Manchester City’s 1-0 EFL Cup defeat at Manchester United stretched the Citizens’ winless streak to six matches.
Never once across his vaunted managerial career has Pep Guardiola gone so long without a win, though his side remain clear favourites to win the Premier League title at odds of 7/5.
On current form, there’s no doubting City’s vulnerability at the head of the betting, though any murmurs of discontent surrounding Guardiola’s leadership have yet to surface in the media.
Such stress-free circumstances are far removed from those any of his lesser-celebrated predecessors have operated in over recent seasons.
Indeed, Manuel Pellegrini was unceremoniously ousted from his position as manager despite winning three trophies in as many terms in charge as well as taking the Citizens to the Champions League semi-finals.
The Chilean never oversaw a winless run of six matches either; five games without victory was Pellegrini’s worst spell of form at the City helm
With West Brom away up next, Guardiola doesn’t exactly have the friendliest fixture with which to revert to winning ways (though 21/50 about a Citizens win at the Hawthorns begs to differ).
If his side fail to bag maximum points in the Black Country, the feted Spaniard will become the first City manager since Kevin Keegan in 2003/04 to have gone more than six matches without a win.
The former Newcastle and England chief manned the fort for a 14-match stretch of draws and defeats and still found time to squeeze a seven-game winless streak in before the end of that season. However, somewhat incredibly, he wasn’t dismissed until March of the following campaign.
It seems reputation helped keep King Kev in a job on that occasion and it’ll no doubt assist in staving off any sack talk about Guardiola if his team don’t beat the Baggies.
While this standpoint may get Pellegrini’s goat given his treatment, should the Catalan fail to mastermind a victory against West Brom, his City winless streak will be longer than any recorded during Stuart Pearce’s stint in charge and no one wants that on their CV.
