Mauricio Pochettino

[Hyperion]

Saints manager has done what seems an excellent job there but nearly a year into his job and he can't answer a question in English........ Or maybe he can but chooses not to.

Either way, I think it's piss poor to be honest.

Aside from that, even at our own club, we have 2 Oscar sidekicks that nobody knows f*ck all about. Personally I am finding our current regime a little bit cloak and dagger from a media point of view.

 

[matt_32510]

He can speak English but doesn't to the media.

 

[joeinbrighton]

He does speak English and has done for some time. He spoke some words in English at a press conference this week. I think it's a confidence thing. People who have learnt a language sometimes get apprehensive speaking in front of an audience in case they say the wrong thing. I'd imagine he's pretty competent with the language away from the cameras and perfectly conversational, but is still nervous speaking in English with all the written and broadcast press in attendance.

 

[vegster]

He can speak English but doesn't to the media.

yep.

 

[Hyperion]

He can speak English but doesn't to the media.

Well to be honest if he can, I still think that is poor.

I would be getting frustrated if Oscar only spoke Spanish in his interviews.

Saying that, even that would be better than listening to Poyet trying to get some extra media attention for the sake of it

 

[Hyperion]

He does speak English and has done for some time. He spoke some words in English at a press conference this week. I think it's a confidence thing. People who have learnt a language sometimes get apprehensive speaking in front of an audience in case they say the wrong thing. I'd imagine he's pretty competent with the language away from the cameras and perfectly conversational, but is still nervous speaking in English with all the written and broadcast press in attendance.

Yep some fair points there. However, that's your job, in which you are getting paid shit loads to do.

If I was offered a Job in Japan and had to speak to the media in Japanese my first consideration would surely be........ ?

 

[scoobiewhite]

It's an interesting situation, until recently I would have agreed that he should be speaking English in interviews, however, over Xmas I've been reading the secret footballer book and I have to say it's given me a different perspective on communications, media and PR.

Although I'm trying to remind myself that it's just one (anonymous) persons opinion, he makes some really interesting observations about the wall that football professionals (players, managers etc.) put up in order to protect themselves. It does explain why the questions and answers we get through the media are so bland, vague and ultimately meaningless.

It's a shame really as it leads down a path that ends in the same cul-de-sac as most politicians.

Using a translator may well be a very clever move as I haven't seen the typical quotes out of context in relation to pochettino.

 

[joeinbrighton]

Yep some fair points there. However, that's your job, in which you are getting paid shit loads to do.

If I was offered a Job in Japan and had to speak to the media in Japanese my first consideration would surely be........ ?

First and foremost his job is to pick the team and get them to win. I'd say it's more important that he is able to get his message across to the players than the media. Their results this season suggest he has done a decent job of getting his message across. Obviously, ideally you want him to talk to the media in English and I dare say he will eventually, but it's not the end of the world if he doesn't as his translator is always on hand. It would work less well if the translator was having to translate his team talks to the players into English.

Besides, Pochettino is far from the first Premier League manager who doesn't speak English to the press. See also messrs Sherwood, Redknapp and Poyet.

 

[Hyperion]

First and foremost his job is to pick the team and get them to win. I'd say it's more important that he is able to get his message across to the players than the media. Their results this season suggest he has done a decent job of getting his message across. Obviously, ideally you want him to talk to the media in English and I dare say he will eventually, but it's not the end of the world if he doesn't as his translator is always on hand. It would work less well if the translator was having to translate his team talks to the players into English.

Besides, Pochettino is far from the first Premier League manager who doesn't speak English to the press. See also messrs Sherwood, Redknapp and Poyet.

Not sure what you're saying there. Yes coaching is the first and foremost, but, the media is right up there in that job.

I said that he is doing a fine job in the coaching sense, but it really is a bigger role these days. Like I say, bigger corporate roles exist that have that as a demand and so I still find it odd that he can't at least try and communicate to the media in our language after 1 year nearly.

 

[joeinbrighton]

Not sure what you're saying there. Yes coaching is the first and foremost, but, the media is right up there in that job.

I said that he is doing a fine job in the coaching sense, but it really is a bigger role these days. Like I say, bigger corporate roles exist that have that as a demand and so I still find it odd that he can't at least try and communicate to the media in our language after 1 year nearly.

Speaking to the media is part of the job, yes, but it's not the be all and end all. If Pochettino couldn't speak to the players in English and get across his message, they would be losing matches and struggling. They are not doing so, which suggests he is able to speak to them coherently. He always answers the media's questions as is required in his job, but he just does so via his interpreter, so it's not like he isn't fulfilling his media requirements and I expect he doesn't want the media to twist something he might say in pidgin English.

The only cause for worry would be if his interpreter came from the same source as the signer at the Nelson Mandela memorial and therefore his translation could be seen to be unreliable! All the while Southampton are doing well on the pitch, it's not going to be an issue for them.

