Graham Roberts believes that both Mauricio Pochettino and Antonio Conte are winners as the duo are linked with the Tottenham Hotspur manager’s job.

Spurs sacked Jose Mourinho back in April and have yet to appoint a permanent replacement, with Ryan Mason taking charge for the end of the season.

Mourinho was hailed as a winner when he was appointed, but he ended his reign at Spurs without a trophy, although he did guide the club to the League Cup final. He was sacked the week prior to that fixture against Manchester City, with Mason overseeing a defeat at Wembley.

Spurs were heavily linked with a sensational swoop to bring Pochettino back to the club from PSG but Conte now appears to be the frontrunner, with reports suggesting that he is in talks with Spurs over the job.

Roberts believes that both managers are “winners”, and he has urged Spurs to back whomever is appointed with significant funds in the transfer market, learning from the mistakes of Pochettino’s first reign.

Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern, Roberts said: “But they’re all winners. Mourinho was a winner. It’s how you treat the players, I think Pochettino’s a winner, but he needed the ammunition, he needed the back-up, when he got to the League Cup final, semi-finals of the FA Cup, he needed an upgrade but we had no money because we were building a new stadium and playing at Wembley.

“And it was costing like 20 million pounds to play there. Now he’s got a stadium, the fans will be back, the club have to back him (the manager).”