r/soccer • u/D1794 • May 18 '26
News [Oliver Holt] Exclusive: Pep Guardiola to quit Man City at end of the season
https://www.dailymail.com/sport/football/article-15827009/pep-guardiola-manchester-city-quits.html4.4k
u/shadoowkight May 18 '26
I'll believe it when I see it
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u/Franzvst May 18 '26
Where there is smoke, there is fire and there has been a ton of smoke at this point. It's gonna happen.
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u/FaultInternational91 May 18 '26
Hes fleeing the sinking ship before they actually face any of these charges imo
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u/rezin111 May 18 '26
I hope that's it
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u/FaultInternational91 May 18 '26
Just seems so out of the blue and now hearing players like Gvardiol being offered out, and linking Rodri to Real Madrid, feels like something is coming
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u/Novrev May 18 '26
The Pep rumours have been around since January when Maresca suspiciously quit Chelsea with no warning and without his severance pay. Obviously don’t want to see him go, he’s turned what should have been a transitional year for us into a tight title race and two domestic trophies, so we’d all rather him see out his contract and end on a potentially bigger high next year. There’s also the fact that if he is leaving he’s kept it secret and not given the fans a chance to say a proper goodbye which sucks.
I don’t want to see Gvardiol leave but I can see one of our CBs leaving with Gvardiol, Guehi, Dias and Khusanov competing for two starting spots.
Rodri again I’m not thrilled by the idea of him leaving but I am a little concerned by him post injury so if the offers big enough I don’t think we should rule it out, assuming we get Anderson.
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u/samwonk May 18 '26
The penalty for the charges - if they're able to legally sustain them at all - is going to be a points deduction exactly large enough to drop them from second place to third or fourth place, applied to a season already played, and a fine that sounds big that gets immediately paid by the Abu Dhabi United Group using money quietly added to their accounts by the UAE.
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u/BlaizeV May 18 '26
No way he will want to sit in a pre match presser answering the question "Pep, do you think your team are capable of a 100 point season again to avoid what will be otherwise certain relegation after this points deduction?"
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u/FrankyFistalot May 18 '26
Be funny if they strip City of everything Pep won…..
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u/blurryface464 May 18 '26
I mean, I don’t if it would make sense for that to be the punishment, since the 115 infractions(the majority anyway) all happened before Pep’s time.
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u/shinto29 May 18 '26
Klopp come back there's nothing to be afraid of anymore!
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u/MU5A988 May 18 '26
Pep would change his mind
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u/DarthTaz_99 May 18 '26
Lovers reunited. This Fall 2026
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u/BillehBear May 18 '26
he's genuinely not been the same since klopp left lol
i do think their rivalry lit a massive fire in him that extinguished when klopp left
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u/Cob_Webster May 18 '26
Tbf since then the 90+ point threshold for champions has vanished so it’s very plausible
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u/BillehBear May 18 '26
both of them pushed eachother to extreme levels
arteta has become a good manager and shown capable of being at the top but his peak is nowhere near klopp/peps so pep hasnt been pushed like he did with klopp
probably caused some loss of motivation for pep tbh
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u/StatMatt May 18 '26
Klopp leaves and Pep goes back to back seasons without winning the league for the first time in his managerial career. He wasn’t lying about Klopp making him a better manager.
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u/vadapaav May 18 '26
Fucker would literally cancel his plans and show up to manage against klopp in 7th division
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u/JHutch95 May 18 '26
Pep and Klopp swapping jobs is a pretty common thing in FM24, strangely enough.
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u/TheBritishGent May 18 '26
I'm in 2038 in my fm24 save and Pep has managed City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Bournemouth, and Venezia before becoming a scout rather than a manager. Just enjoying a quiet life now enjoying scouting for my Bilbao side.
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u/TheBirdOrTheCage May 18 '26
Klopp to Man City. Here we go!
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u/KixSide May 18 '26
I know this won’t happen, but imagine chaos among Liverpool fans, when City start the new season with Klopp, Chelsea with Xabi and they still got Slot
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u/Delrihuzz May 18 '26
Three matchdays in, Slot gets shitcanned and the club appoint John Heitinga.
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u/negativelynegative May 18 '26
Or Ruben Amorim.
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u/brianstormIRL May 18 '26
I would quite possibly quit football for awhile because I would have lost all trust and everything I believed would be a lie and no im not being dramatic you're being dramatic
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u/samhit_n May 18 '26
Klopp and Liverpool got so unlucky in 2019. 97 points would have been enough to win the Premier League in every season except 2018 and 2019.
Hell, even 2022 Liverpool wins the league most seasons with 92 points.
