'Pep' Guardiola sack watch

[McGrathsipan]

I heard Booing at the end yesterday.
That on its own is the nature of the modern game - his teams were untouchable over the last few years - a treble, consecutive titles etc - now a spell of bad results and they are booing.
Shower of cnuts.

I hope he walks out.

Delighted to see the implosion

 

[Oranges038]

Note: This may be very niche

"This could be a banana skin"

 

[Ayoba]

Key players like KDB, Bernardo and Walker ageing.

They sold the likes of Alvarez, João Cancelo and didn't replace them properly.

Poor transfers. Doku, Greilish, Savinho and Gundo have hardly set the world alight. I don't think Doku fits as a city player in that rigid system. Savinho is still young so I'll reserve judgement. No idea why they bought an ageing Gundogan, he offers nothing.

 

[Oranges038]

.21 he definitely cuts one and just carries on.

 

[GuybrushThreepwood]

I thought at the time that Guardiola, from his own personal perspective, should have bailed at the end of last season.

It was the perfect time to make his departure from City, after winning the Club World Cup to complete the full set of major trophies there and the unprecedented 4th consecutive title, and crucially before the heat resulting the 115 charges (now 130 right?) properly / further ramped up.

I guess in the past he was interested in a move to Serie A after his City stint was over, but the top Serie A clubs seem to have financial problems.

 

[crossy1686]

I thought at the time that Guardiola, from his own personal perspective, should have bailed at the end of last season.

It was the perfect time to make his departure from City, after winning the Club World Cup to complete the full set of major trophies there and the unprecedented 4th consecutive title, and crucially before the heat resulting the 115 charges (now 130 right?) properly / further ramped up.

I guess in the past he was interested in a move to Serie A after his City stint was over, but the top Serie A clubs seem to have financial problems.

Did you not hear? FIFA made it clear they didn’t win the club World Cup, it was just some international league cup or something. The club World Cup comes this summer in the states.

 

[11101]

He's risking his legacy here.

He's only been challenged once before when he first joined City, and they finished 3rd. If they fall down the table with the resources he's had available it will raise questions. If he fails to address the problems it will do a lot more than that.

And all that's without the looming spectre of the cheating.

 

[Devil_3565]

People forget Pep is the guy who quit Barcelona because, emotionally, he just couldn't cope with Mourinho mind games.

He's on the edge. When you see him scratching his body like an anime villain it's not fake. He's that invested. It's unhealthy. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a total burnout at this rate.

How long do you think Fergie would have needed to crack him up had their times overlapped ? Even Mou took the respect route with the boss.

 

[B20]

So funny to watch how Pep insists on doing the exact same thing over and over again and expect a different result. Unable to adapt his approach.
Playing a slow pairing of Bernardo and Gundo in the middle to be parked in oppo counters and to kill every fast transition or direct play whenever they have the chance. Playing slow players without physicality, who's cute on the ball and vaccinated against direct play obviously doesn't work very well. They refuse to play direct, insist on having 10 oppo players in front of them at all times, on pumping unaddressed crosses into a crowded box and to be vulnerable to fast counters every time they lose the ball.

Long may it continue.

I actually think they have the personnel to play long ball tactics. All their midfielders, keeper and centerbacks have enough technical ability to accurately pump it long for Haaland to chest it. Doku would be great for running in behind if Haaland knew how to trap it and play it on.

That would require Haaland to play a meaningful role in the buildup, mind.

 

[Adisa]

I think they know their season is over and a big deduction is coming. I can't think of any other reason for such a drop in effort or mentality. If it was just results, I'd say fair enough but the lazyness and complacency is only explained by that.
Genuinely feel while theres been no decision they've been told "We're cooked" behind the scenes.

This makes a lot of sense. The players might feel that what's the point when the league will render anything we achieve meaningless.

 

[#07]

How long do you think Fergie would have needed to crack him up had their times overlapped ? Even Mou took the respect route with the boss.

We can't prove it mind, but, I am saying Fergie gives Pep a Rafa 'facts' like meltdown over a 38 game season. The boss' supposed influence, the constant Fergie time winners when he thinks he's pulling away from us, yeah...Fergie would have wobbled his head something silly.

