Pep Guardiola stuns the football world as Manchester City boss indicates he will soon retire from management
Guardiola claimed City will be one of his last jobs and he will not be on the touchline when he is 60
PEP GUARDIOLA suggested he is already preparing for the end of his coaching career - as 10-man City dragged themselves back into the title mix.
Guardiola, only six months into his Etihad spell, confirmed he does not expect to take many more club jobs and his ‘goodbye has already started’.
He then watched as his team squeezed past Burnley despite picking up a seventh red card of the season - when Fernandinho was dismissed for the third time in just SIX matches.
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After the game he admitted he is still struggling to understand the rules in England - and could not hide his anger at referee Lee Mason.
Regarding his future, Guardiola told NBC: “I will be at Manchester for the next three seasons, maybe more, but I am arriving at the end of my coaching career, of this I am sure.
“I will not be on the bench until I am 60 or 65 years old. I feel the process of my goodbye has already started.”
Asked about the comments after the game, he said: “It might be one of my last teams - because I decide so.”
Guardiola was clearly unhappy with the performance of Mason - who sent off Fernandinho for a reckless challenge on Johann Berg Gudmundsson just after the half hour.
He also felt Burnley’s goal - which proved to be just a consolation - should not have stood due to a foul on Claudio Bravo.
City won thanks to second half goals from Gael Clichy and Sergio Aguero - yet the Catalan seemed angry afterwards.
Asked about the Fernandinho incident by the BBC, Guardiola said: “You’re the journalist not me.”
Then, quizzed for his thoughts, Guardiola added: “Ask the referee not me.”
Pushed further over the red card problems, Guardiola, who sarcastically said “we are not good enough”, replied: “Yes, from the team with the most ball possession.
“It is always our foul, it’s always City’s foul.
“I didn’t see it, but I saw the foul on Claudio Bravo, that was definite. Now we are going to accept the three or four game ban - but remember it was a foul.
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“All around the world, the Burnley goal on Claudio Bravo is a foul. Here, and all around the world, the rules say the goalkeeper in the six-yard box cannot be touched.
“We try to play football, don’t forget it right. My teams always in my career try to play football. I cannot control the other circumstances.
“OK so I have to adapt and I have to understand there are special rules here in England. Now I will learn.”
But Clarets chief Sean Dyche felt City had been fortunate not to end with NINE men as Bacary Sagna could easily have got a second yellow.
He kicked out at George Boyd after Burnley’s goal - but it was not spotted by the officials.
Dyche said: “I don’t think linesman saw enough of it to realise it was an actual kick out.
“Our lads, as they do, try to get on with it, we know that probably wouldn’t have happened if it was certain other players.”