Guardiola looms large but Pellegrini proving he won't go down without a fight

Despite being well into his third season of Premier League football, not a great deal is known about Manuel Pellegrini in England. It may even be fair to say that not many people want to know.

He does not tend to get the credit when Manchester City win, his character and personality is not scrutinised when they lose. He is there on the sidelines as bigger, more exciting names do their business out on the pitch, or are sat in the opposition dug-out - as will be the case when Jurgen Klopp comes to town on Saturday.

Pellegrini, it must be said, has forged a reputation as the quiet man of English football's big boys. He has made saying the bare minimum an art form.

It goes back to his very first day in charge of City, when his maiden press conference was overshadowed by David Moyes's unveiling across town. He was more than happy to let somebody else take the spotlight; journalists, expecting an hour or so with the Chilean, had just 17 minutes of material to work with. And that was shared with Fernandinho, who was talking through a translator.

It set the tone; Pellegrini has not made many headlines since. He does not want to. Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho – an old rival who moved back to Chelsea a month before Pellegrini's arrival - Arsene Wenger, Brendan Rodgers and now Klopp have all fascinated in the intervening years, but the City boss has been happy to straight-bat the questions that come his way.

His business is football. But even his tactical approach, the very fibre of a manager's being, has been written off at times. His outlook is attacking but basic, critics say. Cramming big-money players into a broad 4-4-2 is not enough for a club targeting European domination. It was not enough for Real Madrid, either.

Pep Guardiola is said to be the man waiting in the wings. Just as Pellegrini put up with the spectre of Mourinho during his sole season in charge in Madrid, he now is dogged by the shadow of the iconic Bayern Munich boss.

But, quietly, he has come out fighting. Many expected him to be sacked at the end of last season, but he rode out talks with the club's hierarchy and even signed a new one-year extension on the eve of the current campaign. "For a dead man walking, not bad," he quipped, surprisingly, as City started with four wins out of four. The run has continued and they are firm favourites for the title.

He is thriving on the pressure: "For me it is very important that the possibility exists that they can get rid of me. What I fear most when I leave this profession is that void of not having those permanent demands placed upon me." It may be easy to speak more freely to the author of your forthcoming biography, as he did so here, but he has been just as forthcoming – perhaps uncharacteristically - about his delicate situation when facing the press.

Before the thrashing of Bournemouth he countered the suggestion that his new contract gives him extra confidence: "About the contract you never know. How many managers have long contracts and they are sacked in the same way?"

But he is fighting all the same. It was defeat at Old Trafford in April which prompted many to believe he was on his way out. Perhaps the man himself believed it, too. As talk raged that Van Gaal's men would overtake City and finish second, Pellegrini instantly changed to a 4-2-3-1 formation, another surprising move. It yielded 11 consecutive victories; enough for second place last term and for top spot a month into the new campaign.

For those early wins have been the platform for City's season. Swathes of doubters had written off half of the squad during the summer but a fortnight into the new season they were regarded as hot favourites for the title. Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, David Silva and Eliaquim Mangala, in particular, stopped the tide of negative headlines.

Pellegrini, typically, has not received quite the same level of recognition.

He himself has admitted responsibility for last season's "failure", but it was Yaya Toure who revealed the strength of feeling the players have for their manager.

"Before this season, all the players had a talk and we promised the boss we would recover our level. We had to do it for him, for us and for the fans."

It goes to show that entertaining or eccentric interviews are not necessarily the mark of a great man motivator.