Pep could be in for a surprise, insists Hoilett
PEP Guardiola will be in for a surprise when he goes head-to-head with Neil Warnock next weekend – with Cardiff City star Junior Hoilett revealing the veteran Bluebirds boss has got something up his sleeve for the Manchester City manager.
Guardiola was sat in the stands at One Call Stadium as Hoilett scored twice in Cardiff’s 4-1 third round replay win over Mansfield that sets up the visit of the Premier League leaders to South Wales next Sunday.
And the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich chief spent time chatting to Cardiff chief executive Ken Choo after the Bluebirds had secured their fourth round meeting.
Hoilett reckons it shows just how seriously the Catalan is taking the expected sell-out at Cardiff City Stadium.
But the Canada international has warned that the wily Warnock won’t be settled for a meet-and-greet. Asked what Guardiola will make of the oneoff 69-year-old, Hoilett said: “He’s going to be for a surprise. I know the gaffer has something up his sleeve for Pep and it’ll be exciting for both managers.
“It’s a great tie to look forward and a great side to play against, the best in Europe right now.
“Even against Liverpool when they were down they didn’t give in and could have snatched it. They’re an amazing side, even their bench and reserves, but it’s not intimidating – it’s a game you should be excited about.
“It’ll be tough, but we know what they’re about and the gaffer will have his gameplan he’ll lay out – and we’ll go and try and get a result.”
Cardiff ’s desire to face City and stars such as Sergio Aguero, Kevin de Bruyne and David Silva was clear by the way they approached their Mansfield meeting, a near full-strength side bouncing back via Hoilett’s double either side of an Anthony Pilkington strike after the Stags’ Danny Rose had cancelled out Bruno Manga’s opener.
Guardiola spent much of the match chatting through his observations with others in his party on the freezing evening, but left before Hoilett scored the fourth two minutes from time.
Yet Hoilett reckons he will have seen that he and his side won’t get it easy if they want to reach the fifth round.
The 27-year-old said: “We didn’t know he was coming but you can tell he’s not going to underestimate any opposition; that’s a sign of a great manager that he’s willing to do that to prepare for the game.
“He would have seen we’ll be up for it and we can play both games, we can go long ball, but we can knock it around too, as we did in the second half.
“We’re at home, so they’ll know we’ll fight and battle to get the result needed to get into the next round. Sure, they’ll come and play their football, but we’ll be ready to get into their faces.
“I’m sure he’ll have his thoughts, but we’ll have our game plan and we won’t be star-struck. We’ll be up for the challenge of playing against stars like that.
“And if we want promotion, that’s the standard we’d be up against every week, so it’ll be a good test.”
It’s with that in mind that focus in the Cardiff camp quickly turns to the weekend trip to Sheffield Wednesday, with the eight-goal wideman adding: “The league is the priority, we’re in a great position to battle on in this promotion race. We know where we want to be. We have Sheffield Wednesday next and we’ll put massive importance on that first.”