 

[LordSpud]

I think when the verdict comes out Pep will be hung out to dry by the higher ups of City. I fully expect him to become the fall guy who knew what they were up to all along. That's why they kept him on, and I think Pep is being very naive at the moment. Needs to get out of there quickly.

 

[Nole]

He's risking his legacy here.

He's only been challenged once before when he first joined City, and they finished 3rd. If they fall down the table with the resources he's had available it will raise questions. If he fails to address the problems it will do a lot more than that.

And all that's without the looming spectre of the cheating.

He's won everything at City and he has more than a 70% win rate at every club he has managed. Even if he gets City relegated, I doubt they will sack him. He will always be revered as a legend, he's literally bigger than City as a club.

 

[gaffs]

I think many people will look stupid when he turns it around. He will. Maybe not right away, but i'm sure they will be challenging again, providing the punishment for the 115+ charges are not too big (which i hope they are).

The mistake made is not having a strong enough central midfield. Silva and Gundogan are lightweight in there. Having a left forward playing left back can't help.

It is wild though for a team so dominant to collapse like this.

Let's put it in context. Had Nunes not had a massive brain fart, chances are, City beat us yesterday and the narrative is very different.

If anyone said at the start of the season that Notts Forest would be above City after 16 games played, you would think they were crazy.

 

[AndyMindMk5]

He is good but like with every perfectionist his methods take tool on the people.
Thats is why Fergie is king.

 

[matt10000]

Meh. Millionaire cry baby who has a tantrum because things aren't going his way for the first time ever. He'll get over it.

Exactly, when the going gets tough the tough get going.

I would like to see him do a stint at St Mirren before he retires.

 

[TheRedHearted]

They aren't like for like replacements, that's not how it works especially when talking about uniquely talented players. They also let Palmer go. Great managers reinvent teams

That makes sense. The idea you’re saying is he would build the team around the replacement and not have what KDB did. To me the Rodri thing is the most glaring. They could have bought a young strong CDM but didn’t.

Nah if they're relegated they won't get a CL spot. The spots are basically invitations the PL and FA choose to fill. Technically the PL/FA could send who they like to the CL.

Yes, sorry you’re right. But what if they get CL this year and next season is where they are informed they will be relegated. Wouldn’t they still have the CL spot but be in the championship?

This summer but we have a one year option

I see. So got to sign the deal now

 

[SER19]

He's risking his legacy here.

He's only been challenged once before when he first joined City, and they finished 3rd. If they fall down the table with the resources he's had available it will raise questions. If he fails to address the problems it will do a lot more than that.

And all that's without the looming spectre of the cheating.

he has no legacy after his bayern years. He chose to join a small club in the knowledge that they would bankroll him like crazy, with the core of his team already in place before he even got there. Just look at how poor he's done in trying to come up with a system without de bruyne, who was at the club before guardiola. At this time, people were already speculating that the club was cheating and that smell had started to rise but he didnt care - he took the job and went along with it, defending the 'owners' as he'd defend his own family. If city are appropriately punished, he, and the players like de bruyne who have only ever won things with city have no legacy at all. He's lucky messi carried him to a couple of CLs.

 

[MiceOnMeth]

We can't prove it mind, but, I am saying Fergie gives Pep a Rafa 'facts' like meltdown over a 38 game season. The boss' supposed influence, the constant Fergie time winners when he thinks he's pulling away from us, yeah...Fergie would have wobbled his head something silly.

Imagine the team Fergie would have built with all that money we've spunked in the past decade

 

[Gabriel Djemba-Bebe]

I think many people will look stupid when he turns it around. He will. Maybe not right away, but i'm sure they will be challenging again, providing the punishment for the 115+ charges are not too big (which i hope they are).

The mistake made is not having a strong enough central midfield. Silva and Gundogan are lightweight in there. Having a left forward playing left back can't help.

It is wild though for a team so dominant to collapse like this.

Let's put it in context. Had Nunes not had a massive brain fart, chances are, City beat us yesterday and the narrative is very different.

