Ornstein says Spurs hierarchy were unanimous about not targeting Pochettino

[mawspurs]

David Ornstein has suggested that the decision to not make an approach for Mauricio Pochettino was unanimous amongst the Tottenham Hotspur hierarchy.

Tottenham are continuing their search for Antonio Conte’s permanent successor. The Italian’s departure was confirmed one month ago. And it had been on the cards for a little while before that.

Source: The Boot Room

 

[yiddopaul]

Can't help but feel this was personal rather than for footballing reasons. Nothing surprises me with our board.

 

[Spurs 1961]

Can't help but feel this was personal rather than for footballing reasons. Nothing surprises me with our board.

I don't think they have a clue about football. Ted Lasso would know more

 

[Smokinhotspur]

Can't help but feel this was personal rather than for footballing reasons. Nothing surprises me with our board.

Don't think it was personal. They probably have some well founded reservations from his first stint eg transfer flops from his last window that cost major money, his book etc...

There is no guarantee Poch would be successful in his second stint and the PR and press would be brutal in that scenario where things start to go awry. The last thing you want is an under pressure manager saying I told the club to rebuild 4 years ago and they did not do anything etc etc...

Things have got so bad that we really need a fresh start with someone not connected with the recent past at this point.

 

[Dr Know]

Don't think it was personal. They probably have some well founded reservations from his first stint eg transfer flops from his last window that cost major money, his book etc...

There is no guarantee Poch would be successful in his second stint and the PR and press would be brutal in that scenario. The last thing you want is an under pressure manager saying I told the club to rebuild 4 years ago and they did not do anything etc etc...

Things have got so bad that we really need a fresh start with someone not connected with the recent past at this point

Although I agree with your post, I feel we need a manager that can unite the club and fans, play attacking football ie: the players playing like they give a shit and I feel Poch would be the best man for the job.

I really don’t want us to sign another manage that feels he’s doing us a favour. We need a hungry manager that can see the potential of the club and bring back the glory days.

 

[glacierSpurs]

This will be another media narrative to beat the club with. There were, and still are now, a significant amount of fans thinking it's not yet the right time for Poch to come back. So why couldn't the board feel the same? I don't understand why it has to be made up that the whole club got to feel so indebted towards him that he has all the rights to be expected to come back and 'save' us.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

Don't think it was personal. They probably have some well founded reservations from his first stint eg transfer flops from his last window that cost major money, his book etc...

There is no guarantee Poch would be successful in his second stint and the PR and press would be brutal in that scenario. The last thing you want is an under pressure manager saying I told the club to rebuild 4 years ago and they did not do anything etc etc...

Things have got so bad that we really need a fresh start with someone not connected with the recent past at this point

Dumb rationale to not sound him out.

You don’t like his transfer strategy- fine, ask him if he’ll work with a DOF.

Talk to him about where it went wrong last time. He was here for 5+ years with 2 contract extensions. There must have been a reason to extend him …

No excuse not to talk to him, even if you end up going in a different direction.

 

[Rob]

Bollocks was it!

 

[yiddopaul]

Don't think it was personal. They probably have some well founded reservations from his first stint eg transfer flops from his last window that cost major money, his book etc...

There is no guarantee Poch would be successful in his second stint and the PR and press would be brutal in that scenario. The last thing you want is an under pressure manager saying I told the club to rebuild 4 years ago and they did not do anything etc etc...

Things have got so bad that we really need a fresh start with someone not connected with the recent past at this point

I understand what you mean, but there is no guaranty with any signings, no matter how much they cost. Same with managers, big names with big budgets is no guaranty. I still think Poch is less of a risk than other's we've been linked with. And, he wants to be here, that is becoming increasingly rare. He fits every criteria for our club. But even with all that said, I would be delighted if Naglesmann took charge.

 

[jolsnogross]

This is the state we're in. The guy who delivered our most competitive team in modern times, and done very well at all clubs he's managed, is unanimously considered unfit for the job by the people who brought us to our current shitshow of dinosaur managers, no style of play, no identity, and nowhere near competitive. Not to mention currently with an interim for an interim manager, a resigned & globally banned DoF, and a star striker with a year left with no incentive to sign on again to a shitshow.

Their unanimity suggests a well sealed bubble, since they rarely seem unanimous about backing managers when they're here.

 

[Smokinhotspur]

Dumb rationale to not sound him out.

You don’t like his transfer strategy- fine, ask him if he’ll work with a DOF.

Talk to him about where it went wrong last time. He was here for 5+ years with 2 contract extensions. There must have been a reason to extend him …

No excuse not to talk to him, even if you end up going in a different direction.

I actually respect the board not sounding him out if they have already decided he is not the right person at this point. The only upside would be to play up to a narrative to the section of the press and the fans that want him back ie to say we gave it a good go, couldn't agree hence we went in a different direction etc. But that would be weak from a leadership perspective and make the next manager feel like a clear 2nd choice.

Brutal decisions need to be made at the football club eg should Lloris be jettisoned now? (I think yes). What happens to Dier, Winks, Ndombele, Son, Lo Celso, Sessegnon etc.. These are big calls that I would prefer a new man (Nagelsmann would be my choice) to make. The last thing I want is a subjective Poch with all the baggage and his perceptions from the past coming in with a big smile and handing his good old mate Hugo a 2 Yr contract extension as our captain!

