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3 hours ago
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How to top Pep Guardiola’s tearful farewell after Sunday’s final match leading Manchester City against Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium?
Simple: 24 hours later sell out the Co-op Live next door, that can hold up to 23,500, and move the dial to jubilation and put on a ticker-tape showered show for the departing Catalan that followed the men’s, women’s and youth team’s bus parade in blazing sunshine from the Northern Quarter.
The entrance alone was box office. As the men’s and women’s team buses arrived and parked either side of the stage, Rodri swigged from a bottle of fizz, and renditions of the “Bernardo”, “Johnny, Johnny Stones”, and “We’ve got Guardiola” songs rang out as the 55-year-old watched – and laughed – on.
“Wow” mouthed the Catalan and the club’s slick production even offered a live exclusive as, on-stage, City Women’s Khadija “Bunny” Shaw announced she would not be leaving, as had been thought – the WSL’s top-scorer (21 goals in 22 games) in City’s title-triumph was “hungry” for more. Instantly the press release regarding a fresh four-year contract landed on correspondents’ phones.
The main event was just as super-smooth. Txiki Begiristain, City’s former sporting director, brought on the 2017-18 Carabao Cup – the “one that began it all”.
This was followed by Vincent Kompany, captain of the same season’s first Premier League title under Guardiola.
Two down and 18 of the 20 trophies (including three Community Shields) to go, the rest being paraded, too, via a prominent figure connected with each triumph, streamers and sparklers studding each’s arrival on the dais.
A shy-looking Jack Grealish (loaned last term to Everton) carrying the 2023 Uefa Super Cup drew a particular cheer as did Noel Gallagher with that December’s Fifa Club World Cup.
All wore the P for Pep clothes line marking his decade leading the club.
Then, came Guardiola, modestly attired in shorts and T-shirt and after a dig at the fourth estate from the compere, Natalie Pike – “I bet you’re sick of journalists’ questions” – the players instead asked the great man a few.
These included Bernardo Silva asking Guardiola about the infamous clip of him talking tactics and miming the moves to precisely no one alongside him on the bench during the pandemic. And, too, a replaying of a poser from this reporter about “squeaky bum time” (during the 2023-4 title run-in): did he know what this meant? “No idea,” said Guardiola, to cheers.
Next, messages from Tommy Fleetwood, Neil Warnock and Michael Jordan. Guardiola, in his honest way, grinned and admitted that he wasn’t sure if Michael Jordan “knows me” but welcomed all the sentiment.
Erling Haaland, again the Premier League Golden Boot-winner with 27 goals, spoke the Guardiola gospel when he said: “We’re going to try and keep fighting to win the biggest trophies we can win and I think that we all want to win. I’m going to keep fighting – it’s a great feeling to win the treble [in 2022-3] – we’re going to try and win it again.”
In summer 2016 Gallagher conducted Guardiola’s first interview so he was asked to do the last one before his departure. At the end, a classy man signed off with four simple words. “Thank you so much,” said Guardiola.
