Tottenham team manager Mauricio Pochettino, whose team will likely miss the Top Four finish in the Premier League this term, is said to be on the way out. Speculations are rife that discussion for the Argentine's eventual departure from the Spurs, which just might happen mid-season.
Pochettino has done well in North London by pushing the Spur to the last four in the past years but it seemed now that Tottenham will be unable to at least replicate the same feat. Privately, the Tottenham board is studying the possibility of letting the head coach go in hopes of reversing the Spurs' continuing slide at the league table, The Daily Mail reported.
"There are growing fears among the club's hierarchy over Pochettino's ability to reinvigorate his players in order to sustain a top-four challenge," the report said.
This was in line with the circulating stories that the embattled Spurs boss has already met with Tottenham executives and the talks centered on exit scenarios.
Pochettino sat down with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy and the topic was the likelihood of change in the manager post, The Telegraph reported.
"Pochettino is heading towards the point of no return at Spurs and it is understood he discussed his position with Levy last week during the international break," according to the same report.
It was indicated too that a sticky point in the discussion was the manner of how Pochettino will make his exit. Sacking the head coach would mean a sudden change for the Spurs and could impact on the club's ongoing season campaign.
In addition, firing Pochettino will mean that Tottenham must give him a severance package that amounts to £12.5 million, which purportedly is the route that the Argentine is inclined to take.
"Levy would prefer not to sack him, not only because of the money but also because of what he has achieved at Tottenham. But Pochettino has made it look like that is what he might prefer," the same report quoted an unnamed source as saying.
In the event that the Spurs boss gets the sudden boot, three candidates have been identified to take over from him, namely Eddie Howe, Julian Nagelsmann, and Carlo Ancelotti. Of the three, it looked like that Ancelotti has the edge as the Italian previously handled managing roles with top clubs such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, and Chelsea.
However, Pochettino losing his post at Tottenham could also lead him to take the same kind of work with other clubs. He has been linked with a possible jump to Manchester United or even out of England, likely with Real Madrid or PSG.
Seeing the Argentine off Tottenham though is something that Harry Redknapp, former manager of the Spurs, doesn't want to see.
"He's a fantastic manager. You are only as good as your players and they need to pick up their form. It would not even come into the equation for me to get rid of him," Metro reported Redknapp as saying.
