Monday's B*l**x

[Chinners]

THE BOLLOX
Meet Txiki Begiristain, Manchester City's new man and Guardiola's mentorManchester City's new director of football is the man credited with bringing Pep Guardiola to Barcelona; the question everyone wants to know is: will he bring him to Eastlands?
Two down, one to go? No sooner had Txiki Begiristain been confirmed as Manchester City's director of football than the inevitable question began to be asked and once they started they did not stop. Begiristain's statement said he was looking forward to working with Roberto Mancini, which it had to say of course, but it seemed everybody wanted to know the same thing: does this mean Pep Guardiola is coming too?
Aitor 'Txiki' Begiristain was the sporting director who turned to Pep Guardiola when Barcelona sacked Frank Rijkaard at the end of the 2008 season. He travelled to see José Mourinho and decided the Portuguese was too much of a fire-starter to entrust with the job. The decision seems logical now: Guardiola became the most successful coach in Barcelona's history, winning a treble in his first season. At the time the decision was a brave and risky one.
Now everyone wants Guardiola; back then, few did. Begiristain was one of them. Guardiola won the European Cup. Rijkaard, the first coach to work under Begiristain, had won one too. Joan Laporta, the Barcelona president, once said: "Bringing in Txiki was the best decision I ever made." Under him, Barcelona won two European Cups and five league titles in seven years. When he came in with Laporta in 2003, Barcelona had gone four years without a trophy and were lurching from crisis to crisis.
Yet Barcelona had begun a slide under Rijkaard and even before the 2007-08 season was finished Begiristain had determined a change was needed, even as some on the board resisted. The decision may even have come late, but it did finally come. Begiristain said Rijkaard had lost control of the dressing room. There was, though, no guarantee that Guardiola would wrest it back again, still less that he would prove successful. He had only been a coach for one season: with Barcelona B.
But Begiristain had faith in Guardiola. He formed part of the Johan Cruyff-led dream team alongside Guardiola that won the 1992 European Cup and they shared an approach. Cruyff was Laporta's mentor; Begiristain was Cruyff's suggestion.
Begiristain is a Basque who had been signed from Real Sociedad and claims to have learnt Catalan sitting in Barcelona's traffic jams, repeating everything he heard on the radio. Funny, chatty, likeable and smart, Cruyff described him as a "clever" player. So clever, Cruyff's No2 Charly Rexach claimed, that in the pouring rain and mud of Atoxa, he'd leave the pitch with hardly a stain on him.
As sporting director he insisted on the need for style and substance. Full-backs had to be attacking and at least one of the central defenders must be capable of bringing the ball out from the back – of being a player as well as a protector. Although there were question marks about some of his signings - Maxi López and Alexandr Hleb among them – the decision to go for Guardiola has huge symbolic significance. It would have been easier to chose Mourinho. Indeed, as Graham Hunter explains in his book Barça, Guardiola himself told him just that.
Begiristain had travelled to Lisbon with two directors, Marc Ingla and Ferran Soriano, to see Mourinho. The presentation was impressive but Begiristain, Soriano and Ingla were not keen; there was something about his personality that did not fit. They would win, sure, but it was not enough simply to win. Guardiola was not just the right manager, he was the right man. When they returned, the message was unanimous: it has got to be Guardiola. Soriano and Begiristain went to get him.
Soriano left Barcelona in 2008, Begiristain two years later and Guardiola last summer. Soriano and Begiristain have since arrived at Manchester City. Guardiola is in New York on a sabbatical, mulling over his next move.
MCF.net thread: viewtopic.php?f=119&t=44304

Kompany denies mutiny claims
Rumours emerged on Saturday claiming several City players, including Micah Richards, are unhappy with the constant changes in formation made by manager Roberto Mancini.
The Premier League champions did, however, manage to close the gap at the top of the standings to one point following their 1-0 victory over Swansea.
After the weekend's game, Kompany was quick to dispel any rumours of unrest at Eastlands.
When asked about potential mutiny on the City bow, he said: "That's funny. I don't like to get involved in this but sometimes I do.
"I never have a problem with performances being down or up. People have the right to have opinions on performances, but the stories are based on things I cannot even relate to, and I am in this team.
"I started my career to play football and be the best footballer. I expect journalists to tell the truth and do the job for that.
"That is just sensationalism, nothing more."

