Manchester City is a football club with a history of ups and downs. Having been relegated from the English Premier League EPL in recent memory, they bounced back within one season and have since gone from strength to strength, becoming a dominant force in English football.
While the players have certainly done their part on the pitch to ensure that Manchester City is where it deserves to be in the league, one of the Citizens greatest strengths has always been its leadership. In this article, we’ll be looking at some of those who’ve been the driving force behind Man City’s success.
Pep Guardiola
A former defensive midfielder, Guardiola holds the record for the most consecutive league games won in La Liga, the Bundesliga, and the Premier League. He has put Manchester City in a position where they are a strong contender for both the EPL title and UEFA Champions League.
Pretty much any team headed up by Guardiola can be considered a safe bet to win, especially if you are taking advantage of one of the many amazing welcome bonuses offered by companies like Oddschecker and Bet365.
You can’t get much clearer evidence of this than the fact that, after a season to find his feet, Guardiola led Man City to win the Premier League twice, League cup twice, FA Cup and the Community Shield.
Manuel Pellegrini
Manuel Pellegrini took the reigns from Roberto Mancini in 2013 and immediately hit the ground running. In his first season in charge of the Sky Blues, Pellegrini won the Football League Cup and Premier League and took the title of the first manager from outside of Europe to lead a team to the top of the EPL.
In addition to winning titles and opening up English teams to the host of talent that exists outside of Europe, Pellegrini brought an aggressive style of football to Man City that resulted in them setting a Premier League record by scoring 151 goals in all competitions.
Roberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini joined Man City in 2009 and changed the way the team worked in its entirety. Prior to Mancini, Man City had sat comfortably in the middle of the Premier League table, and weren't considered anything special.
Having spent a season finding his feet and making sure that Man City qualified for the Champions League, Mancini went on to lead the Sky Blues to their first Premiership title in 44 years by winning during the last match, on the last day of the season.
Kevin Keegan
In 2001, football legend Kevin Keegan joined Man City at a very inauspicious time. The team, under the leadership of Joe Royle, has just been relegated to Division One. Morale was understandably low.
Rallying both players and staff, Keegan recruited players, such as Stuart Pearce, Eyal Berkovic and Ali Benarbia. They had enough international experience to steady the team and just one season later Man City were back in the Premiership, having score 108 goals on their way.
In his second season, Keegan saw the club qualify for the UEFA Cup, win the Manchester Derby for the first time since 1989, and go from being relegated, to finishing comfortably in the top half of the Premier League table.
Wilf Wild
A name from the mists of time, Wilf Wild might have joined the club way back in 1932, but he still ranks as one of Man City’s best managers to date.
Not only was he one of the longest-serving managers in club history, but he was also the first manager under which Man City won the League title, and the first manager from Manchester to have ever won the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium.
Wild’s tenure also saw the Sky Blues win the FA Cup in 1934 and have an undefeated run of 22 matches. When the league resumed in 1946, Wild stepped down as manager, only to remain at the club as secretary until he passed away in 1950.