By Kurt Bigg
Tottenham Hotspur have announced that manager Jose Mourinho has been relieved of his duties six days before their Carabao Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley.
His team of coaching staff, which consisted of Joao Sacramento, Nuno Santos, Carlos Lalin and Giovanni Cerra, have also left the club.
Chairman Daniel Levy said: “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.
There was a outpouring of reaction on social media following the announcement, including from celebrities and famous footballing figures.
Jose Mourinho is fired. He is the first of the European Super League managers to lose their job.
— Gary Lineker 💙 (@GaryLineker) April 19, 2021
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
Mourinho joined Spurs in November 2019, replacing Mauricio Pochettino, and led the club to sixth in the Premier League in the 2019-20 season.
The decision at the time was a controversial one after the Portuguese manager’s involvement with bitter rivals Chelsea, where he won three Premier League titles and multiple trophies.
Tottenham are looking to end their 12-year wait for a trophy when they take on Premier League leader Manchester City in the 2021 League Cup final on Sunday.
José Mourinho has lost more games with Spurs than at Porto, Inter, Real Madrid & his first spell at Chelsea.
◎ Porto: 127 games, 15 defeats
◎ Chelsea I: 185 games, 21 defeats
◎ Inter: 108 games, 15 defeats
◎ Real Madrid: 178 games, 22 defeats
◉ Spurs: 86 games, 23 defeats pic.twitter.com/gZgiaDNvWD— Squawka Football (@Squawka) April 19, 2021
The move comes just almost 12 hours after the announcement that Spurs would be one of 12 teams joining the European Super League.
They join AC Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Real Madrid in founding the competition.
In a statement on the club website on Monday, Tottenham said: “Twelve of Europe’s leading football clubs have today come together to announce they have agreed to establish a new midweek competition, the Super League, governed by its founding clubs.
“Going forward, the founding clubs look forward to holding discussions with UEFA and FIFA to work together in partnership to deliver the best outcomes for the new League and for football as a whole.”
