The Mauricio Pochettino thread

[vegassd]

The key thing is whether Poch is on board with the reasons why we couldn’t add the quality. If it’s because Levy keeps telling Poch we can’t afford him, too expensive etc I do worry about him going to United in the summer.

Like you said in your previous post, we will see in the Summer. Whether Poch stays or leaves we will get a decent indication about what has been happening behind the scenes. There have been all sorts of insights from ITK and Poch's own statements, but as far as we all are concerned we can only extend and theorise from that. None of us know the full and real story.

What has been incredibly annoying these past couple of months is the number of people who cherry pick only what they want to hear/believe, and who take things that they know nothing about and make absolute statements like "clearly this" and "obviously that". There is every chance that it's false but gets used relentlessly. And I apply that theory to certain posters supporting Levy as well.

At the end of the day there is nothing we can do about Poch staying or leaving, or about Levy buying or selling players. It's fun to share opinions and have little forum battles every now and then, but it's very boring to hear the same old stuff from the same people.

Incidentally, I'm replying to your post because I think you're a good poster who thinks out what they are saying, so this is more polite than replying directly to some of the more fanciful posters.

EDIT: I realise the irony in me being bored of the "same old" from some whilst this being about the third time I've said that in a few weeks. Such is life!!

 

[tooey]

“I am disappointed because we are in a good position and with more help from some players we can not use the excuse we aren’t a real contender. We will dream we will fight until the end to be as high as we can.”

A telling quote. As I keep saying, if we could only have invested in some more quality last summer or last month, we could have had a real go for the PL.

The key thing is whether Poch is on board with the reasons why we couldn’t add the quality. If it’s because Levy keeps telling Poch we can’t afford him, too expensive etc I do worry about him going to United in the summer.

You're a ray of sunshine aren't you? I usually leave it to the red tops and clickbait merchants to take a quote out of context but why shouldn't it be one of our own fans?

 

[Primativ]

You're a ray of sunshine aren't you? I usually leave it to the red tops and clickbait merchants to take a quote out of context but why shouldn't it be one of our own fans?

How is that quote out of context?

 

[seppo]

Here’s the whole video



From 15 minutes he starts rightly laying into the press for twisting his words in their reports and articles. Love it that he confronts them.

The first 5 minutes gives us absolutely everything we need to know. Poch wants and has always wanted to improve the squad and add players. Ridiculous reports yesterday that Poch turned down all the linked players because he "didn't feel like they could improve us" - please don't tell me the likes of Michy, Malcom, Bowen etc would not improve us. It's simply a case of Levy & ENIC not willing to spend. Disgraceful.

 

[Deleted member 27995]

The first 5 minutes gives ut absolutely everything we need to know. Poch wants and has always wanted to improve the squad and add players. Ridiculous reports yesterday that Poch turned down all the linked players because he "didn't feel like they could improve us" - please don't tell me the likes of Michy, Malcom, Bowen etc would not improve us. It's simply a case of Levy & ENIC not willing to spend. Disgraceful.

You chose to ignore the last 5 then?

I guess people will only hear what they want to hear. I think the truth lays somewhere in the middle - which has been the outlook of most of his pressers and the limited itk we have been privy too.

 

[talkshowhost86]

The first 5 minutes gives ut absolutely everything we need to know. Poch wants and has always wanted to improve the squad and add players. Ridiculous reports yesterday that Poch turned down all the linked players because he "didn't feel like they could improve us" - please don't tell me the likes of Michy, Malcom, Bowen etc would not improve us. It's simply a case of Levy & ENIC not willing to spend. Disgraceful.

If Poch was properly annoyed because Levy wasn't willing to spend then he'd probably say it. He's got no reason to cover up on behalf of Levy, particularly with a particularly 'tantalising' job in the North West operating as a pretty good bargaining chip for him.

There's no point in buying players for the sake of it. I'm sure there are players that Poch has wanted who Levy has refused to pay for, but I'm also sure they've had a fairly sensible discussion about all of that.

The only issue comes if:

1. Levy flat out lies to Poch about there being money and then doesn't give him any; or
2. Levy expects (not wants but expects) Poch to be able to compete with Man City whilst paying a fraction of the money on wages and fees.

I don't think either of these situations are going on at the moment. Plus we're 3rd in the league.

So 'Disgraceful' seems a tad hysterical.

 

[Shadydan]

If Poch was properly annoyed because Levy wasn't willing to spend then he'd probably say it. He's got no reason to cover up on behalf of Levy, particularly with a particularly 'tantalising' job in the North West operating as a pretty good bargaining chip for him.

There's no point in buying players for the sake of it. I'm sure there are players that Poch has wanted who Levy has refused to pay for, but I'm also sure they've had a fairly sensible discussion about all of that.

The only issue comes if:

1. Levy flat out lies to Poch about there being money and then doesn't give him any; or
2. Levy expects (not wants but expects) Poch to be able to compete with Man City whilst paying a fraction of the money on wages and fees.

I don't think either of these situations are going on at the moment. Plus we're 3rd in the league.

So 'Disgraceful' seems a tad hysterical.

