoy any of this? Roberto Martinez reportedly declined the Liverpool job in the Summer as he did not want to be dictated to by a director of football, a position Liverpool are looking to fill.

Mancini's power will diminish even more now Txiki Begiristain has the role of DOF, you have to have the right combination of DOA and manager to make the whole thing work, otherwise it will be just a nightmare. Like I said, the next year or so will be very interesting to see how relationships and power will pan out at the club.

 

[cordonbleu]

If, as it seems with this appoinment, we are determined to replicate the Barcelona model over the coming years, rather than parachuting Guardiola in to the job I'd be more inclined to believe that we may try to promote from within should the time comes when Mancini is to move on. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Vieira is pinpointed to be our 'Pep' and given the opportunities over the coming months/years to expand his coaching experience in readiness for the first team role. With the managers he's played under (Capello, Wenger, Mourinho, Mancini,) if anyone has had suitable rolemodels for where we wish to go then it's him, and his current role should have given him the ideal grasp of the ethos of the club both in terms of it's past and it's future. At Barcelona these guys traded on 'identity' and I can see a similar approach being what we are looking for here.

It would surprise me greatly.
Vieira has been an EPL man, hardly appropriate to be in charge of tiki taka football.<br /><br />-- Mon Oct 29, 2012 1:02 am --<br /><br />

Guardiola was the one that let yaya go, might be curtains for him IF Pep does come and more importantly for our fuckin chant!
From an interview i read on Ballagues site, it sounds like he put Barcas success on Ronaldinho being the number 10 to allow them to get in the best players so he might be looking for that level of superstar. Cant think of many, Neymar maybe?

Guardiola was very vocal that he didn't want Yaya to go. Yaya wanted out to play football

That may have been the case, but Guardiola was the one that took yaya out for basquets in the first place so there must be something he doesnt fancy since basquets is a cock.

This is correct. Pep did not think Yaya was suited to follow/execute his philosophy.

 

[Mr. Aguia]

Ill leave the WUMs and fantasists to their own world but as PB and others will be able to tell you, Mancini is here for at least two years.

If we sack Mancini, we fail FFP. It's that simple.

For the record, if we signed Hazard and RVP, we fail FFP.

The margins are this close. Marwood wasn't at fault for this past transfer window directly, FFP was.

I'm no fan of Marwood for reasons relating to the technical aspects of the club but his transfer performance last year was a consequence of the wages given and transfers done in the previous three years. The argument about transfers should be considering we had a change of manager and had to force through four pay grades in a short period.

So what you are saying is that those who are hoping for 1 or 2 marquee signings in Jan will are going to be dissapointed? Falcao etc

I don't think they are going to sell Falcao in Jan. They are having a great season battling for first place. Barca isn't as strong this year so they have a chance though not a great one maybe but still a chance to win the title. How many chances are they going to have to do that? Even if they don't win they should get a champions league spot for next year and without him they could lose that. They keep him and sell him in the summer they get the money for the CL plus his transfer fee.

I'm thrilled about this appointment. Not a fan of what Marwood's done and to have someone with his track record to stabilize the club is exactly what we need. I was really disappointed with the summer transfer window signings. We have a very bloated roster that needs trimming and we desperately lack speed overall and ball skill in the back 6.

 

[Dribble]

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

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/could-trusted-friend-lure-guardiola-to-the-etihad-8229963.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foot ... 29963.html</a>

I said in another thread that the next 6-12 months are going to be so interesting to see how the relationship between Txiki Begiristain and Mancini pans out.

Txiki Begiristain has been hired as a director of football, a position very rearely found in English football and a position that has a lot of power over most personnel in the club. Directors of football have visions for where their team is to go, they pretty much decide most if not all the players who will be signed to create this vision and they also decide who will be sold if they beleive do not fit their vision.

You have to have a manager that is willing to work alongside such a powerful position and most of all be dictated to! Do you really think Mancini is going to enjoy any of this? Roberto Martinez reporely declined the Liverpool job in the Summer as he did not want to be dictated to by a director of football, a position Liverpool are looking to fill.

