Txiki Begiristain

[Rolee]

I agree garcia was very effective to bring on and steady the ship,Fernado was not an upgrade imo.

He wasn't a downgrade either though was he? Garcia wanted out, we needed to replace him and we did, simple.

 

[Bluearmy]

I think Txixi has done some good. Gabriel Jesus is a great signing on paper and a strong statement. Can't really remember a top top Brazilian coming here before, certainly at such a young age. Possibly Juninho, but not sure he was ever regarded in the Ronaldo, Romario, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo class. So no doubt deserves credit there. But still could not work out, it's a possibility.

As others have said, whether you personally rate them, the likes of Sterling, Sane, KDB, Stones etc are the right kind of signings the club should be looking for. Now there's certainly been some less than successful signings. Mangala being the stand out disaster..... but that's the nature of signings, some don't work out.

A certain Sir Bacon Face had around 100 signings in his time just outside of Manchester. Of those, around 2/3's are considered as failures. And he's one of the most successful at it. So it's a minefield and very easy to be so judgemental after the event. However, I do agree the defence has been mismanaged. The full backs especially. That needs fixing first and shouldn't have been let to get to this stage. For that he deserves some stick.....

 

[BlueAnorak]

I agree garcia was very effective to bring on and steady the ship,Fernado was not an upgrade imo.

If he consistently plays like he did yesterday he will be a very good signing.
He's always been a good stopper but he has a history of doing eff all with the ball when he wins it - holding on to the ball for a long while before passing it sideways or backwards or allowing the opposition to retreat into a solid defensive formation.
So IMO not good enough.
He briefly flickered as somthing other than a stopper in the 1-3 Boxing day win against WBA in 2014 but generally he's been a serious weak link.
Yesterday he was brilliant. IMO, the fourth best player on the pitch after YaYa, Silva and KDB.
More please Fernando. I desperately want to be proved wrong.

 

[Mr Partridge]

Every team needs a Fernando, unspectacular but solid..Puts himself about and keeps the play ticking over... Good signing

Exactly, he gets a lot of stick but Fernando is the kind of player who will never and should never start every game...but without players like him in your squad you win nothing.

 

[chedinho]

Think it was £12 million actually. And he hasn't exactly ripped up any trees. He is pretty average footballer. If you want to claim that as a shrewd investment and good business from the Txicki, then I think it just shows how bad some of his other signings have been.

Are you not dissapointed that our defence has not been sorted out given the money we have spent?

thought it was a lot more than £12 mill, so hes even more of a bargain than i realised.
Dinho is the main man, but when hes not playing, we have a reliable back up. does exactly what hes told and isn't sat behind the scenes whinging about not getting a game.
I'm not sure i know what you want him to do,he wins the ball and passes it,he runs the length and breadth of the pitch,mopping up, when we lose the ball and the ball players lend him the ball to create better angles for themselves.job done.

 

[balotelli's back pocket]

Why is it txikis job to negotiate transfers? Surely that is done by a team of financial suits as well as txiki, pep, khaldoon...

 

[grim up north]

Preaching to the choir mate, we've made some good signings, but;

- He's let this squad age
- Forgot about the defence, I mean how many wingers do we need ffs
- Removed most of the physicality from the side
- Paid huge sums of money for players who one day might be good instead of going and getting ready made players (don't mind this but there should have been more effort to sign "Pep players" for the here and now then invested in youth once Pep had settled)
- Bought players with poor injury records
- A terrible salesman, mr loan with option to buy.

You don't half post some Shiite

 

[The-Dogs-Pollocks]

Alter

Exactly, he gets a lot of stick but Fernando is the kind of player who will never and should never start every game...but without players like him in your squad you win nothing.

Alternatively having too many average squad players makes it much harder for any youth team players to get a chance. Also I dont think 12mil is particularly cheap. I suppose its all down to your perception.

I think Txkici's transfer record is pretty dire:

Ottamendi 34mil
Mangala 42mil
Stones 47 mil

So £120 million on three centre halves that have not really improved our defence. Yes John Stones has a lot of potential, but is currently dropped.

 

[The-Dogs-Pollocks]

Preaching to the choir mate, we've made some good signings, but;

- He's let this squad age
- Forgot about the defence, I mean how many wingers do we need ffs
- Removed most of the physicality from the side
- Paid huge sums of money for players who one day might be good instead of going and getting ready made players (don't mind this but there should have been more effort to sign "Pep players" for the here and now then invested in youth once Pep had settled)
- Bought players with poor injury records
- A terrible salesman, mr loan with option to buy.

Yep, thats pretty much what I think as well.

 

[cookster]

hmmmmm

I expected a lot more for 12 million.

Even thought Garcia was better especially towards the end of the title winning season.

Agree with this, Garcia had just about found his feet in English football and started to perform well, then we sold him and downgraded to Fernando.