Manchester Evening News

Comfortabl­e Pep to stay is music to City fans’ ears

- By ANTHONY JEPSON anthony.jepson@men-news.co.uk @AJepsonMEN

PEP Guardiola talked about his happiness at City after signing a three-year extension at the club.

After a disappoint­ing first season at the club that ended without any trophies, the Blues were unstoppabl­e last season in the Premier League as they smashed all kinds of records on their way to 100 points.

Just when supporters thought the year could not be better, in May the coach put pen to paper on a deal that could see him stay in the city for five years – longer than his tenures at Barcelona or Bayern Munich.

Speaking for the first time in public about his new deal, Guardiola made it clear that just because he has signed a contract it does not mean he is bulletproo­f if results take a turn for the worse.

However, the manager is clearly settled and was happy to tie himself down at a club where he is backed all the way.

“When we decided to extend the contract, first of all I am comfortabl­e, the second one is the club trust what we are doing.

“Khaldoon [Al Mubarak], Txiki [Begiristai­n] and Ferran [Soriano] know it depends on results.

“We have three more years on the contract, but the results will dictate what will happen in the future.

“If we are not able to be consistent and be there to win the title. That’s the most important thing, to arrive in April and May and be there for the title.

“As football trainers we are always in a dangerous position.

“But the family is happy living in Manchester, my experience­s of the Premier League are good. I have a young team and I am comfortabl­e working with them.

“But football, when you feel you are tired and the players don’t follow you, even if I have the contact, I will speak with the people about it and we are going to find a solution.”

After their success last season, Guardiola is not expecting to surpass those achievemen­ts.

“We are not going to break any more records in the Premier League,” he said. “The target is to see the faces of my players in the next few weeks. We are here without 15 players. “When it comes back we are going to start. We have four or five days to prepare the final against Chelsea and we are going to see their faces. “The target is the next game. The records last season were a consequenc­e of what we did every single day. “If we are going to compare in December or January, we are going to lose all comparison­s with last season.” Pep Guardiola

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City boss Pep Guardiola
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