On May 27 2014, Saints’ world was rocked.

It was confirmed that Mauricio Pochettino had left the club and been appointed as the new manager at Tottenham.

It brought to an end months of uncertainty and speculation over his future and left the club at a crossroads.

Saints had just equalled their best ever Premier League era finish of eighth, and had a host of players bound for the World Cup who were coveted by other sides.

With the manager having now departed, Saints were staring down the barrel.

More rocky moments lay ahead as players were sold before Ronald Koeman was appointed as the new manager and the rebuilding job began.

Some six games into this season, Saints are second in the Premier League and spirits are high at St Mary’s once again.

This weekend will see Saints travel to White Hart Lane to face their former manager for the first time.

Fans have been asking whether this might have all turned out for the best anyway, so here at the Daily Echo we take at look at Pochettino and Koeman head-to-head.

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Pochettino: They certainly weren’t the best, albeit that wasn’t entirely his fault.

Pochettino was appointed the same day as the sacking of the very popular, and successful, Nigel Adkins was confirmed.

It seemed like an odd move given that Saints were finding a path to Premier League safety, and a cold and callous way to treat a manager who had offered a lot.

It didn’t seem much better when Pochettino confirmed he had been watching Saints for a while.

To fans, it seemed that Saints had replaced a successful manager with an unknown quantity, who couldn’t even speak English, in a rather unkind way.

Koeman: His appointment was completely the opposite.

Saints were desperate for someone to come and steady the ship with Pochettino gone and players leaving.

They needed an authoritative figure to take charge and Koeman was exactly the man for that job.

He kept his head down for a while, shying away from speaking publically while he got to grips with things. It did make people a little anxious but it worked out well for him.

 

TACTICS

Pochettino: It was a gradual shift that Pochettino made towards the way he wanted his side to play.

He stuck with the 4-2-3-1 formation that Adkins had introduced after promotion to the Premier League, but certainly wanted to play it in a very different way.

During his time, Saints became synonymous for a very high pressing, high tempo style.

They could play on the deck or go direct. Whatever, they certainly served up some exciting football.

Pochettino was considered a superb tactician and the football witnessed at St Mary’s was some of the best the club had ever produced.

Koeman: He hasn’t tried to reinvent the wheel, though there are a few subtle differences.

The formation is certainly a lot more fluid.

Saints have looked at their best this season when Koeman has also employed the 4-2-3-1 as a base.

The addition of Sadio Mane might well see them stick with this.

In terms of pure style, Saints are not all that dissimilar to last season – and have proved to be very exciting too – but they do play a little more possession football now.

Koeman has also built from the back and Saints look pretty secure in defence.

 

RESULTS

Pochettino: Easier to judge as he had 18 months in which to make his mark.

He managed to win over the doubters early on with a couple of high profile scalps at home, though in truth Saints finished the season about where they seemed likely to under Adkins.

However, his full season in charge was the one where he really had an impact.

Saints got off to a flyer and, though things did fizzle out a little, which in part led to the itchy feet that saw manager and players depart, an eighth place was a superb campaign and one that will live long in the memory.

Koeman: Really early days to judge, far too early really.

All we can say is so far, so good.

With the fixtures they had, Saints could not afford a stuttering start while players gelled together.

They have avoided that and have taken 13 points from their first six matches, a fantastic return.

They have also made progress in the Capital One Cup, including a fabulous win away at Arsenal.

Rapport with the squad Pochettino: There is no doubt he had a brilliant relationship with his players.

He was like one of them, he seemed to understand them, and they certainly felt that he did.

Even when a few cracks started to emerge, he smoothed them over pretty quickly.

His tactic was very much to stay close to the players. Pochettino was like one of their gang, their friend.

His style of play demanded a massive workrate and he managed to keep the players onboard with that and pull together a squad that were prepared to fight for him and for each other.

It was a large reason for their success.

Koeman: Very much his own man.

Of course, this early on and with so many new faces around, people are still trying to find their roles in the new set-up.

It seems that Koeman has a different approach to Pochettino.

He is slightly more detached, which many would say is a good thing when it comes to building a team not to have success for just one season but over a longer period.

Koeman is an authoritative figure with a self assurance that a career at the very top level brings.

Certainly for that, he has the respect of the players.

If pro footballers can sometimes think ‘show us your medals’ then the manager can outshine most of his charges put together.

 

SIGNINGS

Pochettino: The two managers have operated in the transfer market largely under different regimes.

One thing you never quite know in modern day football is how many signings are down purely to the boss, and how many come from other areas.

