City fans hit back at Pep’s dig

MANCHESTER CITY’S official supporters’ club have hit back at Pep Guardiola by defending their loyalty after the manager’s criticism following Sunday’s win over Fulham. the City manager questioned why more had not turned up for an FA Cup fourth-round tie broadcast live on the BBC, which drew a crowd of 39,223 — the weekend’s third highest. Guardiola said he was surprised the etihad was not full, and appealed for more support in tomorrow’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Manchester United. Kevin Parker, general secretary of the club’s official fans’ group, said: ‘I was disappointed and don’t see what Pep is trying to achieve. He’s playing into the hands of the ‘emptyhad’ critics. It really peeves me. ‘We feel unjustifiably criticised by other clubs, so for our manager to have a go at us as well makes it worse. I’d suggest he’s not in touch with the financial reality facing football fans.’ tickets ranged from £10 to £35 and Parker added: ‘Pep has to accept that this is a working-class group of fans who spend a lot of their money on football, so stop beating us up about it. ‘I love Pep, but this sort of thing will alienate fans who work very hard to buy tickets.’

MANCHESTER CITY’S women’s manager has said he is astonished that some of the Premier League’s top clubs force their female players to train ‘40 miles’ from their men’s facility, in a gender divide exposed by Sportsmail. Nick Cushing, who is leaving City after six years to become assistant manager of New York City next month, said the benefits of full integration between men’s and women’s teams were so obvious he could not understand why all clubs are not following suit. ‘Sometimes, I think what teams must have done is bring players into their first-team building, hold the shirt up and then put them in a car and drive them 40 miles to where they’ve got to train and play,’ said Cushing in response to yesterday’s investigation which showed Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham ask their women to train at remote locations. City, Arsenal and Chelsea invest comfortably more in integrated women’s facilities than the rest of the Premier League and dominate the Women’s Super League (WSL) — where some clubs even ask players to bring in their own sandwiches due to a lack of catering facilities. Cushing said City’s full integration came from the top of the club. ‘If you walk into the kit room here you will see an Under 18s boy, an Under 23s boy and a women’s first-team player,’ he said. ‘It’s been pretty simple. The food is out upstairs, the girls go up there and eat. It is a complete integration but we have benefited from that. The women’s first team have benefited from a belief point of view. It becomes a family feel. ‘When I don’t see clubs doing that... I mean, it’s their decision but it’s been pretty simple for us.’

Sportsmail understands the FA are likely to run the WSL for at least two more seasons to raise the standard of facilities and competition before any

Premier League takeover. A Premier League meeting next week will consider a report into the feasibility of taking control of the WSL. Yesterday, City drew fourth-tier Ipswich in the fifth round of the Women’s FA Cup, which they won last season.

Women’s FA Cup 5th round draw (ties to be played Sun Feb 16):

Bristol City v Everton, Coventry United v Tottenham, Leicester City v Reading, Crystal Palace or Southampton FC v Brighton, Man City v Ipswich, Arsenal v Lewes, Sunderland v Birmingham, Chelsea v Liverpool.