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Ruben Cousillas never forgot his roots, even when he got his big move to top Argentine club San Lorenzo.

The new City assistant manager used to train for his club during the day and then, three times a week, make the two-hour drive back to his home town to coach his old club in the evening.

That was the beginning of a journey, as a humdrum goalkeeper and later a trusted coach and confidante of

Pellegrini, which would take Cousillas to Colombia and back, before the duo headed across the Atlantic for an impressive career in Spain.

Argentine Cousillas has been Pellegrini’s right-hand man for the last 12 years, at seven different clubs, and will be

working closely with the players as they today begin to drift back from their summer break.

The 56-year-old, nicknamed El Flaco, or ‘Skinny’, has been appointed as an assistant alongside Brian Kidd.

And he, more than anyone, will appreciate the decision to give Kidd such a high profile role.

Back in 2001, Cousillas was assistant to Oscar Ruggeri at Argentine club San Lorenzo de Almagro when the manager resigned.

San Lorenzo turned to the relatively unknown Chilean Pellegrini – and Cousillas remained, as a man who knew the club, and Argentine football, inside out.

The parallels with Kidd’s knowledge of City, Manchester, and English football, are obvious.

But anyone seeking an insight into the character of the new man, an Argentine, should look no further than that story about his early days as a professional.

The son of a mechanic from the provincial town of Roque Perez, Cousillas played as a goalkeeper for the little Sarmiento club, where he came under the influence of club founder Federico Rocha.

Rocha was the kind of man who is the life’s blood of football clubs the world over. His wife would wash the kits of the various age groups, and Rocha had a section of the playing fields planted with crops with the profits from the

harvest boosting club funds. That dedication made a deep impression on Cousillas, who came to see Rocha as his ‘second father’.

When Cousillas signed for Buenos Aires club San Lorenzo, Rocha helped him to settle in the big city and even lent him his Chevrolet car.

Cousillas never forgot that kindness, and would repay it with his long treks back to help out at his old club, firstly as trainer and later as club president.

Crazy

In an interview with Argentine newspaper Clarin, Cousillas said: “It was a crazy decision I made with my heart, to give back what I was given.

“Don Federico had asked me not to forget the club, and I ended up retiring there at the age of 38, before becoming president and coach until 2003.”

Cousillas spent ten years as a goalkeeper at San Lorenzo before undertaking a football odyssey which took in

Colombia and Chile before he landed back at San Lorenzo as assistant to great Argentina defender Ruggeri.

When Ruggeri quit the club in 2001, San Lorenzo turned to Pellegrini, and the two men led them to a miraculous title win with a stunning run of 11 straight wins.

Their partnership took them to Spain, and a season at Real Madrid, and now they have rolled up together in Manchester.

So what is the secret that turned Pellegrini from a qualified engineer and journeyman footballer into a top football coach?

Said Cousillas: “He has lots of personality, is always clear and handles his team brilliantly. His drive comes naturally – you cannot learn it, or buy it.

“Manuel has a way of convincing others to fall in love with his ideas. He is a mix of football intellectual and super-intelligent person, and his blend of engineering studies and football career is one which is hard to find.”

Some wonder how Pellegrini will cope with the strong voices of the superstars in the City dressing room, pointing out that he lasted one season at Real Madrid.

Cousillas believes it will not be a problem. “Regardless of the quality of their clothes, and their spending power, a

footballer is always a footballer, in training and in matches, whether he drives a Ferrari or a Fitito,” he said.

“For me the essence of football is greater than money. I was not anyone in football, and you never think of the money when you are playing or training.”

The partnership is not a ‘good cop, bad cop’ one. Cousillas is known as a quiet, amiable man, and Kidd has always been a man who gets on well with the players.

But Cousillas says there is no need for a hard task master: “Manuel is the best example – you will rarely see him shout.

“If you lay down clear rules and convince people that you command and they have to obey, if you establish the requirements of them,

regardless of their rank, you do not need to shout or be a bad person.

“As assistant I will have the players’ ear, but Manuel speaks daily with them, while they are warming up or after the game, so the players always know what he is thinking."