Txiki Begiristain

[oakiecokie]

Mancini and Cook, was a crock of shit.
For the record, I wanted Mancini out towards the end of his reign and have never had a strong opinion on Cook, so for a change you're both posting bollocks.

We`re only following suit.I`m still awaiting a reply ref my questions from last night.But hey-ho don`t worry if you`re not up to it ... you keep changing the goalposts my son.

 

[BillyShears]

If his relationship with Pep was so good then I don't think Pep would have chosen to manage Bayern for three years over us which clearly he saw as a much better proposition in terms of adding to his trophy cabinet etc.

That's three years we had a makeshift manager who wasn't the first choice of his employers to deal with and in his first season and perhaps for part of his second he managed to do ok with a side on the decline.

He finally gets his man and then proceeds to oversee another very ordinary transfer window as it turns out.

If we miss out on top four which is looking far more likely than less likely at this stage you would have to think that its Txiki's last chance saloon next summer.

I don't buy into it was solely the relationship between the Barco duo and Pep that got him hear.

Who knows he might have come earlier if we didn't have him as DOF , he wasn't DOF of Bayern when Pep was managing Bayern.

I wouldn't be surprised if Pep couldn't care less who was DOF as long as he had a working relationship with the individual and the resources needed to get the best results for the first team.

At the moment he certainly doesn't have the latter and who knows he might not have the former either.

Relationships come and go often very quickly especially in an emotional sport like football but in the end the manager rides and falls on the performance of the first team and so far Pep would not be nearly content with how its panned out and some of his disappointment would be aimed at the DOF for sure.

What a load of shit. Maybe rather than speculating listen to the words of the men in question.

"Txiki is the most important man in my life. In my career as a coach."

Yeah not that close. He would've come to us even if Woodward was running the show. FML.

 

[mancity1]

What a load of shit. Maybe rather than speculating listen to the words of the men in question.

"Txiki is the most important man in my life. In my career as a coach."

Yeah not that close. He would've come to us even if Woodward was running the show. FML.

You have as much an idea as the next person BS including me which is little or no knowledge.

He stated he wanted to manage in the premiership before he retired and we were the best fit so as I said it could be incidental.

Wait for his next book before coming to any definitive conclusions and dismissing other plausible explanations.

Fact remains and even you have stated in the past that the club wanted him to replace RM ( SORRY to bring up his name again but its relevant ) but he preferred to go elsewhere.

IMO that says his relationship isn't as close as you would allude to.

If a friend of mine says he will give me his house to sell but chooses another agent first under the guise that they probably won't sell it so I will then give to it you to sell it says that complete trust is not their.

Had MP won three titles and a Chumps League and wanted his fourth year he was contracted to the owners might have had a tough call to make BS one that certainly wouldn't have gone down well with the majority and vast majority of supporters.

Perhaps they were relieved a tad that we dropped off the pace to avoid a harder call.

BTW You have appeared to cease calling the form of the side of late BS.

Happy with 13-3-5 and fifth place with the likelihood of being 6th after this Saturday , 6 points ahead of Everton?

Its where I expected us to be so I reckon Pep has done ok without impressing much so far while most reckon he has underperformed to date.

As you say this summer will define Txiki and it is likely to define his " love child " as well.

How many of the current squad do you think can last under Pep?

 

[Bluewonder]

What a load of shit. Maybe rather than speculating listen to the words of the men in question.

"Txiki is the most important man in my life. In my career as a coach."

Yeah not that close. He would've come to us even if Woodward was running the show. FML.

If he's only here because of his relationship with the useless Director of Football then we really are up shit creek.

 

[kupest]

If he's only here because of his relationship with the useless Director of Football then we really are up shit creek.

So when a manager buys a player he likes or has worked with before it up shit creek?

 

[mancity1]

If he's only here because of his relationship with the useless Director of Football then we really are up shit creek.

Especially if he moves on or they have a falling out.

Personally I would like to think Pep is here because he wants to see what he can achieve in the Premiership and taking on the toughest challenge of his career to date.

Until he succeeds with a side that he needs to revamp to a significant degree rightly or wrongly he won't be acknowledged as highly as he would otherwise.

 

[oakiecokie]

You have as much an idea as the next person BS including me which is little or no knowledge.

He stated he wanted to manage in the premiership before he retired and we were the best fit so as I said it could be incidental.

Wait for his next book before coming to any definitive conclusions and dismissing other plausible explanations.

Fact remains and even you have stated in the past that the club wanted him to replace RM ( SORRY to bring up his name again but its relevant ) but he preferred to go elsewhere.

IMO that says his relationship isn't as close as you would allude to.

If a friend of mine says he will give me his house to sell but chooses another agent first under the guise that they probably won't sell it so I will then give to it you to sell it says that complete trust is not their.

Had MP won three titles and a Chumps League and wanted his fourth year he was contracted to the owners might have had a tough call to make BS one that certainly wouldn't have gone down well with the majority and vast majority of supporters.

Perhaps they were relieved a tad that we dropped off the pace to avoid a harder call.

BTW You have appeared to cease calling the form of the side of late BS.

Happy with 13-3-5 and fifth place with the likelihood of being 6th after this Saturday , 6 points ahead of Everton?

Its where I expected us to be so I reckon Pep has done ok without impressing much so far while most reckon he has underperformed to date.

As you say this summer will define Txiki and it is likely to define his " love child " as well.

