I can't help but wonder if Pochettino himself wanted to leave the club but the club chair Daniel Levy wouldn't let him. You'd have to think he wanted the Real Madrid job but apparently it would have cost Madrid (Or Manchester United for that matter) a fortune to take him. Players don't forget he said he may quit if they had won the Champions League. Your point on Ferguson was a good one though. Replacing Beckham/Van Nistelrooy with Ronaldo/Rooney was a perfect transition to the next age of the team. Something they haven't done since.