Audere est Facere - to dare is to do.
That’s the motto of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
And in 11 hours from 8.30pm on Tuesday night to 9am on Wednesday, the club certainly lived up to their mission statement.
In that short time, they had sacked coach Maurico Pochettino and replaced him with Jose Mourinho.
It’s a pretty daring move to take such a gamble, not only in the sacking of Pochettino, but in the hiring of Mourinho.
It’s easy to make arguments for both decisions.
But on closer inspection, each move upped the stakes for Spurs.
Firing Poch makes sense when looking at results.
Spurs have lost 20 times in 2019.
Of those defeats, 18 of those matches were in the Premier League, the most of any club in the division. That is relegation form and Poch paid the price.
But at the same time, he took that team to the Champions League final.
And but for a harsh early handball call on Moussa Sissoko for a Liverpool penalty, the Argentine could have made them European champions.
Even without the greatest prize in club football, in his five years in charge, Poch had earned the credit to turn this around.
MASSIVE GAMBLE: Daniel Levy. Picture: Dylan Martinez/EPA.
However, it wasn’t just the results. Star players are looking to move on, while those who don’t, are being forced out.
Danny Rose, Christian Eriksen, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen were all expecting to move on. All key players, all unsettled.
And that’s not Poch’s responsibility with club chairman Daniel Levy calling the shots in recruitment.
With the club investing a reported £1billion in a new stadium and training complex, funds will be more scarce.
In that climate, Poch bought his success in a net spend of just £95m.
With a stale and unhappy squad, the Argentinian was fighting a losing battle.
It’s into this setting that Mourinho comes striding. And it’s not an environment that’s tailor-made for him.
It seems like such a long time ago when a fresh-faced Mourinho made his name with a Porto side that won the Champions League in 2004.
He has won 15 major titles since then. And with a pedigree like that he seems a sure thing to guide the club to a first trophy since 2008 .
But now he just seems toxic.
Look at havoc he left in his wake at Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United.
In a now-predictable of three-year cycles, the Portuguese brings early success before pissing off everyone at the club and spatting.
PROBLEMS: Mauricio Pochettino. Picture: Koca Sulejmanovic/EPA.
Still Spurs have dared to take him on.
With the quality of the playing squad, there is no doubt that Jose can make them a force again.
But reinvigorating the players on the pitch while the club leaves their futures uncertain doesn’t seem possible to me.
Obviously a “new broom” is great, but you can’t just sweep your mess under the carpet.
And before you know it, Jose will be just as frustrated.
Levy is known to be a cheapskate. And while he has reportedly given Jose a contract worth double compared to Poch’s, he will have to indulge the Special One in the transfer market.
The chairman will have to back his boss or his gamble will end in another disaster which will be both totally Spursy and totally Jose.