Pochettino beware! Spurs ‘great’ plots Premier League return

Mauricio Pochettino may have just arrived in the White Hart Lane dugout but the Argentine had best not get too comfortable because a Tottenham legend could soon be gunning for his job – Mido.

The 31-year-old was a cult figure for Spurs, scoring 19 goals in 48 appearances for the Lilywhites in the mid-2000s in an otherwise forgettable period in the club’s history.

Upon leaving Tottenham, the Egyptian’s playing career nosedived with fitness concerns hindering his impact at Middlesbrough who paid £6 million for the former Ajax, Marseille and Roma forward and got eight goals in 25 appearances for their troubles.

Loan spells with Wigan, Zamalek, West Ham United and Ajax again followed but the forward’s lack of form soon saw him hang up his boots in search of a new challenge in football management.

It was seen as a strange move – here was a man who, as a player, had encountered problems at almost every turn.

At Ajax, Mido clashed with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who claimed in his book that the Eqyptian “wasn’t exactly a diplomat; he was worse than me” when recalling a heated row between the pair that ended with Mido hurling a pair of scissors at the Swede.

At Marseille, the striker was in trouble again, after being caught speeding en route to a Ligue 1 clash and even at Spurs he courted controversy after comments he made about Sol Campbell were branded “arrogant” and “an insult” by Harry Redknapp.

Describing the then Portsmouth stopper as “one of the easiest defenders” he had played against, Tottenham boss Martin Jol was eventually forced to comment on the situation.

“I have told him to let his football do the talking in the future,” he said at the time.

Even as his playing career began to wind down, Mido was in the thick of the action, taking to Twitter to unleash an expletive-laded “your mum” joke on one user mocking his achievements.

Since moving into management though, Mido has let the football do the talking with his short stint at Zamalek already producing an Egypt Cup success.

But for a man who enjoyed spells with 11 different clubs during a career that was cut short, he was never likely to be one to hang around and after clinching silverware with the Cairo club he has already stepped down.

And speaking after the announcement, Mido made his goals clear.

“My own ambitions are different from those of other Egyptian coaches. I am looking forward to working as a coach in Europe and I have the necessary requirements as I speak five languages,” he said.

With Ladbrokes offering odds of 12/1 on Mido one day taking the reins at White Hart Lane, given Daniel Levy’s habit of hiring and firing at will, stranger things have happened.

At the very least, he can’t be any worse than Christian Gross.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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