Pep Guardiola disciple facing early crisis amid fan revolt - 'We can't repeat'

Former Manchester City assistant manager Carlos Vicens takes his Braga side to Celtic in the Europa League on Thursday night

You don't have to look too far to see Pep Guardiola's coaching influence.

The Manchester City chief has revolutionised football during his managerial career. His brilliant Barcelona side set the bar and since he arrived at the Etihad Stadium a decade ago, countless trophies have been won and many managers shaped.

Mikel Arteta at Arsenal and Enzo Maresca at Chelsea are two former Guardiola assistants turned Premier League rivals, while his former captain Vincent Kompany is leading Bayern Munich's charge for Champions League glory.

One of the most recent Guardiola disciples to step up into the managerial hotseat is Carlos Vicens, who in the summer left City for the top job at Portuguese side Braga.

The 42-year-old spent seven years at City, the final four as assistant manager. But his first taste in senior management has not been smooth sailing.

Indeed, he was subject to his own fans waving white handkerchiefs at him after a league loss to basement boys Nacional at the weekend.

Braga have won just two of their first seven league games of the season and the new boss is already coming under fire. Vicens has vowed not to quit, stating this week: "I still have the strength and energy for the job and I know I can change the mentality here."

He takes his side to Celtic tonight in the Europa League, a competition that has been the high point of his brief Braga tenure. Having steered the club through qualifying, Vicens' men then defeated Dutch side Feyenoord in matchday one and travel to Scotland aiming to make it two wins from two.

And Vicens is confident his side can turn their form around and spring something of a surprise against the Scottish champions.

"With the buzz surrounding the team, we have to focus on what we can do and use our weapons to compete," he said on the eve of the fixture.

"We've worked to ensure the team shows the performance it needs, something we didn't show in the last game. We can't repeat that last performance. We need to see a Braga version with great strength and a desire to win, to try and get a good result and win the match.

"We have 14 official matches under our belt, the team has played a lot of matches, and we've been going through different phases.

"We know we have to improve. I believe we'll have the performance we all want. We know we have to be brave; the competition is always tough, and the match is important and special. We're ready to offer the version of Braga we need to show."