Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has refused to apologise for his public invitation for more fans to attend their clash with Southampton at the Etihad.
As reported by Sky Sports, a Man City fan group urged Guardiola to stick to coaching after he made comments about attendance in wake of their win over RB Leipzig on home turf in the Champions League.
The relationship between City fans and Guardiola has been virtually bulletproof since his arrival, but his words to the media following the Leipzig game look to have gone down like a lead balloon.
Today’s pre-Southampton press conference was an opportunity for Pep to backtrack and apologise to those that he has offended within the City fanbase, but he doesn’t appear to have much interest in doing so.
“I didn’t say anything wrong! It doesn’t matter how many people come!” ??
Pep Guardiola will NOT apologise for urging more Manchester City supporters to attend Saturday’s match against Southampton… ??? pic.twitter.com/pmjqTiCgpS
— BenchWarmers (@BeWarmers) September 17, 2021
MORE: Pep Guardiola risks wrath of Manchester City fans with sly dig over Etihad attendance
Pep is going down a dangerous path by taking on the fanbase. It doesn’t matter how much success he’s enjoyed on Manchester, history shows that things can turn sour very quickly.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss could previously do no wrong in the eyes of the City fans. With this in mind, you wonder if they’ll be so forgiving if the champions fall short this campaign.