Manchester City assistant Kolo Toure calls Wigan sacking ‘the best thing that happened to me’
Kolo Toure believes getting sacked by Wigan Athletic was the best thing to happen to him on his coaching journey as he hailed Pep Guardiola as the leading manager in the world.
The Manchester City assistant coach took on the pre-match media duties ahead of the weekend’s game with Crystal Palace as Guardiola had a minor personal matter but will be in the dugout for Sunday’s Premier League encounter.
Former Arsenal, Liverpool and City defender Toure, 44, reflected on his coaching career to date which saw him appointed first-team coach at the Etihad Stadium last summer after a stint working with the Under-18s.
Toure has had just one senior managerial job so far in his career but lasted just three months at Wigan in England’s second tier as he was dismissed in January 2023 after failing to win any of his seven Championship matches in charge, with just two points earned in the ill-fated spell.
The former Ivory Coast international, who works alongside Pep Lijnders under Guardiola, insists the experience has not put him off trying his hand at being a manager again in the future.
“My experience at Wigan was the best thing that happened to me because during my life I had a lot of setbacks like before I came to Arsenal with trials that didn’t work,” said Toure. “That never stopped me and, when I have setbacks, my feeling is to go again and that’s natural for me.
“Of course, the job that I’m doing right now is fantastic because I’m working with two fantastic people working for one of the best clubs in the world and I’m taking all this experience right now.
“I don’t know what will happen in the future but when you’ve been a manager once you always want to go back for sure. I’m learning every day, trying to share my knowledge to try to bring something to the team because I’m not here just to learn.”
Toure failed to win a game at Wigan (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
City head into the weekend two points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal with 15 games played.
Toure insists their focus is not on the north Londoners and described Guardiola as the best coach in the world.
“For us, we just focus on what we can do,” said the coach. “We know the quality of Arsenal, they have a really strong squad with a fantastic manager but it’s all down to us.
“We have the best manager in the world doing an incredible job every day. His passion for the game, he loves his players, he loves his staff and we know that he will take us as far as we can to win that league and for us we just focus on what we can do really.”
Guardiola has been in charge at City since 2016 in a period that has seen the club win six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, four EFL Cups and the Champions League, which they lifted in 2023 as part of a treble.
It follows successful periods at Barcelona and Bayern Munich but Toure insists the 54-year-old, who is under contract until 2027, is showing no signs of his hunger to win trophies diminishing.
“Absolutely, and the manager’s energy every day is incredible,” Toure said when asked about Guardiola’s desire. “For me, I’m so surprised with all the years that he’s done in the league and now the energy that he still has, the passion he brings to every meeting, training sessions. He’s enjoying himself every day and we are enjoying it.”
