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SNEERING SARCASTIC ’N SNIPPY
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola’s bitching is not wise, classy or dignified
FA Cup row with Latics chief Paul Cook is the latest in a long line of whingeing from the Spaniard. It's time for it to stop.
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COME on, Pep, you are better than this.
All this shouting, all this moaning, all this bloody whingeing is not becoming of one of the world’s finest football coaches.
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Sometimes it goes wonky, as it did at Wigan in the FA Cup on Monday night when Manchester City were beaten by Will Grigg’s classy 79th-minute strike.
And when it does go pear-shaped, managers — even The Great Guardiola — have to take their medicine.
The remedy is a big result at the weekend, to win his first trophy with Manchester City by wiping the floor with Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final. Simple.
All this bitching, puffing himself up to confront Wigan manager Paul Cook in the tunnel at half-time, does not suit a coach with Pep’s pedigree. It is not wise, classy, or dignified, to go down that route.
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He is a man at war when he does not get his own way, kicking off with Sean Dyche during their third-round tie with Burnley and then getting into a squabble with Neil Warnock down at Cardiff.
Before all that, just because Southampton winger Nathan Redmond misplaced a pass against City, Pep marched on to the pitch to give the poor kid a rollocking. Bizarre behaviour, by any stretch.
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It seems such a shame because English football has been falling at Pep’s altar since City started to leave the chasing pack behind them in the Premier League. Most love his possession-with- conviction approach.
He has come so far, reshaping the way the sport is played in this country with City’s stylish, powerful and purposeful football. For that, he commands complete respect.
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Unfortunately Pep is taking the sheen off it, with his growing sense of entitlement undermining City’s position at the top of English football. Snippy Pep. Sneering Pep. Sarcastic Pep.
This idea that City’s football can somehow persuade the game’s bigwigs to bend the rules in his favour just because he can pinpoint a few dirty challenges deserves ridicule.
When he is finally granted an audience with referees’ chief Mike Riley, he should take a copy of Fabian Delph’s outrageous challenge on Wigan’s Max Power with him.
Manchester City fans throw objects onto the pitch after loss to Wigan in FA Cup
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The old pros rallied around Pep on Monday, with the majority claiming Delph was a tad unlucky to be sent off by Anthony Taylor just before half-time. In this climate, if it is going to be a close call, it is not worth diving in and risking red.
Pep should be preaching that more than most because he is the coach, remember, who does not encourage his players to make any tackles at all.
They came off second best at the DW Stadium, duffed up by the League One side despite boasting 83 per cent possession.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has a massive go at Southampton star Nathan Redmond on full time
Having the ball is all well and good but Pep cannot handle it when his players are not allowed to walk it into the net.
To be fair, he was entitled to a right old moan after Cardiff assaulted his players every time they got a chance to give them a whack in the fourth round.
It was there that Joe Bennett, who butchered Leroy Sane, was eventually sent off for a second yellow card just before the final whistle.
There were more complaints on Monday, with Nathan Byrne and especially Callum Elder fortunate to escape red cards. If the game had been re-refereed, there would have been a different outcome for those two.
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November 29, 2017
Charges on the pitch after game and yells at Southampton’s Nathan Redmond, demanding the winger attack with the ball rather than play conservatively.
January 6, 2018
Theatrically shushes Sean Dyche as tempers flare in the technical area after the Burnley boss raged at Sergio Aguero’s goal from a quick free-kick. The fourth official had to step in to stop the spat.
January 28, 2018
Sparks a row with Cardiff boss Neil Warnock’s tactics after Leroy Sane was injured, calling on referees to “protect the players” against dangerous challenges.
Still, losing at a League One side, even if it was 11 v 10 for 45 minutes, is an humiliating experience for a club 16 points clear in the Premier League.
This is the pinch point for Pep, that stage of the season when the pressure ramps up on managers every game.
Three big prizes — the Carabao Cup, Premier League and Champions League — are still up for grabs.
City will win the title but with all this glorious football they will need to end the season with more than that.
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Wigan 1-0 Manchester City: Will Grigg’s on fire as League One side extinguish Pep Guardiola’s Quadruple hopes
The idea they were on for the Quad was beyond their manager’s control, a creation that started to gather momentum as the season wore on.
Pep will be more than miffed about Monday’s defeat because this country has a habit of reminding managers about their spectacular failures.
Grumpy Guardiola, like it or not, will just have to get on with it. Either that, or he will go down as one very, very bad loser.
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