I'm pretty certain Pochettino's English is better than Fabio Capello's ever was when doing the England job.

 

[Hyperion]

Speaking to the media is part of the job, yes, but it's not the be all and end all. If Pochettino couldn't speak to the players in English and get across his message, they would be losing matches and struggling. They are not doing so, which suggests he is able to speak to them coherently. He always answers the media's questions as is required in his job, but he just does so via his interpreter, so it's not like he isn't fulfilling his media requirements and I expect he doesn't want the media to twist something he might say in pidgin English.

The only cause for worry would be if his interpreter came from the same source as the signer at the Nelson Mandela memorial and therefore his translation could be seen to be unreliable! All the while Southampton are doing well on the pitch, it's not going to be an issue for them.

I'm pretty certain Pochettino's English is better than Fabio Capello's ever was when doing the England job.

You're not wrong but I am merely comparing this to a high profile role in the real world and quite frankly, if this was the case in
Business, I am pretty sure that would be a requirement for the money he is paid.

There is no doubt the main part of his role has been very well fulfilled. Being a year into his job I feel
He is hiding a little behind his so called language barrier

 

[joeinbrighton]

You're not wrong but I am merely comparing this to a high profile role in the real world and quite frankly, if this was the case in
Business, I am pretty sure that would be a requirement for the money he is paid.

No point comparing football to any other industry because it is a complete anomaly that's not run in the same way as any other industry and where all of what would be considered the fundamental rules of business are broken on a daily basis.

 

[Frutos]

Personally I am finding our current regime a little bit cloak and dagger from a media point of view.

I genuinely don't understand what you mean by that.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Aside from that, even at our own club, we have 2 Oscar sidekicks that nobody knows f*ck all about. Personally I am finding our current regime a little bit cloak and dagger from a media point of view.

So what is your point? You seem to be having a vague dig at the club.

 

[KZNSeagull]

95% of the time, what a manager says in an interview is of very little interest anyway and this constant badgering of them for news is just a result of SSN having to fill the airways with something. All most football fans want to know is who is injured and who is the club signing/selling and why someone or other was not playing.

We have gone from a manager who would talk for hours on any subject to one that does not say much at all and I think I prefer the latter at the moment. I see no cloak and dagger - we seem to know what is going on with players, we certainly have a Chairman, CEO and press office that are extremely open about what they are trying to achieve and how they will do it.

 

[willyfantastic]

im not sure why its a problem he wont speak to the press in english? the press are a bunch of idiots who will twist anything for a story anyway, so i think hes doing the right thing - hes a great manager whose doing the job with southampton so why does it matter that he uses a translator. i think its very shrewd

**** the press

 

[Husty]

I'll tell you what is piss poor. The fact that even though he has been in the job for a year you still havn't paid enough attention to learn that he can speak English but doesn't to the media.

 

[spring hall convert]

I think it's very clever actually, I'm pretty sure his English has developed sufiiciently to talk to the press in English but would he want to?

 

[Hyperion]

I think it's very clever actually, I'm pretty sure his English has developed sufiiciently to talk to the press in English but would he want to?

Even more piss poor you didn't read my first post properly though eh !

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

im not sure why its a problem he wont speak to the press in english? the press are a bunch of idiots who will twist anything for a story anyway, so i think hes doing the right thing - hes a great manager whose doing the job with southampton so why does it matter that he uses a translator. i think its very shrewd

**** the press

Spot on.

As a too-regular visitor to the St Mary's media area, I can assure you that we've gone past the point of being fed up with him not speaking English to us. The whole thing is now a bit of a joke. For example, in the post-post-match briefing for daily paper journos after the Man City game, he forgot he wasn't supposed to be able to speak English and started answering a question without waiting for the translation.

His interpreter got a bit testy with me the other day because I speak a bit of Spanish and asked a follow-up question before he'd translated Pochettino's answer. No doubt he fears for his job once MP has decided he can speak English well enough, or that enough of the media can speak Spanish. Maybe he's been taken on for the season so Pochettino thinks he may as well use him - to give him time to think about his answer as much as anything. Politicians do the same.

But I can understand Pochettino not wanting to say something that gets lost in translation and which might, I have to admit, be spun - not so much by a journalist, but by someone on a sports desk looking fior a stronger story than really exists. It was for that reason that those of us in the Gus Poyet press conference when he defended Suarez took the decision to be very selective in which quotes we used. Taken out of context, some of them could have been made to look terrible. (And then he went on talkSPORT the next day and said it all again).

Oscar's English is very good, but he tends to be somewhat reserved and falls back on cliches, as he did in Israel, by all accounts. Better that than finding you'd said something you hadn't meant. He's much more expressive in Spanish, as you'd expect.