Sport is reporting that Bassat will bring on Pep Guardiola as Sporting Director if elected president. http://www.sport.es/Barsa/article.asp?id=64817 There aren't many specifics in that article, but I think this would potentially be a great move. FCB needs to start making their 'heroes' more visible, instead of discarding them like old newsprint (or selling them off). Why not start with a guy who knows the league AND the Barca system from the academy on up? jc
Well it seems it would be a good move, Pep is a smart guy. Valdano is very smart and has proved to be an able director for Real Madrid, perhaps Guardiola would do the same for Barça. On the other hand, let's hope it doesn't blow up like Jordan and the Wizards...
I like this idea very much. I remember reading a Stoichkov interview a while back ,and his main complaint was the people running the show were not football people. They didn't understand the players etc... YOu have Pep as Sporting Director, and then next year after Antic is done carataking, you bring in Koeman... Chris
I would love to have Pep back. What is beginning to worry me though is that we will see a repeat of what happened with the last madrid election where Perez promised to bring in Figo and won. I have already read that one of the candidates (forget which one) has said he will bring Kezmen (from the dutch league) to Barca if he wins. I suppose this stuff goes on all the time, but since this is a wide open race it could escalate out of control pretty quickly.
Make it happen. It really makes you wonder what the hell happened between Pep and Gaspart that made him so "ready for a new challenge" the season after Gaspart took over. Whether Bassat wins or not, the next president should bring Guardiola back to finish his career and then appoint him sporting director. It would be a logical and symbolic step in cleansing the public's palate of Gaspart's numerous blunders. Man, that guy is infuriating.
Then why not Alexanco? He's a former player and has been ever since with Barça! I'd be happy to see Pep back and Rivaldo and... but isnt that a little bit utopic? I mean yeah they're good players but maybe its time to move on! Pep wants to remain as a Brescia player, actually next season they will stay in Serie A (they beat Milan today) we have to realize Barça mistreats the players (even those who gave glory to the club) and then its completely understandable that they feel bad about it, I wont understand how Pep left the club for the backstage door because he was a rol model (since he was 13!!!) the same goes for Sergi and Pitu Abelardo. I'm with chrisc though, I'd like to see Guardiola to end his carreer in a blaugrana jersey and see him become the Supermanager Barça needs!
Wasnt Pep pushed out of the club because Xavi was showing a great deal of promise as a youngster? We have already tried to have the lifelong club member as manager in Charly Rexach.
No Mike, Charly was some sort of technical advisor (Im not sure if it was as Secretary) we are talking about somebody like Futre or Valdano in Atleti or Real respectively. Regarding Pep's exit I dont recall Xavi as threat for him (they even played together) the same could be said about Xavi and Iniesta and nobody foresees and early exit for Xavi.
He'll take it!!! Guardiola quiere volver al Barça. Y por ese motivo ha decidido aceptar la oferta que le ha realizado el precandidato Lluís Bassat para convertirse en el director deportivo del club blaugrana si el publicitario gana las elecciones presidenciales del próximo 15 de junio. http://www.sport.es/Especial/elecciones/article.asp?id=65242
Is Bassat even considered the leading candidate at this point? What exactly does a "sporting director" do and what would he be in charge of? I want to bring a word of caution also. The Madrid (not Atletico) model has been successful in many ways and I'll be the first one to say Real's management troika of Perez, Valdano, del Bosque are all smart focused people. You wonder tho, at some point, will Perez' 'Zidanes and Pavons' model of club management backfire? While its not necessarily fair to point to just one result, RM didn't have Makele available and all of a sudden, Juve over-runs them? (and thank you Mr Disappear in Big Matches Figo!). But, you can't just move the model to Barca without all the right people. What perspective does Pep have of how to run an academy and a B team? Its one thing to run a club awash in cash and debt-free, another to be there when its 60 million euros in debt. He might be a great Sporting Director, I just want to ask some questions before we annoint Pep savior of Barca. Tony
I'll only answer two questions: 1- Yes 2- Im not sure about all the responsabilities but it's exactly the same rol Paulo Futre (now Toni Muñoz) and Valdano played in Atletico and Real respectively, taker care of everything, the season, signings, wages, budgets, coachs, youth academies, training fields, etc, etc
Lluis Bassat should have been elected back in 2000. It's our great misfortune that he wasn't elected and that Joan Gaspart was elected. Bassat would have been able to cope with the competition brought about by Florentino Perez. However, better now than never. Bassat's great asset is that he's a businessman. We don't need any more cules or socios running the show because when you need to make huge decisions on behalf of a club whose motto is "som mes que un club" you have to do it with a business-like ruthlessness. Perez has shown us that. Bassat is the best solution for the club and I think that he will succeed Gaspart as the new president of Barcelona. Then Barcelona will have an infusion of "seny" which has been missing these last four years.
I agree about Bassat in the past, right now I'm not sure, I dont know enough the other candidates but they are offering way more things than Bassat and its sad but true, promises gets votes.
El Mundo said Bassat has won the 'pole position' (strange analogy) for the elections. And as Almogavar put it, passion and heart are great on the pitch but not always so good in the boardroom. To address Tony's good questions, I would point out the one thing Valdano had that Pep doesn't is managerial experience. And you would have to assume that Pep would be choosing the manager, or at least having a large role in that decision. Lack of direct experience might be a hindrance for him. But one thing I can almost assure you that wouldn't have happened under his watch: letting a disgruntled former teammate named Figo switch to the white shirt and letting Rivo walk for free. (Thank you Mr. Gaspart. duh.) I don't think any one person can restore Barça to to great heights, but we can't forget what a colossal bonehead Gaspart was the last couple of years. The odds of that duplicating itself with Bassat would be highly unlikely.
Preliminary count: Lluís Bassat 9.894 Jaume Llauradó 6.057 Joan Laporta 5.725 Josep Martínez-Rovira 2.857 Josep M Minguella 2.286 Jordi Majó 1.852 Jordi Casas 1.380 Jordi Medina 890