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Are Tottenham Hotspur Genuinely After Poch ? Or Is It A Stalking Horse !
Friday, 16th May 2014 09:20

As newspapers claim that Mauricio Pochettino is going to be the next Spurs manager or maybe not, there is the possibility that this could all be an elaborate smokescreen by the North London club.

Thirteen years ago former Saints Chairman Rupert Lowe described Spurs as a bunch of North London yobboes for the despicable way in which they poached Glenn Hoddle the then manager at the Dell, it wasn't that Hoddle had gone, but the mannerin which Spurs acted that so upset Lowe and indeed all Saints fans.

Now if you believe certain newspaper journalists then Pochettino is the red hot favourite, these journalists seem to be lead by Neil Ashton of the Daily Mail who over the past year after first writing some gushing articles in praise of Nicola Cortese, seems to have made it his personal mission to spread muck about Saints, why this is the case it is anyones guess, but Ashton more than most never seems to miss a chance to try and spread one rumour or another and once a rumour starts it spreads like wildfire.

Of course Ashton has been at the root of the rumours that Spurs are after Mauricio Pochettino as he is also at the root of Lallana to Liverpool and Shaw to United, but strangely earlier in the week Ashton seemed to change direction on whether he thought Pochettino was Spurs man.

Prior to the early part of this week for Ashton it seemed to be a done deal, but by Thursday he seemed to have changed his tune, saying in a major two page spread in the Mail
"Levy is not convinced the Argentine has enough experience"

So why the turnaround ?

Well in the case of Ashton personally it may just be that he wants to retain a bit of credibility, if he keeps putting out rumours about Pochettino to the very end he could look silly in the eyes of his editor if he is shown to be so completely wrong, perhaps he has taken his vendetta against Saints as far as he can without losing credibility in the eyes of his editor.

But perhaps it is something more, yes Ashton may have well be fed stuff by Spurs about Pochettino, but perhaps now they are feeding him a different line, perhaps they were happy to let Ashton do their dirty work which made it easier to sack Sherwood and whilst the eyes of the footballing world are all looking at Saints and Pochettino, they can quietly get on with chasing their real target without attracting any attentions that may upset their plans.

I have always found it strange that Spurs would want Pochettino, after the last couple of years they have had with managers, they need to make the right appointment to appease Spurs supporters, that means bringing in an experienced manager used to dealing with a club the size of Spurs, that means a manager who knows what it takes to win trophies, who has the reputation that can not only attract quality players to White Hart Lane, but who can give the illusion that Spurs are on an upward trajectory.

If that is the case then is Pochettino their man, his reputation is high at the moment after the season he has had with Saints, but is that enough for Daniel Levy, Ashton is now pointing a tthe doubts that Levy now has, yes some like wanting him to speak English in press conferences are petty and distracting, but the "Experience" one may be very telling.

Pochettino's experience is doing exactly what he has done at Saints in the last 15 months or so, that is taking a club with a small squad who are relegation candidates to a comfortable mid table position, he did that for several years at Espanyol and he has done that in his season and a bit here.

Now that is great for the size of a club like Saints, but is it enough for ottenham Hotspur and their fans, I would say not, if it was then why arent Spurs after the likes of Tony Pulis, who has a far better points per game ratio at Palace this season than Pochettino, or even Mark Hughes who has turned things round at Stoke City and has big club experience both as a player and a manager.

Ultimately this lack of experience might just be what turns Levy against appointing Pochettino, if he had any intention of doing so in the first place, certainly it won't be an appointment that will please Spurs fans, anymore than Pulis or Hughes would be.

So given what I have read from Ashton this week I would be surprised if Pochettino is chased anymore by Spurs to any great degree, Levy will chase a "name" manager with the track record required, of course with the poisoned chalice aspect now associated with being Tottenham boss, it could be that Pochettino at some stage might be the last man standing and therefore they will have to offer him the job, but in the short term I don't see any real movement to take him to WHL.

Regards Pochettino himself, of course he will be flattered by the Spurs interest, like all managers he will have a self belief in his abilities, he will feel that he has had to coach to the ability of the squads at Espanyol and Saints, that if he had a big squad etc he would be able to change his ways, however history doesnt usually back that up, managers are successful doing what they do in a certain way, thats why the likes of Pulis and Allardice etc are best when tackling a certain sort of club and a certain sort of job, they ultimately have to stick to what they know. If Pochettino leaves then he has to change his style or suffer the same fate as a string of Spurs managers.

The up side for Pochettino is that it puts him with great bargaining power at St Mary's, firstly for his own contract and secondly for money to spend if he does stay and that could be good news for Saints supporters.

