If Pep leaves City without winning the CL, would he have been a success or failure?

If Pep leaves City without winning the CL, would he have been a success or failure?


  • Total voters
    124

footballistic orgasm

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Sep 3, 2017
Messages
656
Supports
No team in particular
Definitely a success but probably a lower level of success than Mourinho. Mourinho walked in with similar budget (as compared to competition) but established Chelsea as a top club while you can argue Pep walked in when City were already on their way as a top club.
Pep made City favorites every season, that wasn't the case before he went there.
And he's dominated the PL the way Jose didn't/couldn't, he's definitely a bigger success at City than Jose was at Chelsea.
 

Chairman Steve

Full Member
Joined
May 9, 2018
Messages
7,141
The Champions League is a cup competition at the end of the day. The best team can have an off day and get knocked out. The worst team gets all the luck and somehow progress despite getting their ass kicked. The two clear best teams get drawn against each other in the first round and one of them has to go etc.

I wouldnt say its wholly a failure but it’ll be a negative point, especially the money he’d have had at his disposal as well as the owners moving heaven and earth to accommodate him. I don’t think any club in the world could go as far as hiring Barcelona board members to go with getting Guardiola.

I do think though if Guardiola wins the CL this season, then 2 minutes later after the final whistle goes, he’s handing in his notice and leaving that summer. He strikes me as a person who’ll do that. That’ll be seen as ‘mission accomplished’ to him and taking another sabbatical.
 

Turnip

likes to be spanked with games consoles
Joined
Jun 27, 2014
Messages
2,523
Location
1999
And Pep has also won it twice with another team. You could argue he should have won it more but he's already won it as many times as the GOAT. Plus he has another 10 or so years to go to match the length of time Fergie managed in the CL. It ain't that easy. It's a cup competition.
The thread is referring to his time at City, so that's what I was referring to as well.
 

stefan92

Full Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2021
Messages
6,540
Supports
Hannover 96
Success? Yes, but not exceptional. The same for his time at Bayern. He successfully dominated the leagues while being able to outspend everyone else. That's good, but to be great he would have needed to win a CL.

So far he didn't and a lot of CL losses are tied to weird decisions he made. It's usually not abot bad luck in his case, but about his ideas not working on the highest level.
 

DatsDope

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Aug 13, 2022
Messages
12
The Champions League is a cup competition at the end of the day. The best team can have an off day and get knocked out. The worst team gets all the luck and somehow progress despite getting their ass kicked. The two clear best teams get drawn against each other in the first round and one of them has to go etc.

I wouldnt say its wholly a failure but it’ll be a negative point, especially the money he’d have had at his disposal as well as the owners moving heaven and earth to accommodate him. I don’t think any club in the world could go as far as hiring Barcelona board members to go with getting Guardiola.

I do think though if Guardiola wins the CL this season, then 2 minutes later after the final whistle goes, he’s handing in his notice and leaving that summer. He strikes me as a person who’ll do that. That’ll be seen as ‘mission accomplished’ to him and taking another sabbatical.
Agree with a lot of this except for
"I wouldnt say its wholly a failure but it’ll be a negative point, especially the money he’d have had at his disposal as well as the owners moving heaven and earth to accommodate him.."

If we discount the tired relativist clichés such as "sport was the real winner,", and "its the taking part rather than the winning that counts" and so on, football at the end of the day, is a matter of the binary. You either win or you fail to win. Getting to the champions league semifinals or the final and losing it, is wholly a failure to win it.

If Pep does not win the champions league then he will have failed to do so.
Considering the team Pep inherited and the amount of money flung at Pep and the City project "as well as the owners moving heaven and earth to accommodate him.." that failure is pretty blatant and drastic.

Footballistic orgasm
"Pep made City favorites every season, that wasn't the case before he went there..."
City being favourites every season and yet continously failing to win only highlights Pep's failure.
 
Last edited:

Andrade

Rebuilding Expert
Joined
Mar 16, 2022
Messages
2,460
The thread is referring to his time at City, so that's what I was referring to as well.
Ok, that's 6 years so far v 20+ years for Ferguson then. If Pep manages City for 20+ years and doesn't win the CL then it will definitely be a failure.
 

footballistic orgasm

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Sep 3, 2017
Messages
656
Supports
No team in particular
Agree with a lot of this except for
"I wouldnt say its wholly a failure but it’ll be a negative point, especially the money he’d have had at his disposal as well as the owners moving heaven and earth to accommodate him.."

