‘He needs time’: Sky Sports pundit issues verdict on much-criticised Spurs man

Add as preferred source on Google

Sky Sports pundit Paul Robinson believes that Tottenham Hotspur head coach Jose Mourinho should be given time at Spurs despite the increasing pressure on him, making a comparison with Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Tottenham’s season continues to go from bad to worse, with Mourinho’s charges now winless in six games, their last hope of silverware having now disappeared, and their hopes of qualifying for Europe getting slimmer by the week.

On Tuesday, Spurs headed to RB Leipzig in the Champions League last 16 hoping to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but ended up conceding twice in the first 21 minutes of the encounter in Germany and eventually losing 3-0 on the night, 4-0 on aggregate.

As a result, an increasing number of Tottenham fans have been calling for the Spurs board to act decisively in relieving Mourinho of his duties, but former Tottenham and England goalkeeper Robinson believes things “can and will change” by giving a manager time.

“Mourinho has got his work cut out, he knows that and he needs to reassess in the summer,” Robinson told Sky Sports. “It’s a short time that he’s been brought in, results haven’t been that bad, performances haven’t been great but he needs time.

“You look at Solskjaer at Manchester United, they were calling for his head very early on in his reign, six months into his reign they were doing the same, only now are you starting to see shoots of fruition of what he’s trying to do.

“If you give a manager time and you believe in that manager, then things can and will change. Mourinho’s been brought in to do a job, give him transfer windows and time to allow him to do this job.”

TBR View:

Robinson is not wrong – while Spurs have been on a woeful run, many of the same problems were prevalent while Mauricio Pochettino was at the helm.

The Argentine previously spoke of Tottenham’s squad needing a “painful” rebuild before the end of last season (Evening Standard) and overcoming “different agendas” (BBC Sport).

Getting rid of Mourinho at this stage would be extremely short-sighted, given a new manager would still have the same problems to deal with.

As bad as things are right now, the team has to tread water until the end of the season and then Mourinho can look to make the most of the transfer window.