If anyone said at the start of the season that Notts Forest would be above City after 16 games played, you would think they were crazy.

I don't think the narrative would have been too different at all. Everyone was saying during the game (including Neville on comms) that City don't look themselves at all. They barely created any chances and were about to bring on Stones to help see out a scruffy 1-0 win at home vs a bottom half team.

 

[Fracture90]

My god... never thought I'd live to see the day!

 

[Jazz]

He needs to see a therapist. Don't really like some of his comments. Really seems to be struggling.

 

[horsechoker]

Not your best.

In hindsight you're right

 

[DarkLord1984]

We can't prove it mind, but, I am saying Fergie gives Pep a Rafa 'facts' like meltdown over a 38 game season. The boss' supposed influence, the constant Fergie time winners when he thinks he's pulling away from us, yeah...Fergie would have wobbled his head something silly.

I agree. If Pep and 90's Fergie were in the league together at the same time, Pep would be going full Keegan eventually.

 

[Oranges038]

I think when the verdict comes out Pep will be hung out to dry by the higher ups of City. I fully expect him to become the fall guy who knew what they were up to all along. That's why they kept him on, and I think Pep is being very naive at the moment. Needs to get out of there quickly.

I think it's the kind of the opposite.

He knows they have him by the balls with all the shenanigans, that's why he can't leave.

 

[Woodzy]

He needs to see a therapist. Don't really like some of his comments. Really seems to be struggling.

Agreed, and if he’s like this every day around the players then no wonder their form is falling off a cliff.

 

[Trophy Room]

Just an odd bloke. This level of implosion is unbecoming of the greatest ever (supposedly).

 

[Woodzy]

It’s just bizarre he signed that contract. It’s clear he needs a break, he probably wants a break and pretty much hinted that he could be about to take a break.

Suddenly he signed a new contract on the eve of long running case that could (or at least should) see City get harshly punished, and at the same time they win just one in eleven games.

Something is just really odd, and it goes far beyond a simple injury crisis.

 

[T_Model101]

Where did Liverpool finish in that season where they lost 6-7 games in a row?
Don't tell me that was the season they were miles ahead and still won the league

City will 100% "part ways" with him, if this malaise carries on. With probably mental health being cited.
Who is available to replace him with though?

 

[DarkLord1984]

Where did Liverpool finish in that season where they lost 6-7 games in a row?
Don't tell me that was the season they were miles ahead and still won the league

City will 100% "part ways" with him, if this malaise carries on. With probably mental health being cited.
Who is available to replace him with though?

I hear ETH hasn't found a new club yet

 

[Someone]

Guardiola has always been a dodgy person. He just had a well curated image. He failed two steroid tests as a player - being cleared on a technicality rather than actually being innocent. He’s at the centre of what should’ve been the biggest doping scandal in football history at Barcelona, but because it affected the national team, the Spanish government destroyed the evidence and made it all go away. He was managing Barcelona all through the years they were paying the head referee.

He went to Bayern and took his dodgy doc with him. Dominated a one team league but fell flat on his face in Europe. Then signed up with the most crooked team in Europe to create a monopoly of fraudulent achievements. Winning multiple titles through systematic and systemic cheating.

He has a long track record of being a cheat. Of doing that ever he can to win, and repeatedly getting away with it. He’s been untouchable because his downfall would impact a whole country in the case of his time at Barca. His City team was penalised by UEFA and banned from Europe for just a tiny fraction of the cheating that the PL have dinged them for, and they got off on a technicality (time barring) rather than being cleared. He, as a man, is the very beating heart of these cheating sides. He does a good job of playing the innocent visionary, but in my estimation is one of - if not the - biggest cheats in football history.

Not to mention defending the Barcelona fans after calling Roberto Carlos a chimpanzee.

 

[343]

I think many people will look stupid when he turns it around. He will. Maybe not right away, but i'm sure they will be challenging again, providing the punishment for the 115+ charges are not too big (which i hope they are).

The mistake made is not having a strong enough central midfield. Silva and Gundogan are lightweight in there. Having a left forward playing left back can't help.

It is wild though for a team so dominant to collapse like this.

