Since being appointed as manager in 2016, Guardiola has won every available domestic honour, while also claiming four Premier League titles in his six full seasons at the helm.
In his 235 matches in charge, City have won 174, accumulating an astonishing 553 points at an average of 2.35 per game in the process.
It’s an astonishing record and, for Clough, a demonstration of the boss’ influence over our playing style has paid dividends.
He said: “When you’ve got the top managers which you have at the moment both here and at Liverpool, they’re in charge and there’s no question about that, whether it’s with the media or whatever.
“Their personality runs through the Club from top to bottom.
“It’s a great blueprint if you get the right person, back them 100%, give them that control and watch the results.
“It’s one of the most important lessons for football clubs. The character that they are leads to the total backing and the success obviously as well.”
Following a hugely successful career at Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and City, Clough moved into a player-management role at Burton Albion in 1998.
Over two decades later, he is one of the Football League’s most experienced managers and currently plies his trade at promotion-chasing Mansfield Town in League Two.
One of his greatest managerial achievements came in 2019 when his Burton side reached the Carabao Cup semi-finals as a League One outfit.
The Brewers’ unlikely run was ended by Guardiola’s men, but Clough shared an interesting anecdote from his experience of facing City which demonstrates the respect afforded to the boss by his peers.
He reflected: “I’d spoken to a few other managers who had come across him.
They’d all said: ‘forget about the game, the best part of the experience is talking to Pep afterwards for ten minutes.’
“Just his insistence of how he goes about it, and you can see the relentlessness and energy that must take, the stamina to keep going day after day and the demand and standards that he wants.
“It’s very difficult to do, but that’s the demands of just maintaining those standards.”
