Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure at Tottenham, in the form of one of those old fashioned competition 12 words or fewer tie-breakers, would be ‘Worked comparative miracles, despite the restraints of an increasingly distracted chairman,’ That’s accurate and fair, without any unnecessary vitriol aimed at either man.
Poch worked his squad into a hey-day where Walker and Rose were bombing down the wings, and Kane was scoring for kicks, then helplessly watched then deteriorate into a side that were so stale, that most fans were glad that the Champions League final was being played in an open air arena.
This, incidentally, was when the footballing economy was in fine fettle. Spurs were still a well run club with negligible debt, indeed, the overwhelming majority of us were blissfully unaware that Daniel Levy had £340million tucked under his mattress – which was later tossed into the stadium project.
Fast forward to the arrival of José, for some like an evil panto baddie, and we went through a few months of some fans wailing that there was no immediate and meaningful change (because he was surrounded by the same worn out deadbeats that Poch had been using) and then the pandemic struck.
It is difficult to conceive of a scenario that was worse than this one, that would affect the sport so dramatically, and as a whole. Levy was quick to identify the size of the problem and wasted little time in identifying COVID-19 as the biggest challenge he had faced. The broadcasters also knew which way the wind was going to blow and organized free to air games for customers for when the matches were allowed to return.
Tottenham were forced to borrow £170million from the Bank of England – in order to make ends meet. Let’s repeat that, for those with a tendency to occasionally skip read. Tottenham were forced to borrow £170million from the Bank of England – in order to make ends meet.
So back comes Mourinho to the green carpets of Hotspur Way. No money. In fact, less than no money, because even the chair he sits on in the canteen has yet to be paid for.
What does the Portuguese Pulis do? Tell everyone how berry happy he is? No, he goes about identifying the problems and identifying the solutions in a manner that he can convey effectively to his superior. Because that is what great managers do, folks. One might point out, that this is what you get when you pay double the market rate for the best manager.
In this climate of woe, Mourinho has (bless him) spotted that many of our squad are too nice, and as result, are unlikely to win anything in football. Second up, he has pinpointed affordable targets that he knows he can bring in to improve weak areas, whilst remaining in his budget of zero.
To date, we have a reserve goalie who is the same age as our first choice keeper, who also has won virtually every trophy going. We have a defensive midfielder who looks like his hobbies may include debt-collecting and armed robbery, opposed to flower pressing and UNO. We are said to be close to securing the services of a seasoned wing-back from Wolves, who, if I were Wolves, I would not sell to anyone!
This is what great managers do, in sunshine and in rain. They work to improve, irrespective of conditions.
Meanwhile, in his home office, Mauricio Pochettino sits waiting for the phone to ring. By his feet sit half a dozen small boxes of a £5 book, and through the window he can see into his garden, and his beloved barbecue, bearing the inscription, ‘He’s magic you know’. He checks his email to see if Amazon are going to definitely edit him completely from the ‘All or Nothing show’; no reply as yet.
Maybe one more coffee before asking the wife if she needs help with anything…