Bilic finds barbs are no bother
MAURICIO Pochettino has told Eric Dier to carry on being Mr Versatile, and warned off Manchester United from trying to sign the player Tottenham have forged into a £40 million England star.
United manager Jose Mourinho has identified Dier as a potential summer recruit, with the aim of using the former Sporting Lisbon player in midfield, where the 23-year-old has told friends he prefers to operate.
Dier is currently being used in the centre of defence at Tottenham, while under England’s new manager Gareth Southgate he has featured in a defensive midfield role in the past two matches against Germany and Lithuania.
But Pochettino, whose side are second in the table and 10 points behind leaders Chelsea as they prepare to face Burnley at Turf Moor tomorrow, says it is he and Spurs who have made Dier the player he is now, and he loves his versatility.
“We have provided all the tools for Eric to be a Premier League player,” said Pochettino. “Right now for us he is playing as a centre-back.
“But it is a good thing that Eric can play in different positions, like a midfielder, centre-back or full-back.
“People get a bit confused sometimes. When we signed Eric, we signed him as a player with potential.
“In my first game in charge at West Ham he started as a centre-back, and he scored.
“That season, he played fullback, centre-back but never as a midfielder.
“In the summer, we were looking for a midfielder and we had plenty of options but I decided to play him there. I created a system that he felt comfortable in. Eric moved in front, and without the ball he tried to press and play like a midfielder.
“Then we signed Victor Wanyama, but we had some injuries, and Eric was the perfect player to play as a centre-back. He can play in different positions and he is doing well in every one.”
Dier is not the only one being linked with a move away from White Hart Lane.
Pochettino was spotted in a Barcelona restaurant with Nou Camp president Josep Maria Bartomeu, which led to inevitable whispers of a switch to the Catalan capital.
He has been linked with the job ever since current Barca boss
We signed Eric as a player with potential
JOEY BARTON may yet be allowed to complete the season with Burnley despite a betting charge that threatens him with a lengthy ban.
The midfielder pleaded guilty last month after the FA accused him of breaking their rules by making 1,260 football bets over a 10-year period. He is widely FACING BAN: Joey Barton admitted breaking rules expected to get a suspension, as Crystal Palace winger Andros Townsend was given a fourmonth ban for breaking betting rules in June 2013 while with Tottenham – although he served only one month.
Barton requested a personal hearing to put across his case, which was due to take place on March 8 but postponed because the FA’s chief investigator in the case fell ill.
The governing body have still not told Burnley of a new date for the hearing – and would be expected to give about three weeks’ notice if one was set.
It means, at the very least, Barton will be able to keep on playing well into April. FA rules bar players in the top eight tiers of the English game from placing any football-related bets. Barton, 34, joined Burnley for a second spell in January on a deal that runs until the end of the season.
That came after he left Turf Moor last May for a short and turbulent spell with Scottish Premiership side Rangers. He signed a two-year contract at Ibrox but the deal was cut short in November after a fallout with the club’s thenmanager Mark Warburton. SLAVEN BILIC says he does not feel undermined by West Ham’s vocal owners amid mounting speculation about his job.
The Croat has seen a host of names touted as potential summer replacements at the London Stadium, including Newcastle’s Rafa Benitez, former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini, Jaap Stam of Reading and Huddersfield’s David Wagner.
And the speculation has coincided with repeated public criticism by co-owner David Sullivan, who used the club’s website to make his comments after defeats by Bournemouth and Leicester this month and even issued an apology to the fans for the latter reverse.
That prompted former Hammers defender Tony Gale to declare that Sullivan had “got it exactly wrong” and should keep quiet. But Bilic said he had no problem with Sullivan, co-owner David Gold or vice-chairman Karren Brady, all of whom are highly active on social media.
“They are locals, they are West Ham, they talk to the papers, Twitter, Instagram,” said Bilic.
“But I’m a really strong person and I have no problem with that. I have a good relationship with both chairmen.
“I don’t love that to be in the papers but there is something in between not liking it and being worried about it and I am not worried.”