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The Mauricio Pochettino thread

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spurfetto

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Aug 31, 2012
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If we are now a club of expectations why are we being heavily linked with howe?

If auriers goal stood as it should have there wouldn't be any of this poc out.
 

rossdapep

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2011
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Will it be ok not to have CL football next season?
Absolutely not and I said this last night but some think its not a disaster.

We're not United, Chelsea or Arsenal who can point to the recent trophies when enticing players even without CL football.

Also United Chelsea and Arsenal are all a shadow of them former selves and we should be blitzing past them yet we're not.

United have downsized their squad and once they add better quality shluld be competing again. Chelsea have the transfer ban but once that's lifted they'll splash the cash to get back up to where they were. Arsenal will probably fire Emery within the year, what is they get it right next time?

There's a window of opportunity here for us to push up towards Liverpool and City and be part of that conversation, yet somehow we are stuck in a rut, have an unsettled squad and former big players out of form.

If we let it fester we could be sat here in a year's time with no CL football, players leaving and our summer targets choosing the likes of Arsenal ahead of us. No-one wants Poch gone but if he doesn't get this sorted the future will be much more bleak and absolutely no-one wants that.
 

rossdapep

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2011
21,904
78,639
If we are now a club of expectations why are we being heavily linked with howe?

If auriers goal stood as it should have there wouldn't be any of this poc out.
If we weren't on a rotten of form then no-one would be feeling this way.

As I said before, the performance yesterday was ok but what happens if we put in good performances and still lose, still concede too many shots, still continue with patchy/poor form?
 

spurfetto

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
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If we weren't on a rotten of form then no-one would be feeling this way.

As I said before, the performance yesterday was ok but what happens if we put in good performances and still lose, still concede too many shots, still continue with patchy/poor form?

If. . .
I just feel we are only 6 games in, need to give the guy a chance.
 

jurgen

Busy ****
Jul 5, 2008
6,710
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Timing’s not good, with stadium naming rights still not sorted.

Why care so much about those rights that Levy still hasn’t sorted? They won’t really change how our owners operate and how they ‘support’ their managers.

We might be a club of expectations, you expect that when you charge the highest ticket prices in world football.

The reality is that our investment in player staff for a decade is more Southampton or relegation battler levels than Liverpool. Came to a head with the 18 months of nothing just at the wrong time in our squad’s cycle and in the midst of a big international tournament for many of our players. Results turned poor in mitigating circumstances but we had a great CL run that showed immense spirit.

Now we have three new players who represent ‘backing’ but haven’t even had the chance to play together yet (caveat - one is a cost saving loan so we may well not see him beyond this season anyway..). We’ve had a looming spectre of players who wanted to leave for some time but their situation has not been sorted adequately..

The club’s PR wheels seem to be turning, so that doesn’t bode well for Poch. We’ve even reached the point where some absolute moron is describing him as a ‘cancer’ on these pages so well done for that..
 

thecook

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Jan 17, 2009
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Sounds odd, but Poch leaving would be like losing a best friend or brother.

That's the thing I think for a lot of people which is clouding their judgement over this and making them fail to see/admit how dreadful we have been for such a long time (I'm not saying that's you though, just generally). He is such a nice guy that even I, who think his time has come, will still be sad to see his personality leave the club.
 

EastLondonYid

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2010
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I don't think that the media in general have an anti Spurs bias - if you go on other football club forums, they all think that the media has a bias against their club. I think that there still remains doubt over the club because we still haven't won anything under Poch but in a general sense, the media will always sniff around if they think that there is a story - it's what they do.


Disagree abit there mate

i think there is a media bias against us.

Just yesterday for example BT made a huge song and dance that Poch made changes, sighting his disgust with our draw in midweek, utter bollocks, Poch had rested our fullbacks, brought in Son and our record buy, and our skipper was away....no drama but not what BT wanted to report.

Just watched MOTD highlights, it didn't reflect the game i saw yesterday....wave after wave of Leicester chances, didn't show any of ours

Thats just this weekend
 

Metalhead

But that's a debate for another thread.....
Nov 24, 2013
25,351
38,294
Disagree abit there mate

i think there is a media bias against us.

Just yesterday for example BT made a huge song and dance that Poch made changes, sighting his disgust with our draw in midweek, utter bollocks, Poch had rested our fullbacks, brought in Son and our record buy, and our skipper was away....no drama but not what BT wanted to report.

Just watched MOTD highlights, it didn't reflect the game i saw yesterday....wave after wave of Leicester chances, didn't show any of ours

Thats just this weekend
Why would you think that the media would dislike the club though?
 

Metalhead

But that's a debate for another thread.....
Nov 24, 2013
25,351
38,294
Sorry mate, i am just going by what one or two people have said on here
I think that it is an understandable assumption that Levy would see Howe as an ideal replacement but I'm not sure that it's so cut and dried. I think that Levy might still have his doubts as to Howe's ability to manage at the level that Levy would expect. Obviously if any of the usual ITK confirm that there is genuine interest then fair enough.
 