If we discount the tired relativist clichés such as "sport was the real winner,", and "its the taking part rather than the winning that counts" and so on, football at the end of the day, is a matter of the binary. You either win or you fail to win. Getting to the champions league semifinals or the final and losing it, is wholly a failure to win it.

If Pep does not win the champions league then he will have failed to do so.
Considering the team Pep inherited and the amount of money flung at Pep and the City project "as well as the owners moving heaven and earth to accommodate him.." that failure is pretty blatant and drastic.

Footballistic orgasm
"Pep made City favorites every season, that wasn't the case before he went there..."
City being favourites every season and yet continously failing to win only highlights Pep's failure.
It mostly highlights the fact that he's made them a powerhouse.
Basically every coach including Zidane (who's won the CL 3x) says that winning the league is more difficult than winning the CL because it shows more consistency, and the best teams don't always win cup competitions because of different variables that to be considered in a cup tie.
This is why no other coach will be asking himself if Pep is a success at City with or without a CL title, they'll probably all laugh at the taught of the question because the answer seems so evident.
 

OJKernow

Full Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2011
Messages
1,025
Location
Kernowfornia
Huge success, particularly in the modern era where the cycles seem shorter lived.

SAF 'only' won 2 CLs in 26 years. Would that be classed as success or failure? He himself regrets not winning more in Europe with such a dominant domestic side, which shows just how much the stars need to align to win it.
 

stefan92

Full Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2021
Messages
6,540
Supports
Hannover 96
Huge success, particularly in the modern era where the cycles seem shorter lived.

SAF 'only' won 2 CLs in 26 years. Would that be classed as success or failure? He himself regrets not winning more in Europe with such a dominant domestic side, which shows just how much the stars need to align to win it.
It also can be seen as him not being the best cup manager, which I think is a reasonable take (and actually similar to Guardiola).
 

DatsDope

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Aug 13, 2022
Messages
12
It mostly highlights the fact that he's made them a powerhouse.
Basically every coach including Zidane (who's won the CL 3x) says that winning the league is more difficult than winning the CL because it shows more consistency, and the best teams don't always win cup competitions because of different variables that to be considered in a cup tie.
This is why no other coach will be asking himself if Pep is a success at City with or without a CL title, they'll probably all laugh at the taught of the question because the answer seems so evident.
Nope. It's very simple. Guardiola has succeeded to win the domestic league but has failed every year to win the champions league.

So he's been an obvious success domestically but an equally blatant failure, for the UAE project, in the champions league.

Like I said, its as simple as that, very easy to understand, it ain't rocket science.
 
Last edited:

footballistic orgasm

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Sep 3, 2017
Messages
656
Supports
No team in particular
Nope. It's very simple. Guardiola has succeeded to win the domestic league but has failed every year to win the champions league.

So he's been an obvious success domestically but an equally blatant failure, for the UAE project, in the champions league.

Like I said, its as simple as that, very easy to understand, it ain't rocket science.
This is a very simplistic view though, but to each his own.
If winning is only way of viewing success, then i 90% of managers are failures.
 

Jamesh

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Aug 17, 2022
Messages
25
He's still only 51. I'd give him another few years and remember that not all managers with shaved heads are bald frauds.
 

stefan92

Full Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2021
Messages
6,540
Supports
Hannover 96
This is a very simplistic view though, but to each his own.
If winning is only way of viewing success, then i 90% of managers are failures.
For the club that has the biggest budget that statement is true. That doesn't apply for most managers, so most managers don't have to be judged by that standard. But whoever manages City has to get wins in all competitions, if he has several years time, otherwise he isn't a full success.
 

DatsDope

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Aug 13, 2022
Messages
12
This is a very simplistic view though, but to each his own.
If winning is only way of viewing success, then i 90% of managers are failures.
Nope not simplistic.
It's pretty simple really, ( simple does not imply simplistic btw), football competitions are all about the winning.

Pep has not won the Champions league for the UAE project. He has failed to do so. Thus far his City project team have failed to win the champions league every year. So yes he's a failure, unfortunately, in that regard.
 

