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Mauricio Pochettino - Sacked

This is the lowest of our priorities.... I tbink tonight's attendance will ahow the fans feel the same way as the manager.

I understand you view but only up to a point, i have already said i would not be using my ST tonight because of out failure to take cup competitions seriously. I usually travel to the games with around a couple of dozen mates, on ringing round to tell them i will not be bothering tonight ( if the manager can not be bothered why should i)however on doing that i have found that of our group ( who like i say travel home and away to all games) there are several more who feel the way i do and will not bother to spend time and money on travel etc, after all if the manager can not be bothered then why should we fans.

Now we have already paid for our tickets but i would hazard a guess they will be many fans who will not be paying out for this game because of our failure ( over the years) to take cup competitions seriously. So you are right to a extent the gate will be low but not JUST because all the fans agree with Poch.
 
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I dont think thats what he is doing.

I think there is a difference between stating priorities and stating a total disinterest in a competition.

No professional wants to lose. Ill wager the club WANT to win the cup, collectively, I think he is just saying in the grander scheme there are competitions we think are more important.

And that I cant really argue with.

Some of the teams we have sent out in cup competitions over the years ( rent a quote started it) have been shocking ( if we really want to win trophys) then we sure as hell do not look like we do.
 
there is no need for him to make that public though. Publically he should say every competition is important and if he makes changes its because he has faith in his whole squad and wants to give everyone some games.

also the Wigan comment was embarrassing tbh.

I don't know how to use the like button.
 
i say


Some of the teams we have sent out in cup competitions over the years ( rent a quote started it) have been shocking ( if we really want to win trophys) then we sure as hell do not look like we do.


We would have played Son at Left back last year for a start.
 
i say


Some of the teams we have sent out in cup competitions over the years ( rent a quote started it) have been shocking ( if we really want to win trophys) then we sure as hell do not look like we do.

Clearly this is one you take personally, and honestly I dont care that much about it to argue.

All Id say is that I think we have rested players etc, which reflects priority, but always put out sides we think should get the job done. I expect the same tonight.

No doubt a lot of changes, and a few fringe players to come in, but still a team that should win.
 
The problem i have with a manager actually being stupid enough ( and i like Poch and consider him to be our best manager since KB) to say out loud what he is actually thinking is the effect this has on players. How can they be wound up for the game if they accept what he thinks/says.
 
In that respect its all about opportunity.

He has shown if you impress in these games you get considered for "proper" games later on.

If KWP plays tonight you think he wont give it 110%?

If NKoudou gets the shout he is just going to lol around half paced?

And on the flip side - if Dier plays and isnt brick hot Poch will roast him over hot coals and have him for supper.

There is always motivation to perform, regardless of public comments.
 
Clearly this is one you take personally, and honestly I dont care that much about it to argue.

All Id say is that I think we have rested players etc, which reflects priority, but always put out sides we think should get the job done. I expect the same tonight.

No doubt a lot of changes, and a few fringe players to come in, but still a team that should win.



Well if you mean that by paying for ST to see all games and getting fed up with our attitude of not taking cup games seriously then yes i take it personally, if you were to go back and look at the teams we have sent out over the years there is no doubt ( imo and many of those who go to the game) that we have sent out teams to play rather then actually hope to win most of those games.
 
The problem i have with a manager actually being stupid enough ( and i like Poch and consider him to be our best manager since KB) to say out loud what he is actually thinking is the effect this has on players. How can they be wound up for the game if they accept what he thinks/says.

It's as much about pressure and taking the opportunity to build / reduce it at appropriate times. He calls Dortmund a cup final because he wanted the players fired up. The benefit is they raise their game in a big game. The risk is if they lose after the expectation has been set, that's pressure and if that happens too much, it breeds talk of a crisis in the media.

Sometimes the best thing to do is to publicly reduce the importance of something to give the players breathing room. Doesn't mean he isn't going to gonad* someone for not living up to his standards though. We've heard stories of Poch visiting youth training sessions and calling out players as lazy if he doesn't thing they are giving the effort they need to. He's got incredibly high standards but media management is a different thing.
 
It's as much about pressure and taking the opportunity to build / reduce it at appropriate times. He calls Dortmund a cup final because he wanted the players fired up. The benefit is they raise their game in a big game. The risk is if they lose after the expectation has been set, that's pressure and if that happens too much, it breeds talk of a crisis in the media.

Sometimes the best thing to do is to publicly reduce the importance of something to give the players breathing room. Doesn't mean he isn't going to gonad someone for not living up to his standards though. We've heard stories of Poch visiting youth training sessions and calling out players as lazy if he doesn't thing they are giving the effort they need to. He's got incredibly high standards but media management is a different thing.

I do agree to a extent, taking the pressure of players is a good thing however actually making it clear that its not that importent if we win a cup or not is foolish. I like Poch but coming out and saying what he has is ( as i say) his foolish at best.
 