Way too rationale for this thread

 

[seppo]

You chose to ignore the last 5 then?

I guess people will only hear what they want to hear. I think the truth lays somewhere in the middle - which has been the outlook of most of his pressers and the limited itk we have been privy too.

? In the last 5 minutes he just reiterates once more that in football you HAVE to improve in every single transfer window. A squad cannot stagnate. He just says that he can't. Which is what i'm saying.

 

[SpartanSpur]

You chose to ignore the last 5 then?

I guess people will only hear what they want to hear. I think the truth lays somewhere in the middle - which has been the outlook of most of his pressers and the limited itk we have been privy too.

Much like the cups, he is 100% going to be disappointed not to get anyone, but at the same time he is looking at the bigger picture, as he always seems to.

At the end of the day he could easily have taken some promising players on this window but he decided to save his money instead.

No doubt Levy needs to come up with the goods in the summer however.

 

[Deleted member 27995]

? In the last 5 minutes he just reiterates once more that in football you HAVE to improve in every single transfer window. A squad cannot stagnate. He just says that he can't. Which is what i'm saying.

He also says he is happy to coach the players he has ... You are totally entitled to your opinion but overlooking that final piece before he takes the last question on Sonny ... Well, it's upto you.

 

[Primativ]

How exactly are these quotes taken out of context @tooey

"I am so happy to try to help the project of the club," Pochettino told a news conference before the visit of Newcastle. "But, of course, my ideas are not always the same as the club's ideas, or the chairman's ideas.
"I wanted to strengthen the squad but, if we cannot sign anyone, I need to stick with the pressure of the club.
"I am disappointed because we are in a very good position and maybe, with a little more help, we could not have an excuse not to be a real contender. But we are in a very good position and we will fight until the end to be as high as we can."

Read it again. I AM DISAPPOINTED. Pochs own words “I am disappointed. I wanted to strengthen. My ideas aren’t always the same as the chairman’s.”


Yet Levy’s fans on here still refuse to accept that Levy is at fault. It’s amazing to witness. Poch couldn’t be any clearer. He’s clearly frustrated the club are not signing players he wants and needs to help what he feels is a realistic chance of winning the PL.

If people need help explaining what this means, it isn’t good news. It means Poch does not feel he is being properly backed. As fans we should all be concerned that Levy is not backing Poch sufficiently.

 

[Deleted member 27995]

Much like the cups, he is 100% going to be disappointed not to get anyone, but at the same time he is looking at the bigger picture, as he always seems to.

At the end of the day he could easily have taken some promising players on this window but he decided to save his money instead.

No doubt Levy needs to come up with the goods in the summer however.

Agreed.

It's going to be the cliche between now and that point 'wait until the summer ...' but this time around, more so than last summer due to what occurred and this quiet window it'll offer the answers most are looking for. (he says with his fingers crossed)

 

[DFF]

Here’s the whole video



From 15 minutes he starts rightly laying into the press for twisting his words in their reports and articles. Love it that he confronts them.

From 15:20+
‘Always I’m happy to add more quality, because in football you always need to improve, every transfer window. But if we can’t add more quality I’m not going to be sad’

He wants players in, but only if they add quality to the squad. This is a known known.

The shades of grey appear between what Poch deems “quality” and what Levy is willing to spend, these are the known unknowns. We do know Poch was optimistic for incomings a few days before he was not optimistic, hence he gave the green light for at least someone to come in, but it didn’t pan out.

Only unknown unknowns follow. Levy balking at a low price. Difficult clubs/players wanting a king’s ransom. Agents using us to up the price. Maybe all of it, maybe some it.


Oh and like that he used the word demagogue, as in he’s not going to be one. He’s a bit of a philosopher coach, this one.

 

[markiespurs]

If Poch was properly annoyed because Levy wasn't willing to spend then he'd probably say it. He's got no reason to cover up on behalf of Levy, particularly with a particularly 'tantalising' job in the North West operating as a pretty good bargaining chip for him.

There's no point in buying players for the sake of it. I'm sure there are players that Poch has wanted who Levy has refused to pay for, but I'm also sure they've had a fairly sensible discussion about all of that.

The only issue comes if:

1. Levy flat out lies to Poch about there being money and then doesn't give him any; or
2. Levy expects (not wants but expects) Poch to be able to compete with Man City whilst paying a fraction of the money on wages and fees.

I don't think either of these situations are going on at the moment. Plus we're 3rd in the league.

So 'Disgraceful' seems a tad hysterical.

If Poch was properly annoyed over our lack of signings over the past 2 windows then I honestly think he would walk, he would’nt be out of work for long either.

He showed when he left Southampton that,when he feels let down and lied to by the chairman/ board, he is’nt affraid to walk away. He also did this when his stock was a hell of a lot lower than it is now.

 

[vegassd]

Yet Levy’s fans on here still refuse to accept that Levy is at fault. It’s amazing to witness. Poch couldn’t be any clearer. He’s clearly frustrated the club are not signing players he wants and needs to help what he feels is a realistic chance of winning the PL.