Mancini's power will diminish even more now Txiki Begiristain has the role of DOF, you h t have the right combination of DOA and manager to make the whole thing work, otherwise it will be just anightmare. Like I said, the next year or so will be very interesting to see how relationships and ower will pan out at the club.

Mancini has been used to working with a DOF all his managerial career, where Mancini clearly had a problem with Marwood is because of his lack of nous at the top end of football.

This is the first transfer window where we were expected to box clever financially & as has been pointed out on numerous occasions the general feeling is that (Nastasic apart) we've failed miserably. I watched 3 players today who should have been at City, RVP, Hazard & Mata. We spent £50m in the final days of the summer window on players who were the same or worse than we've already got. If FFP was going to be such a major factor this summer, I'd have rather us have just pushed the boat out & got RVP, Hazard & Nastasic & called it quits there. From what I can see, the abject failure of the last transfer window has to be laid squarely at the feet of Marwood, a man with no track record in football management or administration.

Hopefully our new DOF will appreciate the quality of player we require, we need Hazards not Sinclairs if we are to progress. It wouldn't surprise me if this new appointment was the diplomatic beginning of the end for Marwood. I can foresee a situation that within a couple of years, he'll be quietly reshuffled out of the football frontline at Manchester City into a position where he can have no effect on the football side of things.

 

[Chi-town blues]

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

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/could-trusted-friend-lure-guardiola-to-the-etihad-8229963.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foot ... 29963.html</a>

I said in another thread that the next 6-12 months are going to be so interesting to see how the relationship between Txiki Begiristain and Mancini pans out.

Txiki Begiristain has been hired as a director of football, a position very rearely found in English football and a position that has a lot of power over most personnel in the club. Directors of football have visions for where their team is to go, they pretty much decide most if not all the players who will be signed to create this vision and they also decide who will be sold if they beleive do not fit their vision.

You have to have a manager that is willing to work alongside such a powerful position and most of all be dictated to! Do you really think Mancini is going to enjoy any of this? Roberto Martinez reporely declined the Liverpool job in the Summer as he did not want to be dictated to by a director of football, a position Liverpool are looking to fill.

Mancini's power will diminish even more now Txiki Begiristain has the role of DOF, you h t have the right combination of DOA and manager to make the whole thing work, otherwise it will be just anightmare. Like I said, the next year or so will be very interesting to see how relationships and ower will pan out at the club.

Mancini has been used to working with a DOF all his managerial career, where Mancini clearly had a problem with Marwood is because of his lack of nous at the top end of football.

This is the first transfer window where we were expected to box clever financially & as has been pointed out on numerous occasions the general feeling is that (Nastasic apart) we've failed miserably. I watched 3 players today who should have been at City, RVP, Hazard & Mata. We spent £50m in the final days of the summer window on players who were the same or worse than we've already got. If FFP was going to be such a major factor this summer, I'd have rather us have just pushed the boat out & got RVP, Hazard & Nastasic & called it quits there. From what I can see, the abject failure of the last transfer window has to be laid squarely at the feet of Marwood, a man with no track record in football management or administration.

Hopefully our new DOF will appreciate the quality of player we require, we need Hazards not Sinclairs if we are to progress. It wouldn't surprise me if this new appointment was the diplomatic beginning of the end for Marwood. I can foresee a situation that within a couple of years, he'll be quietly reshuffled out of the football frontline at Manchester City into a position where he can have no effect on the football side of things.

Top post

 

[bluecityboy]

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

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/could-trusted-friend-lure-guardiola-to-the-etihad-8229963.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foot ... 29963.html</a>

I said in another thread that the next 6-12 months are going to be so interesting to see how the relationship between Txiki Begiristain and Mancini pans out.