GatoLoco

Full Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2018
Messages
3,302
Supports
Real Madrid
I'm not, I'm merely pointing out that people are not looking holistically at the situation. Great managers win, on average, one or two European Cups in their careers. Two guys have 3, one guy has 4. That's it. Go through every manager I listed and they'll have failed 90% of the time in the Champions League. And these are the greatest managers we've ever seen.

How many CLs should Pep have won in 13 years of management? 5? Well no one's won 5. 4? Only one guy's won 4 and it took him 25 years of management. 3? 2 guys have won 3 in a short space of time. 2 guys in nearly 70 years of the EC/CL. And they both won all 3 with the same club. But for people that ignore history, Pep should have won 4 or 5 with 3 different clubs. In little over 10 years. Even though that's literally never happened before.
See how you oversimplified my point? Pep's run in CL while at City wasn't bad because he did not win the CL. It was very bad because his team lost against much weaker opposition consistently. Can you tell me how many managers in your list had runs such as Pep's at City?
 

Vernon Philander

Full Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Messages
900
Footballing heritage.

He walked in to a team already full of stars and had won a league before. Then got an open chequebook to improve on said squad, backed up by transfer specialists that largely saw through dealings early on with very little drama.

It's a success but not a particularly noteworthy one in my opinion. Klopp the greater manager.
 

Brwned

Have you ever been in love before?
Joined
Apr 18, 2008
Messages
50,849
Success? Yes, but not exceptional. The same for his time at Bayern. He successfully dominated the leagues while being able to outspend everyone else. That's good, but to be great he would have needed to win a CL.

So far he didn't and a lot of CL losses are tied to weird decisions he made. It's usually not abot bad luck in his case, but about his ideas not working on the highest level.
Yeah I think this is a good point. To me he’s obviously a success, and being able to win the league with overwhelming resources one time is easy, but consistently is hard. He obviously earns respect from the very best players and challenges them to reach that level over and over again. We’ve seen Mourinho teams fall apart in the way Guardiola doesn’t, seemingly because he’s a bit of a psycho who’s able to just place relentless demands on himself and his team.

At the same time, you can see his fingerprints all over the CL losses. It’s really not about luck when he consistently makes bold decisions that backfire. He overthinks those games somehow, maybe because he’s realised his way of playing in the league doesn’t translate well to cup football against the very best, or maybe just because he just loses his nerve.

I don’t think a cup winner is any more impressive than a league winner, and it’s obvious some managers are better at one or the other. Sir Alex was not a good cup manager.

At the end of the day Guardiola is the ideal manager to get for a league team with strong foundations in place. He will win more trophies, more consistently than anyone else. He might not be as good at getting challengers to temporarily rise above their station (Klopp), or build a dynasty (Sir Alex), or rule cup football (Ancelotti), but the idea that you can easily place a value on those elements seems a bit silly to me. Guardiola is the best at what he does.
 

footballistic orgasm

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Sep 3, 2017
Messages
656
Supports
No team in particular
For the club that has the biggest budget that statement is true. That doesn't apply for most managers, so most managers don't have to be judged by that standard. But whoever manages City has to get wins in all competitions, if he has several years time, otherwise he isn't a full success.
Bayern, Barca, Madrid, Chelsea, Man United, Juventus, PSG all have as much spending power as City.

See how you oversimplified my point? Pep's run in CL while at City wasn't bad because he did not win the CL. It was very bad because his team lost against much weaker opposition consistently. Can you tell me how many managers in your list had runs such as Pep's at City?
The only much weaker team they lost to was Monaco and Tottenham to a much lesser degree.

Footballing heritage.

He walked in to a team already full of stars and had won a league before. Then got an open chequebook to improve on said squad, backed up by transfer specialists that largely saw through dealings early on with very little drama.

It's a success but not a particularly noteworthy one in my opinion. Klopp the greater manager.
The only world class player on that team was (and still is) Debruyne.
 

footballistic orgasm

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Sep 3, 2017
Messages
656
Supports
No team in particular
Yeah I think this is a good point. To me he’s obviously a success, and being able to win the league with overwhelming resources one time is easy, but consistently is hard. He obviously earns respect from the very best players and challenges them to reach that level over and over again. We’ve seen Mourinho teams fall apart in the way Guardiola doesn’t, seemingly because he’s a bit of a psycho who’s able to just place relentless demands on himself and his team.

