This is an elite manager who has only been associated with elite clubs. Guardiola doubters will most likely jump in at this point to remind everyone that taking over underperforming clubs has not exactly been a feature of his managerial career. A team coached by Mourinho would not have gone out to Monaco two seasons ago as a result of conceding six goals home and away, and rather than being so open in the first leg at Anfield last season Mourinho’s plan would almost certainly have been to bore everyone to death for a 0-0 draw.īut what about the other part of the argument? Could Guardiola turn the present United side into champions, or would he too struggle with a disparate set of players and seemingly random transfer policy bequeathed by the club’s last three managers and an executive vice-chairman who at times appears to have had enough of reaching for the chequebook to break another record? The safest answer might be that given time Guardiola could probably lead United to the sunlit uplands but instant success may be a tall order considering he failed to win anything in his first season at City. While this is highly improbable, given City have yet to reach a final and Mourinho was unable to win the Champions League during his three seasons at Real Madrid, one can almost follow the logic. Consistent in his distrust of Guardiola at City, he suggested the other day that Mourinho at the Etihad would probably have delivered a Champions League trophy by now.

Stan Collymore can probably be blamed for all this.

Pep chequebook manager