Report this comment
  • "
    St Retford wrote:
    ramptonfromsouthampt

    on     wrote:
    St Retford wrote:
    ramptonfromsouthampt



    on     wrote:
    fairdinkum wrote:
    St Retford wrote:
    Espanyol produced FIFTEEN internationals in the best national team ever assembled? That's amazing and clearly MP has a lot to offer us.

    But, equally, that side of things isn't really the job of the 'first team coach' in the Saints set up, is it? MP's job will be to manage the first team, no? Maybe he's been brought in with the long-term aim of ultimately replacing Lou Reed (and I know that's not his real name) as director of football? I hope so anyway.
    Nice One. Lou Reed for Director of Matchday Music. Something for all moods, but especially Perfect Day to send us home after every good result. Royalties waived.
    Hehe, well if Lou Reed's matchday special is 'Transformer' perhaps he can get Nicola to do a special rendition of 'Make Up' to show he does actually have a heart and isn't really the bad guy. (I decided to ignore the first track, 'Vicious' for obvious reasons...)
    Erm, something about heroin and bumming, something, something...
    And, er something from the Velvet's drummer, Mo Tucker about our centre back pairing - 'Half Japanese'... yes, very obscure I know.
    Apparently she (as so many do) has become a fiendish right-winger in her old age. She might be useful to have on the bench in case Punch takes a knock.
    LMAO!!!"
  • This field is mandatory
  • This field is mandatory

  • Please note we will not accept reports with HTML tags or URLs in them.


  • Enter the above word in the box below

Pep's backing for new Saints boss Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino

First published in Saints News
Last updated

by Joseph Sexton

Mauricio Pochettino’s remarkable work with the Espanyol youth academy helped win him a dream job with Saints – and the backing of ex-Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola!

The 40-year-old Argentinian was sacked by the La Liga club towards the end of last November with Espanyol bottom of the table.

In his last 20 league games with the club, stretching back to the end of last season, the new Saints boss won just three and lost 13.

During his 145 games in the Spanish top flight with Barcelona-based Espanyol, Pochettino’s win ratio was 34 per cent with 44 per cent of games lost.

But it was his work with Espanyol’s academy that mainly attracted him to Saints chairman Nicola Cortese.

Pochettino is held in high regard in Spain, and Bayern Munich boss in waiting Guardiola has said: “I admire him for his ideals, his character. The foundations of his principles are always the same.”

Saints’ academy has produced gems in recent years such as Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale, Alex Chamberlain, Adam Lallana and now Luke Shaw.

But Espanyol’s record is even more impressive, and Pochettino takes a lot of credit for that.

They have produced a remarkable 15 Spanish internationals across all age levels since the turn of the Millennium.

Around forty players currently appearing in Spain’s top two divisions have come from Espanyol.

Cortese has said he wants to build a Barcelona-type model at Saints. Seven of the Barca side that started the 2009 Champions League final were home-grown, and Cortese believes he can oversee such a system at St Mary’s.

Comments (198)

Please log in to enable comment sorting

Comments are closed on this article.

Send us your news, pictures and videos

Keep in touch with local news

Get news alerts sent to your inbox

Most read stories

Local Info

Enter your postcode, town or place name

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree