Lage denies Guardiola third successive EPL Manager of the Month award

 

Bruno Lage has been named the Barclays Manager of the Month for January 2022 thereby denying Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola the opportunity to win for the third time in a row.

Guardiola who won the award in November and December was shortlisted for the award alongside Lage, Jurgen Klopp and Dean Smith.

The Wolverhampton Wanderers head coach is having an impressive debut season in the Premier League and led his side to victory in all three of their January matches, earning Lage the accolade for the first time.

“I’m very proud because it was a good month for us,” Lage said. “The performance of the team, it was very good and we achieved three wins.”

One of Wolves’ three January victories was a first in the Premier League at Old Trafford, and Lage picked the 1-0 win at Manchester United as the standout result last month.

“It was an amazing performance because we had that personality to not to be afraid of anything, to play our game, and we played very well,” he said.

Wolves followed that up by beating Southampton 3-1 and claiming a 2-1 victory at Brentford.

It leaves the West Midlands club just four points outside the top four, but Lage is more focused on their own performances than a push for European football.

“We want to continue to win, to find the right consistency with personality, to play our game,” he said.

“And, also, to continue to be, not just the Manager of the Month, but the right man and the right manager to my players, to my chairman and also for the fans.

“So, that’s the goal, every day to be the best man, to be the right man in the place to take Wolves to a better position.”

Lage is the first Wolves head coach to claim the award since his countryman Nuno Espirito Santo did so in October 2020.

The 45-year-old won after votes from the public were combined with those of a panel of experts, beating Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Dean Smith.