Neil Ashton: Pep Guardiola is under pressure as he tries to convince underwhelmed Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour he is worth another major transfer splash
Catalan super-coach's long-term future at the Etihad could be decided by how impressive his summer plans look
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SOON, Pep Guardiola will start to feel the pinch.
The pressure is on the Catalan super coach when he presents Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour with his summer transfer targets.
A lot hangs on the names on that list.
There is more than a hint of dissatisfaction about Pep’s first season in English football at the Etihad.
To go again, to provide Guardiola with unlimited funding for another monstrous transfer spree, will take some powers of persuasion.
For two successive summers the club’s majority shareholder Abu Dhabi United Group waved every one of Guardiola’s big signings through without batting an eyelid.
Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan in 2015, along with last year’s purchases Claudio Bravo, Nolito, Gabriel Jesus and John Stones were all signed on Pep’s recommendation.
City have invested so much in him — emotionally and financially — that they somehow have to find a way to make this work.
Recent results - defeat against Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final, a draw with Manchester United at the Etihad, a point at Middlesbrough last week - have not been encouraging.
If Jose Mourinho had shown a fraction more ambition in the Premier League, there is a chance City would finish outside the top four.
Missing out on Champions League football, a tournament Guardiola redefined during the golden years at Barcelona, is unthinkable.
The demands at City are high, far higher than the club ever let on publicly - even if Pep claims he always knew there was no short-term fix at the Etihad.
This idea that Guardiola, who has spent more than £300m on players since he agreed to become City’s head coach, is beyond reproach is fast coming to an end.
There are still serious misgivings at the club about his decision to jettison Joe Hart, the four-time winner of the Premier League’s golden glove.
Claudio Bravo, his replacement, has not convinced.
Guardiola’s judgement in the transfer market, no matter how good a coach he is out on the grass, is under scrutiny at the top level.
City’s alternative is to look elsewhere, to start thinking about a long-term successor for Pep.
Carlo Ancelotti, the man who replaced Guardiola at Bayern Munich at the start of the season, will always feature.
His easy-going manner, his temperament, is viewed as the perfect antidote to Guardiola’s manic, demanding and complicated approach.
There is a chance that Ancelotti, who won the Double in his first season in English football with Chelsea, will be available at the end of next season.
Ancelotti wants to work in England again, to challenge himself in the Premier League after a successful spell coaching Paris Saint Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern.
He is another European Cup winner, lifting the trophy twice with Milan and most recently La Decima with Real Madrid in 2014.
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For now, Guardiola is City’s man.
Starting tomorrow, when they face Crystal Palace at the Etihad, this group of players must haul themselves across the finish line.
He is asking a lot from a group of players who know they are likely to be moved on at the end of the season.
Yaya Toure, in and out of the squad, is leaving on a free.
There are many others in similar positions, but Guardiola must rely on them to see out these final four fixtures against Palace, West Brom, Leicester and Watford.
There are times when Pep looks lost, with the unenviable task of establishing City as the dominant force in English football looking beyond him.
To finish first in the Premier League ahead of Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal is always a challenge.
When Pep sits down with Sheik Mansour at the end of the season, he will have to make sure he is prepared for it.
It’s a Rash decision
MARCUS RASHFORD has made appearances at seven different levels of the game for club and country this season.
He has gained experience in the Premier League, Europa League, FA Cup, EFL Cup and Community Shield with Manchester United.
As well as appearing in England’s World Cup qualifying campaign and some of the friendlies, he is now expected to dig deep by representing the country at Under-21 level this summer.
Rashford is not the type to wriggle out of it, but now that he is a full international there is no need to flog him for another three weeks at a junior tournament in Poland.
Lay off Wagner
HUDDERSFIELD manager David Wagner is entitled to pick whatever team he likes if it gives his side the best chance of winning promotion to the Premier League.
The Tykes have been ordered by the Football League to explain why they made ten changes for Saturday’s 2-0 Championship defeat at relegation-threatened Birmingham.
Wagner’s brief is to get Huddersfield promoted to the top flight for the first time since Ian Greaves took them into the old First Division as champions in 1970.
German Wagner is answerable to the club’s board — and if they are comfortable with him rotating players to keep his first picks fresh for the play-offs, the Football League must respect it.
Size matters, Spurs
ONE of the more obscure reasons being put forward for Tottenham’s failure to take to Wembley is the difference in the size of the pitch at the national stadium.
Spurs have special dispensation from the Premier League to play on a surface measuring just 100x67m at White Hart Lane because the stands are built so close to the grass.
When they play all their home games at Wembley next season, it will be on a bigger surface area of 105x68m.