Guardiola miffed with City being fined for late restarts, saying that even the singers need to fined for the same.
‘Fine the singers, too’: Guardiola takes joking dig at Manchester City penalties for late restarts.
Guardiola has bemoaned the Premier League’s stringent regulations, which have resulted in Manchester City being fined over £3 million for 30 late second-half restarts over the previous three seasons. He has jokingly bemoaned the fact that Burna Boy did not face the same consequences for postponing the start of the 2023 Champions League final.
On Saturday night, City takes on Newcastle, starting a busy schedule that will see them play twice a week until the middle of January. In order to adhere to Premier League regulations and prevent extra fines, they flew to the northeast on Friday afternoon, which resulted in a change in schedule at the Etihad Campus and an early pre-match news conference.
Asked how many fines he has previously received, Guardiola said: “A lot. Sometimes I arrive one minute later but the rules are the rules. We are training later and if we train at 12 until 1.30, I cannot be here [at the press conference] in time. The Premier League don’t allow me at 2pm. The club said if I don’t start by 2pm they will fine me or fine the club.
“We paid a lot of money as I’m late at half-time, but when we played in the Champions League final they had a show before the game and they are always late. They have to fine the singers! That is why I decided 9am and the journalists have had their breakfast and will need to take a coffee.”
In their final Premier League match before the international break, City easily defeated champions Liverpool. With just midfielders Rodri and Mateo Kovacic out for the trip to St. James’ Park, it was a sign that they are prepared to contend for the championship following a dismal campaign last season. “I have no doubts about it; if we keep the squad fit, we’ll compete in every game and every competition,” Guardiola declared.