I would gladly welcome Poch back in a few years but certainly not now. Sometimes timing is everything and this moment with how tragic the situation is just doesn't feel right to me for his return.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

The last thing I want is a subjective Poch with all the baggage and his perceptions from the past coming in with a big smile and handing his good old mate Hugo a 2 Yr contract extension as our captain!

You do understand that talking to Poch - is not the same as hiring Poch.

Also, you may not know this, but Poch unceremoniously dumped the club captain before his first season started - when Daws was just shy of 10 years with the club.

And - just for good measure, he froze out the next club captain shortly into the first season when he needed to cull some bad eggs and Kaboul wasn’t meeting Poch’s standards.

Poch is not about playing his “buddies” he is about getting players who can meet his standards.

 

[Jenko]

I think the true story of how Poch left spurs has yet to be made public. I think everything we have heard has been skewed so that everyone saves face compared to the actual fallout that occurred. He left us a year after deciding he wanted to leave, burnt some bridges, and it was all kept quiet. Nobody gained from a public shitstorm so they all stayed professional. I doubt he'll ever come back. He will most likely fall at Chelsea and I am not convinced his heart is in it to ever make it at the top level again.

 

[jolsnogross]

Some of the narratives around Poch - with all the "feelings" about timing not being right, wanting to play his old mates, his 'failure' at Spurs, and behind the scenes stories of a rancourous exit - are hilariously uniformed bullshit. People taking ITK as gospel and adding more layers of bullshit on top of it. Honestly, talk to some footy fans that aren't mired in the bubble of bullshit that following Spurs appears to mire people in.

It seems clear he's not in the running for the job. Not even being in the running would appear to confirm the board and Levy don't know their arses from their elbows when it comes to football decisions. And fans seem to need to make up post hoc bullshit justifications for why a board overseeing the last 4 years of utter horseshit are making competent decisions now. The only silver lining is that we've seen before that when this chairman and board's long-deliberated football plans turn to shit, their panic afterwards sometimes leads to a lucky appointment.

 

[jay2040]

Can't help but feel this was personal rather than for footballing reasons. Nothing surprises me with our board.

Based on facts or your love for Poch?
If he returns I would be ok with it though do not think he should be the only one we should consider, it seems like there's a group of Pochettes that have blinkered vision and can't see past him!
If he is appointed and we done some sort of process and spoke to others than fine though would prefer a clean slate with some one else.

 

[jay2040]

Some of the narratives around Poch - with all the "feelings" about timing not being right, wanting to play his old mates, his 'failure' at Spurs, and behind the scenes stories of a rancourous exit - are hilariously uniformed bullshit. People taking ITK as gospel and adding more layers of bullshit on top of it. Honestly, talk to some footy fans that aren't mired in the bubble of bullshit that following Spurs appears to mire people in.

It seems clear he's not in the running for the job. Not even being in the running would appear to confirm the board and Levy don't know their arses from their elbows when it comes to football decisions. And fans seem to need to make up post hoc bullshit justifications for why a board overseeing the last 4 years of utter horseshit are making competent decisions now. The only silver lining is that we've seen before that when this chairman and board's long-deliberated football plans turn to shit, their panic afterwards sometimes leads to a lucky appointment.

So the board don't want to appoint someone who did so bad at the job last time that he was sacked. Sounds completely logical to me.

 

[jay2040]

The season where we did not make any signings still does not sit right. Be it Levy or Poch there would have been some middle ground one would expect. Also recall many games where he would not change it up.
He has given me great nights at Wembley Stadium when that was our temp place, however still prefer someone new.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

So the board don't want to appoint someone who did so bad at the job last time that he was sacked. Sounds completely logical to me.

He also did well enough to have his contract extended twice…

He was neither all good, nor all bad.

But this is the same Board that gave us Mourinho, Nuno, and Conte - and not once brought in an attacking manager since sacking Poch. You’ll excuse me if I don’t have a lot of trust in their judgement…

 

[jay2040]

He also did well enough to have his contract extended twice…

He was neither all good, nor all bad.

But this is the same Board that gave us Mourinho, Nuno, and Conte - and not once brought in an attacking manager since sacking Poch. You’ll excuse me if I don’t have a lot of trust in their judgement…

I thought he was good though the last season just was downhill.
I don't have trust in their judgement though thought Conte and Jose were good appointments in principle. The problem as I see it is that they need cash and some autonomy which may have been promised though never received!

 

[Smokinhotspur]

You do understand that talking to Poch - is not the same as hiring Poch.

Also, you may not know this, but Poch unceremoniously dumped the club captain before his first season started - when Daws was just shy of 10 years with the club.

And - just for good measure, he froze out the next club captain shortly into the first season when he needed to cull some bad eggs and Kaboul wasn’t meeting Poch’s standards.

Poch is not about playing his “buddies” he is about getting players who can meet his standards.

I understand that. The question is what is to be gained by talking to Poch? He was here for 5 years, Levy also went on a team building escapade with him in Argentina where they all got in a canoe together. All sounded rather lovely. I am struggling to understand what a discussion will yield that each side does not already know about the other?

I also know about his decisions at the start of his tenure with the club captaincy which raised eyebrows at the time with his initial choice of Kaboul. This actually backs up my point as he came in as a new man and could take the decisions he saw fit with no allegiances to anyone. This scenario is totally different to the one we have now as a lot of the players from his time are still at the club. It would be naive to think he could come in and take a totally fresh look at things after having shared half a decade of experiences with a lot of the current squad in the recent past.

A completely reset is what is needed.