Why we need to stick with Poch

I didn’t want Pochettino, and I have not been impressed by his first season in charge. Personally I suspect he’ll be gone by Christmas, but I sincerely hope I’m wrong.

The closest thing we have to a ‘culture’ at the club right now is one of perennial change. New manager comes in, new players come in, players leave, manager leaves, rinse and repeat. It’s left the club, and in particular the fans, in a state of perplexion bordering on indifference. We have no identity, and when we do start to form one it’s quickly dismantled in favour of a new era.

This was illustrated vividly by the transition from Redknapp to AVB. Yes we lost important players through no fault of our own (wanting to leave, retiring through injury, or simply too old), but we also saw an influx of players to fit a style of play (or a ‘philosophy’) only for that style to go out of the window with the sacking of the manager. Just as AVB started to stamp his mark on the club he was gone, leaving the next permanent manager the task of cleaning up first, before beginning to build his own team. In short, this approach has put most of out managers over the last ten years on the back foot before they’ve even started.

[linequote]Imagine working somewhere where you know that your manager is only ever going to be an interim. Would you strive to work harder? Would you respect them?[/linequote]

The fact that we have dipped in and out of having a ‘committee’ of people making player transfer decisions to ensure continuity shows just how embedded this culture of perpetual managerial change has become. Instead of helping the club through successive managers, I believe this approach has actively influenced the need for constant change due to saddling managers with players that don’t fit their system. It’s self-defeatist, and in many ways an admittance of weakness. At the very least it’s certainly a vote of no confidence in any manager that comes in.

One of the effects of this process has been to heighten ‘player power’. Imagine working somewhere where you know that your manager is only ever going to be an interim. Would you strive to work harder? Would you respect them? Would you care if they yell at you, or try to improve you? Why bother, when you know they’ll be fired in a few months?

Against this backdrop, it’s hardly surprising that we’ve had so many well-publicised player revolts. Kaboul has seen Jol, Harry, AVB and Sherwood come and go. Even relatively new signings like Capoue, Paulinho, Lamela, Chadli, Chiriches, Soldado, and Eriksen have seen the club managed by three different people, with different approaches. These constant changes don’t just hammer home the notion that the players are at a club (one which pays well, in a great city, and with one of the best training facilities in Europe) where they are likely to outlast the boss, but also massively undermines the position of the manager before a ball has been kicked in anger.

[linequote]These constant changes don’t just hammer home the notion that the players are at a club where they are likely to outlast the boss[/linequote]

Barring the threat of relegation due to some mass player revolt (which, as we saw with Ramos, is perfectly possible), we desperately need to reverse this trend in order to transform the attitude of our players. As much as I don’t rate Pochettino right now, I can appreciate that he’s working with a severe handicap. The club are doing the right thing by bringing in people like Mitchell to support him, and, importantly, focusing on youth as a way of allowing the team to grow as the manager (still young and learning) develops his own understanding of the players and the game.

Personally I would have liked to have seen AVB given the time to develop the team, but his particular approach seemed to alienate the fans, players, and owners alike. I’ll readily admit that I was calling for his head after that Liverpool defeat, which just goes to show how far emotion can govern rational thought.

Pochettino may not be the best manager we could get, but right now some continuity is vital for changing the entire attitude running throughout the club, from owner to player to supporter. Only then will this unhappy carousel come to a stop.