Manchester City have handed out hefty fines over the past two seasons and are bracing for more after the club warned manager Josep Guardiola to postpone his press conference ahead of the match against Newcastle.
Manchester City have been given financial relief by the Premier League after being fined a hefty £3m for delaying kick-offs over the past two seasons. Pep Guardiola’s negotiations have cost the team dearly and the City boss has accepted that “rules are rules”.
Last season, the Catalan coach witnessed a half-time team talk that delayed the restart by 2 minutes and 24 seconds. The cumulative breaches ultimately resulted in City being fined £1 million at the end of the campaign.
This was a slight improvement on last season, when the club was fined £2.09 million for 22 delays. The Premier League said holding matches on time “helps ensure that the organization of the competition is set to the highest possible professional standards”.
Guardiola then held a press conference early on Friday to ensure the club avoided a new fine. Had he hosted a meeting with journalists at 2pm after training to preview City’s clash with Newcastle, the club could have ended up shelling out even more cash.
The Premier League wants a press conference to be held by 1.30pm on the Friday before the match. City have already promoted that with their last two 2pm starts.
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City staff have told Guardiola that if he continues to overstep his bounds, new fines will be imposed on the club or himself. The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager lamented the double standards introduced when it comes to timekeeping.
Guardiola said, “We will train after this, but if we were to train from 12:00 to 1:30, we wouldn’t be able to be here in time (for the press conference).” “The Premier League doesn’t allow players to play after 2pm. The club said if I didn’t start the game by 2pm they would either fine me or they would fine the club.”
“We paid a lot of money because I was late at half-time, but when we played in the Champions League final, they were doing a pre-game show and were always late. They have to fine the singers! So I decided on 9am, and the journalists are having breakfast so I’ll have to have a coffee.”
“Sometimes you arrive a minute late, but rules are rules. The Premier League is perfect in that respect.”
City have almost a full squad for the match against Newcastle. Guardiola confirmed the absence of midfielders Rodri and Mateo Kovacic.
“Everyone is healthy except Koba and Rodri,” he said. “Rhodri is progressing well and it’s been almost three weeks since he took his last baby steps.
“He knows that he needs time in real time to recover well and recover well, mentally and especially physically from the issues he had, in order to be consistent from now until the end.”
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