City Watch: Blues prepare for life without Pep

Now that Pep Guardiola has sadly departed the club after his ten year dynasty at Manchester City, I feel it’s only right to start discussing the future and what the landscape looks like with a new manager.

I think most people will know about the links to Enzo Maresca that have been circling ever since there were whispers about Pep leaving, but it now looks like the Italian - who was part of our Spanish ex-manager’s coaching staff before moving to Leicester - will become City’s new top man.

As I write this on Wednesday, there is no official confirmation of this appointment, so if it has been announced before the column is actually released, you’ll have to forgive me for writing assumptively about Enzo and City’s joint future!

I’ve heard a number of opinions, a lot of criticism and some positive remarks about the ex Chelsea boss; I think a lot of those more negative views come from the fact he’s not Pep, but then again, who is. 

After winning the league with Leicester, Enzo moved to Chelsea, winning the Club World Cup before they parted ways with him just months later. 

I’m in two minds about this potential appointment, when I first heard the news, I was a critic like most, thinking it might be the wrong choice to follow such a great in Pep.

The more time has gone on though, I have a lot of respect for Maresca for taking the City job on. 

Following a manager like Guardiola seems like an impossible task, a club that has witnessed unprecedented levels of success for a decade and you’re the man trusted with moving that club forward.

Whoever was going to take over was facing an impossible task, and we have to remember that Pep himself had a mediocre first season in the context of his triumphs. 

I can imagine that the club will give him time to settle in and the expectations in the first year won’t be high.

I said as a guest on Tameside Radio SportsTalk last week that if we won nothing for the next five years, it wouldn’t bother me based on the success we’ve had over the last ten years, and I stick by that, but maybe ask me at the end of next season and I’ll try not to contradict myself!

In all seriousness, the best thing we can all do is show  support for Enzo, he does ultimately come from the Pep mould having been part of his coaching staff, which was imaginably a huge selling factor in the eyes of the higher ups at City.

I said a long time ago that Vincent Kompany was destined for the top job at the Etihad, maybe that will come down the line, but for now, we have to get behind Maresca and show our full support whilst he navigates us into a new period.

With summer signings like Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest and Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea already linked, it seems the board are ready to give their all in supporting the Italian, but for now, we await the announcement.

With the World Cup just a week away, I can’t imagine the club will wait too much longer before a confirmation, so for now, we can all get our England shirts on and look forward to the biggest competition in international football.