TV presenter Simon Thomas confessed Mauricio Pochettino was the only manager to write personally write to him after his wife died.
His comments came after Tottenham released a statement announcing Pochettino had been ‘relieved of his duties’ after five years in the hot seat, along with his coaching staff Jesus Perez, Miguel D’Agostino and Antoni Jimenez.
The former Blue Peter host’s wife Gemma died of an aggressive form of blood cancer two years ago and the Argentine Football Manager reached out to him.
Taking to Twitter to share his thoughts, the 46-year-old tweeted: ‘When my wife died very suddenly two years ago, the one manager who took the time to write personally to me was Mauricio Pochettino and it was a heart felt letter. Class manager even better man.’
Gemma and Simon wed in 2005 and were married for 12 years before her tragic and sudden death.
Fans were quick to comment on the post, praising the former Tottenham Hotspur manager for being a ‘class act’.
‘Im not suprised. He is a class act and above all a people’s man,’ one user tweeted.
When my wife died very suddenly two years ago, the one manager who took the time to write personally to me was Mauricio Pochettino and it was a heart felt letter. Class manager even better man.
— Simon Thomas (@SimonThomasSky) November 19, 2019
Another tweeted: ‘Same with my dad, he wrote to him when he was diagnosed with cancer. Lovely man.’
The former Sky Sports presenter wrote a book on his experience of dealing with grief, called Love, Interrupted: Navigating Grief One Day At A Time, in which he describes the guilt he felt about not insisting on medical help sooner for Gemma.
‘In her final week, she went to the GP twice, but each time was sent home without even a blood test. Whenever I relive that time in my mind, the guilt is always there, nagging away at me,’ he wrote.
‘I’m still asking myself those same questions: “Why the hell didn’t you do something? Why didn’t you pick her up, carry her to the car and take her straight to hospital before it got so bad?”.’
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