‘I have to control it’: Pep Guardiola vows to behave on the touchline after ban

Pep Guardiola has admitted he and other Premier League managers need to brush up on their touchline behaviour after a rule change clamping down on dissent.

The Catalan was handed a touchline ban for Manchester City’s 2-1 defeat to Wolves at Molineux and watched the game from the front row of the Billy Wright Stand, although he was allowed in the dressing room before and after the game.

Guardiola was booked against Burnley, Nottingham Forest and Newcastle this season, collecting yellow cards in three of the six domestic games he has been on the touchline for this season, having missed two games while recovering from back surgery.

Guardiola had to watch Manchester City’s shock defeat at Wolves on Saturday from the directors’ box and said he must adapt to ensure he does not spend more games in the stands.

Guardiola said he was grateful that Premier League rules still allowed him to watch the match from the stadium. Eight bookings will trigger a two-match suspension for managers, while 16 bookings will lead to a Football Association misconduct hearing.

The Spaniard said the new rules were explained to managers at the start of the season and that he would try and adapt to it.

“It’s a new rule. They explained to us that sometimes we are not correct to them,” he said. “They are the bosses, they make the rules and we have to accept it. We’re not going to change [it], no? They’re going to change the rule because I am booked? No, I have to adapt to them. We know each other quite well. They know me but I know them, that’s for sure.”

Guardiola insists it is more important that his players steer clear of disciplinary issues rather than him, having said after the win against Forest last week that he could afford to get booked, but that Rodri couldn’t afford to get sent off.

While the Catalan will now try and control his emotions on the touchline, he will continue to speak out at times and revealed it is a trait that has got him into trouble since his playing days with Barcelona.

“It’s worse that players don’t play than me. It’s not a big issue. It’s not a problem, they made the rules,” he said.

“When I was a player at Barcelona I was the least physical player ever but maybe I was one of the most booked players in Barcelona. Always because I talk and talk and talk. Now as a manager it is the same.

“I say something if I think it’s an injustice or something I don’t like… I have to control it. When you see a few things you don’t like then I will say. I’d like to control [myself], I will try to do it, but I cannot assure you 100 per cent that I will control it.”

Guardiola had joked earlier that the view from the stands at Molineux had been excellent, but he has no plans to make it a regular viewing point, despite enjoying the company of Manel Estiarte and Txiki Begiristain, and he knows he’s now treading on egg shells with a two-game ban a possibility next time.

“I like to be with the players, the smell of the grass. Txiki and Manel were so nice but I prefer to be down there. Next time it’s a two-game ban,” he said.