THIS column was basically written, in another form, on Tuesday.
A forensic takedown of Pep Guardiola’s latest, vain attempt to claim that Manchester City aren’t among the biggest spenders in English (for that read, ‘world’) soccer.
TL;DR: Pep, once again, talked only about net spending over the past five years, ignoring all the still important, first choice players City bought outside that timeframe.
He also conveniently overlooked the fact that only crazy Chelsea’s current squad cost more to assemble than his.
What’s more, he seems to have missed the table showing that City have run up the fourth highest debt in the Premier League era, behind only – yep – Chelsea and, get this!!!, Aston Villa and Everton.
Then I read what else Guardiola said in his media conference.
Scrap that column.
So Pep’s a petty, bald man in his 50s who vigorously defends his own club.
Mirror, meet Kenny.
Some things matter much more than bickering over football finances.
Pep Guardiola (Nick Potts/PA)
Guardiola has talked before about his wish for independence for his native Catalonia.
However, his recent remarks about issues in the wider world should resonate with all decent human beings.
“Never, ever in the history of humanity have we had the info in front of our eyes, watching more clearly than now – genocide in Palestine, what happened in Ukraine, what happened in Russia, what happened all around the world, in Sudan, everywhere.
“What happened in front of us? Do you want to see it? It’s our problems as human beings.
“There is somebody who sees the images from all around the world who is not affected?”
Of course it would be better if Pep also spoke out about Abu Dhabi’s human rights issues, or hadn’t supported Qatar’s (successful) bid to host the 2022 World Cup so strongly.
As far as I can tell he has not uttered a word of criticism for his club’s owners, nor similarly high-ranking Qataris.
Representatives of those states have joined the odious Donald Trump’s so-called ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza – with not a single Palestinian involved.
Perhaps Pep does make efforts behind the scenes; let’s hope so.
Yet to criticise him for those omissions is ‘whataboutery’.
The enemies of ‘woke’ (translation: decency, respect, humanity) engage in such deflection and distraction, wondering why those opposed to the Israeli government don’t talk about other murderous regimes.
Response? Let’s deal with that issue first, then we can move on to speak out on other problems in the world. That’s personal choice, that’s democracy.
It’s still better to say something about the wrongs of the world than say nothing because you can’t say everything.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (right) enjoyed going up against former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp (Martin Rickett/PA)
Pep spoke out too in defence of refugees.
There’s an irony that football fans will warmly welcome players from all over the world to their club – but some still loudly complain about the relatively small number of migrants and refugees who come to the UK (and other countries).
Pep sees only the humans involved: “The people who have to do that, run away from their countries, go in the sea and then go on a boat to get rescued. Don’t ask if he is right or wrong, rescue him. It is about a human being.
“After we can agree (or) criticise but (if) people (are) dying, you have to help.
“Protecting the human being and human life is the only thing we have, not just in these parts of the world but every part of the world.”
The Manchester City manager pointed out that the world could, and should, be so much better than its current parlous state.
“What is happening right now, with the technologies and advances that we have, the humanity is better than ever in terms of possibilities. We can reach the moon, we can do everything.
“But still right now, we kill each other. For what? When I see the images, I am sorry, it hurts.
“It hurts me, that is why in every position I can help (by) speaking up to be a better society, I will try and will be there. All the time.
“From my point of view, the justice? You have to talk. Otherwise it will just move on.
“Look what happened in the United States of America.
“There is not a perfect society, nowhere is perfect. I am not perfect, we have to work to be better.”
None of us are perfect, but at least Pep has spoken out.
In recent years young men have increasingly been brainwashed by sexist, homophobic, and racist scumbags – often the grifting mouthpieces espousing such opinions combine all three of those awful stances.
Sportspeople can be hugely influential, especially footballers and managers.
Pep Guardiola is an icon, instantly recognisable.
It’s incredibly important that he has spoken out so strongly on these subjects.
Huge credit to him.
Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger used to be mocked for ‘not seeing’ any adverse incident involving one of his players.
Pep Guardiola is braced for another battle against Eddie Howe’s Newcastle (Martin Rickett/PA)
Current Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe plays the cowardly ‘I’m just a coach’ card when it comes to the wrongdoings of his club’s owner, Saudi Arabia.
Pep’s great rival, former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp spoke out about his personal politics – always socialist, never right wing.
Liverpool supporters sing this about Mo Salah:
‘If he’s good enough for you, he’s good enough for me,
If he scores another few, then I’ll be Muslim too’.
A tongue-in-cheek chant, but also one that may make people think differently, more positively, about Muslims, rather than accept the racist agenda that is pushed by white supremacists.
It would be wonderful if others would follow the example set by Pep Guardiola, rather than hiding behind the excuse that ‘I’m just a manager’.
No. You are much more than that.
People listen to you. People respect you.
You can change minds – and lives.