Txiki Begiristain has been hired as a director of football, a position very rearely found in English football and a position that has a lot of power over most personnel in the club. Directors of football have visions for where their team is to go, they pretty much decide most if not all the players who will be signed to create this vision and they also decide who will be sold if they beleive do not fit their vision.

You have to have a manager that is willing to work alongside such a powerful position and most of all be dictated to! Do you really think Mancini is going to enjoy any of this? Roberto Martinez reporely declined the Liverpool job in the Summer as he did not want to be dictated to by a director of football, a position Liverpool are looking to fill.

Mancini's power will diminish even more now Txiki Begiristain has the role of DOF, you h t have the right combination of DOA and manager to make the whole thing work, otherwise it will be just anightmare. Like I said, the next year or so will be very interesting to see how relationships and ower will pan out at the club.

Mancini has been used to working with a DOF all his managerial career, where Mancini clearly had a problem with Marwood is because of his lack of nous at the top end of football.

This is the first transfer window where we were expected to box clever financially & as has been pointed out on numerous occasions the general feeling is that (Nastasic apart) we've failed miserably. I watched 3 players today who should have been at City, RVP, Hazard & Mata. We spent £50m in the final days of the summer window on players who were the same or worse than we've already got. If FFP was going to be such a major factor this summer, I'd have rather us have just pushed the boat out & got RVP, Hazard & Nastasic & called it quits there. From what I can see, the abject failure of the last transfer window has to be laid squarely at the feet of Marwood, a man with no track record in football management or administration.

Hopefully our new DOF will appreciate the quality of player we require, we need Hazards not Sinclairs if we are to progress. It wouldn't surprise me if this new appointment was the diplomatic beginning of the end for Marwood. I can foresee a situation that within a couple of years, he'll be quietly reshuffled out of the football frontline at Manchester City into a position where he can have no effect on the football side of things.

Except we'd be lacking in midfield with the departure of NDJ.

 

[bobmcfc]

Marwood v Mancini

And Mancini wins according to an article in the S*n. apparently Marwood has been bumped over to the academy and Mancini will now work directly with the man from barca who has a name I can't yet spell

Apologies if already posted but they love making. controversy don't they


<a class="postlink" href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4614766/Roberto-Mancini-wins-power-battle-with-Brian-Marwood.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sp ... rwood.html</a>

 

[Shands]

If, as it seems with this appoinment, we are determined to replicate the Barcelona model over the coming years, rather than parachuting Guardiola in to the job I'd be more inclined to believe that we may try to promote from within should the time comes when Mancini is to move on. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Vieira is pinpointed to be our 'Pep' and given the opportunities over the coming months/years to expand his coaching experience in readiness for the first team role. With the managers he's played under (Capello, Wenger, Mourinho, Mancini,) if anyone has had suitable rolemodels for where we wish to go then it's him, and his current role should have given him the ideal grasp of the ethos of the club both in terms of it's past and it's future. At Barcelona these guys traded on 'identity' and I can see a similar approach being what we are looking for here.

It would surprise me greatly.
Vieira has been an EPL man, hardly appropriate to be in charge of tiki taka football.

I was looking at it from the point of the club ethos, rather than literally mimicking Barca on field. Promoting from within would be about encouraging continuity and having someone familiar with, and to, the existing players, coaching methods and style of play Mancini and his team had already put in place; a style which hopefully with the focus on improvement to the academy will trickle down through all levels at the club as it does at Ajax and Barca. On your other point I would have thought that Vieira having spent the vast chunk of his playing career in the league he would be coaching in would work to his advantage surely? That those years were spent under the influence of Wenger would suggest he’s no stranger to the subtleties of a passing game and his three spells in Italy should have benefitted him tactically. Obviously I’m only speculating, but were it to happen it wouldn’t come as a complete shock to me and I think it could be a positive move.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Re: Marwood v Mancini

He's won by getting a bloke who had no power to sack him replaced by a bloke who has the power to sack him ?

That's a bit like Utd's Community Shield kind of victory.

 

[jimharri]

Re: Marwood v Mancini

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