What Spurs Fans Want: Why Pochettino Needs To Return
Tottenham’s season continues to confound, with a disappointing Premier League campaign in stark contrast to impressive Champions League results.
Spurs fans endured a similar situation last season, with a 17th-placed league finish being accompanied by a Europa League victory under Ange Postecoglou.
The Aussie boss was relieved of his duties in the aftermath, and with unrest and impatience among supporters, Thomas Frank could be facing the same fate.
Last weekend's disappointing draw with Burnley made it five league games without a win, leaving them in 14th place, 10 points off the top four and eight points above the relegation zone.
It leaves the former Brentford boss in a precarious position, and you can now find odds on the next Tottenham manager with some betting sites.
Frank's side face Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday, knowing that a win will see them qualify automatically for the last 16 of the Champions League.
It will be another match that will have a bearing on Frank's future, but if the club decide to make a change, they should avoid a panicked big-name appointment at this stage of the season.
They need someone to steady the ship until May, then make the real decision in the summer.
That’s why an interim (ideally an ex-player or trusted club stalwart) makes sense, similar to how Manchester United have handed the reins to Michael Carrick as caretaker until the summer before appointing a manager to lead them into the future.
Some fans and pundits, including former Spurs striker Louis Saha, believe the problems at the club are not all down to the manager, with the recruitment team also having questions to answer.
Speaking exclusively to casino comparison site Gambling.com, Saha said: "In my opinion, they have not purchased the right players. They want to play attacking football, but they play with two sitting midfielders with very similar profiles.
"They are good players, but not in a way that you need to dominate midfield. So there are many kinds of choices that they have to make."
When this season ends, and it is time to appoint a new boss, the best answer may well be the one man that Spurs fans have been shouting for years: Mauricio Pochettino.
Priced at 7/2 with betting apps, he is also realistically not going to leave the USA job before this summer's World Cup on home soil, so the timing lines up perfectly with a summer return rather than a mid-season rescue mission.
Poch Popular With Spurs Faithful
Pochettino’s first spell at Spurs wasn’t perfect, but he managed to turn Spurs into consistent top-four contenders, finished Premier League runners-up in 2016/17, and took the club to their first-ever Champions League final.
There may not have been trophies, but he gave Tottenham an identity - high-energy, aggressive, brave - and most importantly, a determination to win games in more ways than one.
Since leaving in 2019, he’s added big-club experience at PSG (including domestic trophies) and then returned to the Premier League with Chelsea before taking over the US men's team, so he’d be coming back with even more varied experience.
If Spurs want a manager who would instantly boost the atmosphere and feeling among the crowd and players, Pochettino is the man who could instil the belief that has been missing far too often this season.
Next Tottenham Manager Odds:
Manager | Odds | Probability |
Robbie Keane | 3/1 | 25% |
Xavi Hernandez | 3/1 | 25% |
Mauricio Pochettino | 7/2 | 22.2% |
Xabi Alonso | 4/1 | 20% |
Oliver Glasner | 6/1 | 14.3% |
Ruben Amorim | 6/1 | 14.3% |
Enzo Maresca | 12/1 | 7.7% |
Marco Silva | 12/1 | 7.7% |
Jurgen Klopp | 16/1 | 5.9% |
Andoni Iraola | 16/1 | 5.9% |
Roberto De Zerbi | 20/1 | 4.8% |
Former Barca Boss Backed
Xavi Hernandez is currently out of work after leaving Barcelona in 2024, and his availability is a big part of why he’s the co-favourite in the market at 3/1.
At Barca, he delivered a Liga title and the Spanish Super Cup, showing he can handle elite-level pressure while embedding a possession-based style and blooding young players.
For Tottenham, that Barca style would appeal, especially with a squad that has often looked best when on the front foot.
The obvious question is whether the former midfield maestro could adapt to the rigours of the Premier League, having coached only in his native land so far.
Keane Fondly Remembered
Robbie Keane has been backed into co-favourite at 3/1 for the next Spurs manager, a testament to the huge emotional pull he still holds among the Tottenham faithful.
After retirement, he transitioned into coaching, with assistant spells with the Republic of Ireland, Middlesbrough and Leeds, before winning a league title with Maccabi Tel Aviv in his first full-time managerial role.
More success has followed as coach of Hungarian champions Ferencvaros, but he may now be ready to make a return to the Premier League.
While his managerial CV is still developing compared with other contenders and he lacks Premier League management experience, Keane’s deep Spurs connection would bring a feel-good factor that few other candidates can match.
Alonso Available
Xabi Alonso is available after recently leaving Real Madrid, having previously built his reputation with an historic unbeaten Bundesliga title-winning season at Bayer Leverkusen.
His Leverkusen and Madrid sides were tactically flexible, which is exactly the kind of modern, adaptable coaching profile Spurs have been crying out for.
The former Liverpool player, 4/1 in the betting, has shown the ability to raise both performance levels and player value, and he would likely be welcomed by beleaguered Spurs fans.
He is reported to be in talks with Eintracht Frankfurt about returning to the Bundesliga, so the Tottenham hierarchy will need to move quickly if they think Alonso is the right man for the job.
Glasner A Good Fit
Oliver Glasner is still in the job at Crystal Palace right now, but has confirmed he will leave at the end of the current season, which immediately makes him one of the most realistic options on the list.
He already has a proven 'cup-winner' profile, having led Frankfurt to the Europa League in 2022 and Palace to their first major trophy, the FA Cup, last season.
From a Tottenham perspective, his teams are typically intense and direct when needed, a blend that can play well in England when the fixtures pile up.
Spurs fans tend to respect managers who can improve the group quickly, and if the club decide they want the least chaotic route back to being hard to play against, Glasner (6/1) feels like one of the most realistic answers.
Other Names In The Running
Ruben Amorim (6/1) is another manager who is newly available after leaving Manchester United, but Spurs fans may worry about his failure to adapt to Premier League football at Old Trafford.
Enzo Maresca (12/1) is also free after Chelsea replaced him with Liam Rosenior, and his possession-heavy approach would be a stylistic choice Spurs would need to fully commit to.
Elsewhere, Fulham boss Marco Silva (12/1) is a dependable Premier League option and has been linked to Spurs on a few occasions in the past.
Andoni Iraola (16/1) continues to impress with Bournemouth, getting results despite consistently losing his star players, including Antoine Semenyo to Man City.
Jurgen Klopp is a surprise name on the list of candidates, but his odds have drifted from 12/1 to 16/1.
The German is now Red Bull’s Head of Global Soccer, but is also being linked to Real Madrid after the Spanish side sacked Alonso.
Ex-Brighton and current Marseille boss Roberto De Zerbi (20/1) would be an exciting appointment, with his style of play being easy on the eyes, as well as being successful.
When you strip it back to what Spurs need - instant connection, clear identity and a proven history at the club - none of those names match Pochettino.
If he’s realistically a summer option after the World Cup, the plan should be simple: survive this season with an interim boss, then bring Poch home.
* Reminder: These are hypothetical odds provided by industry experts.
Do you think Tottenham should bring back Pochettino, or who would you like to see in charge? Let us know in the comments below!
