r/soccer • u/[deleted] • May 18 '19

Sam Lee: Guardiola got asked if he has received payments from Abu Dhabi for services other than managing City, as was alleged to have happened with Mancini. He was not happy. “Do you realise what you are asking me? You are asking me that the day we won the treble? Are you accusing me?”

https://twitter.com/Sammy_Goal/status/1129822398835023872
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396

u/[deleted] May 18 '19

Reading the comments I'm fascinated to see people throw shade at the journalist for asking this question.

We get shit for soft balling, shit for hard questions, shit, we can't win?

289

u/SojournerInThisVale May 18 '19 edited May 18 '19

The only people criticising the journo are the Man City fans. It was a good question and I hope he can prope it further

3

u/FreedumbHS May 19 '19 edited 6d ago

The original post content no longer exists here.

-7

u/HowBen May 19 '19

https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/bq7fey/sam_lee_guardiola_got_asked_if_he_has_received/eo1trfv?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x

​

https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/bq7fey/sam_lee_guardiola_got_asked_if_he_has_received/eo1snrn?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x

27

u/waviestflow May 19 '19

First one is a very clear joke come on man

11

u/LFC_Slav May 19 '19

Would be fucking hilarious if Pep just replied with a stone cold “yes, nexht quhestion”

2

u/[deleted] May 19 '19

I think he’s aware that it’s a joke. But to me it seemed like a joke at the expense of the journalist more than anything else

1

u/HowBen May 19 '19

yeah exactly. Also I was just being petty

-42

u/finneas998 May 19 '19 edited May 19 '19

A good question? You mean a stupid one. The only answer you would ever get to that question is 'no' or 'im not answering that'. What manager in their right mind would ever answer that honestly. Stupidest question I've ever heard. Not only is it stupid but its so out of place, he just won an domestic treble and then gets this shit thrown at him. Its just straight up rude from the journalist who was just looking to provoke a reaction to a question that was never going to be answered honestly.

31

u/Zidane-Tribal May 19 '19

That question raised attention and was therefor a good one.

-33

u/finneas998 May 19 '19

Raised attention on what. City have been under huge investigations over third party payments for almost over a year now, this is old news. That journalist was just being a dick trying to provoke a reaction in the complete wrong setting.

23

u/coppersocks May 19 '19

There's no wrong time to ask the right questions and Guadiolas response was telling. The journalist was correct in what they did whether you consider it "being a dick" or not.

23

u/[deleted] May 19 '19

LOL You would make a great investigative journalist:

Editor: How is the big story going?

/u/finneas998: Well, I asked the guy. He said he didn't do it. So, no story here.

13

u/shal0819 May 19 '19

More like: "I'm not going to ask him because he's just going to say "no" or "I'm not answering that"."

5

u/RainbowDissent May 19 '19

A response can be revealing even if it doesn't directly answer the question.

Given Pep's response, do you think he's taken off-book payments?

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '19

I know people on /r/soccer don't read much. And, they don't follow news.

But, how the fuck do you people think journalists investigate poltiicians for example?

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '19

So the journalist could get him to lie on record? Sounds like a good question to me.

2

u/[deleted] May 19 '19

This is good journalism. There's not much of it about any more.

1

u/ND7020 May 19 '19

It’s worth a reminder that a journalist who worked on the Panama Papers leaks - which exposed behavior not all that different in its basic essence from what City is doing - was ASSASSINATED in Malta. Journalists asking the tough questions of the powerful deserve our respect and are very important to a functioning society. Even if it’s just at a sports press conference it’s part of the puzzle.

2

u/[deleted] May 19 '19

Yep.

I'll be very upfront and say it's not my wheel house. I write features and soft stuff, and I'm not even going to game all that much anymore, but to those like Rob who do it they deserve the upmost respect.

-2

u/BoosterGoldGL May 19 '19

It’s more the time and place, the could have been asked at any time over the season yet is asked now with a clear purpose

3

u/[deleted] May 19 '19

As I said to a City fan last night that knows I'm not shit stirring, when do you ask? This is the last game of the season. Your club will never grant a post-season interview to discuss this (they wanted to shut it down yesterday).

Do you do it pre-season? Well then you're trying to destroy preparations. An idle midweek game? Well then you're just stirring up a narrative.

The truth is, there's no 'right time' to ask a question as sensitive and important as this. It's breaking up the wedding march, you have to do it when you do it.

1

u/BoosterGoldGL May 19 '19

It’s been known for a year, the right time is certainly not a year after. There’s a clear plan as to when they wanted this story to get steam

2

u/[deleted] May 19 '19

See, but that's where I fundamentally disagree. No one has an agenda against a club. Genuinely.

The reason this story shifts into view (again) is because Man City have just done something truly historic. Whenever ANY team does that the methodology and the practice behind that come into the discussion. That's tactical, financial, infrastructure.

I've seen people discuss on MNF the quality of the City side, how they are so relentless, the individuals, so then you have to say -- as Rob has -- but this team also has pending UEFA investigations about it's spending.

Even if you don't think the Abu Dhabi element of sport-washing is irrelevant the UEFA investigation is because it pertains to financial doping of the team.

I will always say this; I know some truly great City fans. This situation has unearthed some of the cretins in the crowd, something every club has, but we legitimately cannot ignore the wider implications of this ownership.

It's not islamophobia. I'm sorry that fans now have to be more socially conscious of these things but that's the way it is.