- Sep 2, 2003
- 5,850
- 8,794
So arguably the biggest job in club football has just become available and our manager is obviously a leading contender for it. We should be concerned. While there was a lot of chatter about him going to Madrid in the summer that wasn't nearly as worrying as the vacant Man. United job. Following a manager who has won three successive European Cups is a poisoned chalice, whereas now is possibly the best time for somebody to take on the United job.
For all it's size and economic power, only two managers have ever given United the success that the status of the club probably demands: Matt Busby, who made it what it is, and Alex Ferguson. Everybody else - and there have been some very good managers - has, in relative terms failed. Anybody who takes this United team, in this condition of disarray, and puts the club back at the top of the pile will be revered in the same way that those two previous managers are.
Unfortunately for us, Poch could probably do it. We all know how good he is and unfortunately that isn't our secret. If he were to go to United now, on the back of three failed managers since Ferguson, he would get all of the time and resources that he would need to make them successful again. He would have nothing to lose. If he fails, then it wouldn't be his fault and his reputation would be largely intact: if the 'serial winner' Mourinho couldn't do it then how could Poch be expected to? But if he succeeded, as he probably would, then he would be universally acclaimed as one of the greats.
So, as I said, we should be worried. But would he leave Spurs?
As we all know, and as everybody knows, has transformed us. Like Wenger did when he arrived at the Enemy, he has not only improved our results, he has changed the culture of the club. In his four years we have gone from being a perennial soft touch to a team, and club, that is taken seriously by all of the heavy hitters. Spurs was always a club that could field a good team that, on its day, could get a good result, but it's been decades that we could be considered to be contenders. Now we are. Now we are on the cusp of big things and it is mainly due to our manager and his team.
There are tangible reasons why he should stay. The training facilities are apparently second to none, he will shortly lead us into a world class stadium which will provide the financial muscle for us to consistently compete on economic terms with other trophy-chasing clubs, and he has the support of everybody at the club. From the Chairman right down through the players to us, the fans, I would be amazed if anybody would want him to leave and who would deny him anything that he wanted.
But I don't think these tangible reasons would be enough to keep him. With the exception of a shiny new stadium, United can offer him anything that we can. If he stays, I think it will be about 'legacy'. If he leaves now, he will be the 'nearly man'. The manager who woke the sleeping giant from its slumber and started our journey on the road to tangible success. To winning trophies. Started but didn't finish. Whenever he leaves he will be fondly remembered as the man who changed our fortunes, but will that be enough for him? Espanyol and Southampton remember him as a good manager and didn't want him to leave, but as we're constantly being told, he didn't win anything. If he finishes our journey to the promised land, he will achieve legendary status.
If he wins the league, he will rank up there with Arthur Rowe and (Sir) Bill. If he wins the Champions League, he will be unmatched in our history. It would also raise his reputation higher than it would if he did those same things in Manchester. Others have done them there; but very few, or nobody, has here. Even if he never did anything of note after that, he would always have god-like status here. That means something; and I think and hope that it means something to Poch.
He will never manage Barcelona because of his loyalty to Espanyol. He has dismissed the possibility of managing Arsenal because of his association with Spurs. He is a loyal man. He has values that don't simply include getting the most money or winning the most trophies. That, I believe, is our best hope of him staying. Completing the journey with us would probably mean more to him than winning a few cups elsewhere.
Let's hope so.
For all it's size and economic power, only two managers have ever given United the success that the status of the club probably demands: Matt Busby, who made it what it is, and Alex Ferguson. Everybody else - and there have been some very good managers - has, in relative terms failed. Anybody who takes this United team, in this condition of disarray, and puts the club back at the top of the pile will be revered in the same way that those two previous managers are.
Unfortunately for us, Poch could probably do it. We all know how good he is and unfortunately that isn't our secret. If he were to go to United now, on the back of three failed managers since Ferguson, he would get all of the time and resources that he would need to make them successful again. He would have nothing to lose. If he fails, then it wouldn't be his fault and his reputation would be largely intact: if the 'serial winner' Mourinho couldn't do it then how could Poch be expected to? But if he succeeded, as he probably would, then he would be universally acclaimed as one of the greats.
So, as I said, we should be worried. But would he leave Spurs?
As we all know, and as everybody knows, has transformed us. Like Wenger did when he arrived at the Enemy, he has not only improved our results, he has changed the culture of the club. In his four years we have gone from being a perennial soft touch to a team, and club, that is taken seriously by all of the heavy hitters. Spurs was always a club that could field a good team that, on its day, could get a good result, but it's been decades that we could be considered to be contenders. Now we are. Now we are on the cusp of big things and it is mainly due to our manager and his team.
There are tangible reasons why he should stay. The training facilities are apparently second to none, he will shortly lead us into a world class stadium which will provide the financial muscle for us to consistently compete on economic terms with other trophy-chasing clubs, and he has the support of everybody at the club. From the Chairman right down through the players to us, the fans, I would be amazed if anybody would want him to leave and who would deny him anything that he wanted.
But I don't think these tangible reasons would be enough to keep him. With the exception of a shiny new stadium, United can offer him anything that we can. If he stays, I think it will be about 'legacy'. If he leaves now, he will be the 'nearly man'. The manager who woke the sleeping giant from its slumber and started our journey on the road to tangible success. To winning trophies. Started but didn't finish. Whenever he leaves he will be fondly remembered as the man who changed our fortunes, but will that be enough for him? Espanyol and Southampton remember him as a good manager and didn't want him to leave, but as we're constantly being told, he didn't win anything. If he finishes our journey to the promised land, he will achieve legendary status.
If he wins the league, he will rank up there with Arthur Rowe and (Sir) Bill. If he wins the Champions League, he will be unmatched in our history. It would also raise his reputation higher than it would if he did those same things in Manchester. Others have done them there; but very few, or nobody, has here. Even if he never did anything of note after that, he would always have god-like status here. That means something; and I think and hope that it means something to Poch.
He will never manage Barcelona because of his loyalty to Espanyol. He has dismissed the possibility of managing Arsenal because of his association with Spurs. He is a loyal man. He has values that don't simply include getting the most money or winning the most trophies. That, I believe, is our best hope of him staying. Completing the journey with us would probably mean more to him than winning a few cups elsewhere.
Let's hope so.