Leon Britton shows support for under-pressure Swans boss
Leon Britton says that under-pressure Swansea manager Francesco Guidolin has the "respect of all players in the squad" going into Wednesday's EFL Cup clash against unbeaten Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Swansea's last two league games - a 2-2 draw with Chelsea and 1-0 defeat at Southampton - were headlined by Neil Taylor and Ki Sung-Yeung displaying visible disapproval of being substituted by Guidolin.
And with the Swans having not won since toppling League Cup opponents Peterborough on August 23, a cumulative effect has led to speculation in some quarters about Guidolin's Liberty Stadium future.
But club captain Britton, who has made more than 400 Swansea appearances, said: "The manager has got respect of all players in the squad. There has been no-one disrespecting him in training or behind closed doors.
"He's had a career where he has managed in Italy in the top flight for so long. He might not be a big name, but you have to respect the manager and staff.
"There are no issues, I know people on the outside like to make stories, but in the changing room and on the pitch there are no issues.
"Nothing has changed. The training is the same as when we were beating Liverpool last year. Things are normal. The performance wasn't great against Southampton, but there is a lot of football to be played.
"On Sunday, everyone was frustrated with the way we played, and I think Ki will be disappointed.
"We are professional, we have to respect the manager and respect the group of players we've got. If there is a problem, like always in football, you deal with it in the changing room.
"As much as there is emotion and frustration running high when you are not performing well and you get brought off, at the same time, you have to remember we are professionals and we have to respect everyone involved in the football club.
"They know that, and I hope that's the last we see of that.
"It is down to the manager to deal with it internally when he feels there might be an issue, but as players, we have to respect the whole group.
"It's an emotional game. We've seen it over the years when players react when they come off and they feel maybe they shouldn't have come off, but I think when things calm down they realise it is probably the wrong thing to do, and those boys will know that."
Yaya Toure will not play for City again until his agent apologises for recent remarks in the media, manager Pep Guardiola has said.
Toure's representative, Dimitri Seluk, recently suggested Guardiola had humiliated the midfielder by leaving him out of City's Champions League squad.
The Ivorian has appeared in just one of City's eight games this season - not even making the bench for the other seven - and it was assumed this was because he did not feature in Guardiola's plans.
But now Guardiola has revealed there is more to it, with the Spaniard angered by the latest of Seluk's frequent comments to the press.
Guardiola said: "It was so difficult for me to put him out of the Champions League, so difficult. I know him, I know he's a good, good guy - but the list is the list.
"But the day after, his manager (agent) spoke. In that moment Yaya is out.
"I accept if Mr Dimitri Seluk came in a press conference or (spoke to) his friends in the media - because he has not the courage to call me - and apologised to Manchester City, his team-mates and the trainer, when that happens Yaya will be part of the group and he will have the same chance to play all the games.
"I cannot accept as a coach, every manager when his player doesn't play, going to the media to speak and speak and speak."
Seluk has a long history of making controversial remarks concerning his client - most notoriously in 2014 when he claimed the club showed Toure a lack of respect on his 31st birthday, not even giving him a cake.
But now it seems Guardiola, who previously coached Toure at Barcelona, is not prepared to accept the situation.
Guardiola said: "I cannot imagine, in my period when I was a football player, my manager going to the media and speaking against Johan Cruyff, about this and about that.
"Maybe it's a new era now, the new period changing, but I'm an old guy. I am old generation, and (an) old generation manager has to make his players his job and trainers his job.
"Today the managers (agents) believe they are more then they are. If he has a problem call (director of football) Txiki Begiristain, the club, and they can talk. Until he doesn't speak, Yaya is not going to play."
Guardiola was speaking at a press conference to preview Wednesday's EFL Cup third-round tie at Swansea.
It had been assumed 33-year-old Toure, who missed training last week with a migraine, would come back into the reckoning for the game after Guardiola admitted he will make changes.
"We are going to play some guys who didn't play lately," he said.
But it is now clear that captain Vincent Kompany is the only senior figure likely to come in after recovering from the thigh injury - the latest in a long line of muscle problems - that has sidelined him since May.
Guardiola said: "Kompany has a chance. He has trained a lot and he will be ready and be part of the group and compete with other central defenders to win his position. We have a lot of games and we need him."
Source: PAR
