Manuel Pellegrini fears he might just face the axe at Manchester City at the end of the season, even if he manages to win the English Premier League title or goes on to win the other three titles in the top flight of English football.
"I don't think my position in the future is linked to titles. For me, as a manager, it's important to win the title because it's my job,” the Chilean said.
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"My way of thinking is that, if I have the option to renew here for five years more and don't win the title, or to win the title and be sacked, I'd prefer to win the title and be sacked. For a manager, your work is to win the title, so the other doesn't matter.”
The arrival of Pep Guardiola looms large over the Etihad after the Spaniard announced his decision to depart from Bayern Munich. The former Barcelona manager made the announcement and gave his reasons for the same.
The Spaniard wants to move on and said that he thinks his career would be incomplete without adventures in England. Bayern Munich have already announced that Carlo Ancelotti will replace Guardiola after the end of this season.
Guardiola has been linked with Manchester City for quite some time now and these recent developments have only strengthened the speculation. However, Pellegrini is not complaining about the situation and humbly accepts the fact that a club is always in their rights to make changes, and the decision need not be dependent on success. He went on to say,
"I think that if you are the owner of a club, you must have the option to replace the manager if they win the title or if they don't win the title. It just is about your trust in the way you work. That is more important than if you win a title or not for the owners."
Pellegrini’s Manchester City now sit third in the League with 39 points, three points behind current leaders Arsenal. In the Champions League, City topped their group ahead of Juventus and will face Dynamo Kyiv in the round-of-16.
The Sky Blues are also set to face Everton in their Capital One Cup semi-final first-leg on Wednesday and then Norwich in the FA Cup on Saturday. Thus, City can theoretically win all four competitions.
Not very long ago Pellegrini spoke highly about the English Premier League and said how it is a dream destination for any manager in the world. Likewise, he said, Guardiola would surely desire coaching an English club and the Chilean has faith that Pep will turn up in the shores of Albion one day or the other. He also wished Pep the best for his endeavours in the Premier League.
A deja vu for Pellegrini?
Fate had a similar game to play with the 62-year-old when he was managing Real Madrid. He was in charge at the Bernabeu for only a year before being sacked. Pellegrini told Football Espana that he knew all throughout that he was to be sacked the following year.
“At least I finished the year. I knew from the beginning I was not to continue for the next year.”
He was sacked in 2010 and was replaced by Carlo Ancelotti. Madrid recently sacked Rafa Benitez and replaced him with Zinedine Zidane who was until now managing Madrid’s B-division team, Castilla. Changing of managers have become a very common thing at the Santiago Bernabeu and Pellegrini is not at all surprised about it.
“There were some important differences with the President but it is not strange when you see what happened in Real Madrid in the last five or six years.
“I am sorry about Rafa Benitez because I think he is a manager that deserves respect but it is not strange what happened at Real Madrid.”
