SIMON JORDAN: Pep Guardiola has every right to call out Jack Grealish – even Jack would admit his Man City career has not lived up to his £100million price tag

Is it advisable for managers to criticise players? Ultimately, it is if you get the best from them.

This season has seen Ruben Amorim, Ange Postecoglou, Enzo Maresca and Pep Guardiola with Jack Grealish call out some of their star names.

I don’t believe it’s a trend, more each manager reacting to their own set of circumstances. Amorim has to fix a busted flush at United, Chelsea potentially needed recovering from lack of direction, continuity and weak management pre-Maresca and Postecoglou was frustrated with Timo Werner, who as a loanee is a cost to Tottenham rather than an asset.

Guardiola this week unfavourably compared the ‘shape’ Grealish is in to his younger rival for a starting place, Savinho

Managers going public to try and rouse their players to action is a balancing act and I wonder sometimes if it’s necessary to go through the media. It’s said that sunlight is the best disinfectant and I do see managers reaching their wits’ end. But there is no point in venting your spleen unless you think the telling-off is going to have a reaction.

Otherwise it’s just self-gratification for its own sake and you’d be better off engineering an opportunity for a player to be somewhere else. The court of public opinion is therefore a dangerous arena to play in but if any manager has earned the right to mention a player’s fallibilities in front of microphones and cameras, it is Guardiola. He’s had a difficult season but retains an enormous amount of credibility because of his achievements.

Top managers have to be as truthful to themselves in moments of challenge as success. With someone as capable as Guardiola, you give him a significant degree of autonomy as he understands the responsibility to achieve good outcomes.

Manchester City have inherent trust in Guardiola. As an owner, I’d have faith in my manager to deal with players how they saw fit. If that wasn’t he case, I’d fire them.

You can’t just back a Guardiola through all the glory years and castigate him the moment there is a whiff of problems. His judgement is either something you trust or you don’t.

Grealish’s legacy is fascinating. He cost a British-record £100million and was in the squad that won the Treble so can’t say he’s been unsuccessful. He was a valuable part of the ensemble that achieved that remarkable feat in 2023.

With his contract running until 2027, he is now written down on the books at £40m so the club would likely, balance sheet-wise, not lose money if they sold him, but another £100m for him is not vaguely realistic.

That fee was reached because Villa had the temerity and wherewithal to set a release clause at that price and City had the foolishness to meet it.

Grealish changed his game to learn the disciplines demanded by Guardiola including a work ethic that demanded tracking back and showing a different side to his game and character. But with three Premier League goals and two assists since the start of last season, it’s fair to say output has dropped.

Do I think he was worth £100m? Absolutely not and more importantly I don’t think the move has been as successful as Jack himself would have liked. He was a big fish in a small pond at Aston Villa and probably had visions of being of similar importance at City one day. But compare the impact he’s made with Erling Haaland. It’s been nowhere near it.

A lot of money was spent on Grealish. It wasn’t wasted but neither did he prove himself worthy of being the Premier League’s most expensive player.

My Mail Sport colleague Graeme Souness says today’s players are harder to handle. I’m not entirely sure given that Graeme himself tells a story of writing a transfer request from the bar after he’d been left out by Joe Fagan!

Even so, I acknowledge managers have to be careful with their handling of the modern ego who is also financially independent. Guardiola is arguably the one figure who can rise above any fear and prostituting himself by saying things they don’t believe to keep order.

It might not work for other mangers but him giving Grealish a metaphorical push to rediscover his form of a couple of years ago is probably what the player needs.

Trent decision could come down to the bottom line

Real Madrid were never going to get Trent Alexander-Arnold this month for £20million but there might be a price where Liverpool would have to consider it.

There was no decision for them to make with such a low offer. Liverpool are in pursuit of a Champions League crown which is worth £130m. They are in pursuit of the Premier League title and all that goes with that in terms of achievement and cache, which has a commercial benefit.

I don’t think Real will return with a bid as high as £50m but it would be interesting to see what happened if they did. At that price, I think there would have to be a consideration from Liverpool, given Alexander-Arnold has four months left on his contract and that Conor Bradley looks a ready-made replacement.

Real have their own financial governance issues so I’m not sure they can get to a position where Liverpool might think they can lose Trent and continue their impetus.

But the harsh reality is that if the Spanish club did put £50m on the table, I wouldn’t be surprised if Liverpool were inclined to look at it more seriously than the current position of he’s not for sale.

My one Tyler Dibling gripe 

This should be a big year for two exciting youngsters, Liam Delap and Tyler Dibling.

Whereas Delap has the ability to be the next Harry Kane, I do have a little gripe about Dibling. I’d like to see him pull his socks up, literally.

The Southampton teenager has impressed in a struggling team but I hate that nonsense of socks around the ankles. The best in the world don’t do it, just the ones who allude to be there.

It suggests a sloppiness of mind and being worried about what you look like above what you’re meant to be doing.

I don’t want to discourage freedom of expression, particularly in a creative 18-year-old with high potential, but I think there is a way to dress and appear that is reflective of how you perform.

You can go back all the way to Rodney Marsh and Stan Bowles. Mavericks who were never successful at big clubs. Bowles went to Nottingham Forest in their pomp and got himself on the wrong side of Brian Clough.

At Ipswich, Delap is an all-round centre forward who can link play, use both feet and doesn’t mind putting it about and rattling defenders.

I know and like the Ipswich CEO Mark Ashton. I hope they stay up but if the worst happens I’d be amazed if Delap isn’t snapped up by someone else.

You can say the same about Dibling particularly given Southampton are intent on being relegated with record low number of points. Where he goes next is a determining factor in how successful his career will be.

The future should be bright but as he matures, perhaps he should consider that Harry Kane and Robert Lewandowski, let alone Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, don’t play with socks around their ankles, looking like they have just climbed out of a dustbin.