Mourinho sacked by Tottenham after 17 months in charge

Tottenham Hotspur have sensationally sacked manager Jose Mourinho, BBC reported.

The announcement comes after they drew 2-2 with Everton on Friday evening, leaving them down in seventh place in the table.

It was expected, however, that the Portuguese would at least get the chance to lead the side into Sunday's Carabao Cup final against Manchester City, but that will not be the case.

"The club can today announce that José Mourinho and his coaching staff João Sacramento, Nuno Santos, Carlos Lalin and Giovanni Cerra have been relieved of their duties," read a statement released by Tottenham just before 11 am on Monday morning.

"Jose and his coaching staff have been with us through some of our most challenging times as a club," said Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy.

"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."

Former Tottenham midfielder Ryan Mason and the ex-Charlton and Huddersfield boss Chris Powell have been placed in temporary charge.

Telegraph Sport understands that Levy made the decision this week, six days before the League Cup final, because it would give him more time to appoint a replacement for next season. Also, the Spurs chairman hopes to allow for a bounce under the caretaker-management team that might carry the club into the top six by the end of the season.

Mourinho was appointed as Tottenham manager in November 2019, a day after the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino.

He guided them to sixth place in the table by the end of the campaign, but his style of football often didn't win him much acclaim from fans.

Tottenham have struggled at the time in the Premier League this season, but they will take on Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final next weekend. 

Mourinho has dropped more points from winning positions this season than any other Premier League club and his relationship with a number of players has been fractious.

Mourinho's position has come under increasing scrutiny following a run of form that has seen Spurs win just once in their past six games, a period in which the club were dumped out of the Europa League by Dinamo Zagreb in humiliating fashion, fell behind in the race for Champions League qualification and generally performed poorly.

According to Guardian, it was expected, however, that the Portuguese would at least get the chance to lead the side into Sunday's Carabao Cup final against Manchester City. 

The sacking comes less than 24 hours after Tottenham announced they were part of the hugely controversial Super League and this could be seen as a case of the club attempting to bury bad news.

And letting go of Mourinho is undeniably bad news for the club's hierarchy given the huge expense of hiring him – the 58-year-old is believed to earning close to £12m a year – and the fact that he arrived as a replacement for Mauricio Pochettino, who was incredibly popular with the fanbase having led Tottenham to consistently high finishes in the Premier League and to the Champions League final in 2019.

The 58-year-old was told the news this morning, according to sources. The draw with Everton on Friday night meant Spurs have just one win from their last five games and were eliminated from the Europa League in March. 

They play the League Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley on Sunday, in what could be the club's first trophy since they won the same competition in 2008.

Mourinho has now been sacked by three different clubs in England – Chelsea, twice, Manchester United and Spurs.