Florent Malouda's hopes of ending his Chelsea stay have suffered a setback after Santos distanced themselves from a move for the 32-year-old French winger. Metro

Goalkeeper David de Gea, 21, insists he is happy at Manchester United and is not looking to return to Spanish football, despite reported interest from Real Madrid. skysports.com

Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool all had scouts watching Genoa full-back Mario Sampirisi, 19, against AC Milan on Saturday. DSSC

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is interested in signing Paris Saint-Germain's Uruguayan defender Diego Lugano, 31. caughtoffside.com

Queens Park Rangers manager Mark Hughes is facing a seven-day battle to keep his job and could be sacked if he cannot win next weekend's home match against Reading. DSSC

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce claims striker Andy Carroll, 23, still needs more protection from referees. Daily Mirror

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has urged Roy Hodgson not to pick fit-again Jack Wilshere, 20, for England's friendly against Sweden next month. Daily Mirror

more bollox later ....

[Ted Hughes]

Thanks Chinners.

Those Cheeky Buggerstain stories will run & run but it will be worth it to have a director of football of such quality.

Nice positive report on the game from Stuart Brennan here, just to give credit where it is due:

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchesterevening ... -swansea-0

[Dronny]

No luck with that link Red, anyone else similarly hampered?

[Dronny]

<null>

Fuck, sorry Ted......bloody iPhone buttons

[Dronny]

No luck with that link Red, anyone else similarly hampered?

Sorry, I meant Ted, bloody iPhone buttons

[Dronny]

Shut the fuck up, you're embarrassing yourself

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Thanks Chinners.

Those Cheeky Buggerstain stories will run & run but it will be worth it to have a director of football of such quality.

Nice positive report on the game from Stuart Brennan here, just to give credit where it is due:

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchesterevening ... -swansea-0

Ever get the feeling that that balanced report had something to do with the exchange of views on here?

[Original Dub]

Shut the fuck up, you're embarrassing yourself

Pmsl

[Duckman]

Thanks Chinners.

Those Cheeky Buggerstain stories will run & run but it will be worth it to have a director of football of such quality.

Nice positive report on the game from Stuart Brennan here, just to give credit where it is due:

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchesterevening ... -swansea-0

His lurking around here and the tone of this report is a bit suspicious ;)

[bobby brows]

I remember when Guardiola turned down the chance to play for us! I think he went to Qatar instead

[Ted Hughes]

Ever get the feeling that that balanced report had something to do with the exchange of views on here?

Surely not ?

Stuart Mathieson seems to have given a few rags low marks too. Perhaps he's a lurker ?

Here it is for the linkularly challenged:


Manchester City 1 Swansea 0: Stuart Brennan's match verdict

Stuart Brennan

October 29, 2012


Imagine how good City would be if they weren’t spending all their time lurching from crisis to crisis!

Two seasons ago, we were told by some sections of the media, the Blues were a team riven by strife, little more than a Fight Club who squeezed in the odd game of football at the weekend.

They were a collection of mercenaries, collecting their big pay cheques and nosing out the next big-money move.

They won the FA Cup that year, beating United in the semi-final, a game where character and team unity shone through.

Last season, it was said City were once more falling apart at the seams, moaning about the manager, one player swanning off to Argentina on a whim, another getting up to exploits which entered the realms of fantasy.

They won the Premier League, beating United 6-1 on their own patch, and showing all the grit and professionalism of champions.

Now, here we are, with the chill winds of November already howling down the Ashton Canal, and City are unbeaten in the league and tucked in neatly behind leaders Chelsea.