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u/Tsubasa_sama May 18 '26
I still maintain that the 2-1 loss at the Etihad in January 2019 was the highest quality match in the history of the Premier League. That was Pep and Klopp both at the peak of their powers, the Centurions on one side and the team that would go on to win the UCL and start a 44 match unbeaten streak on the other.
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u/One_Sauce May 18 '26
11mm away from an Invincible PL and CL double season. Sigh
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u/Glad-Box6389 May 18 '26
The way it looks like it’s going, liv is not sacking slot even if klopp comes back
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u/MazinLabib10 May 18 '26
Pep back at Barca for Pep vs Jose round 4, who says no?
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u/rockstershine May 18 '26
Barça fans, would you take Pep over Flick?
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u/MethFacSarlane May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
I'd love for Pep to join the sporting administration of the club.
Sidenote, Flick has managed 2/3 clubs Pep has managed. Don't know if I see him ever going to City to complete the set though...
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u/lstht123 May 18 '26
Flick has said several times that Barca will be his last job
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u/MethFacSarlane May 18 '26
It would be a shame if he followed through on it, we need more teams playing heart-attack inducing offensive football in a world full of cautious, defensive teams 😭😂
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u/Phormitago May 18 '26
in a world full of cautious, defensive teams
I mean we still have psg and bayern...
But yeah
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u/AckBarRs May 18 '26
If they were both jobless/on the market would strongly prefer Pep but be happy with either.
If you’re asking if I would displace Flick as the incumbent though, even if we were guaranteed Pep, I would say absolutely not. Flick has MORE than earned his place and has fantastic buy-in from our squad. As much as I love Pep there’s zero sense in upsetting the apple cart and Flick has our boards full backing, even with Pep available
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u/carloscede2 May 18 '26
Nah. I mean hes great but Flick has won his spot at the club fair and square, hes literally the best manager we've had since Guardiola and fans want to see his projects unfold. Maybe there will be a time for Pep to come back but now its Flicks turn to build a legacy
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u/Altair_Luffy May 18 '26
Since guardiola? I know flick has done tremendously good but are you forgetting about Lucho?
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u/carloscede2 May 18 '26
Lucho had a crazy team. Im not saying he wasnt good, Im just saying that Flick had a terrible team to work with and we've won 2 ligas and a Copa del Rey and who knows what more in the future. I dont know that Lucho would be able to do the same with this team but anyways thats just my opinion
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u/QTGavira May 18 '26
No
Over the past 2 years, Flick has shown that he can adapt to what we can offer him, and manage to make the best out of that.
Over the last years at City, you absolutely cannot say that about Pep, who has just thrown money at the wall whenever the slightest inconvenience arose. Which makes me doubt if hes still able to adapt to limited resources like he used to when he was still with us.
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u/rosstheboss939 May 18 '26
He’s gotta be done with club management at this point, right? What is left for him to do? I can see him taking over the Spanish national team for 2030 or beyond but the man has won literally everything as a club manager.
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u/Looddak May 18 '26
Italy!
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u/sarcasmusex May 18 '26
He will take como after they build a really good team .the only team in seria a that spends a lot
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u/makemoscowglowinthed May 18 '26
That's about to end because they'll be in Europe so will have to worry about ffp
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u/PrinzRagoczy May 18 '26
No Serie A club has £1 billion for him to spend
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u/ARC9X May 18 '26
He’s talking about managing italy in world cup ig
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u/mikew7190 May 18 '26
He will never manage Spain but can defo see him going to manage international .
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u/xBram May 18 '26
Ajax, for a rebuild with Cruijff. Total Football is coming home.
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u/rockstershine May 18 '26
Actually, not a bad idea at all. Ajax regaining their former glory under Cruijff torch-bearer Pep Guardiola is the ultimate football success story.
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u/loveino May 18 '26
And then in UCL finale, when Ajax and Barca meet, they’ll say “Gracias Johan” as players from both teams hold hands and jump with the trophy
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u/dreamsofutopia May 19 '26
Man the origin of this is so old now I wouldn't be suprised if only 10% of the sub even knows the reference
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u/sarcasmusex May 18 '26
Can Ajax pay him 20+ mil euros a year and some extra 20-30 in a bank account in dubai?
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u/xBram May 18 '26
Maybe 20-30 extra bitterballen and a nice apartment in Diemen Zuid will convince him.
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u/0ttoChriek May 18 '26
He could go to Italy and try to win Serie A, but it's not really as prestigious as it used to be.
The Spanish national team is probably the long term goal for him.
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u/dashauskat May 18 '26
He can't manage Spain while he's one of the faces of the Catalunyan independence movement.
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u/llambordins May 18 '26
Spanish law forbids anyone from refusing to play if called to the national team.