Photo: Action Images



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IanRC added 09:44 - May 16
Ashton and the mail should be sued they are disgrace . Why they insist in trying to undermine a team that is helping the English squads in such a great way is astonishing, perhaps they are Scotland supporters - LOL
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landsdownsaint added 10:00 - May 16
I think Poch is without doubt great for us and I'm desperate to see him stay , but if I was Levy whos team need rebuilding with expensive experienced players ,I'm not sure I'd want Poch as he ain't to clever in the transfer market, he seems to be good at helping what he's got ,on improvingthem as players IMHO
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slynch added 10:14 - May 16
I think you've been out in the sun too long and starting to believe what you read in The Mail!!
I think you should re-read the article you wrote:

Let The Silly Season Begin
Tuesday, 13th May 2014 18:29
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saint22 added 10:22 - May 16
Anyone who reads the ScuMail let alone believes what they read in such an awful rag needs to have a look at themselves.
Ashton and all who write for that atrocious scare mongering BS rag have no clue
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montecristo added 11:09 - May 16
There is a report in the Telegraph suggesting that the Saints board met last night to discuss an approach from Spurs for Pochettino, and the reported bids for Shaw amd Lallana. Such is the rubbish you read in the english press you just cant believe anything you see which is a shame really.What is wrong with the truth for gods sake.
1

montecristo added 11:09 - May 16
There is a report in the Telegraph suggesting that the Saints board met last night to discuss an approach from Spurs for Pochettino, and the reported bids for Shaw amd Lallana. Such is the rubbish you read in the English press you just cant believe anything you see which is a shame really.What is wrong with the truth for gods sake.
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montecristo added 11:09 - May 16
There is a report in the Telegraph suggesting that the Saints board met last night to discuss an approach from Spurs for Pochettino, and the reported bids for Shaw amd Lallana. Such is the rubbish you read in the English press you just cant believe anything you see which is a shame really.What is wrong with the truth for gods sake.
0

montecristo added 11:10 - May 16
There is a report in the Telegraph suggesting that the Saints board met last night to discuss an approach from Spurs for Pochettino, and the reported bids for Shaw amd Lallana. Such is the rubbish you read in the English press you just cant believe anything you see which is a shame really.What is wrong with the truth for gods sake.
0

Whatsforpud added 11:20 - May 16
As far as pure news reporting goes, newspapers are being left behind by the electronic media, which is effectively publishing all hours of the day. There was a time when papers reported what had actually happened in the world, but now they are filling their pages with comment and speculation - either informed speculation or just invention. Because some of the speculation (in the world of football, anyway) is of the more dramatic nature, people are seduced into reading the articles.

On the Saints, the new board has inherited a winning team of players and coaching staff, but are now experiencing a baptism of fire. The retention of the manager is key to the whole thing. Keep him, and there is just a chance he can persuade players to stay. If he goes, then I can see the whole thing falling apart. Football goes in peaks and troughs Have we just had a peak?
4

cheltenhamsaint added 11:28 - May 16
Personally, I don't see any kind of "fit" between MP and Spurs given his dislike with giving interviews, which I understand. MP only ever gives an interview when he is contractually bound to do so and you can see in his demeanour how bored he gets with the same old questions. Spurs fans want their pound off flesh and short interviews in Spanish, which doesn't bother the majority of Saints fans at all, will soon have them turning against him.
I can only see one fit for MP, in England, and that is with Arsenal. I would be much more concerned about keeping him if Wenger decides to call it a day after the cup final this weekend.
1

saintmark1976 added 12:42 - May 16
Nick- as I am sure you are aware nearly all news papers in this country are experiencing declining levels of readership brought about by the advent of the inter net.

Quite simply they will print any old political or sporting tosh to sell a few more copies.

Why bother to get worked up about a few comments from a Daily Mail hack?

If Spurs want Mo Po and he wants away then a deal will be done. Similarly if Adam and Luke get approach and they want away then it will happen also.

One of the few things that i liked about our last chairman's time at the club was that he did not comment on speculation.Lets just do the same and move on.

