Guardiola should be punished for Redmond rant

HERE’S a question: if I was managing a group of eight-yearolds and my team scored a dramatic late winner, would it be acceptable for me as the manager to go haranguing a player from the other side in the same sort of manic, aggressive way as Pep Guardiola did Southampton’s Nathan Redmond on Wednesday?

No, of course not, even if I was trying to compliment the player, if not his team, as the Manchester City manager claimed he was trying to do with Redmond.

So why should such behaviour be acceptable at the top end of the game watched by millions? If the FA fail to take any action against Guardiola over the incident at the Etihad Stadium, it will not only tell other Premier League managers that it is acceptable to behave in such a manner, it will also give managers at all levels of the sport the belief that they, too, are okay to act in a similar way.

This is not about wanting to see Guardiola banned from the touchline. He is a marvellous coach and, like his team, an entertaining watch. Rather, it is about drawing a clear line about what is and isn’t acceptable. The behaviour of some coaches at grassroots level is bad enough without them being given cause to think they are fine to carry on as they please.

JABBING

Guardiola is a decent man. He will watch the footage back of himself thrusting an arm around Redmond’s neck, jabbing the player in the chest and frantically screaming in his face, arms flailing, and wince.

Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith suggested the incident demonstrated “how much Guardiola cares about players, no matter who they play for, fulfilling their potential” and was disappointed to see Redmond as part of a defensive Southampton set-up indulging in time-wasting.

Yet there are ways and means of communicating such feelings and this was not the way to go about it.

Smith thought Redmond “would have been chuffed that Guardiola thought him worth that kind of response”.

In response to what might have been said, Redmond last night released a statement saying: “Nothing negative or offensive was said towards me from Pep and that’s what makes him one of the best managers in world football.

“When one of the world’s best managers compliments you or gives you advice in any way you listen,” he added

Emotion got the better of Guardiola. It does happen. Raheem Sterling’s goal was incredibly dramatic and a thrilling moment on many levels. But that does not mean the manager’s behaviour should escape censure. (© Daily Telegraph, London)