Former Manchester City striker Niall Quinn believes Pep Guardiola’s first season in English football has been a failure and suggests his first big decision at the club was a mistake that has come back to haunt him time and again.

City are fighting to seal a top four finish in the Premier League that would represent small consolation in a campaign they started as strong title favourites, with Quinn telling Yahoo Sport UK that Guardiola’s image as a tactical master has taken a big hit since his move from Bayern Munich.

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Guardiola’s sparkling success during spells in charge of Barcelona and Bayern Munich cemented his reputation as the game’s most celebrated coach, but Quinn suggests those jobs were far easier to succeed in than the one he finds himself in.

Citing the decision to replace long-serving City keeper Joe Hart with Claudio Bravo as the starting point of City’s downfall this season, Quinn was forthright in his condemnation of Guardiola’s efforts in Manchester.

“You can get away with bad defending if you are a Barcelona team with Lionel Messi beating the minnows of La Liga or a Bayern Munich winning by five or six goals every week, but English football is not like that,” Sky Sports pundit Quinn told us.

“Without a defence, you win nothing and City have had a milky defence for a long time now.

“The signing of Bravo and the removal of Hart in the key goalkeeping position was a big statement at the start of the season and it hasn’t worked.

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“Pep saw Bravo as his sweeping keeper, the man to get everything moving from the back. He got rid of Hart, who had all that Man City spirit in him and it was a decision that needed to pay off.

“Well, I’d imagine that the dressing room had a hole in it without Hart and in his place stood a Spanish fella who knows nothing about City.

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“This was the first big test of Guardiola’s judgement in this job and it backfired badly.

“The same kind of mistakes cannot be made again this summer. Whether it is the owner, the sporting director or the manager, City need to go get the players in who will sort out this defensive problem.

“They have had some poor decisions and wasted a lot of money trying to fill that central defensive role in the last few years.

“In the end, the reality is that Man City only ever won anything when Vincent Kompany was there and at his best and they need to find players of his ilk now if they are to move forward.”

While Guardiola’s insists he is relatively satisfied with his first year at City, Quinn suggests the Spaniard will be expected to make more noticeable progress next season.

“They have to sort out the defence and buy the best available. It looks lovely going forward, but they have to sort the defence out,” he added.

“If Pep is to kick on next season, and he certainly needs to, then he needs to focus on his defence and deciding whether or not his brand of football needs to be modified to be successful in the Premier League.

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“You look at Spurs and they are a young, vibrant team who are playing it out from the back and making it work for them. City have not had that kind of success with a similar style so far this season.

“There are questions to answer next season, of course there are. City did not bring Pep Guardiola in to their club with the aim of trying to finish fourth.

“More is expected and with the money City spend, the owners have a right to demand more. I’m sure Guardiola doesn’t need me to tell him that.”

Sky Sports will show all the key Premier League games in the final month of the season, including Arsenal v Manchester United this Sunday.