The Revolving Door Stops Now at Spurs

Article by Sana Jeewa

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A bold, hopelessly optimistic fan, one who is idealistic and eminently positive about the approaching future, one may think upon glancing at my title. While that is actually a rather reasonable assessment of my support for Spurs, the actual departure from the well-established tradition of persistently firing managers seems to actually be coming to fruition.

Yeah, right...may encapsulate the sarcasm shared by many of my fellow supporters and with good reason. Daniel Levy has been famous for his ever ready trigger, pulling the plug on manager's tenures before they fully had the chance to develop their own teams and implement their own philosophies. Since taking over in 2001, he has seen the back of 9 managers, and we've had 3 unique managers in the last 3 years alone. So why then should we believe his 10th appointment will be any different? Why should we believe that Mauricio Pochettino is going to be hanging around for the foreseeable future?

The initial proof of the hopeful longevity of his reign came on the 26th of November 2014, just over two weeks after Spurs were dismantled at home to Stoke. With so many fans angrily calling for Pochettino's head, a mere five months into the job, Levy showed restraint and instead appointed an ally for Pochettino, in Paul Mitchell, a man who had been responsible for many astute signings at Southampton. As the new Head of Recruitment and Analysis, Mitchell was tasked with setting up a similar scouting and analysis structure to the one that paid dividends in Southampton. The fact that he originated from the club Pochettino last worked at was no coincidence and proved that Levy wanted to make his new manager comfortable, provide him with the tools he needed to attain success.

One may argue why such tools were not provided last summer when Fazio and Stambouli were signed as cheap alternatives to Musacchio and Schneiderlin, who were clearly on Pochettino's wish list. While Levy should have handed over transfer responsibilities to Pochettino immediately, it is a case of better late than never and it seems as though our notoriously stubborn chairman is finally seeing the error of his ways. As he stated in his message on the last home game of the season, "this summer we shall look to make changes to support Mauricio's plan for next season," we can clearly identify that Pochettino has his full backing, backing which he has often been reluctant to offer in the past.

Levy's faith in Pochettino actually began on his appointment last May, when he was chosen over more experienced candidates like Frank De Boer and given a lengthy five year contract, a contract many assumed would be terminated quite long before that. It looks as though, finally after years of transition, Levy has realised that what Spurs need above all is stability. For the first time in eons, a manager is being given time to prove himself with his own players, time which we hope will be highly profitable. The sceptics among us will probably be anticipating Pochettino's imminent departure by the middle of next season, however all signs point to his reign progressing far beyond that.

A likely 6th place finish, a cup final and vastly entertaining viewing along the way is what we've been treated to in Pochettino's first year at the helm. His second one holds much promise, provided that the revolving door has stopped its continuous rotation.

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