Never go back?

I think the reason they say ‘never go back’ – to an ex, or to the coffee shop that got your order wrong that time is that you’ll likely just revisit the mistakes of your past, replay them and cause pain and hurt to everyone all over again. I ASKED FOR SOY MILK*, IS IT REALLY THAT DIFFICULT?

So, the point is, for it to work this time when it didn’t before, something has to change. And I don’t think that this means that one side concedes that they were wrong and the other continues as before (although it would be nice to at least to get an apology for milk-gate**, ‘the customer is always right’ after all); there needs to be some sort of contrition from both sides and a commitment to changing behaviours in the future.

The problem we have here is that whilst Daniel Levy is one of the smartest football chairmen around, he’s also one of the most stubborn. And, if I’m honest, I don’t think Mauricio Pochettino is too different in that regard.

For each of them, their stubbornness can be a virtue, for sure. For Levy, it has led to him getting some incredible deals done over the years, and his renown for being difficult to deal with is, I’m sure, a badge of honour to him. But, equally, having multiple chairmen wearing t-shirts that say ‘I went to sign a player from Tottenham Hotspur and all I got was this lousy shirt’ is not so great when you’re releasing Danny Rose, a once £50m-rated player, at the end of his contract having played precisely zero minutes the whole of the year. There does, more often than not, need to be compromise.

And, as for Pochettino, well I watched him play a Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko midfield more than 30 times in his last season and a half. Whilst it *appears* to have been a fever dream, I definitely saw this happen with my own eyes, so don’t even try to convince me that it didn’t. It did, and it was horrible every single time and I hated it and then he ruined Dele by trying to get him to drop in and help fix it and… bad bad bad bad bad bad bad. And stubborn, very stubborn.

Both will need to have reflected on the way things ended and what they might have done differently to stop things going that way. They will then need to be self-aware enough to change their behaviours to stop history repeating. I would say, though, that I see Pochettino coming in and starting pretty much from scratch again rather than picking up where he left off, and I think that’s a good thing. Sure, he’ll have a lot of preset connections with people around the club and the way that it operates. He’ll also have a lot of coaching to undo, a lot of latent fitness to build and a new system to implement. And, whether it feels like it or not, the squad has actually moved on quite a bit since he was last in post. Not just in terms of new signings, but in terms of players who are now more established/integrated as well as those who have stepped up from the Academy. And we are hopeful that there will be several leaving this summer…

The reporting this morning suggests that Pochettino wants ‘full control over key decisions’. I cannot see a way that this could happen under Levy, the man who literally follows his employees into the canteen to poke his nose into their day-to-day work. But, besides that, I’m not entirely sure I’d want it to. I think, as Head Coach, Pochettino should have complete control of his remit. Anything on-pitch (including the training ground) is his domain. I also think Levy needs to finally give in and re-appoint a Director of Football/Sporting Director to conduct the non-coaching football business, including transfers and including working with the Academy Manager, Dean Rastrick. Hopefully Ryan Mason will want to continue as Head of Player Development, Under-17 to Under-23 to enable the management of players post-academy; this was a major critique of mine of Pochettino the first time around.

I am very hopeful that we will re-appoint Mauricio Pochettino. I see him as, objectively, the best coach we could appoint for what needs to be achieved and for delivering on the values that Daniel Levy outlined in his latest Chairman’s Message. But I hope that if this comes to pass, but parties have learnt to compromise. If that happens, I am convinced that it’s a winning formula. The good news is that, in appointing him, Levy would be making a big step in the right direction.

And to any baristas reading, I apologise. I appreciate you and I appreciate your memory skills. Please don’t spit in my drink.

*Soy boys unite.

**This is entirely fabricated, I am disgusting and drink cows milk.


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  1. I don't agree. I agree with the headline The definition of insanity is to repeat the same thing over and over while expecting different results.So there you have it simples. It is what it is. If you put poch back expect no success no trophies because that is what enic and levy are a out. Top four but no cigar. However as this squad is not a patch on the one poch got first time around I expect if he were to take the job kane to leave because he wants to win things and he never did in 5 odd years of poch. Middle of the table first year blamed on kane leaving and the team blending. Second year son leaving as he realises what a mistake it was to stay another mid table finish followed by poch loosing interest again and sacked again by Christmas.
  2. By taking potch back at least we'd be watching entertaining football, historically teams that spend the most money win the silverware, before someone points out about Leicester they didn't have Europe to contend with and managed to play the season with the same 13 players. Potch is terrific at turning average players into top players, dembele was average before potch got there,kane had been out on loan to the likes of Norwich and they weren't that keen on him,by the time potch got his hands on them they were world class,dont get me wrong potch is not good with money, his buys,if they were his boys were poor, in his time only sonny has turned out to be a terrific buy,he needs a director of football who under guidance from potch understands exactly what he needs for the team,we're never going to have record transfers so the potential has to be spotted early and potch can get the players to the fitness levels required so hungry players are required like Ali when he first arrived. I cant say we're going to win trophies because we don't spend the most but at least we were entertained and if there's one thing in our DNA it's about entertaining the fans. Under potch last time it was a roller coaster ride and I loved it,well the roller coaster came to the end and I for one want to get on again

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