Bharat Bhise and I have spent the entire close season debating every detail about the Premier League, such was our longing to watch competitive football again. Bharat and I have worked together for many years and it is our mutual love of football which is why we get on so well. One of the hottest topics of debate in the last couple of months for us, has been whether or not Pochettino will stay at Tottenham, or more to the point, how long will he stay for. Pochettino has been pretty outspoken about a number of things in the last year and after his comments ahead of the Champions League final, saying that the project would be complete if they won, it is a curious case to see how long he’ll stay for. 

The Case For Leaving 

Bharat is far more convinced that I am that Pochettino will leave, in the short term at least – after all nobody stays for long in this era. The reason as to why he believes this is simply because of what he has done with Spurs, given the lack of money, the stadium debacle and the way in which he has turned average players into superstars. The notion which Bharat has is ‘imagine what he could do if he had money’ something which he isn’t likely to have too much of at Spurs. This is why there is the end of the line debate, because there are teams who would kill for a chance to have him at their club. 

Loyalty 

The next question which Bharat and I have wrestled with is where would he go? This is shaped by the loyal values which he has commented on in the past. For example Poch will never go to Barcelona because of his loyalty to Espanyol, he also says he would never go to Arsenal or Chelsea because of the Spurs link, but what about United, City, Liverpool, Real, PSG? These are all fair game and his most likely destination would be PSG or Real, at least in our view. PSG and Real both have managers who could be gone at any moment, and that is something which should strike fear into the hearts of Spurs fans. 

The Case For Staying 

Poch has spoken in the past about his admiration for the likes of Fergie and Wenger, and what they built at  their respective clubs, coupled with his talk about a project, it could imply that he is here for the long haul. Indeed his comments about the ownership at Spurs could very well just be posturing for position. Poch has players who love him, a board who adore him and fans who can’t get enough. You get the feeling that if there was some investment from Spurs, enough to give him a real fighting chance, and if trophies start coming in, then we could see Poch at Spurs for at least another 5-8 years. 

What are your thoughts on Pochettino?

Jane