Exclusive: Former Blues Boss Horton Backing Man City to Sparkle Again

Former Manchester City boss Brian Horton has no doubts Pep Guardiola will get the club back on track.

The misfiring Blues are battling a confidence crisis having won just ONE of their last 11 games in all competitions, with EIGHT of those fixtures having been defeats.

But Horton, who managed City between 1993-1995, believes Pep is too good not to get City firing on full cylinders again.

“I don’t think people saw it (this run) coming, but at the end of the day Pep is one of the best managers of all time,” Horton told SportsBoom.com. 

“Pep’s obviously not happy because he’s an eternal winner. You can never take that away from him, he’s a brilliant manager."

“They’ve won the Premier League four years on the spin, which nobody has ever done, and they’ve won the Treble as well."

“But you can’t keep winning it, that’s just unrealistic. They’re not going to win it for the next ten years are they?"

“Ok, they’re having a bit of a dip – but that’s all it is, a dip."

“Injuries have played a massive part. John Stones has been injured, Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne, they’ve been missing some big players."

“[Jeremy] Doku has been injured, [Ruben] Dias and [Manuel] Akanji as well, now they’ve got [Nathan] Ake, when you get that many injuries it’s bound to have an effect."

“There’s not many clubs who could cope with that, the difference with City is that they’re always in the public eye given they’re the champions, especially the success they had winning the Treble."

“It’s just crazy now how long you get in the job, you don’t get five The minutes in management now."

“I had five-year stints at Hull, Oxford and Port Vale, you just don’t get the time these days."

“It’s hard work now, but Pep will be given time. You almost can’t win in management nowadays.”

BACKING TO BOUNCE BACK

City are fifth in the Premier League and face Aston Villa on Saturday as they look to bounce back three games without a win, and Horton has every faith the club will continue to back Pep as he looks to navigate a safe course away from their worrying troubles.

“It’s almost unbelievable what’s happening to the moment,” added Horton.

“I was at the Champions League against Feyenoord and they were cruising at 3-0 up, but they ended up drawing that game 3-3 and you can’t really believe what happened."

“Now they’ve lost the [Manchester] derby, so they’re obviously not going to be happy."

“But the fans will never want him out. The fans will be right behind him, without a shadow of a doubt."

“And so they should be in what he’s achieved at the club, what he’s done is incredible."

“It’s not just winning, the football they’ve played has been absolutely unbelievable."

“The players need to step up now, no question about that."

“You know they could have the derby, they were 1-0 with four minutes to go, but what can the manager do when there’s a bad back pass and it leads to their [Man Utd’s] equaliser."

“You couldn’t see that coming, but all of a sudden bang, bang, bang, they’ve lost the game and everybody is on their backs."

“It’s more than fine margins, he’s said himself that this is probably the toughest test of his managerial career."

"But should it be a test for Pep Guardiola? No. He will be given time and turn things around.”