HODDLE IS WARY OF POCH
TOTTENHAM legend Glenn Hoddle has questioned Daniel Levy’s plans to rehire Mauricio Pochettino – and slammed the “ludicrous” decision to sack Jose Mourinho too quickly.
Spurs chairman Levy (inset below, top) axed Poch in November 2019 and replaced him with Mourinho, whose remit was to win the trophies the Argentinian had failed to lift.
But Mourinho was dramatically sacked himself in the days leading up to last month’s Carabao Cup final, with Ryan Mason promoted from the Under-23s to interim first-team coach.
The three front-runners to be in charge of Spurs when next season kicks off are Paris Saint-Germain boss Pochettino, Ajax’s Erik ten Hag and Belgium manager Roberto Martinez.
Antonio Conte is a dark horse after quitting Italian champions Inter Milan.
While many Spurs fans would love to see Pochettino return, Hoddle (inset below) isn’t sure it is the best idea. Speaking on the latest edition of the Keys and
Gray podcast, he said:
“It’s such a difficult one.
“Pochettino is a great guy, I met him on a few occasions with Ossie Ardiles. He’s a really good football man, good at his job.
“When he went off to Paris Saint-Germain, I thought, ‘Now he is going to get his success, now he is going to get some silverware’, and he hasn’t. “Sometimes people are destined not to be successful.
“They are very good at their jobs and excellent coaches, but other people you think, ‘Oh, they’ve had some luck’, and they get their rewards that way.
“For Daniel Levy to turn round and say, ‘I’m taking Poch back, I made a mistake, it was my fault…’ it doesn’t sound like Daniel. That would be a big call, a massive call.”
Hoddle went on: “They absolutely pulled the plug too quickly on Mourinho.
“If you win a trophy you get the confidence. The way that Mourinho set up, he was trying to get them over the line and he got them to a final.
“It was ludicrous to chop him at the knees just as he gets to a cup final.
“Whether you like Jose or not, the man deserved to have a run at that cup.
“If they’d won it, it could be a different story now – but Daniel now has a massive headache.
“I’m sure he’ll do what’s right for the club but it’s a real crossroads at Tottenham.”