Pep responds to fan comments, will walk if he is a problem

He’s a bit thin skinned is Pep. Years of adulation, no problem, a wee bit of blowback and he’s all passive aggressive.
Can see why some players have a issue with him as his monomaniacal intensity must get a bit wearing.
Great coach obviously, but City were winning before he arrived and will continue to do so when he leaves, something he might wish to contemplate before he gets all huffy.
 
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Utd are undoubtedly a hard act to follow. Said in a thread earlier that I think City fans actually liked being the underdogs. Not sure what they think of their situation now, especially as they can't fill their ground. I get the attendances for the CL games as they have an ongoing issue with UEFA but that stadium should be full for the PL games
Spent a lot of time watching city in the 90s when not at Ibrox. One of the main attractions for me to City was the humour and humility in the stands. You really see the loyalty of your fan base when your local rivals are winning everything. A point that shouldn’t be lost on ourselves.

I would imagine the novelty of big signings and limitless resources has worn off on the fans who followed them through the 70s to 90s. It has taken some of the soul out of the club as did moving ground. The ‘tourist’ fans just won’t turn up for run of the mill league games.

I would take exception that they are tin pot though. Having watched them many times home and away in 3 divisions they have a huge core local support. Many have simply been alienated by the new corporate culture at the club.
 
He inherited one of, if not, the greatest player of all time, then swanned around Manhattan like a hipster twat before taking over the European champions. His next challenge was running a team owned by oil billionaires. Loves a challenge. The absolute charlatan.
He played a key role in developing one of, if not, the greatest player of all-time and the greatest midfield of all-time.

You clearly have made an opinion though that Pep’s career has only been made of “easy jobs” yet probably don’t have a scooby about the incredible job he did at Barca B.

The man is the furthest thing from a charlatan and is arguably one of the most influential figures in our lifetime.
 
They are always in my mind a small club made artificially big. When climate change really kicks in they will reduce back to where they rightfully belong
 
I don't see him there much longer tbh. Failure to attract the big names and the we were terrific comments after every defeat in games they should win becomes a bit disheartening to even the most loyal fans.
Losing the CL final was a fatal blow.
 
Should’ve been sacked for starting the CL final without a CF or DCM. :))

He is without doubt a great manager but trying to show the world how much cleverer you are than everyone else in a CL final was criminal imo
 
Should’ve been sacked for starting the CL final without a CF or DCM. :))

He is without doubt a great manager but trying to show the world how much cleverer you are than everyone else in a CL final was criminal imo
He has previous for overthinking big games.

He’s not in my top 5 favourite current managers, but I respect how good he is.
 
Prior to the Arab money what makes them a big club? The two league titles?
Nah, their 28 domestic trophies, a big, loyal fan base when they were shite and the fact they're the 5th most successful team in England, ever.

They were Manchester's premier team before the Munich disaster and regularly got crowds of 70k. I think their record crowd is 80 odd thousand.
 
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Spent a lot of time watching city in the 90s when not at Ibrox. One of the main attractions for me to City was the humour and humility in the stands. You really see the loyalty of your fan base when your local rivals are winning everything. A point that shouldn’t be lost on ourselves.

I would imagine the novelty of big signings and limitless resources has worn off on the fans who followed them through the 70s to 90s. It has taken some of the soul out of the club as did moving ground. The ‘tourist’ fans just won’t turn up for run of the mill league games.

I would take exception that they are tin pot though. Having watched them many times home and away in 3 divisions they have a huge core local support. Many have simply been alienated by the new corporate culture at the club.
Met a few city fans abroad, and most have said that they miss the "old" city, even though they never really won anything. Same goes for many Chelsea fans I have met.
 
Anybody that thinks Pep Guardiola is a charlatan knows nothing about football.

Barca finished 18 points behind Madrid in third when Pep took over. They even had to play a qualifier to get into the CL.

In his first season, he won the league, Copa del Rey and the CL.
 
There was a Man City fan rep on SSN yesterday coming out with every excuse in the book why the games are not sold out. Stopped short of blaming it on Mother’s Day or people shopping for school uniforms but did say lots of people couldn’t go because they got back too late for their kids
To kiss them good night and read them a bedtime story?
 
