City Watch: Pep's emotional goodbye

In last weeks’ City Watch column, I tried to avoid the subject of Pep Guardiola’s suspected departure from the club following the news earlier in the week. 

Like most of us, I was just in complete denial about the fact our record breaking, standard setting, incredible manager could be leaving us after a decade.

Well on Friday of last week, what we all suspected and some have been feeling for a while came true, Pep has stepped down as the manager of Manchester City. 

His final game was against Aston Villa on Sunday.

I’m not going to talk about the game much, that would be a disservice to Pep, we all know what happened, City lost to a hungover Villa side who had come off the back of winning the Europa League in the week, and congratulations to them for that, an incredible achievement and their first trophy in 30 years.

I want to make the column this week solely about the man who has dedicated his life to us for 10 years, giving us some incredible moments and memories along the way. 

The Spaniard joined the club in 2016 with so many questions being asked about whether his style of football would work in the Premier League.

His first season was his first trophyless as a manager, with the critics jumping all over what they’d said at the start of the season. 

The record breaking started the season after, when he led us to a 100 point season, the first time any club has achieved that record in the Premier League.

What followed was a dynasty decade, 20 trophies and a sea of change in English football. 

Pep joined with one goal; win the Champions League, a trophy that had eluded us before and eluded us with Pep too. 

Noel Gallagher said before the 2023 Champions League final, “There have been so many nights where these fans have travelled home from Europe battered, bruised, beaten and conquered, but not this time, because the Manchester rain will taste like champagne,” and that night in Istanbul, our dreams came true.

After winning a first ever domestic treble in 2019, the one that always got away finally came to Manchester in 2023, with Rodri’s famous goal securing us the treble, something only won before by our irritating neighbours. 

The records only continue, the first ever manager to win four Premier League titles on the spin, the only ever to win five League Cups, two domestic doubles, the first team to win five trophies in a calendar year, and so so many more.

For me though, what’s irreplaceable about Pep isn’t just his wizardry in front of a tactics board, it’s the fact he’s so connected to us, the fans. 

In his farewell speech, he cited Tony Brooks’ poem, saying “Sorry Tony, this is my place.” 

He just gets it, he gets why the supporters are so dedicated to the club, his emotional maturity and awareness is like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and that is what we will struggle to replace.

The way I see it, good managers win trophies, great managers leave a legacy, and in my opinion, he leaves the best of the lot. 

He has changed English football up and down the pyramid. Teams in League Two and below are playing out from the back, which seemed inconceivable a decade ago. 

There’s a field next to my house where Sunday league and kids’ football is played, and all of them mimic Pep’s style. 

Most people will know the City fan, Big Steve, who said a few years ago that we won the lottery when Sheikh Mansour bought the club, and I completely agree. Well, now it’s over, I can honestly say we won it a second time when Guardiola signed.

I was 15 years old when Pep started his reign at City, and he, along with the players that have come and gone in his time, have provided me with some of the greatest memories of my lifetime.

Sunday was an emotional day as we also said goodbye to John Stones and Bernardo Silva, with a celebration after the game for them and Pep. 

I have to admit, I haven’t cried since the final whistle went in Istanbul, not even when Kevin left, but the video that was on screen with the acoustic ‘Live Forever’ just sent me over the edge.

The following day, the parade in Manchester was like none other, ending at the Co-Op Live where legends like Fernandinho, Kompany, Rodri all walked on with the 20 trophies Guardiola has won, and at the end, the ultimate flex of them all lined up.

There’s not enough words in the English language to express how thankful I am to Pep to dedicating his life to us. 

The club announced that the newly renovated North Stand will be named after him, and I couldn’t think of a more fitting tribute for who is, in my opinion, the greatest manager of all time.

I feel lucky and privileged to have seen and lived this era, attending over 300 games of this dynasty. 

Asking who is going to replace him is the wrong question, there is simply no replacing him, it’s just about what’s next, and I’ll leave that for later in the summer. 

For now, I just want to say Gracias Pep, and you were right, it was so fun.