At the same time, you can see his fingerprints all over the CL losses. It’s really not about luck when he consistently makes bold decisions that backfire. He overthinks those games somehow, maybe because he’s realised his way of playing in the league doesn’t translate well to cup football against the very best, or maybe just because he just loses his nerve.

I don’t think a cup winner is any more impressive than a league winner, and it’s obvious some managers are better at one or the other. Sir Alex was not a good cup manager.

At the end of the day Guardiola is the ideal manager to get for a league team with strong foundations in place. He will win more trophies, more consistently than anyone else. He might not be as good at getting challengers to temporarily rise above their station (Klopp), or build a dynasty (Sir Alex), or rule cup football (Ancelotti), but the idea that you can easily place a value on those elements seems a bit silly to me. Guardiola is the best at what he does.
This is only true against Liverpool IMO, some may argue against Chelsea too but IMO that final loss wasn't due to him not playing Rodri or Fernandinho. The other losses weren't due to bold choices. Or should he have played in place of Sterling against Lyon or Grealish against Madrid? Or should he have taken the penalty in place of Aguero against Tottenham?
It's very simplistic to say his responsible for all the losses IMO, his bold choices are always talked about when they lose when they actually work 9 times out of 10.
 

Red the Bear

Something less generic
Joined
Aug 26, 2021
Messages
9,127
Bayern, Barca, Madrid, Chelsea, Man United, Juventus, PSG all have as much spending power as City.


The only much weaker team they lost to was Monaco and Tottenham to a much lesser degree.


The only world class player on that team was (and still is) Debruyne.
To be fair he bottled it against lyon two but it seemed the team lacked fitness so I'll it go.
 

footballistic orgasm

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Sep 3, 2017
Messages
656
Supports
No team in particular
To be fair he bottled it against lyon two but it seemed the team lacked fitness so I'll it go.
Yes they were supposed to beat Lyon. But what could he have done regarding the occasion Sterling missed though? And just few seconds after that miss, Lyon scores a 3rd goal that IMO should have been disallowed.
The situations aren't always just black or white, saying it is just to blame Pep for every defeat is very simplistic.
 

MVBDX

Full Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2015
Messages
782
Supports
Real Madrid
@footballistic orgasm you go over such minute details in City games that I bet even Pep wouldn't remember, you're definitely a massive City supporter, should be honest be yourself and change your profile details. "No team in particular" makes me laugh.
 

roonster09

Hercule Poirot of the scouting world
Scout
Joined
May 10, 2009
Messages
36,772
@footballistic orgasm you go over such minute details in City games that I bet even Pep wouldn't remember, you're definitely a massive City supporter, should be honest be yourself and change your profile details.
Obvious City fan, it's hilarious how many posters with "Neutral" in their support section always defend Liverpool or City.
 

Neil_Buchanan

Cock'd
Joined
Nov 18, 2006
Messages
3,542
Location
Bolton
A success but with a few raised eyebrows over the money spent/the squad he inherited/only having one rival throughout his time. CL success requires a certain amount of luck so not winning it is never really a proper criticism.
 

HTG

Full Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2011
Messages
6,016
Supports
Bayern
He’d be a success with an asterisk next to it.
 

footballistic orgasm

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Sep 3, 2017
Messages
656
Supports
No team in particular
@footballistic orgasm you go over such minute details in City games that I bet even Pep wouldn't remember, you're definitely a massive City supporter, should be honest be yourself and change your profile details. "No team in particular" makes me laugh.
Obvious City fan, it's hilarious how many posters with "Neutral" in their support section always defend Liverpool or City.
I get it might be a difficult concept for the both of you to be objective sometimes, or maybe it's only when it has to do with City or Liverpool. No i'm not a City supporter (or any other club for that matter), but I'm a big fan of how Pep makes his teams play (i watched Bayern and Barca a lot too) which is why you'll notice me defending Pep more than I'll defend City as a club.
 

MVBDX

Full Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2015
Messages
782
Supports
Real Madrid
Supporting no club (whatever that means) and getting premature ejaculations from watching Pepball equals objectivism.
 

Abraxas

Full Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2021
Messages
6,066
I've never met someone in real life that likes football but does not support a team. An internet phenomenon? We are lucky to be able to draw upon the purely objective viewpoint of such stoics.