I disagree with the point that Man City are a tinpot club. No doubt that they’ve benefited unbelievably from the foreign investment however, they carried 30,000 supporters in the lower leagues in England, not many sustain that. I think they lost a bit of their soul when Maine Road went and they became another billionaire’s play thing but think the time pot stuff is harsh.
I'm a bit of an example of that. From Manchester and have family who support both clubs there. City were always my English club (just a wee hobby more than anything). Was down at Maine Road a few times, in the EPL & championship. Big crowds (nearly all Mancs whilst Utd would have 10k cockney reds and plenty Scandinavian/Asian tourists at OT), very decent atmosphere, very passionate fan base.
Haven't gave a toss about them for a lot of years now. Never been to the new stadium and found myself not minding too much if Utd turned them over in recent years. Even some of my City relatives down there have cooled off on them and now City look for the tourists to support them.
And any City group link up with the filth, well that's it. Utd scarf getting purchased soon :oops: :))
 
I’ve been to the stadium but got nuthing to do with the size of the club. Before they were taken over City were an average club and even today there stadium isn’t always full. I always preferred them to Utd probably as the had a few prods follow them. Had a good friends relations lived next to main Rd and they used to have a good time during the twelfth July. Unfortunately will alw at be in shadows of Utd.
My old man was a Glaswegian Bear. I was born in Manchester. Me and my brothers asked him if we could follow a Manchester team when I was about 6 (we were all Manchester Bears down there).
He said "Fine, as long as it's not fcukin Utd" :))
Apparently City's board was predominantly Masonic back in the 70's, not sure how accurate that is though.
And ours and Utds relationship wasn't so good in those days :))
 
Wonder about the comment “ football didn’t begin 15 years ago”.
That is very true.
It could easily be argued that, but for the Munich Air disaster that propelled Manchester United into world recognition, City would have been the dominant club in the 50’s onwards.
Sad though the event was, it did happen just at the time when media was becoming world wide and the impact on United was huge. It happened to an English club and that made it big news worldwide.
If you doubt this I’d ask when was the last time you heard anyone discuss the Torino air disaster? A greater loss of life and impact on the team, but it didn’t carry the same resonance.

City may have lost its soul, but prior to becoming a plaything it had a great and true support and an honest, hard earned history.

Oh, and for those who like these things, City apparently play in Masonic colours.
 
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He inherited one of, if not, the greatest player of all time, then swanned around Manhattan like a hipster twat before taking over the European champions. His next challenge was running a team owned by oil billionaires. Loves a challenge. The absolute charlatan.
lol people actually believe this
 
I disagree with the point that Man City are a tinpot club. No doubt that they’ve benefited unbelievably from the foreign investment however, they carried 30,000 supporters in the lower leagues in England, not many sustain that. I think they lost a bit of their soul when Maine Road went and they became another billionaire’s play thing but think the time pot stuff is harsh.

Is it all that impressive? A quick Google suggests that Sunderland have a similar average attendance, and they've been down in that division way longer. Surely your core support remains pretty solid regardless of what division your in?

Amazing a club like Forest have maintained an attendance of around 25k for decades despite being utter shite.
 
They don't deserve him. Wish he'd move to a proper club.
Had to laugh at the supporters group other day, ‘he should stick to managing the team’. As far as I see it, he’s got great players which makes his job easier but he still gets them playing exciting and attacking football. They’d soon be greetin’ into their prawn sandwiches if he left.
 
Like when he took over Barca? They finished third, trophyless and 18 points behind Madrid when he was appointed.

What about at City? They finished fourth when he was appointed.
Plus, why on earth would a guy who constantly wins things and is generally regarded as one of the worlds best coaches take over a shite club with no cash? Just to prove a few people wrong? It’s a bit of a silly thing to say.
 
Plus, why on earth would a guy who constantly wins things and is generally regarded as one of the worlds best coaches take over a shite club with no cash? Just to prove a few people wrong? It’s a bit of a silly thing to say.
Until he’s taken Montrose into the champions league, I’ll remain unconvinced. Yet to prove himself in an Angus derby.
 
Plus, why on earth would a guy who constantly wins things and is generally regarded as one of the worlds best coaches take over a shite club with no cash? Just to prove a few people wrong? It’s a bit of a silly thing to say.
Can’t underestimate the job he did at Barcelona (B and first team) which was a bigger job than the majority of people give him credit for.

