Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has admitted his job could be under threat if the club's form doesn't improve.
Spurs enter tonight's Champions League Group B game against Red Star Belgrade at the new White Hart Lane having only gained three wins from twelve matches in all competitions this season.
The current run is one win from seven and that included a 7-2 European humiliation by Bayern Munich in North London.
Pochettino has been Tottenham's most successful manager of the modern era in terms of consistency, guiding them to last season's Champions League final.
The former Argentina international has a contract until 2023, but with no trophies in his locker and gossip of an unsettled squad, he is under no illusions about the spotlight currently on him:
"No. That is football. I am not surprised. In the same way that people praise you. If you don’t perform in the way people expect, it’s normal. No, I am not surprised. Football is always about to win both today and tomorrow. What happened yesterday is gone. We apply this philosophy to us. Managers and coaching staff always need to think that you need to win, today and tomorrow. That is why sometimes we are too much ahead and the people sometimes believe that ‘ok, come on gaffer, you are thinking too much, too much’. Yes I think too much ahead as if I don’t win, then it doesn't surprise me, this rumour."
However, Pochettino says the current situation isn't giving him sleepless nights:
"I understand it’s the business. I am 47-48, look, why do you think that I don’t have white (hair)? Because I don’t pay attention to this. I only pay attention to what we need to improve our performance. And if we don’t improve our performance, which is the result after? What is going to be the result? Always the same in football. Yes, you are thinking the same as me."
Pochettino played at a World Cup as a defender, and was asked if it particularly hurts to see issues at the back. Spurs have conceded goals in ten games this season:
"I feel pain when we don't score, when we don't play well, not only when we concede. Everyone thinks you were a centre back, you were so tough. The most important thing is the balance and the balance today is not great in the team. We are finding the way to provide the best balance to start to perform in both ways, with and without the ball in the best way."
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