Pep Guardiola embraces Eddie Howe as Jason Tindall looks on
Man City's Pep Guardiola embraces Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe as Jason Tindall looks on (Image: Getty Images)
The contrast could not have been starker last weekend. As Eddie Howe and his Newcastle United players took the acclaim of hundreds of thousands of fans in the city centre, 150 miles away Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola cut a very different figure.
While Geordies took to the streets to celebrate the first domestic silveware success for 70 years, Guardiola pulled no punches in his verdict on how his side have under-performed this season. The FA Cup is their only remaining chance of a trophy after they booked a semi-final spot against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, and Pep is well aware that is far below the standards he expects of both his side and himself.
"Of course it would be nice to arrive in the final of the FA Cup and win it, and qualify for the Champions League," said Guardiola ahead of their quarter-final win over Bournemouth. "That would be a big success, but the season has been poor and it's not going to change.
"Our standards and many things were not good, this is the reality. That's not going to change for the fact we win one title or qualify for the Champions League. We'll be happy, of course. We want to do it but the season has not been good."
But the reality which Guardiola refers to is almost the same as the one Newcastle hope to achieve this season. In fact, the FA Cup holds a much higher status than the Carabao Cup, while both clubs are striving to qualify for the Champions League.
That is not to underplay Newcastle's achievement. Far from it. The success at Wembley was fabulous, and the celebrations that followed richly-deserved. Any dissenting voices don't understand what it means to the club, the fans and the city as a whole.
But what Guardiola's words highlight is just where Newcastle want to be. It's been refreshing to hear Howe and so many of the players speak about the Carabao Cup win as just the start of United's success. Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan has made no secret of the ambition of the PiF owners. They want to be No 1.
And that, in time, could mean that only winning one cup competition while being well off the Premier League title pace is counted is something of a failure.
Newcastle's journey is only just beginning, while Man City have had a decade of success. Both will improve and come back next season even stronger, but while the pressure is on Pep and Co to deliver after a disappointing year, there is a sense of excitement on Tyneside over what is to come.
So let Guardiola's downbeat verdict serve as inspiration for all at Newcastle - and help fire their ambitious plans for the future.