Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino rejects links with Tottenham job

 

Mauricio Pochettino

Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino has moved to quash rumours linking him with the Tottenham managers’ post, claiming he has had no contact with North London club.

Spurs are without a manager currently after sacking Andre Villas-Boas following last weekend’s humiliation at the hands of Liverpool, their worst home defeat for 16 years, and Pochettino has been heavily linked with a move to White Hart Lane to replace him.

But the Argentine has claimed he has heard nothing from Spurs as of yet and he is very happy at Southampton, having endured a good relationship with the fans and chairman, Nicola Cortese, since arriving in January of this year, with his control over signings being key to his current enjoyment of his role.

Rumours surfaced that Villas-Boas didn’t okay a number of signings he was saddled with, with sporting director Franco Baldini having a lot of influence in that department, but Pochettino has enjoyed full control over the ins and outs at the Saints.

“As a manager, what’s really important is that the sporting aspect is under my control, in terms of signings.

“Without my agreement, no signings go through and those two basic things are very important for any manager.”

Southampton host Spurs on Sunday and will hope to cause further pain to their visitors as they look to arrest their own slump in form that has seen them fail to win any of their last five league games.

Despite earning a number of plaudits for his style at Southampton, the Saints have averaged a worse passing accuracy than Spurs and have created 60 fewer chances than their struggling counterparts. There’s no guarantee he would ease the frustration surrounding White Hart Lane currently.