A wild night with Maradona

Argentine legend Diego Maradona was -- and remains -- Mauricio Pochettino's idol. However, when the current Tottenham manager had the chance to fulfil his dream by meeting and sharing a room with his hero, the situation quickly turned into a nightmare.

It was in 1994 and Pochettino had been asked to room with Argentina's World Cup winner before a game for Newell's Old Boys, but when he woke up, the superstar was nowhere to be seen until he emerged on the television, caught in the act of shooting an air-rifle at journalists.

"We were together in the room during pre-season in Mar del Plata," recalled Pochettino. "I remember one day he started shooting the journalists in Argentina. The day before he was sleeping in my room. He loved basketball and went to see it in Mar del Plata -- the final in the conference. And then, in the morning, I woke up and he wasn't in bed.

"I went to breakfast, the manager asked about him and I said 'No, no, no, he didn't come back to the hotel.' After breakfast we went to training. Nobody knew about Diego and at lunchtime it was breaking news on the television … Diego shoots journalists in Buenos Aires! Four hundred kilometres away!"

The incident, which led to Maradona receiving a suspended sentence of two years and 10 months after injuring photographers and reporters preceded the disgraceful end of his international career -- being thrown out of the 1994 World Cup after testing positive for drugs.

However neither the incident nor what followed have lessened the image of the owner of the 'Hand of God' in Poch's eyes.

"I love him. I love everything about him. I knew Maradona, the real Maradona. We see him on the pitch and then there is his image. Outside it was crazy. But I promise you, if he arrived here and opened the door we'd all be in love with him. His energy, his personality -- and he's a person that when he's with you he makes you feel the best," the manager beamed.

That day gave Pochettino a glimpse into the art of crisis management while dealing with star names and the attention that they bring, even if the problems that transpired were off the scale when it comes to sheer and utter madness.