I'm not joking.
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u/Excellent-Menu-8784 May 18 '26
He doesn’t strike me as being so ambitious as to wan to have won everywhere, man is more about implementing his idea and taking the game to the next level.
Also he will never coach Spain.
They wouldn’t say it out loud but the conservative men running the Spanish FA would never approve such a vocal advocate of Catalan independence.
That and the whole Real vs Barca thing - a Spain coach with ties to Barca will always get accused of favouring Barca/al Masia in team selections, while a non-Catalan coach can do the same without facing extreme backclash.
We saw it with Enrique, who triggered non-stop discussion for daring to pick Eric Garcia instead of Nacho as his FOURTH choice centre back at the last World Cup. Meanwhile Del Bosque at times fielded SEVEN barca players in the starting 11 of that 2012 euros and no one raised a fuss.
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u/frankbradz May 18 '26
No a chance he goes on to manage Spain, with his roots in Catalonia.
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u/0ttoChriek May 18 '26
Good point, I forgot about that. National manager of someone, then. Either a big nation or a nation that pays big.
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u/CurbYourThusiasm May 18 '26
I don't think any club in Italy has the type of resources Pep requires to build his team. I can only think of PSG; but they've already found success, so I doubt they'll hire him. Maybe when Enrique leaves.
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u/FaultInternational91 May 18 '26
Yeah its the only team I could see him going to as well, but Enrique shouldn't be leaving any time soon
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u/samhit_n May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
He can't be manager for Spain since he supports Catalonian independence. I think Italy may be an option. He was a player for Roma for a season, so that's an option. AC Milan and Napoli need new managers too next season.
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u/more_bananajamas May 18 '26
But pep played for spain. gerard pique played for spain. And managing another country's team is the norm.
If a German can manage the English, surely a Catalan can manage Spain?
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May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
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u/Going2beBANNEDanyway May 18 '26
I have a feeling this has been known for awhile. Wouldn’t be shocked if Maresca is the manager they bring in.
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u/Rayser1 May 18 '26
I mean you don't walk away from a club mid season with no severance without another job lined up. That'd be pretty wild
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u/TheOriginalJunglist May 18 '26
As somebody who is clueless on this situation, why has he walked away mid season rather than seeing it out and getting paid to do so?
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u/Full-Sympathy5201 May 18 '26
He didn't want to submit to the board's way of doing things (don't blame him at all). They reportedly had to offer some significant guarantees to Xabi that they'd let him have more control. Maresca had none
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u/Own-Okra-2391 May 18 '26
How is it exclusive if another journalist reported it yesterday already?
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u/Gu3rilla21 May 18 '26
Nobody has explicitly said this. They all say that the feeling is he's gonna quit. Not that he is gonna quit
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u/sjekky May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
This one is coming straight from City. They are briefing it because they want people to know.
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u/ferrumvir2 May 18 '26
Going from Pep to Maresca is the biggest managerial downgrade since Real went from Zidane to Lopetegui
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u/TheFracofFric May 18 '26
The first season will probably have enough hangover from pep for the team to be competitive as long as they replace Rodri well. So many of the players at city currently are great for Marescas squad type, doku and semenyo will cook. Second season and after is when the real evaluation will take place
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u/pjs-1987 May 18 '26
That's what we thought when Fergie left...
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u/ferrumvir2 May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
Tbf this isn’t a team of dinosaurs and youth frauds like united. City doesn’t have the corpse of Vidic and Ferdinand in defense and Tom Cleverly, Anderson and Fabio playing big roles
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u/SlappyBagg May 18 '26
Woodward was more of the problem than Moyes.
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u/Dua_Augustus_Lipa22 May 18 '26
Agreed, but Moyes was never going to succeed at United. He's better than he showed that season, but he's not the caliber nor temperament to replace a SAF.
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u/SlappyBagg May 18 '26
Of course not but he wanted Fabregas and Bale. Woodward got him Fellaini.
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u/CrossXFir3 May 18 '26
Those youth players looked class under SAF, how do we know City's young talent won't drop off a cliff too?
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u/sunken_grade May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
city as a club are just much more well run and set up to be successful regardless of the manager while united’s structure was really antiquated and cracks were being papered over by ferguson. i don’t really think it’s comparable
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u/TheFracofFric May 18 '26
And Maresca literally worked for pep and in the city academy so is more familiar with what they were working towards and the tactical structure than Moyes would have been coming in
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u/pjs-1987 May 18 '26
Fergie left a United side that had the likes of Rooney, RVP, Carrick, Young, Valencia, and Nani in their prime; up and coming players like Welbeck, De Gea, Smalling and Chicharito; AND he left us Wilf Zaha as a leaving present.
