Speaking at the launch of Johan Cruyff’s posthumously-released autobiography, My Turn, Pep Guardiola gave an emotional tribute to his mentor. The Manchester City coach’s work is a testament to Cruyff’s ongoing legacy, writes Adam Bate. There they were. Two sons. One of them biological. The other, offspring of the footballing variety. Jordi and Pep. United. Not in grief exactly, although the passing of Johan Cruyff remains raw, but out of respect and a determination to honour the great mans memory.Waterstones bookstore on Tottenham Court Road isnt perhaps an obvious location for two sons of Catalonia to share their thoughts on the Dutch legend, although the publicity for this autobiography, like the press conference, is certain to be an international affair. The book sections of the store were curiously appropriate too. Copies peppered the zone marked Non-Fiction. Of course. A dozen more were dotted around European History. Naturally. Even North American Travel away to Jordis left could account for the NASL years.But Pep Guardiolas stool was right underneath the signs saying British History. And why not. The Manchester City coach once described Cruyff as the man who built Barcelonas cathedral, with his job being to maintain it. Now hes spreading that gospel in England, trying to make a bit of history of his own. Guardiola says he wouldnt be where he is today without Cruyffs influence I thought I knew about football, began Guardiola. But when I met him and started to work with him, a new world appeared in front of me. Other coaches said many things, what he said was completely different. He helped us understand the game. To understand why.He added: I was a lucky guy in my career. I am sitting here as Manchester City coach, at Bayern Munich and Barcelona before that, because I met him. If not, it would not have been possible. It was like going to university every single day. Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just ￡6.99. No contract. Guardiolas admiration was near tangible in the room. When conversation drifted to tactical matters, he said: If we talk about tactics, the day after tomorrow well still be here. On the subject of philosophy, he added: He created step-by-step a special way to see our football.The bonds were forged, of course, when Cruyff plucked a skinny kid from Barcelonas B team and entrusted him with a midfield role with the senior side. Together, they won the clubs first European Cup. But more than that they did so in style. Cruyffs style. Cruyff stopped Pep sale Pep Guardiola was nearly sold when he was a young player at Barcelona until Johan Cruyff intervened. Barcelona was a big club but not one with a specific culture of how they had to play, explained Guardiola. He arrived and said, Now were going to play in this way. And everybody followed him. From the academy and the seven, eight and nine year-olds up.Now you go to Barcelona and those seven, eight and nine year-olds are doing the same training sessions in the same patterns and in the same way that they play in the first team. He created that. He arrived there and created something from nothing.To do that you have to have charisma. Not just the knowledge but the charisma and the personality. Everybody knows about football. But the charisma to say youve got to go in that way and for everyone to follow him, this is so difficult.Its difficult too to ignore the sense that Guardiola is alluding to the job ahead of him at Manchester City when referring to the scale of this task. City arent exactly starting from scratch, of course. But it is a club he might be able to mould in his own image. Cruyffs all-time XI In his new autobiography, Johan Cruyff picks his all-time favourite XI. Jaap de Groot, the journalist who helped put the book together, was alongside Guardiola and Jordi in London and pointed out that one of the intentions of the autobiography was to use examples from Cruyffs life to help inspire others.The lesson for Guardiola from Cruyffs time at Ajax is an interesting one. In eight or nine years, he was able to create one of the most significant sides in the history of the game. Everything is possible if you know what youre doing, said De Groot.So can Guardiola, the cathedrals maintenance man in Barcelona, construct a new one of his own in Manchester? He appears to regard it as almost a duty. One thing is for sure, he wont necessarily be measuring his time at the club in terms of trophies alone. I think Johan is the most influential person in football. Pep Guardiola All the people think about is who the best managers are, said Guardiola. All they talk about is how many prizes and how many pieces of silverware. I think that is a huge mistake. Because at the end, managers are not dictators. We are in big clubs with big players.So what matters is how they influence the new generation, especially their players. The influence Johan had on players, I can remember from Ajax there is [Marco] Van Basten, [Frank] Rijkaard, all these players are coaches.Many at Barcelona are coaches now. Thats because we try to follow what he taught us. He was special. Not all trainers and managers have this influence on players. I think Johan is the most influential person in football. Jordi Cruyff speaks at the launch of his fathers autobiography in London That influence lives on through Guardiola. Towards the end of the discussion, an emotional Jordi paid a heartfelt tribute to both his father and his adoptive footballing brother. I think if my father could choose one person to sit beside me Im quite sure that would be Pep, he concluded.I can assure you that not only was my father a big fan of Barcelona but also of Bayern Munich in the past years and Im quite sure that if he can still watch football hes a big Manchester City fan.Cruyffs legacy not only lives on, it continues to grow.You can watch Englands tour of Bangladesh, plus Premier League football and the Japan Grand Prix on Sky Sports. Upgrade now and enjoy three months at half price! Also See: Cruyff all-time favourite XI Cruyff stopped Pep sale Greg Maddux Jersey . The Cottagers last victory came in a 2-1 home win over West Ham when Rene Meulensteen was still in charge. Since then, a miserable run of seven defeats and two draws has seen the club part with the Dutch coach and replace him with German Felix Magath. Cito Gaston Braves Jersey . Speaking on TSN Radio 1050s TSN Drive with Dave Naylor on Monday, Colangelo said he had no intention of tanking the shortened 2011-12 season, but definitely wanted a high pick in the draft. "I wish that word wasnt used for headline reasons," said Colangelo, "but the story behind it was: how can we fix the system? How can we tweak the system to make it less likely that teams are rewarded for losing records? "I do believe that if youre as transparent as we were at the time - with our season seat holders, our fans, the market place and the media - everybody knew what the plan was and what we were going through. https://www.cheapbraves.com/1743o-bob-ho...sey-braves.html. Cammalleri suffered a concussion in the Flames 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. The 31-year-old forward did not travel with the team to Carolina. Josh Donaldson Jersey .A. Dickey, even though he was coming off a Cy Young Award in 2012. Many felt the Jays would regret giving up righthanded pitcher prospect Noah Syndergaard and catcher Travis DArnaud over the long haul. Ronald Acuna Jr. Jersey . According to the Globe and Mail, a decision between the NHL and the Players Association should come within the six months. "I can tell you, (a decision) shouldnt take all that long," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the Globe and Mail.TORONTO -- Construction of six venues for the Toronto 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Games is running behind schedule, including a new Hamilton stadium, a key venue thats now expected to be finished in September. The $145.7-million Tim Hortons Field was slated to open this month, a year before it was to host all 32 mens and womens soccer competitions. The delay has forced the Hamilton Tiger-Cats football team to use a smaller facility for the first two home games of the season. Completion dates for the Toronto track and field centre, a facility in Markham, the equestrian park in Caledon and the shooting centre in Cookstown have all been pushed back by a month or two. The ballpark in Ajax was supposed to be completed by July, but phase two of the project is now expected to be finished in November. However, all the projects are expected to be done well before the Games begin next July. "We had a significantly difficult winter this past go-around, and I think you would understand the ball park being a challenge when youre trying to put a playing field in when youve got frozen ground," said Murray Noble, TO2015s senior vice-president of infrastructure. "So some of those projects were truly to do with the weather." The final phase of the Caledon equestrian park was pushed back from December 2014 to February 2015 to make it easier for the right contractors to bid on it, he added. "All of our projects continue to be tracking very well for completion before the end of the year here, and certainly well within the time frames before the Games," he said. Noble said he couldnt provide an exact date for the completion of the Hamilton stadium, saying the question should be directed to Infrastructure Ontario. Ontarios governing Liberals have been under fire for the stadium setback, but say taxpayers wont be on the hook for any cost overruns. But the Ticats are taking a financial hit for every game they cant play in the new stadium, said New Democrat Paul Miller, who represents a Hamilton riding. The team will have to use Roy Joyce Stadium at McMaster University, which has 6,000 permanent seats and temporary seating for another 6,000. Tim Hortons Field would have 22,500 permanent seats and a potential capacity of 40,000 through temporary seating. "Whos going to cover that cost?" said Miller. "The city of Hamilton? Infrastructure Ontario? The Pan Am committee?" TO2015 said Friday that the overall capital building program for the Games continues to stay in line with their budget. It spent $92.dddddddddddd.8 million in the quarter ending March 31, including $66 million on venue construction during the three months ending March 31, the organizing committee said in its fourth-quarter financial report. Venue construction spending is $387 million so far, about 53 per cent of the total original capital budget of $730 million, it said. It includes $83.5 million for the Hamilton stadium, $148.4 million for an aquatics and field house and $24.8 million on an athletics stadium in Toronto and $53.9 million for the Markham centre, which will host badminton, table tennis and water polo competitions. Operating expenses during the quarter were $26.8 million, mostly spent in the areas of corporate, technology, transportation, events and ceremonies and community and cultural affairs, it said. Corporations have also put in an "incremental $43 million in value" worth of in-kind sponsorships for delivery of the Games, the committee said. TO2015 said it has spent $126.9 million to date, about 15.7 per cent of its total operations budget of $810 million. It reported $4,159 in travel and hospitality expenses for the quarter, bringing the total since last July to $23,136. Saad Rafi, TO2015s chief executive officer, said the Games are expected to create 26,000 job and 84 per cent of the funding spent to procure goods and services has gone to Canadian companies. The Games will take place at 34 different competition venues across the Golden Horseshoe, from Niagara in the south to Orillia in the north, running from July 7 to 26, followed by the Parapan Am Games Aug. 7 to 15. The Liberals have also been criticized for the cost of security for the Games, admitting that the original $113 million built into the Pan Am budget was just a best guess and it may climb above the latest estimate of $239 million. TO2015 said it couldnt provide the latest figures, saying it was in the hands of the Pan/Parapan Am Games Integrated Security Unit. The report glosses over the construction delays, inflates the number of jobs that will be created and doesnt mention the amount of money that will be spent on security or transportation, Miller said. "Every time (the Liberals) talk about it, they talk about the positive side of it," Miller said. "And thats fine, but they dont talk about the hidden negative side and they dont want the public to know that." The total budget for the Games, including security, transportation and the athletes village is currently estimated at $2.5 billion. ' ' '