Yesterday was the day they’ve been waiting for. The day when they finally got to nail the greatest manager of modern times, finally, once and for all, as “a cheat”. Todays articles were already written (but now in the bin).
“Pep cut a disconsolate figure”,
“the strain of the last weeks revelations was writ large on his pained, gaunt, face”, “obstructive, short-tempered, monosyllabic, and a man filled with ill-disguised misgivings at the position he has been placed in”,
“you almost felt sorry for him until you remembered the allegations he was trying, and failing, to bat away”
”His body language made it clear that he wasnt long for this league”,
”Shifty, furtive, glances along with a mumbling monotone, told its own story”
I was becoming worried before these allegations surfaced that his body language suggested he was ready for a break And would be leaving soon. I never doubted he would represent us with respect and a certain amount of vigour yesterday, but I was dreading it as I saw it as the beginning of the end for him here. And the anger I felt that for the rest of time we would be told that City has chased the greatest manager from these shores by their actions was probably unhealthy for a man of my age.
And then yesterdays happened, and he single-handedly reignited my own fire, my own fight, my own determination. I am ashamed to say that before yesterday afternoon I was feeling drained, emotional, and frankly almost ready to give up and walk away from football. Not because I believe us guilty, I know in my heart we are not, but because I just didn’t know if I had the energy for a fight like this anymore.
That a man who has the wherewithal to walk away, never look back, and live in luxury for the rest of his life, instead chose to fight, show his loyalty, and stand up for his friends, his players, and his fans when nobody would really have blamed him for looking for the exit, touched me on a level that was almost personal. Whatever the final outcome I won’t ever forget yesterday. It was a call to arms, a demonstration of the true greatness of the man, and a living breathing demonstration of what it means to be a part of this club.
Im sadly on record on here as doubting Pep in the early days. Doubting him in Europe but shamefully doubting his regard for this club. I thought he saw it as a favour to us, his being here, and that rankled. I kept that doubt until the uefa case broke and he came out fighting for us then in his first press conference after the announcement. I remember feeling proud but also deeply ashamed as I watched it. Ashamed that I had ever doubted him.
I loved Mancini as a Demi-God for what he achieved here, but with Pep, since Uefa, and a thousand times more intensely since yesterday, I see him as a brother. One of us. A member of the family. And that is the greatest compliment I can pay any man.
I will never, ever forget how watching that press conference made me feel yesterday.
