Friday 10 April 2015 16:42, UK
Mauricio Pochettino says kindred spirit Tim Sherwood deserves a decent reception when he returns to Tottenham on Saturday.
Sherwood brings his Aston Villa side to White Hart Lane 11 months after he was sacked from the manager's job at Spurs, where he had previously worked as the academy boss.
The 46-year-old recently claimed it was only his intervention that stopped Spurs selling Harry Kane, the most high-profile of a number of first-team players to emerge from the club's youth set-up.
And Pochettino, speaking at his press conference ahead of the Villa game, acknowledged the foundations laid by his predecessor.
"I expect a very good reception because he is a manager that worked here and spent a lot of time here, like a player and as manager," he said.
"He helped the academy to develop young talent and I hope he gets a very good reception from the supporters because I think he deserves that.
"I think that we share the same idea, we believe in the young talent. This is great, like when I started my career as a manager at Espanyol in Barcelona. We believe it was the same things, to encourage and develop the young talent.
He (Sherwood) helped the academy to develop young talent and I hope he gets a very good reception from the supporters because I think he deserves that.
"I think the legacy is to believe in the young talent and he shared the job with other people, like (academy manager) John McDermott and all the staff in the academy, Les Ferdinand, Chris Ramsey.
"All people deserve some credit for the young players arriving in the first team."
Last week's goalless draw at Burnley left Spurs seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, and Pochettino said: "We know that we have seven games and 21 points to play for. We need to try and get the next three points.
"I think it is important for our supporters at White Hart Lane and it is important to increase our performance after the Burnley game. We need to show that we want to fight to finish higher in the table and it is a great opportunity tomorrow to show that we are ambitious."
