Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted that he would have been sacked for his side’s performances this season if he was at a “big club”.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager joined City in the summer where he led them to five straight league wins in his first five games in charge.
However, since then, the Citizens’ form has been inconsistent throughout the season. Following a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final, Guardiola was confirmed to have suffered the first trophy-less season of his managerial career.
With Champions League qualification still not secured either with City just three points ahead of Arsenal in fourth place, the Spaniard believes he would have been sacked if he was at his previous clubs.
“In my situation, at a big club, I’m sacked,” he said, as quoted by The Times. “I’m out. Sure. Definitely.”
“At Barcelona or Bayern Munich, if in six months you don’t win [anything], you are really out. They don’t give you a second chance.”
However, Guardiola claims he cannot afford to have a repeat of the same season in 2017/2018 as he will undoubtedly receive the first sacking of his career.
“If what happens next season is not going well, I’ll have one more year of contract and, if it’s not going well, they are going to change manager,” he added. “When everything happens and it’s not good, you can change the manager. It’s not so complicated.”
“I arrived at this club and I tried to do my best. Some managers will have that pressure so I have to handle that. If not, I go home. I came here to try to win [trophies] this year, [but] it was not possible.
“I will try with the club, with the players, with the staff, with the chairman, with the sporting director to do it. And, after that, if the results are not [good], if we are judged just for the results, we will be sacked.”
City can confirm a top four place if they defeat West Brom on Tuesday (16 May) and the Gunners drop points at home to Sunderland.