In my opinion Pep is a huge success, unfortunately. He's a weirdo, a very strange man. But he's made a massive impact on English football beyond the trophies, he's had a fair degree of domination over the league and within matches. He's cocked up the CL at times through his own fault, it's not always been bad luck due to a cup competition, but for me the league is always your baseline.
 

krazyrobus

Full Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2007
Messages
4,750
Huge success, how many coaches regardless of spending power have 4 Pl titles to their name.
 

ForeverRed1

Full Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2013
Messages
5,499
Location
England UK!
He has pretty much dominated English football which is the hardest league to do so. So yes he’s been a massive success. I don’t reckon he will leave without winning CL.
 

BlueMoonOutcast

Rag in Disguise
Joined
Dec 26, 2016
Messages
1,076
Location
Exile
Supports
Manchester City
He's gone back to back in the league twice, and let's be fair here that Liverpool side for a couple years was a monster so it's more impressive in my humble opinion.

Sure if he doesn't win the big one it'll be a mark against him but it's still success.
 

Bebestation

Im a doctor btw, my IQ destroys yours
Joined
Oct 9, 2019
Messages
11,862
Anyone would have said Barcelona Pep would have won a CL for any team he managed.

Now he has failed at winning CL’s at Bayern and potentially City at the end of the season - it shows to me how accurately a player or manager outside their comfort zone is the best way to measure a personals ability or potential.

An absolutely fantastic manager and one of the greatest on a league level but could do better in the CL.
 

footballistic orgasm

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Sep 3, 2017
Messages
656
Supports
No team in particular
Supporting no club (whatever that means) and getting premature ejaculations from watching Pepball equals objectivism.
You can say I lack objectivity if i said Pep was faultless, but good thing I never said that right?
You're the one here trying to paint things as either black or white.

I've never met someone in real life that likes football but does not support a team. An internet phenomenon? We are lucky to be able to draw upon the purely objective viewpoint of such stoics.

In my opinion Pep is a huge success, unfortunately. He's a weirdo, a very strange man. But he's made a massive impact on English football beyond the trophies, he's had a fair degree of domination over the league and within matches. He's cocked up the CL at times through his own fault, it's not always been bad luck due to a cup competition, but for me the league is always your baseline.
This is actually more common than you think. Football to me is just entertainment and nothing more than that (basically like the way i enjoy movies, but i watch more football than films), i can't see myself putting my emotions into a club/institution i personally have nothing to gain from.
 

Andrade

Rebuilding Expert
Joined
Mar 16, 2022
Messages
2,460
See how you oversimplified my point? Pep's run in CL while at City wasn't bad because he did not win the CL. It was very bad because his team lost against much weaker opposition consistently. Can you tell me how many managers in your list had runs such as Pep's at City?
Probably all of them, seeing as each guy would have managed for about 20 years on average and won the Champions League only once or twice. I know Fergie, the common consensus GOAT (and rightfully so), had several terrible results in the Champions League against weak teams that United should have beaten. That's the nature of a cup competition.
 

adexkola

Doesn't understand sportswashing.
Joined
Mar 17, 2008
Messages
48,529
Location
The CL is a glorified FA Cup set to music
Supports
orderly disembarking on planes
Probably all of them, seeing as each guy would have managed for about 20 years on average and won the Champions League only once or twice. I know Fergie, the common consensus GOAT (and rightfully so), had several terrible results in the Champions League against weak teams that United should have beaten. That's the nature of a cup competition.
Yeah but when it's Fergie or Don Carlo or Heynekes, their stumbles in the competition are explained away with heavy dollops of nuance (foreigner rule/shit happens/players didn't convert, the manager can't actually force his team to score)... Of course when you bring such nuance into this thread you get accused of being a City fan...
 

DatsDope

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Aug 13, 2022
Messages
12
You can say I lack objectivity if i said Pep was faultless, but good thing I never said that right?
You're the one here trying to paint things as either black or white.


This is actually more common than you think. Football to me is just entertainment and nothing more than that (basically like the way i enjoy movies, but i watch more football than films), i can't see myself putting my emotions into a club/institution i personally have nothing to gain from.
Give it a rest. You're fooling no one but yourself.
You're a fan boy of the UAE project. You couldn't make it any more obvious :)