My initial thoughts when i heard the news ( by text ,from a sheff utd fan bizzarely enough) apart from the obvious excitement,was one of sadness for a manger i have a lot of respect for.
The calm, classy manner in which Manuel has handled his time at City and the fact that he was the first manager to win a double in one season since being a fan in the mid 70s,means that he goes down as probably my 2nd fav boss whilst following the blues....Roberto is King.
Then i read somewhere that Pep had lost only 19 league games out of 238....oh my days..Wow!!..i genuinely had no idea his record was THAT good.
Its right that our owners are seeking to employ the best, and take us to another level,but all the same i will never forget the contribution made by this quietly determined,unassuming man
who chose to hold his counsel at times when others turned to bitterness and sniping as a method of hiding their own managerial inadequacies.
Back in the 1987/88 season , as a 20 year old, i dreamed of us pulling off an unlikely treble when we were smashing goals for fun in the old second division, and ventured to the quarter finals of both the league and fa cup..with Paul Lake in your side you thought anything was possible, lol..Manchester City have come an awful long way since those heady days of the 80s.
Manuel has played his part in that journey.