Since then though he’s had 2 easy jobs and arguably failed as he’s not won the champions league with either of the 2 sides which was always the goal with City at least.

He’s clearly a top manager and his tactics can be excellent as seen with Barca but he also has a weird habit of over thinking it in big games which costs his sides.

Not sure where his next move will be but would like to see him in Italy and hopefully not in France with PSG.
 
How can folk honestly say City are a tinpot club? The Mansour money took them to a different level of course, what is wrong with that?

City had a big and loyal fan base when playing in lower leagues, they had won titles, Fa Cups, League Cups and a European trophy ffs long before the billionaires rolled up.

It’s not some new club formed a few decades ago as a rich persons plaything.
 
I'm not sure always looking at the state of the club when someone arrived is always a valid measure to determine how successful someone has been.

Yes, when Pep took over they had finished third in the league. They had also reached the semi finals of the Champions League and lost by one goal. The year before they'd lost La Liga on a head to head record and they'd won two on the trot before that. There's a lot to admire about that early Barcelona stuff, but I'm not sure that narrative people are angling for is really all that powerful. The two top usually follow up a fallow year with a much improved one.

And when he took over at City, he took them from fourth all the way to...third!

I'd maybe stop short of calling him a charlatan but fck me, come on: his stuff with Munich was par for the course and with City he has constructed - and let's be clear here - the most expensive football team in football history. There might be an argument he's underperformed with City, and almost certainly with Munich.
 
They don't deserve him. Wish he'd move to a proper club.
Wish he’d take a job where he has to build something and not pick up the pieces of someone else’s masterpiece and claim he’s some sort of messiah. That’s why Jose will always be better for me
 
Chelsea were at least a decent cup team when RA bought them, but yes historically a pretty middle road English club.

These teams are never going to be able to challenge the historically big English sides without investment, no issue with that but no amount of money can inflate their local fan base.


City were bigger than Chelsea before Abramovich. They'd won 4 FA Cups, 2 League Cups, 2 League Championships and a CWC to Chelsea's one of each. City have always been one of the best supported teams in England so people calling them tin pot don't know their history.
 
At the end of the day there is a Club ready for him to go to really to play a massive part in a huge repair job, a Club in a real mess - Barcelona. I don't think he would manage anyone else in Spain. Be interesting to see which players would go there for him if he took over there, be reduced salaries etc compared to what they could elsewhere given the lack of money they have now?
 
Taking Porto to successive European trophies is almost certainly a more impressive feat than a CL win with Barcelona.
His job with Inter was just pure genius IMO. I know porto eclipses that, but that inter team was a mix of everything, dirty bastards that could play, defend for their lives of course and he built a real siege mentality akin to his title wins with Chelsea.
 
His issue isn't that they aren't selling out the ground - it's simply the lack of atmosphere. He's wanting the fans that do attend to support the team more and a perfectly reasonable thing to say. Of course you do wonder how many are actually City fans that attend these CL games.

Pep has already gone on record as saying he will take a break from football and then his next job will be at International level. However I wonder if he would take the ultimate challenge in trying to rebuild Barcelona.
 
City were bigger than Chelsea before Abramovich. They'd won 4 FA Cups, 2 League Cups, 2 League Championships and a CWC to Chelsea's one of each. City have always been one of the best supported teams in England so people calling them tin pot don't know their history.
Not sure about that with regard to the previous 10/15, Chelsea been in CL a few times at that point - City had never been in it. Chelsea had won a European Trophy as well.
 
City were bigger than Chelsea before Abramovich. They'd won 4 FA Cups, 2 League Cups, 2 League Championships and a CWC to Chelsea's one of each. City have always been one of the best supported teams in England so people calling them tin pot don't know their history.
I had a soft spot for City when they were cutting about with Nicky Weaver, Paul Dickov, the goat and co in the second division.
They undoubtedly had a passionate and loyal support. People do forget that, but they’re also right that they aren’t and IMO will never be a huge club either.
 
He inherited one of, if not, the greatest player of all time, then swanned around Manhattan like a hipster twat before taking over the European champions. His next challenge was running a team owned by oil billionaires. Loves a challenge. The absolute charlatan.
I would say managing those players has its own challenges though than managing lesser teams. Bigger egos, more player power, pressure at the very top end. It’s not as easy as just chucking a team together. Look at PSG last year for example.
 
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