Monday 1 February 2016 15:15, UK
Charlie Nicholas believes the announcement to replace Manuel Pellegrini with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City is poorly timed.
Pellegrini announced at the end of his press conference on Monday that he would step down as City manager on June 30 and City swiftly confirmed that Guardiola would replace him on a three-year deal, ending months of speculation.
City are currently second in the Premier League and have reached the Capital One Cup final, while they remain alive in both the Champions League and the FA Cup.
With the prospect of silverware on all fronts, Nicholas believes the announcement is poorly timed.
"It is just a strange decision because this team could potentially win four things, and what an opportunity they've got for the Champions League and Premier League," he told Sky Sports News HQ.
"What happened to Sir Alex Ferguson the first time round when he announced he was thinking about leaving, it crumbled a bit and he had to re-build after that.
"This man has been wonderful, great style of football, has really good players and handled it brilliantly but I think the timing is poor. This could upset them and the four trophies they're going for."
Nicholas also feels that the move might cause confusion among the current Manchester City squad as players assess their future.
"There will be the ones who haven't been playing under (Pellegrini), like Samir Nasri for instance, who might now want to stay longer and may think: 'Pep might like me because of my style of play'.
"There will be chopping and changing and I think that creates a little bit of friction in there.
"People are questioning (Yaya) Toure at the moment, (Vincent) Kompany if he ever gets fit, the defensive frailties are definitely there so a lot of players will question it."
Nicholas also questioned the mentality of the City owners and their objectives going forward.
"I'm sure Manchester City fans will be delighted because he's (Guardiola) a flavour guy. Everybody wanted Pep, and understandably so, but Pellegrini has done such a fabulous job here and I think the timing is disruptive.
"What is success judged on now? Guardiola took over Bayern Munich and they won everything. He could potentially take over Manchester City and win everything. What is the mark of success at Manchester City? It's still a strange how they gauge success for me at Manchester City."