However, we can only judge on the assumption that the manager always has the final say, as that is what you are told.

Therefore, you have to say Pochettino’s record was hit and miss.

The highest profile capture of his time, Dani Osvaldo, the club’s record signing, was a total disaster.

Pochettino had managed him before and thought he could handle him, but it backfired spectacularly.

Dejan Lovren was a massive success, putting in a good season before yielding a huge profit, while £12m Victor Wanyama is still finding his feet.

Koeman: It is possible that some of his signings could get found out as teams get wise to Saints and they lose the surprise factor.

But at this stage he looks to have made some superb additions.

Saints certainly have a lot more depth to their squad, with two quality options for pretty much every position.

The goalkeeping area has been improved, the back four looks stronger now than last season, holding midfield hasn’t changed, attacking midfield has been a revelation while Graziano Pelle is banging in the goals and committing the memory of Rickie Lambert to the past.

The biggest question mark was over the size of the £12m fee paid for Shane Long, but he is a quality addition to the squad regardless.

 

MEDIA

Pochettino: The most obvious thing to point out is that Pochettino conducted all his interviews through an interpreter.

This did agitate fans, who really wanted to feel like they could make a connection to their manager. But it was something they never truly had because of that barrier.

In terms of what he actually said, Pochettino was very considered and very interesting too.

It was an interesting decision to keep the interpreter, though – his answers would not have been as good without him, but he may have got closer to the supporters.

He was popular with the press, always a friendly figure, chatting openly before and after his briefings and not afraid to tackle any subject thrown at him.

But the lack of English made it very much a mixed bag overall.

Koeman: Like Pochettino, he is not a native English speaker. But unlike his predecessor, he insists on conducting all press engagements in English.

It is a marked difference.

Koeman is certainly a different character.

There is none of the small talk or friendly chatter, it is all very businesslike.

However, he is already proving popular amongst the media who appreciate his straight talking.

Koeman has certainly been quickly deemed honest and trustworthy.

That is a big thing.

His handling of the Morgan Schneiderlin situation was a masterclass. He was simply superb.

Koeman was always transparent and that gained him a lot of kudos and respect, and also ensured that most people didn’t go fishing around stirring up trouble in the absence of any genuine information.

 

COMPASSION FOR THE CLUB

Pochettino: If there was one major criticism of Pochettino, it would have to fall under this category.

You were never entirely sure whether he bought into a genuine affinity with the club, or whether it was part of a career path.

The fact he moved so soon to Tottenham supported the latter theory.

You cannot really blame him, he is a career manager, that is his job and he is a very ambitious person who wants to get to the top quickly.

And in getting noticed elsewhere, he also delivered some great results for Saints who also benefitted as a result.

He also knows if you get a few bad results you could be sacked, so you have to capitalise while your stock is high.

However, that doesn’t necessarily endear you to anybody close to the club.

Pochettino, particularly, seemed to show this side to him when it came to the cup competitions.

The team he fielded at Sunderland in the FA Cup, despite his insistence that it wasn’t a weakened side, was met by anger from fans.

Who knows what the truth of all that was, but it was certainly a big disappointment for the supporters.

Koeman: You never really know what anybody else is thinking, but after the career he has had Koeman appears a man just happy and satisfied to be at Saints.

He doesn’t look like he is using it as a stepping stone.

The Dutchman has nothing to prove to anybody, and you get the impression he knows it.

Koeman has shown grace and humility in being the frontman over a tough few months, most of which had nothing whatsoever to do with him.

Also he has surely spotted Pochettino’s possible misjudgement and set himself up as an opposite force, actually targeting a cup run, initially with the Capital One Cup where he has fielded very strong sides.

He rightly deduces that Saints are going to struggle to finish a season in the top six.

But to reach a major cup final, and maybe even win it, would be a truly momentous and wonderful day in the club’s history.

It shows an empathy, compassion and understanding for his surroundings, and a respect for the club.

 

VERDICT

It’s too early to definitively judge Koeman, but he has made a very impressive start.

What will certainly be interesting is to see what progress Pochettino has made at Tottenham up against the team that Koeman has assembled.

Pochettino did do a fine job at St Mary’s and his acrimonious exit shouldn’t detract from the memory of that.

But there is a feeling now that all of this happened at the right time.

Despite all the angst of the summer, Saints have been able to start afresh.

Now things are happy and positive and looking up again.

Saints feel refreshed and reinvigorated and it’s an intoxicating and heady mix with everybody connected with the club just enjoying the ride.