I am only the coach, said the Tortoise to the hare.
We need extra cavalry, or I should say Pochettino does. Even
though we bought two (one back on loan) we still don’t know what direction some
of our players are going to go or whether they will stay, but whatever it is,
we do need fresh blood.
“I am just a coach, not a manager,” Pochettino cries. Was
this just an attempt to turn up the flame to a high setting so that Levy
succumbs or just frustration for all the stupid questions the press ask? Or
something lost in translation? English isn’t his first language and we know he
has struggled with our language (some of the English suffer from their own
tongue sd). Whichever way we look at it it does make good press, and it gets the
supporters all flustered, putting their own interpretations to his words. Those
that hate Levy will use it as more ammo to shoot at him, but for those that
have a bit more savvy of how football and club politics work, they will just shake
their heads and move on.
Pochettino was speaking after our 1-0 victory over Real
Madrid in Munich, claiming that he was not in control of incomings and
outgoings.
“I am not in charge,” he postulates. “I know nothing,” a bit
of Manuel of Fawlty Towers here, “about the situation of my players. I am only
coaching them, trying to get the best from them.” Well, we know that, we ask
for no more, other than a trophy or three.
When asked what caused his feathers to be ruffled, he
sidestepped the question with, “Maybe the club need to change my title
description now, because my job now is to coach the team. It’s not a question
for me, it’s a question for the club. I am not in charge about the individual
situations. I am the boss designing the strategy to train, to play, the
methodology, the philosophy in my area. But in another area. Today, I think I
am the coach.”
Maybe he things just today he is the coach, “Tomorrow
Matthew,” he could be saying, “I am the manager… whatever I feel like, I will
be.” Who knows what is in his mind. If he thinks he can go to Madrid, United or
Chelsea and be in sole charge, then he
is having a laugh.
Tanguy Ndombele has arrived for a club-record £65million and
Tottenham are keen on a few others, but any moves will depend on many factors
(whether the player wants to come to Spurs, is the money right, and how he will
see his relationship with the manager etc.).
His comments can seem odd though, before the start of any
season Levy and Pochettino, with a few others, get together to throw around
names and then Levy and his team see what they can do. It is the same for most
clubs.
Personally, I think it could be a combination of getting out
off the wrong side of the bed, press frustration and the pressure. Once we’ve
signed a few more players all these problems will evaporate, only for others to
appear. It is called management… or coaching… or whatever tickles his fancy at any
precise moment in time. He is not getting £8.5 million a year to get no
pressure. If you pay somebody that sort of money then the payer expects to be
able to squeeze a few balls and red faces all around. Unless he has lost them
and Levy is squeezing thin air. Whatever way we look at it, he is being paid a
king's ransom… and for that… well, we can understand his pressure a little
more.
By Glenn Renshaw
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