Pochettino to Spurs

[Pitty]

Deal for Pochettino is in the finalization stages,

Mauricio Pochettino, Southampton’s manager, is poised to take over at Tottenham Hotspur with the London club now accepting that the Argentine is the best option to fill their vacant head coach role.

The Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, had been told before Saturday’s Champions League final that Carlo Ancelotti was not an option, whether Real Madrid won the game or not. Frank de Boer, the Ajax manager, remains the back-up candidate to Pochettino but Spurs went cold on him after he spoke publicly about their approach.

Taking over at Spurs will cap a remarkable 16 months in the Premier League for Pochettino, who took over at Southampton in January last year on a contract that expires at the end of next season. There is hope at Tottenham that the former Espanyol coach will be capable of working in tandem with a director of football, the position currently held by Franco Baldini.

Another factor in his favour is that he is regarded as a prime candidate to coax the best out of fellow Argentine Erik Lamela, the club’s £30m record signing from Roma last summer, who has endured a terrible first season. Pochettino is expected to bring his own staff with him. Both Tim Sherwood’s assistants Les Ferdinand and Chris Ramsey have not yet made a decision on their futures.


Pochettino led Southampton to an eighth-placed finish last season, although he was beaten home and away by Sherwood, including the latter’s first league game in charge in December. While the Argentine has drawn praise for the way in which he has handled the young players at the club, there have been doubts over his dealings with some of the more senior professionals, including record signing Dani Osvaldo who was sent out on loan to Juventus in January.

Should Pochettino sign at Spurs, Sherwood would be one of the options to replace him at Southampton.

Rumors are that a solid offer for Loic Remy is also on the table with QPR.

 

[Pitty]

 

[1ke]

Will be interesting. He wanted money, now hell get moneys to spend. We shall see

 

[CaribbeanJoseph]

Spurs still gonna Spurs

 

[Chrispy]

Was either going to be him or Frank de Boer. I like him and hopefully he can get some control over who to buy and can actually buy guys that can play in the premier league. Need to get some players off the books (Rose, Naughton). Biggest needs are RB and LB.

 

[Woy]

Better than Sherwood. Wanted de Boer over him, but it seemed like those rumors died off over the past few weeks.

 

[1ke]

de Boer is better. So I think most fans of other teams will be quite pleased with this.

 

[Pitty]

de Boer is better. So I think most fans of other teams will be quite pleased with this.

de Boer's track record, particularly in European competition, is a bit spotty and, to be fair, a blind dog could win the Eredivisie with Ajax's youth system. I think either signing would have worked for me.

 

[Bigpapa42]

de Boer's track record, particularly in European competition, is a bit spotty and, to be fair, a blind dog could win the Eredivisie with Ajax's youth system. I think either signing would have worked for me.

And yet managers like Martin Jol, Marco van Basten, and Henk ten Cate couldn't win the Eredivisie with players such as Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Wesley Sneijder, Luis Suarez, Rafael van der Vaart, and Nigel de Jong.

So no.

 

[Pitty]

And yet managers like Martin Jol, Marco van Basten, and Henk ten Cate couldn't win the Eredivisie with players such as Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Wesley Sneijder, Luis Suarez, Rafael van der Vaart, and Nigel de Jong.

So no.

Thanks for choosing a bunch of terrible managers to compare him with :thumbsup:

 

[Bigpapa42]

Thanks for choosing a bunch of terrible managers to compare him with :thumbsup:

Lol... Seems relevant to compare him to managers who did significantly less with a similar level of talent at the same club.

Terrible is also a bit inaccurate. Ten Cate was a really good assistant manager. Van Basten didn't do great things managing The Netherlands, but they didn't really underachieve by a huge margin with him at the helm. As for Jol... a couple of 5th place finishes with Sperz, Quarter Final of the UEFA Cup... he did as much with Tottenham as any other manager. He had a couple of solid seasons with Fulham before this year. Not a great manager, but hardly terrible.

Ajax haven't done anything significant in Europe under de Boer. Unless you consider finishing above Manchester City in their group a couple years ago. Or a Europa League win at Old Trafford. Or missing out on advancing in 2012 on goal difference. Or a win over Barcelona last year. They haven't overachieved, true, but they also haven't disappointed given the groups they have drawn into. They have failed to do much in the Europa League but that's common for clubs that target the CL.

Not saying de Boer is a fantastic manager. But he is clearly good. Saying anyone could win the Eredivisie with Ajax is quite simply wrong. Any other good manager would likely win the league at least once if given a few years at the club... but to win it every year for 4 years is impressive. As a supporter of a rival club, I think Pochettino is a solid hire but it doesn't scare me. de Boer would scare me a slight bit more.

 

[kyhadley]

Southampton gonna get dismantled for parts.

 

[wr50l]

I can't say anything about De Boer because I don't want Dutch but I can say a lot about Pochettino because I've been on the Saints bandwagon all season. Tactically he is spot on. He has found the perfect balance for the Premier League of high pressing, possession focused play with pacey wing attack. Several times this year I saw Southampton completely outfox their opponents and really all that held them back was being a notch below in talent.

The only question mark is can he adapt to expectations? He did a great job at Saints in keeping them up (well Adkins might have done that anyway) and then turning them into a mid-table club. But being an expectant mid-table club is nothing in comparison to challenging for Champions League spots. I think it was all a bit comfortable there and they didn't really raise their game later in the year when they might have made it a special season. I hope he can adapt because it would be great next year to have Man City, Liverpool and Tottenham all playing quality high tempo fussball.