And yet the picture being painted is of a club in mutiny. The Jolly Roger has been hoisted above Carrington, and rebellious players are dashing about, cutlasses in their teeth, apparently.



No-one would suggest that all is smiles and back-slaps in the City camp. No workplace on the planet is without its grumbles and its grouses, and the methods of every boss are questioned by his underlings, especially when they have just suffered a damaging defeat.

The truth is that Roberto Mancini would not win many popularity contests among his staff, playing or otherwise. But he is not there to be popular, he is there to win, and no-one can argue with his track record.

There are issues to be addressed, but that will happen, and City’s stars are too professional to dissolve into a state of anarchy.

They have also now won four on the bounce in the league, keeping clean sheets in two of those games, without hitting the heights of form which they attained last season.

Champions win when they look like losing, they find a way to emerge triumphant from trauma.

That is exactly what City did on Saturday, and rather than dwell on the flatness of their performance, people should be recognising and respecting the strength of their will, and the sheer bloody-mindedness – not to mention flash of quality – which eked out three important points.

It was far from being an impressive display. But haven’t we been told down the years that winning when you are not playing well is the great teams?

Chelsea have been the form team in the early stages of the Premier League and you get the feeling that United have not got much room for improvement.

City, on the other hand, are playing well within themselves. It has cost them in the Champions League, although the bare facts are that three wins in their remaining games would see them qualify.

Two of those games are at home, and the Blues showed just how hard that might be for Ajax and Real Madrid, by extending their unbeaten run to 34 games with the win over Swansea. Only three of those games have been draws, a powerful illustration of how formidable the Blues are On their own turf.

In other words, Saturday’s win was encouraging, rather than dispiriting. The defence, which has stopped leaking goals – domestically, at least – was not entirely convincing, the midfield sorely missed the sparkle of injured David Silva and the driving force of below-par Yaya Toure, and up front Sergio Aguero had one of those days when the ball bounced off him and his shooting was mistimed.

Swansea were well-organised, ambitious and showed the kind of flair which they brought to the Etihad Stadium on the opening day of last season. That day they ended up crushed, but certainly did not deserve to lose 4-0.

This time, they could easily have shocked the Blues. Their bargain buy Michu – just £2.5m from Rayo Vallecano – was ­brilliantly denied by Joe Hart in the first half, the goalkeeper straining every sinew to make himself big in a desperate one-on-one situation. Hart also got in the way of Michu’s header in the second half, with the game still goalless, just when City were taking control.

The first half had been listless and uninspired from City, Mancini curiously saying they were still tired from the Ajax game three days earlier.

After the criticism of his tactical changes in Amsterdam, Mancini was brave to employ Aleks Kolarov as a left-sided midfielder, and one who was given licence to drift inside, and even swapped with Samir Nasri to become a right winger for a long spell.

Perhaps the ‘ankle knock’ which forced him off at half time was a blessing, because it was not working.

City became un-tired in the 15-minute half time break, Mario Balotelli replaced Kolarov, Carlos Tevez converted to a busy, influential midfielder, and the Blues looked much more like it.

Balotelli, so often the scapegoat, should take credit for his energetic display, but it was Tevez’s attitude which infused the team.

Gael Clichy stepped in just as an attack was breaking down, and dashed at the heart of the Swans defence, at pace. Tevez dropped into space, but it seemed he was too deep, especially as he had to work the ball out from under his feet and was being closed down.

Then the ball exploded from his right boot, 25 yards out, and flashed past Michel Vorm, and the Blues were ahead.

There was still some torment to endure as injuries to Vorm and Micah Richards brought a staggering 12 minutes of added time. That made this the longest Premier League game in history, just as City truly were running out of steam, and Swansea were mounting attacks.

It called for stout hearts, on and off the field, and it got them. At the end of the season, this will be just another chalk mark in the wins column of the league table.

Nice work Stuart. Have one of Carl's Jaffa cakes.