I suppose if there was ever a day to bury news it would be today, though Tottenham sacking Jose Mourinho is going to be difficult to keep quiet even with this European Super League dominating the news.
At the time of writing this there is no club announcement but everyone and their uncle is tweeting it including Fabrizio Romano.
The timing of this is very strange with a cup final just six days away, however, it may well be that Levy feared winning the Carabo Cup would make it more difficult for him to sack the former Real Madrid manager.
It would have made more sense to do this at the end of the season but it may also be related to the European Super League, who knows.
What is certain is that the writing was on the wall, the results were terrible and Mourinho’s body language did not look good.
Add in the discontent with the players and the fans split over the Portuguese and it was always a matter of time.
There was also the style of football that was very depressing.
This does not bode well for the match against Man City and on a personal level, the sooner this season is over with, the better.
Yeah, are you sure our wage bill is higher than liverpool’s? Gareth bales 12 million a year certainly isnt helping that….I thought even the gooners had a higher wage bill than us.
Small margins really decided his fate, style of play arguments aside.
If Doherty hadn’t turned out to be a guy imitating a footballer and one other capable centre back in the squad and we wouldn’t be talking about 20 points lost from winning positions.
And the less said about the Levy induced Balegate saga the better.
Yes, we’re a big club, expectations wise, but spend like a much smaller club. Not an enviable position to be in as a manager.
Stein and Clough were very good at that; Stein spent very little money and reached two European Cup finals.
Good luck with trying to get the 50 billion euros!
Yeah, he’s such a footballing dipstick, that’s just how he imagined it would work out. I’m already feeling sorry for the next managerial incumbent, although with the potential incoming cash from an ESL , it may turn out to be a lot easier for the next chap.
Yes, Levy thought he could save on squad investment by employing a manager who would magically make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear! Proving yet again that Levy knows about as much about building a successful team on the pitch as I know about nuclear fission!
Stravinsky once said, while looking at a giraffe, “Can you imagine what it must be like to have a sore throat?”
I suspect – win or lose – the players may switch off for the rest of the season (have some of them ever switched on?!) like they did after the final in 2008. Incidentally, David Dill and I watched that one at Small Heath’s equivalent of the Bates’ motel, where we seemed to be the only people in the place – apart from one uninterested receptionist who informed us that they had no crisps (we did manage to get a beer!)
You know, a kind of “Chemical Alli” (or whatever his name was!): “What debt? There are no debts at this club! In fact, we’re scouring the world in search of the most exciting talent!
I wonder just HOW MUCH he knew what he was getting into; I’d like to be a fly on the wall when Levy is selling the club to a potential manager (perhaps he tells them that the stadium build will continue to have no effect on Spurs’ spending!)
Very interesting blog, Harry, in which you make a series of valid points (amusing, too – the bit about aunt Dolly made me laugh …and interesting surroundings, too!). I should say, though, that I have been consistent in my views and haven’t liked the direction football has been going in since the NEW TV football age arrived in 1992. Television has skewered the game and made it less democratic and less competitive. So much of the sport today (actually, business) is distasteful. There’s something cancerous about the modern game. I ought to have binned it, but most of my other interests and tastes are minority interests and without football I’d have even less friends and acquaintances to chat to! (I’m laughing).
Of course, disgusting though this new enterprise is to me (which I assume most people will, nevertheless, come to terms with in due course), in many ways it will be terrific for Spurs if it happens. Relative to our current financial situation, we will surely make the biggest percentage gain, financially, wiping out our stadium debt at a stroke (it is three billion per club, is it, Harry?). Indeed the eradication of massive debts (ie Spurs, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Man Utd etc) is a chief catalyst for this competition. And, also with the part TV has played in unbalancing the finances of the game, so that in many countries there is now no meaningful competition (Bayern, PSG, Juventus etc. I would once never have imagined anyone winning the Italian or German leagues eight or nine times in a row.)
If we win, I imagine Man City will hit the woodwork about half a dozen times!
Actually, I now can’t make up mind as to whether we are going to sneak the league cup next week with about 20% possession or get slaughtered 6-0!
Great comment
“Don’t care, don’t give a shit is not for men” our late manager!
I wonder if Martin Jol is having a wry smile? How many of you, I wonder, remember, when Jol was our manager and Mourinho was pulling up trees at Chelsea, the Dutchman saying the Portuguese wouldn’t find it so smooth sailing at Spurs? Pep and Klopp wouldn’t look nearly so formidable if they managed US! (Pep, for instance,wouldn’t have been able to go off and buy a full back or two for 50 million smackers!)
