Spurs Face A Keane Inevitability

Ever since former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino was given his marching orders by Daniel Levy, the former Argentine international defender had long been linked with a return to the club and he has never really actually ruled it out himself, it was largely left as ‘who knows what the future will hold?’

With 159 wins from 293 games and being lauded by Spurs fans for his attractive, and attacking, preference for play, the only thing that stopped his five odd year spell at the club from becoming legendary was simply the lack of trophies and a real tilt at the Premier League trophy – but given the struggles we have had and how fondly Pochettino is still remembered the vast majority of fans would undoubtedly love to see him return to our stadium.

Another firm favourite in the faithful is former Republic of Ireland international attacker Robbie Keane and with two spells at the club and over 200 appearances to his name he is well placed to talk about life at the club and he has done just that in his recent Betway Insider column and Pochettino figured quite heavily.

With current gaffer Ange Postecoglou’s struggles this season that see us sat way down in 14th place in the top flight table, Keane obviously doubts whether on current form (and some well publicised spats with some sections of the fans) he will remain in post following the end of the current campaign but he does not think that the Argentine would return just yet.

Postecoglou does split the fan base as whilst there are issues surrounding his tactics and player preference, we were always going to struggle following the departure of England international striker Harry Kane to German Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, and there is no denying that Son Heung-Min also looks a completely different player without Kane alongside him, and a failure to replace Kane appropriately (always a difficult task) has definitely hamstrung the gaffer, but it is obviously not the only issue we have.

The Pochettino issue, as Keane points to, is that he is contracted up to the United States national side until after the next World Cup, so should he return to us for his next job we would be talking 2026 at the earliest and then the question for the Board and Levy (irrespective of what ultimately happens with our charge for the Europa League trophy) is do we stick or twist come the summer, and if we twist are we potentially appointing for only 12 months?

If so, what happens if the new gaffer hits the ground flying and looks like a major success?

Keane does not have a straight answer to that particular question, but he remains very confident indeed based on knowing Pochettino well and he knows the love and bond both he and his assistant Jesus Perez have, so it really is inevitable in his mind that he will return one day – the only unknown right now is when that day would come.

Whatever happens in Europe, it could be an intriguing summer.