Update: Pep Guardiola shows true colours with Man City empty seats comment News

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was asked about empty seats at the Etihad after more fan protests

A few weeks ago at the Etihad, Jack Grealish scored in front of thousands of empty seats at the beginning of the Leicester game. On Tuesday night Matheus Nunes scored in front of thousands of empty seats at the end of the Aston Villa game.

They were at opposite ends of the ground, and some of the absentees for the Nunes goal can be explained by it being injury time on an evening in the family stand. Many had taken their kids home with school the next day.

Not all of them though – some seats were empty because of what fans had been protesting about before both games. Ticketing decisions by the club threaten to price out locals, with the cheapest adult tickets on Tuesday coming in at £71 and £42 for children.

It might be fine for a dad and lad to pay £113 for a one-off event – say a concert or a theme park – but doing so 19 times a season will stretch the finances of most families. They could get a season ticket of course to make it cheaper, but then there haven’t been any new season tickets issued since 2019 (apart from the Flexi Gold option) so if they want to go every week there is little choice.

There are lots of City fans who are concerned that the situation will get worse, especially after the announcements over upping the minimum requirement for games that season ticket holders have to attend next season to keep their seat.

At the same time, the roar for the injury-time winner against Villa was the loudest moment of the game and that was after many had left so it isn’t a strict formula that bums on seats equals noise.

It’s a messy situation, and one that Pep Guardiola was asked about again after the game. The manager is in a difficult position not only because he is the only senior club figure who has to take questions from journalists but also because it isn’t really his fight.

He regularly calls for full houses and the best atmosphere possible because his focus is the team, yet he isn’t sitting in on the consultation meetings on how much tickets cost and he is paid such an astronomical sum that he cannot relate to the struggle of such amounts coming out of your bank account so regularly.

What he can do, though, is empathise, and once again on Tuesday it was a fine balancing act from Guardiola. “I am on the side of the people, I am a supporter of Man City as well,” he said.

“I don’t have to pay for tickets but I understand the feeling. Clubs are alive when [the fans] disagree or agree on whatever, they can express, and the club will listen to arrive at an agreement.

“I’m not saying who am I to say it’s right or wrong; when I go to the theatre, the cinema, or a concert, I pay for a ticket and I want to see something that I like – it’s the same.

“Of course, we want them here. And a full stadium every time. But the club is open I’m pretty sure, because I know the club, and when they disagree on any subject, the club is always alive.”

Not withstanding the usual idiots on social media, it feels like the debate around tickets and atmosphere has become a lot less tribal in recent years. There has been less sneering as fans of rival clubs have realised that they are experiencing similar issues.

Guardiola too has been on a journey, from coming into the Etihad at 2016 demanding certain things from the fans to his position now. Actions from the club speak louder than any words, but supporters want to know that their voices are being heard and for the manager to say publicly that he understands their position is worth a lot.

He wants the loudest and fullest Etihad possible, but he has recognised that it isn’t as straightforward as that without being critical of either the fans or his employers.

City fans may wish for change at the top of the club, but they wouldn’t want anyone else to be sitting in the manager’s chair – and not just for the football he orchestrates.