BRITAIN’S BEST COLUMNIST FROM ST JAMES’ PARK

MAURICIO POCHETTINO needs a trophy to justify the relentless fuss made of him.

Mauricio Pochettino needs a trophy to warrant his place in the bracket of elite club managers.

Mauricio Pochettino needs a trophy because it has been 11 years since Tottenham Hotspur won one.

Mauricio Pochettino needs a trophy to give the media adoration some sort of solid basis.

Every time Spurs get knocked out of a competition, you hear all this, and more. Over and over again.

Little wonder then that even this m i ld- mannere d individual occasionally looks at his wit’s end.

But maybe he will respond by putting the big one on the table.

In the only two-horse race to ever have three runners, Spurs now gallop along in second.

They are title contenders, make no mistake. After Heung-min Son’s late winner, courtesy of an uncharacteristically poor piece of glove work from Ma r t i n Dubravka (right), Spurs look up only at Liverpool and down at M anche s t e r City.

That might change over the next 48 hours, but they will still be major players.

They have to visit Anfield and the Etihad in the run-in and victories at those venues could dramatically change the hue of the Premier League landscape.

If it all sounds a bit far-fetched, fine, and they have been here before, of course.

But chiselling out this sort of victory will ensure Spurs remain live outsiders for eventual success for a good while yet.

And that in itself is testament to the superb job Pochettino continues to do, especially when you consider the circumstances that might conspire to hinder him.

Take the stadium, for example. Apparently, an announcement on the new arena’s opening date is expected this week.

Believe that when you hear it. We are getting out of Europe quicker than Spurs are getting back to their neck of the woods.

For integrity’s sake, the Premier League should probably now insist Spurs play at Wembley for the rest of the season. But for the sake of match day being a remotely thrilling experience, maybe they should not.

More than likely, it was a lot livelier inside the IKEA down the road than it was inside Wembley.

Tottenham’s record is not bad here – it is now eight wins and four defeats in the league this season – but it is a soulless existence that cannot end soon enough.

That their displacement has dragged on way longer than anticipated is one of those disadvantages Pochettino has had to combat.

Along with not signing a player in two consecutive transfer windows, of course.

Which is why the recent scepticism about his progress has been harsh.

Don’t forget, they had a decent crack at the Carabao Cup and were eliminated from the FA Cup by Premier League opposition in a tie played away from home.

Now, they are part of a triumvirate that has broken away from the other three in the Big Six.

Even if the t i t le doe s , indeed, prove out of reach, that is still no mean feat, particularly when you consider that he is now o perating without England men Harry Kane and Dele Alli. They were missed against a resolutely defensive Newcastle, but, just as they did against Watford in midweek, Spurs and Pochettino found a way to win.

And despite being dormant in the market, when you can bring on the likes of Fernando Llorente, Danny Rose and Eric Dier, the squad is not too shallow.

Whether it is deep enough and good enough to increase momentum in the Premier League, while also facing up to their Champions League challenge, is debatable.

And Pochettino may be more focused on keeping that cushion to the fifth-placed team.

After all, his detractors say, he sees a top four-place as a trophy.

Maybe.

But if he keeps grinding out victories such as this one, he might – as fanciful as it seems – answer those detractors in the most emphatic way imaginable.