Let's put it in context. Had Nunes not had a massive brain fart, chances are, City beat us yesterday and the narrative is very different.

If anyone said at the start of the season that Notts Forest would be above City after 16 games played, you would think they were crazy.

Had the ref and VAR rightly awarded a penalty for the blatant foul on Hojlund, United would have thrashed City by more goals. So ifs and buts is not much of an argument.

Guardiola may turn this around, but it won't be easy. The squad is ageing and has been allowed to drift. Even with Rodri back, they need a new midfield, and they won't be able to simply outspend everyone else like they have been (hopefully due of what happens to them because of the130 charges). Guardiola has always needed top talent to make his system work.

 

[Irrational.]

He should’ve left on a high, like Klopp did with his reputation intact. Or in his case, left whilst high.

Anything after the four in a row was going to be a disappointment. And let’s be honest, with an ageing squad and a Nordic Sméagol leading the line, this season didn’t bode well.

 

[gaffs]

I don't think the narrative would have been too different at all. Everyone was saying during the game (including Neville on comms) that City don't look themselves at all. They barely created any chances and were about to bring on Stones to help see out a scruffy 1-0 win at home vs a bottom half team.

I agree. They were miles off what we have seen from them. But a derby win would have changed the narrative, for sure.

The headlines would have been "City win despite them not looking like themselves".

They focus would have been on United being a mess and Amorim only having one PL win, a draw and 3 losses. It would have been about leaving Rashford and Garnacho at home. Who is talking about that now? The result changes everything.

Not that either of these things are true in reality, but we are talking about what the narrative would have been.

 

[gaffs]

Had the ref and VAR rightly awarded a penalty for the blatant foul on Hojlund, United would have thrashed City by more goals. So ifs and buts is not much of an argument.

Guardiola may turn this around, but it won't be easy. The squad is ageing and has been allowed to drift. Even with Rodri back, they need a new midfield, and they won't be able to simply outspend everyone else like they have been (hopefully due of what happens to them because of the130 charges). Guardiola has always needed top talent to make his system work.

Who knows? Had the first pen been given, which is should, City may have got their tails up and won. We will never know.

 

[Sandikan]

I think many people will look stupid when he turns it around. He will. Maybe not right away, but i'm sure they will be challenging again, providing the punishment for the 115+ charges are not too big (which i hope they are).

The mistake made is not having a strong enough central midfield. Silva and Gundogan are lightweight in there. Having a left forward playing left back can't help.

It is wild though for a team so dominant to collapse like this.

Let's put it in context. Had Nunes not had a massive brain fart, chances are, City beat us yesterday and the narrative is very different.

If anyone said at the start of the season that Notts Forest would be above City after 16 games played, you would think they were crazy.

Even if they'd held on for a narrow 1-0 against a start of the long journey United, it wouldn't have changed the 1 win in 10 or so before hand, with most of them defeats.

 

[343]

Who knows? Had the first pen been given, which is should, City may have got their tails up and won. We will never know.

That's exactly the point, but was it not you who presented a hypothetical situation to begin with regarding the brain fart from Nunes? It's all ifs and buts. Fact is United won and deserved to on the balance of play.

 

[gaffs]

Even if they'd held on for a narrow 1-0 against a start of the long journey United, it wouldn't have changed the 1 win in 10 or so before hand, with most of them defeats.

They could have won 14-0, but it wouldnt have changed what had gone before.

The is the thing with history. It cant be changed.

But a 1-0 win would have changed the narrative which is now City in the mud, United moving forward.

 

[Herschel Krustofsky]

I think when the verdict comes out Pep will be hung out to dry by the higher ups of City. I fully expect him to become the fall guy who knew what they were up to all along

This is a bit odd.

He’s not the one signing off the cheques or arranging the extra sponsorship payments from owners.

He’s complicit if he’s accepted dodgy payments but making him the fall guy would imply he’s orchestrated it. Thats a bit far fetched.

Unless you mean something else??

 

[OverratedOpinion]

When he is saying things like "I'm not good enough" and "I can't fix this" it feels very clear that he regrets signing the extension and is asking the club for a mercy sacking.