Barcelona's New coach... Gerrado Who?

Barcelona have appointed Gerardo Daniel 'Tata' Martino as their new manager on a 3 year contract.. Gerard who?

The Catalans have been up and down the place for a new coach since the resignation of ailing Tito Vilanova.. We know Barcelona have their specs, from experience we knew they wont go for any top gun, we knew they will stoop low when they began the ultimate search for that one person that will fill in the Tiki Taka shoes left by our ailing friend Tito Vilanova (Amigos Tito).. but what we never thought in our wildest dreams was them going all the way to South America to employ a man that has never managed a team outside the American shores.. In fact the only time he ever stepped into European soil was when he had a barren spell in Tenerife 22 years ago.



A Host of coaches had been linked to the vacant position, including former Barcelona B boss Luis Enrique, Andre Villas-Boas, Marcelo Bielsa, Michael Laudrup, Rubi and most recently Guus Hiddink, who on Monday resigned as coach of Anzhi Makhachkala... But as the word says: 'The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong... but time and chance happen to them all'.. C'est la vie

The Argentine manager has been a local champion all his life.. As a player He holds the record of appearances with Newell's old boys playing a total of 505 matches in all official competitions, He was also selected in a fan's poll as Newell's best player throughout the club's history, He won the Argentine Primera División three times, As a coach he won the Paraguayan Primera División four times, he was named 2007 South American Coach of the year after leading Paraguay to the 2nd round of the 2010 FIFA world cup.

So how did Zubizareta and his goons get to find out about this South American Cult Hero, well the answers may not be far fetched.

Its been reported that Martino was appointed based on a strong recommendation from Lionel Messi.

Martino's bond with Messi is very strong as they both share the same village (Rosario), he is also something of a hero among the Messi family as he continues to be celebrated by Messi's father Jorge, who watched Martino represent the club in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Messi said after the appointment of his compatriot: "I like 'Tata' Martino. He is a great coach and he showed that in the Clausura with what he did for the team, the way it ended and how he did it. He gets his teams playing well and we all respect him." 

El Tata is also a student of Marcelo Bielsa a man who is known to be a model figure to the most successful coach in Barca's history Pep Guardiola.

Legend has it that Back in October 2006, before Pep Guardiola took his first steps as a coach, one of the men from whom he asked advice was Bielsa. Should he really become a football manager and, if so, how? So he went to Argentina on what turned into a kind of pilgrimage, travelling 11 hours to seek the wisdom of the man they call El Loco. Late into the night they spoke. Guardiola and Bielsa connected... The rest they say is history

Guardiola once said "Bielsa is currently the best coach on the planet,"

Bielsa then had this to say about Martino

"I coached him, although I learnt more watching him play and act as captain and team leader... a complete, admirable man"

So get ready CATALUNYA! your new coach is another disciple straight from the church of Bielsa.