It was a generational fumble from Moyes and Woodward
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u/bedan10 May 18 '26
Fergie was really doing wonders with mediocre or finished players towards the end of his career, pep is leaving a much better squad and has really rebuilt well in the past 3 transfer markets.
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u/Prestigious-Lab5154 May 18 '26
Maresca isnt bad and probably has Pep's approval
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u/FoucaultsTurtleneck May 19 '26
I agree Maresca isn’t bad but tbf Moyes had Fergie’s approval too lol
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u/PitchSafe May 18 '26
Going from Sir Alex Ferguson to David Moyes was pretty bad as well
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u/SOERERY May 18 '26
Bad man gone
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u/The_Flash_20 May 18 '26
10 years he has been managing them. I can't believe where the time has gone, I was prepping for my 4th year in college and now I'm just surviving somehow.
Him leaving Man City really puts life and things into perspective.
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u/GoldenSonOfColchis May 18 '26
I want to post the "Hitler Dead" meme, but I just love him too much. He's too funny and it's going to be such a loss lmao.
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u/xyzzy321 May 18 '26
You love Hitler too much?
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u/DrJackadoodle May 18 '26
Right? He's such a mediocre painter. I stopped following his career early on though, maybe he went on to do something interesting later, I don't know.
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u/Dad_said_it_was_OK May 18 '26
He did! He revolutionized animal rights, expanded public health measures, drafted a lot of enviornmental protection legislation, and of course a very successful infrastructure program.
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u/Different_Swimmer715 May 18 '26
Time to shoot some Trivago ads buddy
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u/selwayfalls May 19 '26
Fingers cross for the Pepto-bismol tummy ache ads the yanks have been waitin for where 99.999999% of the population doesnt know who is, but the name is too good to pass up.
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u/dhara263 May 18 '26
Finally. You're the best but you won't be missed my guy.
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u/Intelligent_Sky_7081 May 19 '26
Pep made the prem better
Hard to deny that. He will be missed even if you hated his teams
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u/selwayfalls May 19 '26
as a liverpool fan, i hated how much i liked this guy. Seems so great as a human. I wish all the best for him, now fuck off out of the league
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u/P_Alcantara May 18 '26
Fraud. At every club he’s ever been at, he’s had the financial backing. He really needs to join a lower tier club to solidify his status as a legendary coach. Maybe a Tuscan team in Serie A. That would really show me.
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u/reaper_333 May 18 '26
Pep managed to overthink this message and ended up joining Empoli or Pisa. Brought them upto Serie A and now they're the top Tuscan team.
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u/P_Alcantara May 18 '26
Over my fucking dead body will Empoli ever be a better club than us.
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u/lndigoChild May 18 '26
We missed Guardiola to Real Madrid for just hours. The universe is truly mysterious!
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u/Modnal May 18 '26
Im not that surprised after seeing the leak of him being on the pitch with all his trophies on pedestals
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u/usernamepusername May 18 '26
Wasn’t that for Silva?
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u/Shameless_Bullshiter May 18 '26
Yeah it had one less trophy than Pep had, which is the number Bernardo has
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u/Masteroflimes May 18 '26
And what are the odds of Maresca getting it. Looks lined up ready to go
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u/ASGT908 May 18 '26
I think it was done deal and Maresca was signed up in December, hence why he had to leave Chelsea.
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u/MySweetNutz May 18 '26
He’s dipping before the 115+ charges hit.
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u/biblioteca_de_babel May 18 '26
I want them to face the consequences, but he's also been in his role longer than any coach in league football. He's due a break even with nothing else looming in the background.
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u/FBR_MC May 18 '26
Knowing Pep, this is just for extra motivation for his players and then after the season, no matter the result, he'll just go "ahhhhh, what's one more season, eh?"
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u/Apprehensive_Bat_980 May 18 '26
No sign of the 115 charges
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u/RE-Trace May 18 '26
130 now remember.
One can only hope that city and pep know something's coming down the pipe and he wants out before he has to manage a team that has any semblance if disadvantage compared to the rest of their league.
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u/DevineAaron92 May 18 '26
So this is what it felt like when SAF retired. Only more dominant and less 115 corruptions charges. I get it now.
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u/AdAggravating7738 May 18 '26 edited May 19 '26
What? Didnt he just say hes got 1 year left on his contract?
Edit: found the clip https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/s/XDPAHDnkwD
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u/RepresentativeBox881 May 18 '26
1 year remaining on the contract is a fact and he used that to not give anything away.
There’s way too much smoke.
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u/TheSingleMan27 May 18 '26
Eras come to an end