MANCHESTER CITY MANAGER Pep Guardiola has been ‘reminded of his responsibilities’ by the FA but will not face disciplinary action over his on-field exchange with Southampton’s Nathan Redmond.
The 23-year-old was aggressively confronted by the City boss immediately following City’s 2-1 win over the Saints at the Etihad Stadium last weekend, but later issued a statement on Twitter confirming “nothing negative or offensive was said”.
The Sun in the UK – through help from a supposed lip-reader – had claimed Guardiola called Redmond ‘a wanker’ as he seemingly berated the Englishman while both left the pitch.
Guardiola, however, explained in post-match interviews that he was complimenting the Saints youngster, whom he feared due to Redmond having opened the scoring in the corresponding fixture last season.
Just to clear a few things up for those wondering. Funny old game isn’t it. pic.twitter.com/xUSr99MVeE
— Redz (@NathanRedmond22) November 30, 2017
In spite of Redmond’s insistence that Guardiola had said nothing untoward, the FA confirmed they would be investigating the incident due to Guardiola’s seemingly antagonistic demeanour.
Asked whether he regretted the incident ahead of City’s victory over West Ham on Sunday, Guardiola replied: “Yes. I did it in Munich, with my old player [Joshua] Kimmich. I did the same in Dortmund and had regret there after the game and the same now. I cannot control myself. Hopefully I will improve.
“What I said is what I said and what Nathan said in his statement. I admire him as a player and say thank you for his comments but if the FA want my statement again I am able to explain whatever they want.
“If they don’t believe me I don’t know what we’re doing here.
“When I give you an opinion, I give you an opinion. You can agree or not, but if I’m explaining what happened and the people don’t believe me then let’s cancel our press conferences and just play the games. If they want to listen to me then I will do it. It’s not a problem.”
Content that Guardiola had indeed not insulted Redmond, the FA were satisfied to let the City boss off with a reminder of his responsibilities.
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