Fans in the south stand of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium were heard signing Mauricio Pochettino's name following the club's exit from the Champions League. AC Milan knocked the north London side out of the competition after netting the only goal of the tie in the first-leg at the San Siro.
Spurs struggled to garner any momentum in front of their home support and, upon the full-time whistle, Antonio Conte's side were met with a chorus of boos. Tottenham have now failed to win any of their previous five Champions League knockout matches since the 3-2 win over Ajax in May 2019 when Pochettino was in the dugout.
After the booing began to settle, sections of Spurs fanbase were heard chanting the Argentine's name, sending Daniel Levy a clear message regarding Conte's future. The Italian faces an increasingly uncertain future at the club as it is with his contract expiring at the end of the season.
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And, while Tottenham hold the option to extend Conte's stay, it appears that supporters have made their feelings known. Speaking on BT Sport after the game, Rio Ferdinand and Glenn Hoddle issued their verdicts on the Italian's future, with Jermaine Jenas on co-commentary stating it had been "an absolute disaster of an evening" for the club.
"I think the powers that be at the club will sit there at the moment and say well we’re in pole position," the former Manchester United defender said. "Teams have got games in hand around them, yes, but they’ve got the points on the board and they’re sitting in fourth so I think it’d be a bit too early to say, 'right, we’re going to give him the sack'
"But also who’s out there? Who’s gettable? There’s quite a few people out of work at the moment - Thomas Tuchel’s out of work at the moment, would he be a consideration? I don’t know, coming from Chelsea, they’ve done it in the past. All those factors have to be taken into consideration."
Singing from the same hymn sheet, Hoddle claimed that sacking Conte now is too risky. He said: "I think it would be a slight risk now but everyone’s got to sit down together, perhaps they’ve already done it, perhaps they know that maybe Conte isn’t going to stay so they’ve said stay until the season and get us in that top four.
"Obviously they wanted to go through tonight, that might slightly change now but it’s about communication at the level. You’re right, who’s out there?
"There’s talk about Pochettino coming back. That [Pochettino being linked with a return] will happen tonight, won’t it, but it’s when the dust settles you’ve got to look at the bigger picture really.
"Getting into the top four is one thing, that’s what Spurs have got to aim at this season, but it’s a bigger picture than that, much bigger. Is that team then going to go again in the Champions League next year? They need investment into the squad and they need a rebuild."
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