'Pep' Guardiola sack watch
- Thread starter Classical Mechanic
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
He'll probably end up at PSG to win them the CL. What with all the success he's had with in that tournament in the last decade.
Imagine telling City fans ten years ago they’d be saying “PEP OUT!” one day. They should really remember where they’ve come from.
He looked completely miserable on the sideline. Of course, because his team was losing, but he really does look like the weight of the entire world is on him when things get tough.
Well, that's City fans for you.
This is something they've been really good at over the past 2 seasons. One poor season doesn't invalidate this.
He‘s a terrible loser. It wouldn’t surprise me if he walked. But if he doesn’t I expect City to spend and spend big once again.
He's not getting sacked.
He's not getting fired but I won't be surprised if he walks. His intense style has a short shelf life. I can't see Areta reproducing what Pep has done.
I'd be amazed if he got sacked, our owners generally have been sensible about things. It seems more like a blip than him losing the dressing room so I'm hopeful he can turn it around. Punished for not replacing Kompany though, just like every man and his dog knew he would be.
He is the greatest manager in City's history. With the backing behind him, I am pretty sure he will come back much much stronger next season.
Winning the Bundesliga with Bayern does not count as a great achievement.
Winning the league with XIM Barcelona, not that hard either, only had one opponent to beat.
Breaking the PL records with Manchester City is still his hardest accomplishment.
And even that took years of planing pre-pep, just to get him, then assembling one of, if not the the most expensive team in history. Go do it with a Napoli or Lyon and take a real challenge, the fraud.
There’s a lot of talk circulating recently about where he may go next and who might replace him so I genuinely wouldn’t be surprised if he walked at the end of this season or next. I don’t think he’s interested in rebuilding a side that have first team options on the wrong side of 30, as well as going toe to toe with a very strong Liverpool for the next 3 years at least.
Once he gets fired from enough top level jobs (ala Mourinho), he can step down to the next level and finally prove himself once and for all
Won't happen though unfortunately, has PSG written all over his next move.
At the risk of getting banned, one can't help but wonder why SAF didn't get out of his "comfort zone" and took a job in Spain or Italy where he would have to learn the language and adapt to the culture and he wouldn't be considered a demigod and maybe even have his decisions questioned or god forbid booed at some stage...
That does sound stupid when you think it through, question a proven world class manager because he didn't jump through the exact hoops a certain person finds important?
Pep has done a brilliant job at City so naturally he should be allowed the expected (to an extent) blip that tends to come after two top class seasons. But he's also got problems to address. The defence is clearly far too dependent on Laporte. And the LB position is far too weak. Then I think Bernardo is an AM and not a RW. And they haven't really replaced Sane properly. Sterling apart there isn't enough pace. Of course they don't need to fix all of this to win the league next season as it's the same team that won it last year. But a few of those weaknesses can be resolved.
The only manager to win 3 consecutive PL in the last 30 years or so is SAF.
Not winning the league this year isn’t the end of the world for Pep. He won’t get sacked.
Not winning the league this year isn’t the end of the world for Pep. He won’t get sacked.
People don't realise how enormous a feat it is to win a league of this kind - with the intensity, quality, pressure and physicality that it has - three times on the bounce.
Pep has done a brilliant job at City so naturally he should be allowed the expected (to an extent) blip that tends to come after two top class seasons. But he's also got problems to address. The defence is clearly far too dependent on Laporte. And the LB position is far too weak. Then I think Bernardo is an AM and not a RW. And they haven't really replaced Sane properly. Sterling apart there isn't enough pace. Of course they don't need to fix all of this to win the league next season as it's the same team that won it last year. But a few of those weaknesses can be resolved.
He‘s spent crazy money on hot trash like Mendy. He’s spent mind boggling amounts on centre backs. He spent £70m on the midfield Maguire. Silva was heralded as one of the best players in the world last year playing that same position. Sane still plays for them you nutter!
Some world class Pepologism there though.
Spend 750mil in 4 years?
You sound rather bitter. How about a more mature and measured post to put across whatever point it is you're trying to make?
He‘s spent crazy money on hot trash like Mendy. He’s spent mind boggling amounts on centre backs. He spent £70m on the midfield Maguire. Silva was heralded as one of the best players in the world last year playing that same position. Sane still plays for them you nutter!
Some world class Pepologism there though.
He has wasted some money for sure. Danielo, Mendy, CBs etc But when you spend big some tend to go wrong. He does need to sort the defence out though. That much money spent and some Angelino starting at LB is weird. And they shouldn't be so dependent on Laporte either. But of course just because you've spent doesn't mean you won't struggle to win a top league like the PL three times in a row. There's a reason SAF is the only one to do in recent memory.
But defence and CDM is where he bought big. You cant say some big buys went wrong then say the complete areas where he did spend big needs fixed?
Theyve spent 300m odd on that defence and look at what they end up with. Thats worse than Lingard up top v Wrst Ham (the criticism there was unfair though, that was injury related, only Laporte is out for City)
Rodri is a huge flop thus far. Say Pep leaves, who does the next manager even keep long term after such massive investment?
Any other manager at any other club gets asked huge questions after this.
He might not won 3 in a row but to be out of it by December is outrageous. This squad suddenly looks tired and miles off a league challenge.
Also, to be fair to Pep its not easy to come back from 2-0 down at halftine at the Etihad. Its only happened once.. When we did it a few years ago.
Mental.
Mental.
I am bitter yes.
I found your post odd because he’s brought in those players, the club have bought players in anticipation of his arrival to give him the perfect conditions that he requires and what we’re seeing is that he doesn’t seem able to adapt even with the slightest bit of adversity (1 injured centre back ffs). He was still able to bring guys like Gundogan and Mahrez off the bench yesterday. He has an incredible squad, easily the best in the league.