EastLondonYid

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2010
7,837
16,145
Why would you think that the media would dislike the club though?

I don't want to believe it as it churlish, but the media is full of ex players and Journo's who may have a problem with us

Joe Cole yesterday was creaming at our team changes, he couldn't wait to suggest Poch made changes due to our draw and that all is not well.
Merson and Nicholas come out with garbage about us every week, Alan zzz Smith commentates our games with a huge goon hat on, Tony Gale against Palace was pathetic, actually moaning when Palace moves broke down.

The list is endless, i am not alone in realising that the media jump on us more than any other top club.

Poch signs a new deal but is still leaving every week, same with Harry.....its pathetic.
 

Legacy

SC Supporter
Mar 29, 2007
2,878
6,280
It's far too early for talk about sacking the manager, in my opinion. We haven't had the best of starts but a bit of perspective is needed. We've played away to Man City, Arsenal, Leicester and Olympiacos. We were literally half an inch away from comfortably beating Leicester and going unbeaten in that tough group of away fixtures.

All of our new signings have been injured and still need time. Ndombele and Lo Celso are expected to completely reinvigorate the way we play. Alli has barely played because of injury, Dier hasn't played at all due to fitness. Eriksen clearly still has issues.

We were brilliant against Palace, played well enough against Leicester, Arsenal and Villa. The only genuinely poor performances were against Newcastle and Olympiacos. You could argue Man City too but they're levels above almost anyone and were on fire in that game.

We've got a run of 6 games coming up where we should be expecting to win 5 and maybe draw 1. Do that and things will suddenly look a lot brighter going into the Liverpool game. Although, obviously, dropping points in that run is going to be worrying.

Still, I'm hopeful. For all the negativity, we still have the third best team and manager in the country.
 

EastLondonYid

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2010
7,837
16,145
Shame on anyone suggesting Poch should go........its a sad reflection of the modern fan, after all Poch has done for our club.

He guided us through a tricky period of our history , moving away from our home whilst the stadium was being built, and at the same time achieving CL football year after year whilst on limited funds to help the club get through that testing period.

Yes all fans are within their rights to question him and his tactics, yes he has made mistakes, but now is the time to back him and stick by him and show him the same loyalty he showed us when bigger fish came knocking and he stayed loyal.
 

spids

Well-Known Member
Jul 19, 2015
6,647
27,841
With regards to Poch. If he still has the fire in his belly for this job then he absolutely deserves time and patience. Our best manager in most of our lifetimes (if you are under 50). And he has achieved so much in such a difficult transitional period due to the stadium move. But if Levy looks Poch in the eye and sees that there is no fire for this job, then let's move on now.

The squad became stale after 18 months with no signings, but also the bulk of our first XI are now at least in their 5th season with Poch (Lloris, Toby, Verts, Rose, Dier, Dele, Lamela, Eriksen, Kane) which increases staleness. We've had key players demise through injury two years ago that were not replaced (Wanyama and Dembele). Lo Celso and N'Dombele were very good signings this summer, but will now take time to adjust to the EPL and the language etc. We badly needed to sort out the situations with the contracts expiring in 2018 (Toby, Jan, Eriksen) and did not. They should have been signed up or shipped out. I know it is not easy, but we are now in a position where we have half a team of players who are not ready to run through a brick wall for the manager or commit to his tactical changes. I am not questioning their professionalism, but it casts a shadow over the team. I also think Poch saying the week before the CL final that if we won he'd probably leave did not help the squad's longer term focus or morale. I think senior players are questioning how long he will still be in charge and that does not help anyone in a period where 100% commitment is required.

So, for me the main issue is that the team has lost it's mojo for a number of reasons:
  • Key players not replaced
  • Stale squad
  • Senior players / leaders in the team in last year of contract
  • Players questioning Poch's commitment
If Poch wants to stay and build a legacy here he needs to make a big statement to the players to get them back behind him.
  1. I am committed to be here for the foreseeable future.
  2. If you've not signed up to our future then you will be behind those that have (I'd rather see Parrott come off the bench than Eriksen at the moment).
  3. The team will be picked purely on merit- fitness and form. Not reputation.
Sir Alex Ferguson used to reshape his team every 2-3 years. Regularly moving on high profile players (like Ince, Hughes, Staam, Van Nistlerooy, Keane etc.) for the greater good of a fresh and hungry squad. When I look at the list of players who have been with Poch since the beginning which of those are not as effective as they used to be? Lloris and Rose stand out to me. I'd have moved both on by now. They obviously have to be replaced by top quality players, and maybe that is why Poch has not done this - Levy was not backing him in the transfer market. Alderweireld an Eriksen not singing new contracts? Fergie would have shipped them out last year.
 
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