Poch might just be starting to wonder if his time is up at Spurs

AS a manager, I’m always going to passionately argue the case for support of anyone this side of the white line.

But come on, you don’t need to be in the dugout to realise the noise surrounding Mauricio Pochettino is just nonsense. He should be sacked? Have these people got the memory of a goldfish?

Tottenham reached the Champions League final five months ago. Before that, their manager has taken them into the top four for the past four years.

Bill Nicholson is the last Spurs manager to do that.

I’ll struggle to support the sacking of any manager if I’m honest. But I’m coming around to the idea that Poch himself may be wondering if he’s done his stint at the club and the time has come to move on.

Loyalty works both ways. Poch has done a fantastic job there on limited money.

He’s produced a brilliant young side and made them a real force in Europe on a net spend of around £90million in five years. Man City have spent getting on for a billion in that time.

I don’t know what he’s thinking at the moment, but I do know there’ll be far more questions inside his own head than anyone else is asking.

One of them will be, how much will paying for the new stadium affect finances? We’ve seen it with Arsenal – all the time they were paying for the Emirates, they were neutered in the transfer market.

It was no coincidence Tottenham spent nothing last season when they were borrowing £700m to cover costs.

Pochettino can question the backing. They’ve got three of their best players running down into the final year of their contracts, another big three 19 months away from a free.

Whatever way you look at it, that tells you they’re not paying the wages.

I wonder if he’s done what he can on that budget – built the best side possible – and losing maybe six of his regular team in the next 18 months, whether he thinks it’s time for someone else to have a go?

He’s taken Spurs as close as you can get without getting over that line to trophies. Sometimes, it takes that final push. I remember saying a few years ago City needed to sort out their defence to win the league under Pep Guardiola…and they went out and spent hundreds of millions on defenders.

Liverpool did the same with Van Dijk and Alisson. A £140m outlay was the difference, it won them the Champions League and the Reds reached the biggest points total in their history. Pochettino must look at that and wonder what he could have done with the same backing.

If Spurs have made a mistake, then it’s playing hard ball with the likes of Christian Eriksen, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen. They’ve missed out on the money that could have given them the final push.

Like Philippe Coutinho’s huge transfer fee paid by Barcelona did for Liverpool.

What is it Kenny Rogers said? ‘ You’ve got to know when to hold ’ em, know when to fold ’ em’. That’s not the manager’s fault.

I also get it that Spurs maybe need a manager at a different stage in his career too.

Pochettino was young and hungry and prepared to work within their financial limitations, build a young side with an emphasis on development.

He’s on a different trajectory now, but maybe Tottenham aren’t.

Maybe they need a young Pochettino again, someone who can work within their budget and develop another young team, promoting from within and nurturing talent.

As I say, it works both ways. But the fact is, despite their struggles in the past few months, no one should be surprised if they go to Anfield today and win.

The past four years tell you they’re capable of that under Poch.