If people need help explaining what this means, it isn’t good news. It means Poch does not feel he is being properly backed. As fans we should all be concerned that Levy is not backing Poch sufficiently.

I think there's a huge amount of nuance to this situation. Just because people have a different opinion to you doesn't mean they are stupid and need things explaining.

Poch wants to strengthen the squad - great. But what is his specific idea of strengthening? It sounds like he maybe had a fairly short shortlist of players that he wanted. If those players aren't available - for many reasons, not just money - then we can't sign them. It doesn't mean that Levy isn't backing him.

You also say "not backing Poch sufficiently" which is subjective and requires an end goal. If that end goal is to win the PL this season then I absolutely agree with that idea. But if that isn't the target for this season then "not sufficiently" doesn't work. If Levy told him to win the league or he's sacked then it's a complete farce of a situation, but I don't believe that to be the case.

As one of the ITKs said this window, "the budget is the budget". What I took that to mean was that there is money available but a limited amount. That we aren't in a position yet to be able to stretch a budget for a short-term boost to team performances. So in terms of it being Levy's fault - yes, he's the guy setting the budgets and controlling the cash. But at the same time if Poch has asked for players who are unobtainable within that budget then it's also his fault. The budget is the budget.

Personally I think Poch has started to get quite smart in these press conferences now. Back when the United speculation was first around I thought he was getting a bit annoyed with the insane amount of scrutiny on him and how every word was getting put through the journalistic blender. These last couple of weeks he has come out and said X in a presser and then clarified what he meant in the next one once the media have had their fill. I might be completely mistaken but it looks like he's creating a shit storm then calming it down in order to control the press in a weird way.

What this means is that he can avoid getting any genuinely tough questions. If a journo asks about specific players it puts him in a bit of a tough spot, whereas at the moment they are just writing about money constantly which is something he can spin out. He is aware of the plans of the board and the financial constraints. He's not a fool and knows he can't sign anyone he wants. But he can make the press believe just about scenario he wants.

 

[mpickard2087]

My take from that is that Poch is trying to tell, well, literally everybody, to stop treating everything as some crisis constantly.

We're always looking to improve, only want real quality, there wasn't a deal that was right, that's obviously not the ideal scenario but he seems content with that, he's getting on with working with his squad. With that he'd like to win trophies, he'd like to win every game, that of course doesn't happen. He isn't dwelling on it, he's getting on with the job.

It's a message to the media, it's a message to the fans, more than a message to the chairman I take it as. He just wants to get on with his job of coaching the team and to stop having to talk about a load of crap every press conference as to whether the apocalypse is nigh.

 

[SpartanSpur]

I think there's a huge amount of nuance to this situation. Just because people have a different opinion to you doesn't mean they are stupid and need things explaining.

Poch wants to strengthen the squad - great. But what is his specific idea of strengthening? It sounds like he maybe had a fairly short shortlist of players that he wanted. If those players aren't available - for many reasons, not just money - then we can't sign them. It doesn't mean that Levy isn't backing him.

You also say "not backing Poch sufficiently" which is subjective and requires an end goal. If that end goal is to win the PL this season then I absolutely agree with that idea. But if that isn't the target for this season then "not sufficiently" doesn't work. If Levy told him to win the league or he's sacked then it's a complete farce of a situation, but I don't believe that to be the case.

As one of the ITKs said this window, "the budget is the budget". What I took that to mean was that there is money available but a limited amount. That we aren't in a position yet to be able to stretch a budget for a short-term boost to team performances. So in terms of it being Levy's fault - yes, he's the guy setting the budgets and controlling the cash. But at the same time if Poch has asked for players who are unobtainable within that budget then it's also his fault. The budget is the budget.

You could very easily say that backing him is trusting in him and not forcing loan signings he doesn't want. No doubt Levy has been panicking about Top 4 this window.

It's not always spending money, Poch has said that himself.

As you said this is far from a simple black and white scenario.

 

[worcestersauce]

I listened to that piece by Poch and I wonder how people can hear something completely different to me! He said he wants to touch Glory and that's good enough for me.
Personally I think he wants what I want, to touch glory, to win and to improve the team, if we can do that by buying a player great but we won't do that by buying the wrong player and until we can find and get the player then it's not a crisis.

 

[Shadydan]

People are just using his comments to fuel whatever narrative they have in their head, all Poch has to mention is a word like 'dissapointed' you automatically think that he has some issue with Levy/the board and Poch is looking for a way out. If you listen to what he says constantly in his interviews and in particular this one he is speaking about you, calm the fuck down and take a step back for a minute and look at what he and the club are doing, the man literally sat there and poured his heart out to the media about our club for a good 20 mins earlier this week in a passionate rant to the media, he wouldn't be doing that if he didn't give a shit and is looking for a way out.

Just chill the hell out.

 

[JCRD]

Can I ask why some on here think Levy wouldnt want to spend and/or refuses to spend? I mean in all honesty I find it difficult to fathom that there are no players out there who could improve us.

The question is - is it Levy or Poch and is it because we have no money and what is in it for Levy not to spend? The repercussions of Levy not spending is fairly huge particularly in light of a new stadium and how that shit hit the fan.