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Josep "Pep" Guardiola i Sala


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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17855980

Pep Guardiola is understood to be on the brink of ending his tenure as manager of Barcelona after telling the club he cannot carry on.

The 41-year-old Catalan will announce his intentions at a press conference at the Nou Camp on Friday afternoon.

And barring a last-minute change of heart, Guardiola is expected to confirm his departure from the club he has led to two Champions League titles.

The Barcelona manager has arranged to meet his players on Friday morning.

It is thought Guardiola will take a year-long break from football should he leave his post.

Guardiola spent three hours with Barcelona president Sandro Rossell on Thursday morning.

During the talks, which took place at Rossell's private home in the city, Guardiola is understood to have expressed his belief that he could "not go on."

What had begun as discussions over an extension to his one-year rolling contract soon turned into a push to keep Guardiola at the club. Rossell is understood to have offered Guardiola unlimited spending power this summer but the Catalan will not base his decision on money.

Guardiola, who captained the club as a player, has always maintained that he would do what was best for the club. He spent Thursday afternoon with his family and is expected to tell Rossell of his decision later tonight.

While it cannot be ruled out that Guardiola may change his mind, the club fear that the man who has led them to two Champions League titles and three La Liga crowns has made his decision.

The manner of the defeat by Real Madrid on Saturday, a result which effectively saw Barcelona relinquish their Primera Division title to Jose Mourinho's men and the Champions League defeat by Chelsea have prompted this rethink.

Rosell has, however, been firmly behind his manager in the wake of those results. "I hope that Josep is our coach next season", Rosell said on Wednesday.

"We have confidence in him; he is essential for our type of play."

Guardiola stepped up from manager of the Barcelona B in 2008 and has gone on to become the most successful coach in the club's illustrious history.

During his four-year tenure, Guardiola has won two Champions League crowns, three La Liga trophies, one Copa del Rey, three Supercopas, two Uefa Super Cups and two Fifa Club World Cups.

 

Very interested to see how this pans out, could he ever manage anywhere else with a different (aka normal) style of play?

 

http://i46.tinypic.com/p7wh4.jpg http://i49.tinypic.com/16gqj9.jpg

 

Pictures on the BBC link

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Guest Craig-NUFC

Will be having a season out of the game, but of course the majority of journalists are still going to run with ridiculous stories.

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Guest Craig-NUFC

What a t***. The going gets a bit tough and he quits, I'd like to see him stick it out to see how good he actually is.

 

Copy of what I said in NWOAT:

 

Always said he'll leave when he feels he/the players have become stale. Admirable that he's putting the club ahead of his managerial career, but I don't think him leaving now is helping Barca. There's also the point that he wants a year out. Apparently he's been thinking about having time out for the last 6 months and his family have been urging him to do so. Possibly just coincidence that his announcement has fallen at the same time as their 'poor' spell. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if he's thinking with his heart rather than his head here, unless he has been heavily leaning toward resigning anyway and this has just nudged him over the edge.

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I personally believed he changed Barca's playstyle to a less direct( than what they were under Rijkaard) to a more passive, pass teams to death style because that is what fits the players.

 

I personally believe if he were to join a club that does'nt have those type of players he would'nt try to force it upon them.

 

He would adapt to what he has i reckon, atleast at first anyway.

 

Also he supposedly wants to take a year break from football, lets see if that actually happens.

 

Also Pep was close to leaving last summer, and has been thinking about this for 6 months ( supposedly) this is'nt a case of him being a twat and leaving when the going gets tough.

 

 

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Guest BooBoo

Their style on Tuesday was borderline ridiculous. They were desperate for a goal yet refused to put it in the box. If you haven't got a plan b then you have to question the tactics.

 

Impossible to say whether Guardiola is a good manager, given he's had some if the worlds greatest players at his disposal. It's hardly been up there with transforming Perch into Perchinho is it? :)

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Absolutely sensational what he has overseen at Barca, and don't give me the "but anyone could do that" bollocks.

 

That said, with the timing, there are going to be questions about him leaving once the going got tough. Easily his worst week results-wise in his time there, shame to end it on that note.

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Guest Roger Kint

Will be having a season out of the game, but of course the majority of journalists are still going to run with ridiculous stories.

 

Wasnt the a rumour that his contract forces him to do that anyway? Seem to remember a Spanish expert dismissing Chelsea for that reason.

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Guest Craig-NUFC

Just to kick off some speculation over who could replace him, I hope it's Bielsa. Only person out there who I believe uses a style of football which the current crop of Barca players can play.

Wonder if they try keep it in house again though. There's also a good chance that Luis Enrique will be out of a job come the summer.

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Huge fan of him and dont think he's being selfish at all. Barca have played sensational football for the past four years but the game against Chelsea was one of the poorest games I've seen during his tenure. If he does go, I hope we see him again soon and that he bring success to a different club (just not Chelsea, man city or man u)

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It'll be fascinating to see who they replace him with and see how they evolve. Could they actually get better? Does the new man like a normal sized squad, as opposed to Pep's mini squads? And how will this all affect Messi? It's such a shame it ends on defeat.

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Guest Craig-NUFC

It'll be fascinating to see who they replace him with and see how they evolve. Could they actually get better? Does the new man like a normal sized squad, as opposed to Pep's mini squads? And how will this all affect Messi? It's such a shame it ends on defeat.

 

Mental to consider this as a poor season where they may still win 4 trophies :lol:

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