ESPN FC colleagues Steve Nicol and Shaka Hislop have played down concerns following Mauricio Pochettino’s comments regarding transfers at Tottenham Hotspur.
Pochettino claimed in a post-match press conference earlier this week that he is not in charge of transfers – and seemed to point questions in the direction of chairman Daniel Levy.
But having analysed what the Argentinian had to say, both Nicol and Hislop were of the opinion that there seems to be no issue amid potential signs of tension between the Spurs boss and club officials.
Pochettino had said his job title should be changed, which may have come across as a “veiled message” – to quote the words of Ian Darke – aimed at Levy as Spurs enter the final week of the window with the sole addition of Tanguy Ndombele to the squad – with youngster Jack Clarke spending next season on loan at Leeds United.
However, Nicol felt the matter was being slightly blown out of proportion, saying: “He seems to be quite happy that he’s leaving all those contract talks [to Levy]. I’m sure he asks for certain players and then Daniel Levy tries and gets them – and if he can’t get them, he’s basically saying ‘well okay, I understand, I’m going to coach the team regardless of the name on the back of the jersey’.”
Former goalkeeper Hislop agreed, commenting: “I don’t think he has much of an issue with it, given his own history both playing and coaching in Spain where that’s how it’s done, maybe he’s just saying this is how life is here at Spurs and he’s happy to go along with it.”
Only time will tell if any perceived tensions between the manager and the board will translate to the performances or successes of the Spurs team next season.
Although, in the sense of the latter, with Spurs arguably overachieving last season by reaching the Champions League final and achieving a fourth-place finish without spending any money in the preceding transfer market, it could be easy to make assumptions should they not reach the heights of the previous campaign.
Therefore, it may be best to wait for concrete events to surface at Spurs before jumping to conclusions.
