‘You’re not who you were, is it time to step away?’: Ex-Man City boss makes odd Guardiola claim

Stuart Pearce thinks Pep Guardiola could end up being advised by “close family members” to step down as Manchester City manager if their poor form continues.

Man City have fallen to fifth in the Premier League table having won only one of their last six matches in the top flight.

Guardiola signed a new contract during the November international break and said this week he will not step down but has suggested he could get sacked.

“When I feel it is time to leave, I will leave,” the City manager said. “If I’m losing and losing and losing one month more, I will say, ‘Guys, it has to come someone else to fix these kind of things,’ because it cannot be eternal.

“There is one thing when I would say, ‘Pep, you have to think about it,’ is when I lose the team, when I feel they don’t run. They don’t follow me.

“In that moment, not one minute would we be here. But more than ever I am there. There’s no doubt about that.

“The greatest achievement has already been done. We have been the best.

“But now it’s made me realise how difficult it was what we have done and, when we come back, of course it will be, wow, we will not forget those moments. Because we want it and we do it and we are not able.”

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In a rather bizarre assessment, Pearce has said on talkSPORT that Guardiola could get an arm around the shoulder from a couple of family members, telling him that it might be time to call it a day.

“It’s employment, it’s a career,” he began. “You’ve got to get happiness within the workplace and he might look to one or two of his close family members who may say, ‘Pep, come on now, you’re not the man you once were, is it time to step away from it?'”

Bloody hell. It sounds like someone getting advised by their mate to leave a nightclub after getting pied off by the same girl six times.

Pearce continued: “Everyone in their own lives suffers pressure. Pressure to pay mortgages, pressure outside, you name it there’s a multitude of pressures.

“In football, you’re carrying the hopes and dreams of thousands of people and staff members.

“Bear in mind that you’ve brought in people to work alongside you that are going to lose their jobs as well.”

Man City host local rivals Man United in the Premier League on Sunday and Pearce thinks “champions mentality” will shine through.

“I don’t think Man United will win the game,” the former City manager said.

“That’s a result I can call. I think Man City will find something in their champions mentality and make sure they do not get beaten in this game.

“Whether they see a draw as being a very average result for both teams, potentially that could be the case. Both of them will come away maybe with a point.

“They might think ‘this hasn’t helped either of us to be quite honest.”

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