The natives are restless at White Hart Lane. Spurs have had 17 managers in 30 years but is there a need for stability? Daniel Storey looks at a difficult start for Mauricio Pochettino
Saturday 1 November 2014 17:56, UK
"Lads, it's Tottenham."
There may be more obvious targets of Roy Keane's scorn in his recently released autobiography, but few words could be more cutting than the Irishman's recollection of the three-word team-talk given by sir Alex Ferguson ahead of a home victory against Tottenham Hotspur. "Brilliant," was Keane's description. He does not compliment his former manager lightly these days.
It was a timely anecdote, too. Following Sunday's limp 2-1 home defeat by Newcastle United, Mauricio Pochettino attacked the mentality of his Spurs players, blaming them for the meek manner in which they accepted defeat. "It is not tactical or physical, it is our mentality," Pochettino said. "It is a big hit for us. We need to be more strong and to have more focus."
Captain Younes Kaboul was also keen to stress his disappointment. "We need to be more consistent and regular and more mature on the pitch," Kaboul conceded. "It is about knowing how to control the game, kill the game, knowing how to defend all together in certain phases of the game and to be more confident, too." That is an awful lot of room for improvement.
Having initially welcomed the arrival of Pochettino from Southampton, supporters have since been forced to swallow home defeats by Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle. With the fans' anger exhausted on players and previous managers, the club hierarchy now feels the wrath.
In truth, the last thing that Spurs need is more change. No manager has been in charge at Spurs for four full seasons since Keith Burkinshaw left in 1984 – it is 17 in 30 years since.
For a generation of supporters, change has been the only constant. The longest-serving manager since 1990 is also the only one to have provided a top-four finish. Harry Redknapp was able to instigate progress after being given time to imprint his personality on the squad. No-one else has been that fortunate. Having tasted the Champions League after 17 years of Premier League football without it, the club has become desperate for a second hit.
Over that period, Spurs have lurched between managerial philosophies. Ossie Ardiles to Gerry Francis, Francis to Christian Gross, Gross to George Graham and Graham to Glenn Hoddle in the 1990s; Juande Ramos to Harry Redknapp, Redknapp to Andre Villas-Boas, Villas-Boas to Tim Sherwood and Sherwood to Pochettino since 2007.
No honeymoon period is granted at White Hart Lane. The atmosphere on Sunday was close to mutinous, with reports of supporters ejected for fighting one another and wholesale jeers and boos greeting the final whistle.
Pochettino has had just nine league matches in charge, with a squad light on in-form strikers or competent defenders. He will also have been forced to cope with a schedule of 19 matches in the first three months of the season, with three international breaks squeezed in for good measure.
Spurs' summer recruitment consisted of a back-up goalkeeper, back-up central defender, back-up left-back, back-up right-back and back-up defensive midfielder. Pochettino has a lack of obvious leaders. Add in an approach far different to his predecessor, and the manager's task becomes clear.
