Everyone’s A Winner Now Poch Is Not So Special

It won’t surprise anyone to hear we live in divided times right now.

Everything is done to extremes. We absolutely love something or we hate it. Ironically, ever since the term Fifty Shades of Grey entered our consciousness, we have begun to have none of that sitting-on-the-fence lark in our lives. It’s all or nothing. Feast or famine.

Everyone’s either a legend or a GOAT or they are shiter than shite.

So, the breaking news that filtered out on Tuesday night split opinion as much as the Jeremy / Boris clash on TV later in the evening. After five years in the job, Tottenham had sacked Mauricio Pochettino (Poch from hereon in) and by the morning, Jose Mourinho was installed as their new manager until 2023.

No grey areas judging by the fans I heard. The small (I’d guess) majority were aghast – one said that after 50 years, he’d never watch them again – with the combination of the dismissal and the ‘vile, arrogant’ appointment of the Special One. Poch had worked within some incredibly tight financial constraints for much of his time (including two inactive transfer windows) and with close to two of the years playing away from their home stadium, but had still delivered a runners-up spot as well as two third place finishes and a fourth. His only time outside the top four was fifth, in his first full season. Only a few months ago, let’s not forget, his team reached the Champions League Final in Madrid where they lost to Liverpool.

It’s easy to forget that this is relatively new territory for Spurs. They are currently on their longest run without a trophy but they were hardly prolific before, with the odd League or FA Cup win, a Chaz and Dave song and a couple of UEFA Cup successes in the 70s and 80s. Simply put, before Poch, a Champions League Final appearance was as long a shot as Paul Gascoigne’s in the 1991 FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal and the last time they won a really big honour (if we leave the League Cup out of it). To give that some context, Chelsea have won five league titles, seven FA Cups and all three major European competitions since 1997.

Others thought it was brilliant news that Poch had gone, although some were a little too quick to condemn him for his lack of achievements, saying he’d won nothing, never would and if Jose – who kickstarted that Chelsea run in 2004/5 – had been there already, they’d have won a trophy or even the Champions League by now. They pointed at the fact they’d got the best stadium and training facilities in England, broken their transfer record in the summer and still got beat by Newcastle at home.

This season had started slowly, there is no denying that. Shipping seven goals at home to Bayern in the CL was a shocker although qualification is still a near shoe-in, and an inability to win league games (at their new home or away) has left them in fourteenth, although only three points off fifth spot. But they’ve still lost more games than they’ve won and the gap to the top four is widening by the week. Add to that a high number of defeats last season despite the apparent successful campaign and fans had started to split on Poch’s future as it was.

So, even in such divided times, I think this could actually be a move that makes everybody – and I mean literally everybody – happy (eventually).

Here’s why:

Poch

He’s looked tired and in need of a rest for a while. His frustration with everything from the media to the digs from former players has begun to take its toll. He just didn’t seem to have the love anymore. So, whether it’s a Pep-style year’s sabbatical in New York or two weeks R&R in Bueno Aires, a break will do him good and get him prepared for the next chapter in his career. And make no mistake, his stock is still skyscraper high despite this stain on his CV.

Jose

He looked like Poch probably felt this season when he was at Manchester United. To the homeless – or anyone living in a house – cosying up every evening in a huge Lowry Hotel penthouse apartment in Manchester City Centre doesn’t sound too shabby but it was for Jose. He loves London and gets to go back and manage there, be with his family and it’s a project that will hopefully get the juices flowing again. The cheeky smile and quick-fire quips had all but disappeared under the pressure of trying to turn around the mess at Old Trafford, but he’s always liked proving people wrong; so becoming the manager that puts Spurs on the trophy-winning map is right up his [London] street.

Spurs

You don’t decide to appoint Jose overnight. Long negotiations would have taken place so it’s clear that Spurs had already decided that the relationship with Poch was coming to an end. Today, they’ll be relieved that the break-up has been done and dusted, it’s all now out in the open and they can move on with someone else. They might get a bit of stick initially but that usually only lasts until the new manager wins their first game.

Anyway, five years is a long time in football and there were signs that the two parties were disagreeing on most things as it was. So, Tottenham get a fresh start and the chance to reinvent themselves as a team that wins things. Jose will also demand the best players, so scrimping in the transfer market will be a thing of the past and force them to start playing with the big boys whether they like it or not.

The Players

Despite not spending anything like rivals from Manchester and Liverpool, or even North London for that matter, Poch has built a fantastic team in five years, accelerating the development of young players like Kane and Winks into England stars and bringing plenty of youth through. Even an unproven Dele Alli would have been seen as too much of a risk by the others, yet came to Spurs from MK Dons for £5m and went more or less straight into the first XI.

But these players eventually want medals; you can’t polish a reputation for being a great young team or put it on the mantelpiece and show it to your grandkids. So, rather than them seeking success elsewhere, they might be tempted to stay on board now because if Jose brings anything, it’s winners’ medals.

Other Teams

In board rooms all around Europe, there are people pacing up and down with a decision to make. Poch will have been on the radars of their clubs for a while but seemed unobtainable until now, but now he is available they know that they’ll need to act fast. Real Madrid, PSG, Bayern and Manchester United are all potential suitors who would take five years of Poch right now, because if he can do what he did at Spurs with no ground and not much transfer budget, imagine what he might do with everything in place.

D3D4 Football Podcast Ep108 – 28 days later

The Media

A dream for all concerned. Sky Sports have 24 hours each day to fill, as do Talk Sport, so this is good until at least the weekend, but more realistically for weeks to come. Sky can spend at least half of that time putting up Gary Lineker’s tweets on the screen and then telling us what they say, while there’s no limit to how many ex-players with Spurs or United links can offer opinion.

With an international break from the Premier League, this couldn’t have come at a better time. Listen out for lots of programmes ending something like this….’And that’s the end of our three hour show discussing if Jose will be better than Poch. Up for the next three hours, such and such who will be asking is Poch worse than Jose?’.

The Fans

Last and definitely least (it’s the Premier League, remember?)  The fans don’t really matter or come into it.

But say they did. As already mentioned, there are two distinct camps and mark my words, both will be happy in the long run.

Team Jose – if you’ve got a short memory and like the cut of Jose’s two points per game averages, then this will delight you. And he won’t have signed on unless he’s been promised a proper budget by Daniel Levy. The football won’t be as good under him but that won’t bother you because you’ll have at least a League Cup and maybe a Europa League in the trophy cabinet before too long. You’ll be able to shed the nearly men tag and start showing off your cups and that’s what we’re in this for after all.

Team Poch – if you aren’t so fickle you’ll be stinging at the moment but fear not. As a group, you are in the best position of all the above because you simply cannot lose.

The others definitely can. Jose could bugger this up. Poch could make a bad next move decision. Spurs might have already done that and the other teams might dither and miss out. The media might talk themselves to death and the Team Jose fans could have egg on their faces in twelve months’ time.

But you? You are in the ultimate no lose position here.

If Jose does do a Jose and loses the plot (chances are it will be in about two and a half years and after he’s delivered at least one shiny thing) then you’ll be completely vindicated and can say ‘told you so’ to those fans, Levy and everyone else while Poch is busy building a dynasty elsewhere, while Spurs are back at square one.

But if it turns out to be a good decision and you win some serious silverware?

Well, then you win some serious silverware and you’ll be as happy as Larry because let’s face it….

…. you’re Spurs.

words Darren Young, D3D4 columnist