OPINION
Former Tottenham Chairman Lord Alan Sugar has claimed that if Mauricio Pochettino wins the Champions League this season, he could overtake the achievements of legendary manager Bill Nicholson
However, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Tottenham produced a miraculous comeback against Ajax on Wednesday after a second half hat-trick from Lucas Moura sent them to a record breaking first Champions League final.
Sugar told talkSPORT: “Bill Nic was the great and if Poch wins the Champions League he would have to go on and win the Premier League one day, and then I suppose he might overtake Bill. You never know.”
The Champions League trophy would be the first piece of silverware under Pochettino and the club’s first triumph since the League Cup in 2008.
The truth is, is that Pochettino is no where near overtaking Nicholson as one of Tottenham’s greats even if he does win the Premier League alongside the potential Champions League triumph.
Bill Nicholson has had a hand in nine of their 15 trophies post war, with eight of those being as manager of the club. Two of those wins came in Europe and to compare Pochettino to him is extremely premature.
As a singular achievement, this potential Champions League triumph would be one of the best at the club with Pochettino having to do this spending no money.
Although miraculous, Pochettino is streets behind Nicholson who oversaw his Tottenham side become the first English side to win a European trophy.
Pochettino can only be mentioned in the conversation of best manager if he wins more than just the one trophy, even if that one is the Champions League.