I do agree to a extent, taking the pressure of players is a good thing however actually making it clear that its not that importent if we win a cup or not is foolish. I like Poch but coming out and saying what he has is ( as i say) his foolish at best.

Is it going to lead to less chance of success though? He's managing the expectations of fans, letting them know that young players will be playing tonight. And he's taking the pressure off those players while reinforcing the standards he is setting as a club. They'll still work as hard to try to win.

I was arguing the same thing a couple months back when the whole 'they need to win a trophy' thing was swirling around. He's just challenging that notion too. Dele Alli or any other player isn't going to stay here if we win an FA Cup or a League Cup, and it's not a real marker of our success. It's great, and I'm sure he'd be happy and proud too, but he's saying the real mark of our progress is regular title and CL challenges. He wants us to get there. If we do, we'll probably see a fair few FA Cup Finals and League Cups as well.
 
Is it going to lead to less chance of success though? He's managing the expectations of fans, letting them know that young players will be playing tonight. And he's taking the pressure off those players while reinforcing the standards he is setting as a club. They'll still work as hard to try to win.

I was arguing the same thing a couple months back when the whole 'they need to win a trophy' thing was swirling around. He's just challenging that notion too. Dele Alli or any other player isn't going to stay here if we win an FA Cup or a League Cup, and it's not a real marker of our success. It's great, and I'm sure he'd be happy and proud too, but he's saying the real mark of our progress is regular title and CL challenges. He wants us to get there. If we do, we'll probably see a fair few FA Cup Finals and League Cups as well.

I do not disagree with most of that to be honest, but i have heard that said ( bolded bit) many times over the last several years and our cabinet is still empty.
 
Is the pressure getting to Poch? He seems to me to be a bit techy lately and well below the standards he has set in the past. Losing his cool at press conferences. Criticising referees. Asking how many goals Dembele has scored. Saying that "the specialists" are better than the rest. Stating domestic cup competitions are irrelevant.

Strange behaviour indeed. Maybe the Toby and Dele contract situations are really getting to him? Something definitely seems to be unsettling him at the moment.
 
People going on about resting players every time we have a cup tie against a lower down team; Poch has used the same approach all the time and we have been to 1 league cup final and got knocked out in the FA Cup semi final last season. Rotation worked just fine in the early rounds of those cup runs, but our best XI didn't get it done in those later games.

I know, let's play the strongest XI possible v Barnsley, then play them again v West Ham in the early kickoff on Saturday, then flog those lazy bastards again against Apoel on Tuesday, then send the same team out to Huddersfield in the next game. If we do that all season, then we'll win nothing, finish about 7th and all our best players will phuck off in the summer. But at least we'll have won some moral argument about going for a trophy.
 
People going on about resting players every time we have a cup tie against a lower down team; Poch has used the same approach all the time and we have been to 1 league cup final and got knocked out in the FA Cup semi final last season. Rotation worked just fine in the early rounds of those cup runs, but our best XI didn't get it done in those later games.

I know, let's play the strongest XI possible v Barnsley, then play them again v West Ham in the early kickoff on Saturday, then flog those lazy bastards again against Apoel on Tuesday, then send the same team out to Huddersfield in the next game. If we do that all season, then we'll win nothing, finish about 7th and all our best players will phuck off in the summer. But at least we'll have won some moral argument about going for a trophy.

I don't think anyone is saying don't rest a few players. The problem for me is what Poch has said about winning this competition. It is hardly motivational for those that are playing. Silly thing to say imo.
 
I don't think anyone is saying don't rest a few players. The problem for me is what Poch has said about winning this competition. It is hardly motivational for those that are playing. Silly thing to say imo.

He hasn't said anything that people don't say/know already; that we'd like to win a cup, but our priority is trying to compete for the league and do the best we can in the champions league. He's not gonna do anything different to when we got to the semis of the FA Cup last season, we'll rotate against lesser teams and if we get to the business end, put out a stronger side.
 
He hasn't said anything that people don't say/know already; that we'd like to win a cup, but our priority is trying to compete for the league and do the best we can in the champions league. He's not gonna do anything different to when we got to the semis of the FA Cup last season, we'll rotate against lesser teams and if we get to the business end, put out a stronger side.

But he did dismiss this competition and the FA Cup - he said the only competitions we were interested in winning were the PL and the ECL.

That is what I think was so stupid - especially as most of us would love to win ANY tournament. Everyone says the first tournament is the most difficult to win. If we had already won a few domestic trophies then I wouldn't have any problem with what he has said. But to say it now is just the height of stupidity.
 
But he did dismiss this competition and the FA Cup - he said the only competitions we were interested in winning were the PL and the ECL.

That is what I think was so stupid - especially as most of us would love to win ANY tournament. Everyone says the first tournament is the most difficult to win. If we had already won a few domestic trophies then I wouldn't have any problem with what he has said. But to say it now is just the height of stupidity.

Unless there has been a different interview since the one I saw (where he mentioned Wigan) then he said that of course we would love to win the league cup or FA Cup, but the league and champions league are our priority.
 
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