O’Rourke shares verdict on Man City sacking Pep Guardiola – ‘there’s no doubt’
Pep Guardiola’s future at Manchester City is assured despite their slow start to the new Premier League season, sources have told Football Insider.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, senior correspondent Pete O’Rourke revealed what his sources have said about the speculation surrounding Guardiola this season.
Man City have followed up their opening-day win at Wolves with back-to-back losses against Tottenham and Brighton, leaving Guardiola’s side 13th in the Premier League table and the Spaniard under pressure.
Guardiola admitted at the height of City’s slump last season that any other manager would have been shown the door, but Football Insider has revealed that Guardiola will be given time to turn things around.
Sources have told Football Insider that Man City‘s hierarchy will not make a “knee-jerk” decision on Guardiola’s future despite their poor start to the season, with their summer rebuild a key factor in this.
City signed eight new players, sold 12 and released another three with over £280million changing hands, and Football Insider sources have said that Guardiola‘s reshaping of their squad is set to continue.
‘Man City won’t find anyone better than Pep Guardiola’
Former Man United chief scout Mick Brown told Football Insider that Man City’s higher-ups are ‘asking questions’ of Guardiola after their poor start, but those questions are unlikely to snowball into a sacking.
Speaking on the new Inside Track podcast, O’Rourke stated that if Man City were to do the unthinkable and show Guardiola the door, they’d struggle to find a manager better suited to the squad he’s built.
“Although they’ve lost two games, it’s a new squad [Guardiola] is working with”, he told Football Insider.
“We can see that he’s trying to reshape the squad – it’s going to take time for this new team to gel and get used to each other as well.
“I don’t think there’ll be any knee-jerk reactions from the Manchester City hierarchy to get rid of Guardiola, because if you get rid of Guardiola, who do you replace him with?
“There’s no doubt there’s nobody better than Pep Guardiola, in my opinion.”
Pep Guardiola given the reins to continue Man City rebuild
After an unprecedented treble and four Premier League titles in a row across the past few years, it’s no surprise to see Guardiola’s methods being questioned after City’s significant drop-off since 2024.
Guardiola has lost experienced heads like Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Ederson and Ilkay Gundogan to name just four this summer alone, with Jack Grealish and Manuel Akanji also heading out on loan deals.
Departures and new faces aplenty at the Etihad Stadium make Man City’s squad unrecognisable from the treble-winning side of two years ago, but there are few managers better than Guardiola to steer them through this rocky period.