Howard Webb made visit to Manchester City training ground to discuss referee decisions | OneFootball

Manchester City received a visit from referees’ boss Howard Webb earlier this year, where he discussed decisions that went against the club this season.

The revelation comes amid a week of immense reflection and administrative upheaval at the Etihad Stadium, as Pep Guardiola continues to shy away from confirming his own reported exit by pointing towards talks with Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

The timing of Webb’s intervention matches a volatile period in the winter schedule where Manchester City felt victimised by inconsistent VAR reviews and on-pitch officiating errors.

With the squad pushing its physical limits across multiple domestic and European fronts, the psychological strain of dropped points due to refereeing anomalies led to high-level frustration, perhaps stemming from Pep Guardiola directly.

Howard Webb’s Manchester City visit revealed

As revealed in a wider report from MailSport’s Jack Gaughan on Pep Guardiola’s 10-year stay at the Etihad Stadium, anger at decisions throughout January and into February 2026 led to referees’ chief Howard Webb heading into the City Football Academy training centre. 

Webb is said to have been at the club ‘for hours’ to discuss recent decisions that went against Manchester City, whilst he was also recently seen deep in conversation with one club analyst following the 2026 FA Cup final.

It is stated that the two parties usually keep their distance, and Pep Guardiola is the only manager in the Premier League not to turn up to PGMO meetings and never has done, whether that be during pre-season or mid-season.

Pep Guardiola’s long-standing referee frustrations

Guardiola’s refusal to attend standard Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) summits underscores his unique and uncompromising approach to English football’s top-level infrastructure.

For a decade, while rival managers used regular meetings to lobby for rule changes or seek clarification on officiating protocols, Pep Guardiola chose distance.

Ongoing interactions between Webb and City’s technical staff show a club that monitors officiating with precision, and while Guardiola himself has consistently avoided public post-match rants to protect himself from fines, those within the Etihad Stadium are likely have a clear idea regarding the financial and sporting cost of missed calls.

As Enzo Maresca prepares to step into the managerial spotlight next week with the expectation being that he will become the new Manchester City manager beyond Pep Guardiola, navigating tension with the PGMO could be an instant off-field test for the incoming coaching staff.