Sometimes it is fiendishly difficult to accept Mauricio Pochettino has not won a single trophy in 11 years as a coach.
When you hear suggestions that the incoming Newcastle United owners will be prepared to offer £19million a year for his services, it is almost preposterous to be reminded Pochettino has only taken a team to the final of a knockout competition twice.
One of those was the League Cup – and he lost both those finals without his team scoring a single goal.
When you listen to the revered tone in which the overwhelming majority of Spurs supporters speak of Pochettino, it is tough to come to terms with the fact that his final two seasons saw Tottenham finish 23 and 27 points adrift of the title winners.
But there is little doubt that Pochettino is the hottest managerial free agent out there.
In a shop-window interview to mark the end of his Tottenham gardening leave, he pretty much said so himself.
“We are a coaching staff that is open to listening to all the projects, all the people,” he said, expertly employing the royal ‘we’.
It will not just be very expensive to hire Pochettino, it will cost another packet for his trusted sidekicks.
Should the Saudi Arabian takeover get the go-ahead, as seems likely in the coming few days, Newcastle could probably afford Pochettino and his entourage.
“You always dream of the perfect club, the perfect project,” said Pochettino. “I’m very open to waiting for the seduction of the project rather than the country.”
Offering just shy of an annual 20million quid would be some chat-up line, to be fair, but what are the chances of Pochettino considering Newcastle – even with wealthy new owners – “the perfect club, the perfect project”?
Slim and none – £19m or no £19m.
For making Spurs top-four regulars, for getting them to that Champions League Final, for producing some entertaining football, for playing a key role in developing Tottenham into a club with world-class facilities, Pochettino will consider himself the first cab off the rank for one of Europe’s elite jobs.
It was probably no coincidence on Friday that he recounted an anecdote from the days when he was tipped to take over from Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid.
Newcastle, under new ownership, WOULD be some project. But it would be a long-term one.
Even with owners willing to invest heavily, the road to Big Six territory would be an arduous one.
For all his talk of projects, Pochettino surely wants to crown his coaching career with a trophy or two. And a big trophy or two, at that.
He will want to go to a serial winner.
On the basis he is proven in competing at the top end of the table, albeit without winning it, and that he might be a better draw for top players, you can understand why Pochettino would be considered a more attractive proposition than Steve Bruce for new owners.
But Bruce has done little wrong at St James’ Park and some stability would be ideal in a football world that, like everything other business, faces an unstable future.
He may well be looking for a ‘perfect project’ – but Pochettino and Newcastle are far from the perfect match.
