BARCELONA, Spain -- Former Barcelona player Luis Enrique promised a new start for the Catalan club after signing a two-year contract to become coach on Wednesday.
[b]Nike Shox Uk Sale[/b] . Luis Enrique signed the deal with club president Josep Bartomeu two days after it was announced by the club. That was two days after coach Gerardo Martino stepped down when Barcelona finished its first season without a major trophy in six years. "We believe that this is the beginning of a new Barcelona, a Barcelona that will excite again," Luis Enrique said. "When I left Barca the club told me that it was a see you later and they have kept their word. I cant wait to hear the hymn of Barcelona in the Camp Nou." The 44-year-old Luis Enrique won two league titles as a Barcelona player from 1996-2004 and coached its B team from 2008-11. He also coached at Roma, and led Celta Vigo to a respectable ninth-place finish this season after installing an attractive passing attack on the Barcelona model. Luis Enriques hiring continues a recent tradition of in-house coaches recently represented in Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova. That string was broken when Martino was hastily brought in last year after Vilanova resigned to focus on his battle with throat cancer that he eventually lost last month. Luis Enrique is the clubs eighth former captain to coach the club, joining such greats as Laszlo Kubala, Cesar Rodriguez, Johan Cruyff and Guardiola. Although Luis Enrique was never in the same class as them, he will be only the second former captain to coach the clubs B side and first team. Guardiola is the other. Luis Enrique asked not to be compared with Guardiola, and said his best quality as a coach was being a leader, not as an expert in tactics, despite his insider knowledge of Barcelonas ball-control approach. "I dont rely too heavily on tactical knowhow, instead I focus on managing a group, managing egos," he said. "There is work that goes on during the week, work based on knowing each player. I try to be everything a leader is." Luis Enriques immediate goal is to work with sports director Andoni Zubizarreta and rebuild a squad that has experienced a slow slide over the past two years. "He is a coach that knows our way of playing, our philosophy. We believe that we have put the squad that we are going to build for next season in good hands," said Zubizarreta, who also recalled that Enrique had "put a goal or two" past the former Barcelona goalkeeper when Enrique played for Real Madrid. Under Luis Enrique, Barcelona will be expected to bring in reinforcements to help Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Neymar. And he wont be measured -- at least not immediately -- against Guardiola, who won an unprecedented six titles in his first season and 14 of a possible 19 in four years. Luis Enrique acknowledged his other challenge is helping Messi rediscover the competitive spirit that the clubs all-time leading scorer appeared to lack during some matches after recovering from nagging muscle injuries last season. "I am thrilled to have the best player in the world on my team," Enrique said. "Its obvious that Messis output this season wasnt as incredible as in past years ... I hope that with me he can find his best version, but not only him, also Iniesta and Neymar and the rest." Luis Enrique can draw on links with three generations of players, having played alongside veteran Xavi Hernandez, coached former B team player Sergio Busquets, and taken rising talent Rafina Alcantara from Barcelona to Celta on loan and now back. Luis Enrique is one of the few players to have enjoyed successful stints at both Barcelona and Madrid. He occupies a special place among Barcelonas faithful as the one recent player to have left Madrid for Barcelona, in contrast to a group of former stars who left for the Spanish capital, including Luis Figo, Bernd Schuster and Michael Laudrup.
[b]Nike Shox Uk Cheap[/b] .Y. - Terry and Kim Pegula have no immediate plans to tinker with their new NFL team.
[b]Cheap Nike Shox Uk[/b] . As a follow-up, TSN.ca offers you the opportunity to chime in on all the big issues with our insiders. Read up on all the questions and answers, and put in your own two cents on our popular Your Call feature.INDIANAPOLIS -- EJ Manuels teammates and coaches were pretty darn impressed with their rookie quarterback. Buffalos first-round draft pick thought he could have done even more. Give him time. After completing 16 of 21 passes for 107 yards with one touchdown and a quarterback rating of 102.7, Manuel gave himself a "B" in his preseason debut -- a solid mark after leading the Bills to a 44-20 victory Sunday at Indianapolis. "My main thing was I wanted to operate the offence like coach (Nathaniel) Hackett has taught us and get all the other guys in position," Manuel said. "The veterans have done a great job of bringing me along and things like that. The main thing is just continuing to go out there and execute." Sure, it was only preseason and he posted most of the big numbers against Indianapolis backup defence, and, of course, there were a few mistakes. But overall, Manuel executed the safe, simple game plan the way the Bills intended. His short passes were accurate and on time. He sped up the game by quickly getting the Bills to the line. On the few occasions he ran, Manuel was effective. And when pressed to make plays in the 2-minute offence, he drove the Bills into scoring position and then fired a rocket to Dorin Dickerson for a 17-yard score that broke a 13-13 tie with 14 seconds left in the half. It may not have been as impressive as Andrew Lucks debut last season. He threw a 63-yard TD pass to Donald Brown on his first attempt at Lucas Oil Stadium, and led the Colts to a 38-3 victory over St. Louis. Luck played only two series Sunday, finishing 4 of 6 for 51 yards and was the only Indy quarterback not to lead the Colts on a scoring drive. He was sacked once. Backup Matt Hasselbeck played three series for the Colts, throwing a 45-yard TD pass to T.Y. Hilton, and departed after a tipped pass was picked off by Crezdon Butler. "Obviously, everybody, top to bottom, is disappointed. We never envisioned going out and playing a football game and having the outcome that we had," Colts coach Chuck Pagano said. "Weve obviously got to play better, and we will play better." Manuel, on the other hand, played the entire first half and improved as the game went along -- just as he did in last weekends scrimmage. Grading it may prove tough. Only tthree of Manuels completions went longer than 10 yards and two of the incompletions were throwaways.
[b]Nike Shox Clearance[/b]. While Manuel played mostly with Buffalos starters, the Colts pulled their regulars early and had second and third stringers on the field when Manuel looked his best -- going 9 of 10 for 68 yards in the 2-minute drill that impressed new coach Doug Marrone. "Here you are right before a half, 1:50, three timeouts left, and youre making decisions. Are we going to try to run out the clock? Are we going to go 2-minute? Hey, lets go 2-minute," he said. "To do that is very impressive, no matter who you are." Manuel wasnt the only productive Buffalo rookie. Receiver Marquise Goodwin, an Olympic long jumper with world-class speed, set up one Bills score with a 53-yard kickoff return and tied the score at 13 with a 107-yard kickoff return. DaRick Rogers caught a 6-yard TD pass to open the second-half scoring. Backup quarterback Jeff Tuel completed his first 10 passes and led the Bills to three scores, after replacing Manuel to start the third quarter. Cornerback Jumal Rolle closed out the scoring with a 17-yard interception return in the fourth quarter. It was a promising start for a team that changed general managers, coaches, co-ordinators and quarterback during the off-season. Indy got two field goals from Adam Vinatieri, the diving catch from Hilton, who bounced into the end zone, and a 72-yard fumble return from Daxton Swanson. Thought the Colts didnt show much with their revamped offensive line, the new defensive players or the rebuilt special teams, Buffalo saw exactly what it wanted. "I think I showed that I can matriculate the ball down the field," Manuel said. "I was glad we were able to go out there and get six points before the end of the half." Notes: Among the notable Colts players sitting out Sunday was Dwayne Allen, who Pagano said would miss a couple of weeks with a foot injury. ... Among the notable Bills missing the game were receiver Stevie Johnson and quarterback Kevin Kolb. ... C.J. Spiller averaged 9.0 yards on four carries. ... The Colts lost a handful of players to injuries. The most serious were to linebacker Justin Hickman (right foot) and cornerback Cassius Vaughn (wrist), who were expected to have MRIs.
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