Guardiola gives reasons for not apologising for comments on low attendance at the Etihad

 

Pep Guardiola has refused to back down on his recent comments about low attendances at the Etihad but insists he is ‘incredibly grateful’ for the support Manchester City fans continue to show both home and away.

There were more than 16,000 empty seats at the stadium on Wednesday evening as City got their Champions League off to a winning start with a thrilling 6-3 victory over Group A rivals RB Leipzig.

However, Guardiola’s calls for ‘more people to come’ out in force for City’s upcoming clash with Southampton largely overshadowed the match, with many perceiving it as an unnecessary swipe at the fanbase in tough financial times.

A ‘frustrated’ Kevin Parker, the general secretary of the Manchester City Supporters’ Club, said Guardiola was wrong to question numbers at the Etihad and urged the Spaniard to instead ‘stick to coaching’.

‘It’s not factual, our attendances are generally excellent,’ Palmer said.

‘He doesn’t understand the difficulties that some people might have getting to a game on a Wednesday evening at 8pm.

‘It does also play into the hands of supporters from other teams who want to take every opportunity to have a go at City for what they think are the poor attendances.

Palmer added: ‘People refer to the Etihad as the “Emptyhad”. It’s a little bit of fun by the opposition supporters but there’s no justification for it.

‘He is absolutely the best coach in the world but, in the nicest possible way, I think maybe he should stick to that.’

press conference on Friday and repeatedly refused to apologise for the comments he had made.

 

‘Did I say I after the game against Leipzig that I was disappointed because the stadium was not full?’ he said.

 

‘An interpretation is an interpretation so I’m not going to apologise for what I said.

 

‘It’s not the first time I said in my career – I said it at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Soure: Metronews