Speculation over Mauricio Pochettino’s next job is now fixated upon how close the Argentine is to joining rivals Chelsea. Multiple reports are doing the rounds that the Blues contacted him over the vacancy, and it’s now claimed that Poch has boosted his chances of landing the gig after “a series of positive talks” between him and the West London club. This also marries neatly with Fabrizio Romano believing that Nagelsmann has decided to swerve Stamford Bridge.
Football is a complex business, and we saw the unconvincing moment in the recent Daniel Levy interview where he mumbled about his sacking of coaches not being personal but drew shy of saying that he was still friends with any of his former managers.
For me, there’s the naive willingness of many fans to believe this type of ‘oh we’re still great friends’ narrative. I choose not to believe it because, in the conventional world, one could fit people one knew who had gone back to work for former employers into a telephone box. And I speak as someone who did have a second spin with one company!
I think there’s a fair amount of PTSD involved with coaching a big club and for a return to be viable, for both parties. One needs a genuine paradigm shift in circumstances, such as Chelsea has been able to offer managers, where not only is the squad largely unrecognisable, but there’s a budget for more change.
If Poch returned to Spurs, the reality is he’d be staring at far too many familiar faces, and he’d also know with absolute certainty that his transfer options would continue to be handicapped. Just as every coach to work at Tottenham since he was sacked had been.
Furthermore, as I’m fond of saying, Levy is many things, but he’s not stupid. Hiring a guy who comes with an ‘oh no, not him again factor’ is not going to unify the fanbase. Despite the incels on social media begging for more Poch, most fans will still have the muscle memory of groaning when it comes to Mauricio. Poch leaves the door ajar for groans.
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