Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola did not linger long with the away fans at Bournemouth after the 1-1 Premier League draw
Is he definitely off then? That was what plenty of Manchester City fans left the Bournemouth stadium asking themselves after they watched the end of their team’s Premier League hopes for another season.
The news that they have been dreading for years came on the eve of the game, that Pep Guardiola will be leaving the club at the end of the season. After ten years and twenty trophies, he has decided that this is the right time to depart.
But it hasn’t been confirmed officially, and until that happens there will be some hope. What’s more, Guardiola suggested in his interviews after the game that his future would only be decided in talks with chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak over the coming days.
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If that feels to anyone that has covered the story like it will simply be a matter of rubber-stamping a departure that he has already made peace with, the City chairman will not give up until it is categorically over and there is no more talking to be done. There is a chance that there is no communicado oficial before Friday afternoon when Guardiola next sits down for a press conference.
Something definitely felt off with the manager on Tuesday though when the final whistle went. It started off as he often does, arguing with the fourth official about decisions that he felt hadn’t gone City’s way – primarily the lack of time added on at the end of the game given Erling Haaland scored in injury time.
The Catalan then headed onto the pitch, where he congratulated the Bournemouth players and recognised his own before going over to the away end. But as the City stars lingered to show their support, Guardiola – usually one of the last to leave at an away game – only clapped briefly before turning and walking back across the pitch on his own and headed inside.
Without even speculating over what it could or couldn’t mean, the facts of it are that it was unusual – and noticed by fans as a departure from what he normally does. That added to the uncertainty over the next few days, even if Guardiola is clear on his love for the supporters.
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“Let me talk with my chairman,” he said afterwards. “I know they love me so much, I love them more. It’s the best place to be. I love that place, I adore it. Let me talk about my club. People say I talk with a million people and I was incredibly focused on my job. We are in the competitions. I was there and this is what I have to do.”
More than 60,000 pairs of eyes will be on the manager on Sunday at the Etihad where Blues will hope the farewell is not as strange as it was at Bournemouth.
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