Sorry Pep, but press ban is a really bad idea

PEP Guardiola has made a call for the football powers to get rid of press conferences.

It was hard to tell how serious the City manager was being when he suggested the FA should consider putting an end to the media’s only opportunity to quiz managers.

But it is clear he finds dealing with the media a tiresome and often irritating side of his role – he simply wants to be out on the training ground, or on the touchline, with his players, or closeted with his coaches, plotting the next victory.

Guardiola was perhaps being a little mischievous when he came out with the idea shortly after the Blues had beaten Burnley 4-1 in the FA Cup third round.

He was asked if Sergio Aguero’s astute equaliser, neatly created by Ilkay Gundogan’s quick thinking from a free-kick, was the product of work on the training pitch.

And that drew an unexpected answer from the Catalan, who said: “No. It’s the players, they play. They are the talents.

“The message is that we should cancel the press conferences with the managers. It would be much better.

“We leave the players to play. What we are doing here is nothing, we should avoid it.

“I make my statement to the federation, to think about it, to make, for example, three or four months with no press conferences.

“Just watch how the players play and write and talk about what you see. Sometimes I have to come here to explain what everybody has watched – why do I have to explain what everybody has watched?

“It’s on the pitch, football is what happens. All of you give too much credit to the managers – give it to the players, you have to pay attention to that.”

As a football purist, it is easy to see why Guardiola feels that way, but the fact is that press conference and media interviews are such a big part of the theatre which is modern football that it is unthinkable to ditch them.

Football is wonderful to watch and discuss, but it is the bust-ups and barbs that really get everyone going – if you don’t believe it, check out the social media reaction to Antonio Conte’s response to Jose Mourinho’s snipe last week.

And, to be honest, the way rival managers have been grouching and snapping at each other is to his advantage.

The hilarious slanging match between the bosses of Chelsea and United, currently scrapping over the right to cling onto City’s coattails, is a vital part of the game.

The days when 60,000 people rocked up at the ground, applauded a jolly good show and tootled off home have long gone. Sorry Pep.

Of course the football remains central, but the icy blasts and character assassinations, scraps and set-tos enrich the sport, and widen its appeal.