Pochettino chants unjustified

Supporters are great for burying their heads in the sand and reporters often pander to that just as an article in the Basingstoke Gazette does. Basingstoke, for those that don't know, is a large town in northeast Hampshire.

Pochettino chants unjustified


The Gazette tell us that Hoddle left Southampton to manage Tottenham and only later in the piece admit it was understandable Hoddle returning to his 'spititual home'. They then tell us that Mauricio Pochettino left Saints because he saw Tottenham as a bigger club offering him a better chance to climb the managerial ladder.

That is rather simplistic. From what I understand the club refused to give him assurances in January that the project he had agreed to embark on was still going to be adhered to with a new regime in charge and they also refused to give assurances to the players. Thus Pochettino had decided in January he was going to leave when an opportunity presented itself.

Tottenham became that opportunity so Spurs didn't steal him away from Southampton, they pushed him out the door themselves. The chip Southampton have on their shoulder is summed up in a few paragraph from the article.

"It goes without saying that it would be remarkably amusing to most football fans – not just the Saints-supporting ones – if Pochettino’s former club finish above his current one in 2014/15. 
"The St Mary’s faithful might not realistically expect Ronald Koeman’s new-look team to finish above a Liverpool one containing Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert, or above a Manchester United squad containing Luke Shaw, or even above an Arsenal one containing Calum Chambers (and Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain). 
"But finishing above Tottenham? That is a far more realistic possibility, and a fairly mouth-watering one for them as well. 
"Football fans have remarkably long memories when it suits them, and the manner of Pochettino’s departure from Saints left a bitter taste in the mouth. 
"Especially when Dejan Lovren said in the summer that the players knew last April there was a high chance Pochettino would be leaving as soon as the season finished.
"Pochettino showed Saints little compassion and respect in the first few months of 2014, regularly failing to commit himself to the club when asked at press conferences and then scooting off almost as soon as the dust had settled on 2013/14." 

The fact the players all knew he was going to be leaving at the end of the season and the fact he refused to commit himself, even in January to Southampton, clearly tells the supporters and reporters that he was not happy with what he'd been told by the hierarchy, which has nothing to do with Tottenham.

I'm sure there are many sensible Southampton fans rather than the mindless minority directing chants at Pochettino at White Hart Lane of Sunday, embarrassing their club. We have our mindless minority who get a kick out of hating people, it changes nothing.

These Southampton fans got their just deserts, nothing.