How many of the current squad do you think can last under Pep?

Well for all we know (and I`ve taken a leaf out of your book) perhaps after that 12 month sabbatical Pep may have thought that the timing wasn`t quite right to come to England.The world and his wife always knew that Pep was destined for City,albeit maybe later than planned (sounds a bit like Messi also :)) so I don`t buy into that,that their relationship is not as close as you think.Its very strong and in any interview Pep always states that Txiki is "The Special One" for him.OK I know not the real wording but you get my drift.

 

[oakiecokie]

Especially if he moves on or they have a falling out.

Personally I would like to think Pep is here because he wants to see what he can achieve in the Premiership and taking on the toughest challenge of his career to date.

Until he succeeds with a side that he needs to revamp to a significant degree rightly or wrongly he won't be acknowledged as highly as he would otherwise.

I think that The Project was also the reasoning that brought him here,but I do agree with you ref the overall challenge in the PL,but coupled with the excitement of also seeing The Academy and the potential in some of our wonderfully talented kids,was also a big draw.

 

[supercity88]

A good post...:.

I think the thing that feels a little tainted for me is the promises of promotion of youth, again we have a saturated, unbalanced squad where no real trust is afforded the kids we have.... There has been ample opportunity for Pep to have bled a few, results have fluctuated anyway, however, the reality is we have a system that suits a more dynamic team, this ultimately means the old guard, who will always be turned to over kids, will get the nod until ushered out...

United last year uncovered 2/3 players by default who would be starting if it wasn't for the chequebook kid....

I've said this over the weekend but why can Poch be authoritative enough to throw in a few kids in his first year, mindful that results will be inconsistent?? Clearly expectations of our fanbase.

I'd sooner Pep had come in this year and displayed transition with an excuse, currently he doesn't have one other than an aging squad, something Txiki and Pep need to be accountable for!

I completely agree, puzzled as to why younger players haven’t had more opportunity.


I truly think Pep underestimated how poor we were. We’ve been inconsistent forever. I’ve said it so many times on this forum since Hughes and beyond – we’ve never managed to get to the top and stay there. Under Mancini we were excellent at home but struggled to break teams down away from home. We were good defensively but often a bit lacking in ideas up top and we got into a position where we were miles off the lead and fought back. Many call that a winning mentality, a strong mentality. It is to a degree. But a stronger mentality is to want to win every game. To not care if you’re playing West Brom or the Rags, to not care if it’s to go 3 points clear, or to close the gap to 3 points. To not let the occasion influence your performance. Either way you fight for every ball and you play the best that you can as a team and you win the game. What Chelsea have done this season, we’ve never been able to. I thought at the start of the season maybe we would finally do just that, but then we suffer a dip of form and we’re back to being inconsistent.


The fact is that whilst the management has changed, the players (particularly that core squad) have stayed the same. They’re the problem, simple as. They’re mentally weak, or lacking any true passion to win. They’ll do a lovely feature on the OS about how they can still win this and that, then they’ll turn in a dross performance full of error and lacking fight and we’ll lose a game.


What you get from younger players generally is passion to perform. With crowd support you can lift a young player to a status much above perhaps their average quality. I’ve seen it with Sane and even Sterling. A run in the team, support from the crowd and their belief rises and their confidence improves and they step up their level. Prior to Sane’s injury I thought he was looking excellent. Disciplined, quick, and full of trickery. In the cameos I’ve seen of Aleix Garcia he looks like a Pep player without doubt. Assured on the ball, aware of those around him with a natural level of comfort with the ball at his feet and a range of passing. He’ll make the odd error but so are the older players with little to no future with us.


In the summer I expect most of the older members of our squad to be allowed to go. I can’t see many staying other than Yaya perhaps for a season. I’d want to see 4-5 academy players promoted into the squad and depending on age etc put in our CL squad. Sane is evidence that the gap isn’t huge between youth football and first team if you let them step up the levels naturally. It’s all confidence. We can buy two quality established full backs but have their backup as Maffeo and another academy player whether Angelino or someone else. With Nacho, Jesus, Sterling, De Bruyne, Aguero, Silva, Nolito we don’t need too much more further forward. But I’d be trying to identify that target man. Pep’s sensible and as much as he wants us to play a style he’ll know having a player like Lewandowski is so important. We have little presence in the box, no height and no one to hold the ball up. Sometimes you need someone and you’ve got to play more direct with runners off them. Crouch, Fellaini, Ibra, Lukaku, Kane – all involved in goals over the weekend and you can add Costa over the season. Giroud for Arsenal too. When it’s all a bit slow and the probing football Silva likes to play doesn’t work, get it wide, cross it and have someone on the end of it. De Bruyne is excellent at that sort of ball but we’ve no one that can challenge aerially for the ball in open play.

If we promote several younger players the whole club will get a lift. The academy will have a true purpose, the lads that are down the age groups think "I can get into that squad in a few years if I work hard" and there will be a new feel to the squad, a new era. It's what Pep needs. Hart, Kompany, Zabba, Yaya, Silva, Aguero. The players that have helped us win things over previous seasons. But also the players that perhaps are weighing over the squad now? It's time to freshen things up.

 

[creditunionhero]

If a young player is good enough they would get in the team. Name a young player that has come through and established themselves as first team quality in the last 3 years?
Iheanacho hasn't yet done it and no other has got close.