Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has jokingly stated that the secret to avoiding the sack is to win games.
Guardiola has enjoyed successful spells with City, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, winning 21 major trophies during his 16 years as a manager. Interestingly, the Spaniard has never been sacked by any of his clubs, instead taking the decision to step down from Barca and Bayern himself.
He is also in no danger of being fired by City, having earned a reputation as one of the world's best managers. City rewarded him for his continued success with a fresh contract extension in November 2022, keeping him at the Etihad Stadium until the summer of 2025.
Guardiola's security is in stark contrast to many in the Premier League, with the City boss now second on the list of the division's longest-serving bosses. And he has jokingly suggested the secret to his success is merely winning games.
"I will tell you a secret, we win games. If we don't win games, I would be sacked. It's not because my hair is better than the other ones. I'm not sacked because we win a lot of games," Guardiola said.
"I think that sporting director and owners make the decisions on managers when to sack him and how it works. In this country when I was younger it always had the tradition to keep the managers.
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"What happens today with a lot of pressure for everyone, a lot of investment, in a way I understand there's a lot of pressure. In a way I understand there's a lot of pressure. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It is what it is, you have to adapt."
City travel to basement boys Southampton on Saturday evening, hoping to close the gap on leaders Arsenal. The Saints have had three managers so far this season, with City having faced all three over the course of the campaign.
And Guardiola has lamented the fact that managers are no longer given the time they need to lead teams to success. But he insisted that Southampton's style under interim Ruben Selles is already clear.
"Many times, unfortunately," the City boss said when asked if he has ever face three managers at same team in a season before. "Before it was more difficult to sack managers and today it’s always around the corner.
"If manager was appointed yesterday it would be difficult but they've played a few games with the new manager. The patterns are quite clear. Every team is playing for something, a fight for the Premier League and a fight to be in the Premier League.
"Every game has its own characteristic and you have to be ready. Southampton have always been so tough there, the game we made it to 100 points they were much better than us, we've drawn before. It's tough and I have a feeling tomorrow won't be an exception."
