Mauricio Pochettino has been the best Tottenham Hotspur manager since Keith Burkinshaw won the UEFA Cup and two FA Cups in the 1980's.
The Argentine bossed Spurs to a title race showdown with Leicester City in 2016, guided the club to a second place finish in the Premier League in 2017, their highest since 1963 - and then brought them on a hugely emotional run to the Champions League Final back in June.
The North London club lost 2-0 to Liverpool in Madrid, but they made history by playing in their first European Cup decider.
In other words, Tottenham owe Pochettino nothing apart from a huge debt of gratitude.
The club is on a sound footing, having announced a world record profit of £113 million last April. Refinancing has just been agreed on the new, state-of-the-art Tottenham Hotspur stadium, one of the best in the world, with bonds to mature between 15 and 30 years.
If you take Chairman Daniel Levy out of the conversation for a moment, Pochettino dominates the football side of the club and is under contract until 2023. It is likely he will be given time to put his squad through a new cycle.
It's becoming clear this is required, as Pochettino has admitted the panel is 'unsettled' and that there are 'different agendas' at the club. He cuts a frustrated figure.
Christian Eriksen didn't get the move he wanted in the summer transfer window and the futures of defenders Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Danny Rose are uncertain.
It seems to be seeping into the team's play, as Spurs have only won two of eight games since the resumption of the campaign in August.
Something just isn't right, and it's dawning on everyone.
Tottenham’s record since mid-Feb: P26 W8 D6 L12 — and that’s with tonight’s embarrassment at Colchester classed as a draw rather than the defeat it ultimately was. They somehow got to a Champions League final in the midst of that run, but something really isn’t right #thfc
— Oliver Kay (@OliverKay) September 24, 2019
Something isn't right with the form of 2019 that evidences stagnation. Something isn't right with a once rock solid defence. Something isn't right with the squad circling the wagons before the Crystal Palace game, hammering the Eagles 4-0 and then failing to follow up away to Olympiakos.
It would have been unthinkable in June that Pochettino wouldn't be at White Hart Lane for an era, to build a dynasty and to establish Tottenham as consistent top dogs in London.
However, football is a fickle, fast moving beast.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Zinedine Zidane are under pressure for different reasons at Manchester United and Real Madrid and Pochettino could be an attractive proposition for either club if the South American feels he has taken Tottenham as far as he can.
If that happened, hypothetically, who would be in the frame?
The obvious name that springs to mind is Jose Mourinho.
Tottenham haven't won any silverware under Pochettino, are without a trophy since 2008 and Mourinho is a master at winning trophies. The fans are hungry to win things.
The share price of the Portuguese may not be as high as it was following his experiences at Old Trafford and the Bernabeu, but Mourinho, who lives in London, could jump at the chance for a job like Tottenham. He is a manager of underdogs, as his Champions League winning ventures with Porto and Inter Milan demonstrated.
It's a crystal ball theory and Pochettino may be at Tottenham for the long haul, but stranger things have happened.
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