Guardiola refuses to apologize to the Manchester City fans... and the official of the fans' association responds
Manchester City's Spanish coach, Pep Guardiola, refused on Friday to apologize to the club's fans for asking them for more support at the Etihad Stadium, even if this angered some of them.
Guardiola said this week that he wants more fans to attend the league match, Saturday, at the Etihad Stadium against Southampton, after only 30062 spectators watched the midweek match that his team won over Leipzig 6-3 at the start of its Champions League campaign.
Fans of rival teams have long used the poor attendance of City fans at the Etihad Stadium in some European matches, as taunts, but each of the team's first two home matches in the Premier League saw more than 50,000 fans in the stands.
Guardiola's comments upset some fans who felt the Spaniard was questioning their loyalty, but he said it was a misinterpretation of what he had said.
"Did I say after the match against Leipzig that I was disappointed because the stadium was not full? The interpretation remains interpretation. I will not apologize for what I said. What I said is that we like and need support," he said on the eve of the match against Southampton.
"It doesn't matter how many people come, but I invite them to come and enjoy the match because we need support."
Guardiola stressed that he would never criticize the fans for not being able to attend the matches, adding, "I am absolutely grateful for the support we got against Leipzig. I never ask why people can't come. If you can't come, don't come. If you want to come, It's our pleasure, and if you don't want to, don't."
Fans' opinion
City fans' official general secretary, Kevin Parker, said Thursday that Guardiola should be more appreciative of the cost to fans in time and money to attend matches.
He stated, "He does not understand the difficulties that some people may have in going to a match at Al-Ittihad on Wednesday evening at 8pm. They have children to think about, they may not be able to afford the costs (the price of tickets), there are still some issues related to Covid I don't see a reason for him to comment on that."
"He is certainly the best coach in the world, but in the nicest way possible, I think maybe he should stick to that," that is, take care of his work as a coach and not get involved in similar issues.
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