‘Truth’ behind Pep Guardiola walking out of Laura Woods TNT interview – ‘he’s just bored’
Pep Guardiola walked out of an interview following Manchester City’s FA Cup triumph over Chelsea on Saturday after being questioned about his leaving his job
Pep Guardiola refused to answer questions on his future(Image: CameraSport via Getty Images)
Pep Guardiola walked out of an interview following Manchester City’s FA Cup triumph on Saturday after the Spaniard was asked about his future, but his silence was telling.
City broke their FA Cup final losing streak as Antoine Semenyo’s second-half finish meant it would not be three successive defeats at Wembley in the tournament. Guardiola lifted his second piece of silverware this season after winning the Carabao Cup in March, but could miss out on a third if Arsenal hold their nerve in the Premier League title race.
This season has seen plenty of speculation that Guardiola could walk away from City after 10 years despite him reportedly having one more year left on his contract. And following the final, Laura Woods tried to grill Guardiola over his future after City’s Wembley win as she asked: “Pep, there are so many rumours aren’t there, about you leaving. You’re not are you?”
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Guardiola pretended to be confused as he replied: “What rumours?” To which Woods said: “Rumours!” But Guardiola ended the interview early when he said simply: “Have a lovely evening!” That brought out laughter from the rest of the panel, with Woods joined by Steven Gerrard, Joe Cole and his former City goalkeeper Joe Hart.
While they laughed, Guardiola placed down his microphone on the table and shook hands with all four as Woods said: “You’re certainly leaving the interview. Congratulations Pep, what an incredible season they’ve had.”
After Guardiola walked away, Gerrard smiled and said: “Fair play Laura, that was brave. That was brave.” Hart said: “Laura you nailed him!” While Woods replied: “I have to ask! I think I’d get fired if I didn’t ask the question.”
Speaking to OLBG, body language expert Darren Stanton gave his analysis of Guardiola’s reaction: “There’s a clip going round that is being interpreted as Guardiola looking around Wembley and taking it all in as if this will be his last visit to the stadium as City boss and I disagree with that reading of the footage.
“I don’t think this will be his swansong, going out on a high. We’d see far more emotional leakage to contradict what he’s saying, and we don’t see that. I don’t detect signals of deception or inconsistencies in his behaviour that hints at something else going on. There are no red flags from what I can see that he’s holding on to some big secret about his future.
“I think he’s just bored of talking about it. That’s why he made a quick exit when Laura Woods asked him about it on TNT Sports.
“He’s coherent even in his spontaneous responses. I don’t believe he’s got some ace up his sleeve, ready to make a shock announcement, at least not from a psychological point of view that contradicts what he’s telling us.
“He seems relaxed and free of stress and tension and I think he’s in a genuinely happy place, so I think he will at the very least see out his contract. Maybe then he’ll decide to do something else with his team.
“But I also wouldn’t be surprised if the rumours around this filming that people have assumed is a goodbye video is actually an announcement of a new deal to keep him at City for the long haul.”
Stanton continued to double down on his view that Guardiola’s tell-tale signs point to him remaining at City. He added: “Pep Guardiola is here to stay.
“There has been a lot of speculation that he could step back this summer but everything we see from him right now suggests he has actually found a new passion for his job.
“I think he was being truthful when he told reporters before the FA Cup final that he has one more year left on his contract and he intends to see it through.
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“We haven’t been seeing excessive blink rates. We’re not seeing physiological signs of stress. His eye contact is great. His body language is not contradicting what he’s saying and expressing.
“He seems genuinely happy. The microexpressions from Guardiola in the last week have been of joy and happiness, even before City lifted another trophy against Chelsea.
“He seems to have a newfound passion about his work and I think he intends to keep going to write a new chapter and maybe reinvent himself and his team. I don’t think he has any plans to leave the City job and he definitely won’t be retiring.”
