It has taken 14 years and nine appointments, but Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy might finally have found his ideal boss in Mauricio Pochettino.

“Ideal” does not necessarily mean “most successful”. Harry Redknapp achieved two fourth-placed finishes and took Spurs to a Champions League quarter-final during four years in charge, while the only trophy of the Levy era was delivered by Juande Ramos.

Yet Pochettino represents everything Tottenham want in a head coach — that’s ‘head coach’, not ‘manager’ — at the current time. He is making progress on the pitch, his ideas largely match those of his employers and he is extremely unlikely to cause controversy.

With Spurs hoping to move into a £400 million, 61,000-seat stadium at the start of the 2018-19 campaign, there will undoubtedly be an impact on their spending power in other areas.

In Pochettino, they have a coach who is happy to work with a young squad — 24 was the average age of the starting XI in the recent 2-2 draw at Swansea — and who is prepared to give a chance to players developed in the club’s academy.

He accepted at the start of the season that Tottenham would generally seek to sign players with potential, rather than established stars who would cost substantially more.

At Southampton and now at Tottenham, the Argentine has proved he can improve such players and increase their value for a potential future sale —attributes that fit perfectly with Levy’s desire to focus on young, hungry footballers who might one day be sold for a sizeable profit.

Pochettino is a ferociously hard worker, often doing 12-hour shifts at the training ground, but regards himself as a coach, first and foremost. He has little interest in the politics of the club and, as such, is far less likely to clash with his employers.

Similarly, Pochettino is extremely cautious about what he says in public. The 43-year-old would be reluctant to offer an opinion on how the weather might behave in a given week, let alone discuss in detail his thoughts about transfer policy or individual players. Post-match reflections rarely include excessive praise or criticism for players or officials. Pochettino is a level-headed man whose behaviour is consistent. At Tottenham, the hierarchy prefer their managers to be seen and not heard.

Redknapp found a consistent formula on the pitch, but was a constant worry for his bosses because of his willingness to go “off-message” frequently and speak his mind in public.

Days after taking over as manager in October 2008, Redknapp contradicted Levy in public at the club’s AGM by calling for new signings in the transfer window. Can you imagine Pochettino making such a bold, risky move?

Tim Sherwood was less successful on the field and even more outspoken off it. Martin Jol was not quite such a controversial character, but if the Dutchman had something to say, he would say it. When Spurs hired Andre Villas-Boas, they thought they were employing a man with Pochettino’s characteristics.

Yet the Portuguese wanted expensive signings like Willian, Joao Moutinho and Leandro Damiao, none of whom arrived. Apart from Andros Townsend, homegrown players were rarely given an extended opportunity.

In public, Villas-Boas was unpredictable. His attack on the “incompetent people” who questioned his decision to grant Hugo Lloris’ wish to stay on the pitch at Everton in October 2013, even though the goalkeeper had suffered a head injury, was widely criticised.

Villas-Boas’ fate was sealed in his second season because there was scant sign of progress from the team. There is plenty of room for improvement under Pochettino but the team are heading in the right direction. The statistics support the coach. Spurs are unbeaten in the league since the opening day. After games in the Europa League — a competition that has damaged the club’s domestic hopes in the past — Spurs have taken seven points from nine.

Pochettino’s team slipped up against Anderlecht last Thursday but there would be no such difficulties against Bournemouth. The home side’s goalkeeper, Artur Boruc, produced a dreadful display and his defenders were not much better.

Despite wearing heavy strapping on his right knee, Harry Kane quadrupled his goal tally in the league with a hat-trick and Mousa Dembele and Erik Lamela were also on target. “Harry will have learned a lot during this period,” said Pochettino. “In football, sometimes you learn a lot in the bad moments.”