Agreed. When he has all the money in the world available and the best XI and bench in the league he has done well. Hes good at managing big players and when they do play well its brilliant football.
Still though, considering the clubs he has coached and the players he have had at his disposal i am not really that impressed with him. He managed what has probably the most talented Barca squad ever, then went to Bayern where winning the league is pretty much given and then City who's bench would get into most other teams in the PL
What Klopp has done at Liverpool is 10x more impressive. Taken a struggling squad and made them into a real force with much less spending
On the other hand with that defence and midfield he's won back to back PL titles. And it's early in Rodri's career. I haven't been impressed but the caf believed Silva was rubbish too till he tore the league up.
While Pep has spent a lot on the defence for it to struggle this year, it has also done enough to boss the league too. So that may happen again. Plus, it's important to note that much of his great work there also has to do with improving the collective /team rather than just add names. I don't think any manager who has dominated the PL two years running gets asked all that many questions to be honest. At least they shouldn't.
He's going to get a huge 300 Million checkbook and win the title again next year
Conditions are never perfect enough to guarantee a league win every year though. Not in the premier league. That this year looks to be a disappointing showing from City in the league is not debateable. But it has to be viewed in context. They have been phenomenal in the last two winning both. I'd like to see what happens next year before jumping the gun with alarming (for city) proclaimations.
But, apart from Laporte, its not really his signings that he has relied on?
Delph, Kompany, two youngsters at FB (not gonna spell their names) maybe Walker but hes been disappointing for a lot of his stay?
It says a lot that Pep spends that much on defenders since he clearly thinks he needs them but has to fall back on what
Is already there because they flop everytime.
Rodri hasnt got the legs for England, thats just my opinion. English football has progressed to high, midfield pressure and he hasnt got the mobility to get around the pitch. The DLP that spreads the ball is dying due to it encouraging the press higher up. Busquets is the best ive ever seen in that role and even he gets overrun against the top sides. Its just not there anymore.
Pep needs to adjust. It started ast year when they looked nervy over the last 3 months with 1 goal leads that were deemed professional.
They were winning, and it is an amazing, 1b squad after all, but the control was waining and the games were a lot more even.
This is just a continuance of that erosion. He cannot say he didnt see it coming.
They'd be mad to sack him. Any manager after him would be a step down.
Second best manager in the world behind Klopp. What can he do.
But this is a turning point, Pep left Barcelona and Bayern saying he was burnt out and that he couldn't reach the players anymore, but the thing is both boards thought they could win without him, and didn't really trusted his method in the long term.
I don't see this about sacking him, this is a crucial point for both him and City, if he truly has lost the dressing room there's two options:
Plan A is the usual, swap the manager and see if he can lit a fire on those players like Mourinho has done with Tottenham, then after 2 or 3 years sack him because the same thing happens again
Plan B is the one I'm most interested to see, if the board back Pep, they keep the same method and get rid of underperforming players it could start a long term era for City & Guardiola, something that truly has a page in football history, it could also end up being a huge mistake for all parts.
And recently, Zidane has proved that you don't really need to rebuild a whole squad to make them hungry again, I'd love to see for once what Guardiola is able to do in a 5 to 7 year span with a DOF that follows his instructions, it may be the last chance we get before he goes to hunt silverware with PSG, then Italy to win a easy Scudetto with Juve and retiring to coach young players for Barcelona.
A person can waste their careers, attempting to satisfy lazy thinkers and critics; why should managers alter their careers only to endlessly hear or read the following?:
*"Ah, but could he manage a small club?"
*"Ah, but could he manage a big club?"
*"Ah, but could he manage abroad?"
*"Ah, but could he manage an international side?"
*"Ah, but could he win an international trophy?"
*"Ah, but could he win trophies while managing a small big international club side from abroad?"
Any other club he'd walk. As it is they are likely to bring in over £150 Mill with the sales of Sane, Stones, Mendy & a few others. With a top up from Mansour can easily see them breaking the £300 Mill mark in the next transfer window. This will enable them to cope with any player injuries, loss of form & will have them right back challenging next season. We on the other hand will be lucky to be allowed to spend the full proceeds of Pogba's likely sale to close the gap.
He'll surely go if he feels he's lost the spark that he needs for success. He did with Barca. Of course he's one of the best managers in the world but he's yet to show he can keep something going or oversee a rebuild. Then again, he's at a club that could go nuts with it.
I think he's going in the summer. He desnt like it up him, Pep. Doesnt like a dogfight and has a surprisingly fragile ego. Klopp is embarrassing him this season, he'll turn tail and leave in the summer to go boost his ego in Paris or Turin. Win a few titles, good CL run, massage that ego a bit. He isn't renowned for biting down on his mouthpiece and firing back when he fails. City's replacement will be interesting to see though because its only gonna be downhill in terms of quality.
Sarri did that and came close to toppling one of the most dominant teams in Serie A history with a fraction of the budget yet people just turned round and said "meh show us your medals".
Seems managers can't win.
I don't see why PSG & Juve would be in a rush to hire him if he became available. He will deliver League Titles but they are dominating their respective leagues as it is. The CL is what these clubs are chasing. He's had the best squad in world football at City for the last 2 years & hasn't managed to make a SF. He would demand a huge wage & an even bigger transfer budget. It seems like a big outlay for what would likely be little progression.
I think City should be all over Pochettino. They could put him on retainer for a year & bring him in for 21/22 or sooner if Pep leaves early.