Pochettino to Mourinho – quick change at Spurs
Things have clearly not been all they should be at Tottenham. Despite reaching the Champions League Final last season, results domestically have been poor since they were beaten 2-1 at Turf Moor last February and they did manage to concede seven goals last month in a crushing home defeat against Bayern Munich.
There has been a lot of speculation over the future of head coach Mauricio Pochettino but it still came as a shock yesterday evening at 7:30 p.m. when Spurs suddenly announced the parting of the ways. He was the fourth longest serving manager in English football behind Gareth Ainsworth, Eddie Howe and Sean Dyche having moved to Spurs from Southampton in May 2014. Spurs finished fifth in his first full season in charge but they’ve had top four finishes ever since although he leaves with them down in 14th place after this difficult start to the season. Perhaps his greatest achievement there was taking them to the Champions League Final whilst it is probably fair to say that the biggest disappointment came in 2016 when they were expected to win the title only to blow up in the final weeks as Leicester won it.
Levy said this morning: “In Jose we have one of the most successful managers in football. He has a wealth of experience, can inspire teams and is a great tactician. He has won honours at every club he has coached. We believe he will bring energy and belief to the dressing room.”
And so, Mourinho is back, just eleven months since he left Manchester United when I wrote: “English football took a turn for the better this morning,” and “I don’t care where he goes now but I hope that’s the last we will see of him in this country.” Sadly not, he’s back on a three and a half year contract although he’ll probably lose interest again and blow up long before that contract comes to an end.
I’m not sure how the Spurs fans will view it and neither the Chelsea fans where Mourinho had two spells. There’s an unhealthy rivalry between the two and it’s almost akin to someone opting to manage Burnley and then Blackburn, as if that would ever happen.
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