When it comes to news papers remember that "today's news is tomorrows chip wrappings" particularly so in regard to the "Daily Scare".
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ChristchurchSaint added 13:44 - May 16
As I have said before in previous postings- the press will say anything that sells papers. Even our own local rag is sinking to nationals levels by spouting forth about the "wall of silence" from Saint Marys' stadium. Can't they even begin to understand that Saints are a club who only say something when there is something worth saying! I agree with you Nick about Neil Ashton and I think every Saints fan should write to the Daily Mail protesting about his campaign against us. Hopefully they would sack him! If MoPo, Luke and Adam all stay, will the press, who have been writing their "exclusives" about what is happpening and who they have already signed for, issue a statement saying "Oops!! Sorry guys, we got it ALL wrong!" NO, we know fully well they will just conveniently forget it and move on to their next story.
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GeordieSaint added 15:19 - May 16
I love the way the press have now decided that Pochetino is no longer some sort of joke figure because he doesn't speak English at press conferences. He is now painted by some as a sort of Machiavellian character who uses the language barrier to avoid saying anything. In reality I imagine neither are true.
1

montecristo added 01:12 - May 18
There is a worrying article in the Sunday Express which suggests that as many as six players want to leave or are being chased by other clubs, and that Pochettino is on his way to White Hart Lane because Liebherr has failed to convince him of the clubs intentions. While ninety nine per cent of what you read is garbage there is sadly a ring of truth about this one as to my mind it rather explains why Cortese left. Miss Liebherr need to understand that while it might be very commendable for a club to live within its means , but football is a dirty business and if she is ambitious for the club she is going to have to invest in a serious way and pump some additional money in to the club as it is likely that something of the order of 50 million will have to be found to keep the ship afloat and steaming in the right direction. I get the feeling Krueger and Reed are clueless,that they have been sitting on their hands ever since the season ended, and spouting an untenable premise that Krueger himself alluded to when he said shortly after being appointed that the club had to live within its means. This might come in the future but its not tenable right now. If Liebherr does not invest we face a major exodus and all the progress of the last five years could be flushed down the toilet.I know there is a difference of opinion as to what the club can do this summer including a theory that Shaw could be sold to fund player aquisitions. But thats not tenable, as it will be seen as weakness and the players themselves will think the club is unable to meet their own expectations. Players want to win things, and somewhat ruthlessly because football is a short career, they are quick to jump ship if there are better prospects elsewhere.I just hope that Miss Liebherr is getting good advice from her own family, because it seems to me she has made a number of bad mistakes already, including the appointments she has made. These men should have seen this crisis coming, they did not, and now the club has real problems.
This coming week is going to be the longest in the club s history bar none.I just hope Liebherr realizes what is at stake. I dont even get the feeling that Cortese style , another manager has already been lined up in case the present incumbent decides to up sticks and head to London,



-2

SanMarco added 11:32 - May 18
The Mirror is saying something similar - it all feeds into the feared narrative of MoPo 'not being satisfied' with the finances and 'deciding' to go. This opens the floodgates for our best players to go.

I would humbly suggest that behind the scenes the people concerned all know what's going to happen. My belief is that MoPo decided to go at the end of the season at the time that NC left and AL and LS as well as one or two others have also decided to go. The Board know that and, hopefully, are making plans for replacements. And That is the key thing. If I was in charge I would sack MoPo now and get someone new in to spend the money we have. That money must be realistic. We cannot compete with the top half a dozen and to try to do so would be suicidal (yes we are richer than we were but so are they - Sky money is just like a housing boom, yes yours has gone up but so has everyone else's and the bigger ones are still more expensive than yours). To come 9th next year would be brilliant. Some silly and reckless gamble on going higher is far more likely to end up like Pompey or Leeds than it is to make us like..........Can't actually think of anyone that it has worked for. Why would we be any different? I have romantic dreams of finals against Real Madrid at the San Siro like we all do - but sadly they are dreams.

Having said all that I do wish KL and the current Board knew a bit more about football....
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montecristo added 14:04 - May 18
I am begining to think that Pochettino is becoming surplus to requirements. If he wont commmit to Saints he is of no use to us, wed be better off starting again with another manager who is at least as equally well regarded in the game and who has a reputation for bringing young players through. If I were Liebherr I would at least match last year s budget for new players somethhing like 35 million and sell no one. What Saints need right now is stability. The only change I would consider is perhaps devoting some of the budget to bringing in experienced heads either on frees or on low transfers. Rio Ferdinand might be such a person. Our young players would learn a lot from him. If we had a budget of 30 million we could buy a couple of top quality youngsters like Rafa Silva, Will Hughes and Ings and bring in a couple of experience heads on free transfers . If we retain our present squad and add five we stand a chance of climbing much higher next season.
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zonehead added 20:56 - May 19
My message to the board is dont sell anybody till after the World cup only a fool would do that, I feel a bit uneasy now Cortese has gone and Les Reed is the only football man who has the ear of the board
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