English Premier League giants Tottenham have sacked Jose Mourinho, with the news of the Portuguese tactician's departure being revealed in the early hours of Monday. This bombshell comes just hours after the north London giants unveiled themselves as a founding club for the highly-controversial European Super League.
This brings an end to the Special One's 17-month spell at Spurs, with the former Man United and Chelsea boss arriving to replace the popular Mauricio Pochettino. The 58-year-old has led the club to the Carabao Cup final where they will face Man City, but he will not be in charge for that Wembley showdown scheduled for April 25.
John Percy of the Daily Telegraph initially broke the news, with the likes of Sky Sports and the Athletic joining in shortly afterwards. This lead to many theories as to why the Portuguese boss was relieved of his duties, with some suggesting it was in relation to the recently-announced European Super League.
Jose Mourinho is fired. He is the first of the European Super League managers to lose their job.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) April 19, 2021
Fans did not have to wait long as an official announcement from Spurs arrived soon, confirming via an official statement that Jose and his coaching staff Joao Sacramento, Nuno Santos, Carlos Lalin and Giovanni Cerra were all axed. Chairman, Daniel Levy issued a courteous farewell to the Special One, saying: "Jose and his coaching staff have been with us through some of our most challenging times as a Club. Jose is a true professional who showed enormous resilience during the pandemic. On a personal level I have enjoyed working with him and regret that things have not worked out as we both had envisaged. He will always be welcome here and we should like to thank him and his coaching staff for their contribution."
Claims that Mourinho was sacked for refusing to take training in protest against the European Super League were doing the rounds on social media, but these appear to be unsubstantiated. Miguel Delaney of the Independent and Fabrizio Romano both confirmed that this decision was solely down to results.
José Mourinho sacking is not linked to Super League... and he's never refused to take training today. He's been fired because of results and no nothing else. #THFC
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 19, 2021
The Portuguese tactician has won only once in his last six games, with the north London outfit falling five points behind in the top-four race. Spurs currently sit in seventh, with Chelsea, Liverpool, and West Ham being the favorites to earn the fourth and last UEFA Champions League qualification spot.
Ryan Mason has been named as the caretaker manager and could thus be the man in charge for the Carabao Cup final. Several names are being linked with the Tottenham job, including Allegri, who is the only manager currently available. The more exciting names said to be on Spurs' list are Nagelsmann, Ten Hag, Brendan Rodgers, and Ralph Hasenhuttl.
