Pep has wanted out plenty of times

I actually think people are being a bit too quick to turn this into a joke because whatever you think of City, Pep has put years into that place and if he has had loads of moments where he felt like leaving then that is just a sign of how intense the job is and how much he cares about doing it properly, not some sign he is weak or finished or whatever, and the way Khaldoon talks about him makes it sound like there is a real relationship there, not just a cold executive and employee thing, so yeah maybe he has said I quit a hundred times but that can also just mean he is emotional and demanding and human, which is more believable than the idea that he is some robot who never doubts anything, and if he does go one day people will probably suddenly pretend they always respected the grind when half of them have spent years waiting to laugh at him
 
Reminds me of one night in the pub when a mate of mine was absolutely convinced he was leaving his job because the boss had done his head in, proper dramatic stuff, two pints later he was saying the exact same thing Pep always does about timing and doing things the right way, next morning he was back in work like nothing happened, and that is why this quote makes me laugh because some people just speak in the heat of the moment and everyone around them learns to ignore the noise until it becomes serious, and with Pep it feels like the club have been living with that for years, just waiting for the real version of the story to arrive while the rest of us sit here treating every quote like a headline, mad how football turns grown men into soap opera characters
 
On paper this is actually pretty revealing because it suggests the club never saw the relationship as permanent from day one, and that Pep himself was always aware of some kind of finishing point, which makes sense when you think about how intense his methods are and how much energy that must take over a long stretch of years. But then the more you think about it the more ridiculous it all becomes because if he has quit 100 times and stayed anyway then what does quitting even mean anymore, is it just part of the routine, is it just him testing everyone, is it a pressure valve, because at this point it feels like he could say it tomorrow and nobody would blink, and honestly that is the maddest part, the whole thing has become so normal that the drama is just baked in and I swear football only does this with the truly obsessive managers, the ones who cannot just be steady and leave it at that, they have to turn every season into a life crisis and every contract into a confession and it does your head in
 
Pep reportedly quitting 100 times and still ending up signed on again is the most Pep thing ever, proper drama merchant behaviour and City fans will still act like its all part of the masterplan lol
 
The interesting part is how often the club has had to manage his mood as well as his contract. That suggests the relationship is unusually personal, and probably why the renewals keep happening instead of ending cleanly.
 
It does make sense that he would have doubts if he never planned to stay this long in the first place. At some point even the best projects become tiring, and maybe that is all this is, a manager pushing himself past his own preferred limit tbh
 
If you strip away the headline, the football point is that longevity at one club only works when the manager and the hierarchy stay aligned, and it sounds like that has been the case here even through the ups and downs. The real challenge is keeping the squad and the room from feeling the strain when the manager is that volatile
 
I dont think you can read this as him being unable to cope because plenty of top managers threaten to walk when theyre frustrated and then carry on once things settle down, that is just football pressure not some massive meltdown
 
its mad how people are acting like this means hes finished when all it really says is he gets fed up and the club knows how to deal with him, thats football at the top level and half the time these quotes are just part of the dance anyway
 
The sensible reading is that Pep and City have always had a relationship built on intense trust and constant negotiation, so the fact he has wanted out at different points is not especially shocking. What is funny is how that gets turned into this giant personality story when really it just shows how demanding elite management is, and how much patience the club has had with him. Still, I cant help thinking this is one of those football situations where everybody pretends its normal until the day it isnt, and then suddenly the whole thing gets rewritten as destiny or betrayal or some other nonsense, when in reality its just been a long, complicated working relationship with a lot of noise around it and maybe one day the noise will finally become the end and everyone will act surprised even though the signs have been there for years, which is basically football in a nutshell anyway
 
It sounds like a long-running partnership with a lot of tension behind the scenes. The fact he kept renewing suggests the club always felt the benefits outweighed the drama.
 
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