Levy sacking another manager been there done there and the saga continues another manager another rebuilding project the roundabout continues with no sight of exit and to be continued!
You know what they say, “be careful what you wish for…”.
Don’t particularly understand the point you’re trying to make, but being top at the end is the only thing that counts and how Mourinho was enabled to do so. Some of the buck absolutely stops with him, but the majority stops squarely at Levy’s feet.
It’s starts on Wednesday!!!
What a mess !!
I don’t sympathise with Mourinho, he knew what he was getting into, but where the hell we go from here is anyone’s guess.
The players need to respond like men and not hide behind obvious excuses for the performances until the season end, it starts on Sunday in the final, whatever the result give us a performance !
Good management is also enabled by the structure in place around you. Expectations at Burnley are significantly lower that those at Spurs. Sean Dyche would not succeed as our manager because of the way Levy operates. Again, you’ve just described all top level managers that is why they are trusted with spending that much money because of their record. I think Mourinho bit off more than he could chew here and would expect the same with any world class manager. We have a world class stadium with a Sunday market trader chairman as far s the squad is concerned.
I’ve seen that article. I’m surprised by that. They must have some seriously big earners there judging by the fees they paid for players. Indeed one of the reasons Mane turned us down for Liverpool was money.
At Spurs only Harry is on serious money.
Mourinho s success at clubs previously was due to buying big ticket item players. At Spurs, under Levy, you don’t get that option. He hasn’t improved the players
Good management is about delivering the optimum result with the resources you have. In my eyes that makes Sean Dyche a very good manager keeping Burnley in the premier league is a great achievement
If they get a performance out of this lot to be proud of I won’t complain, but I’m not expecting one.
What is really annoying about that is the level of wages we are paying to inferior players when comparing to other squads. Wages and squad investment aren’t always directly linked. Apart from Kane, Son, PEH, and Lloris, can players really look at themselves and say they are justifying their salary? I bet they don’t care that much anyway.
Reckon we’ll go for it, will be a better watch than it would have been under José but the same result, Citeh lift the cup and Spurs trophy drought continues. All hail ENIC!
We hit them on 2 breaks and then defended whilst Citeh were profligate in front of goal and not exactly at their best. They’ve improved since then and we haven’t. Yes, Mourinho’s a factor in that, but most of the players who are not good enough have been exposed for the charlatans they are.
We’re out of the Champions League and the Europa League and the new European Conference competition, so it doesn’t matter if the players respond and win every game until the season ends.
We have left the European Club’s Association, so we can longer take part in those competitions.
They beat em before this season and Citeh have had a few shockers, I don’t think we’ll beat them but think a few players playing without the shackles on might give us a bit more bite up front. At least it’ll more fun to watch us lose without José on the bench haha!
Haha “miniscule” and “certain” don’t mean the same thing mate, get yourself a copy of a book called the dictionary, might be surprised there’s more than 1 page in it.
Don’t forget Chris Powell. I fancy our chances🌚
I agree the squads not good enough but there was no bounce under Jose.
Exactly… Ryan Mason and King… Lol
Here’s a metaphorical can of Mr Sheen and a duster you can use to polish the turds as this is the only way we’re going to win on Sunday. Even if Citeh play as badly again on Sunday as they did on Saturday it’ll still be enough. We have 3 or 4 players carrying the entire squad because the rest aren’t good enough.
Wage bill is 5th.. Liverpool are 6th 👍
You’ve just described most top managers.
Yep we’ll definitely win the cup now… And the prem league next year… And the European super league the year after that…… You’re having a giraffe mate.
Pep must be quaking in his boots at the prospect of facing Ryan Mason.
Think I’m actually looking forward to the cup final now, there’s a miniscule chance that these Spurs players might actually turn up and put in a performance. Very unlikely but I think they’ll have a bit more fight about them thanks to the breath of fresh air with Mou out the picture.
Remember the French mafia coming off the field laughing, not a care in the world, they knew.
It’s off it hinges now and spinning down the cliffs into oblivion…
Yes. That’s about the size of it. Ratings🌟
Jose is a savvy guy he knows the implications of all his actions. I suspect he was looking for a way out, shopping at Lidl for players when you have been used to Waitrose is not what he’s all about
I posted on the weekend aboutJose body language on Friday night – it was poor , levy was also in attendance . He was prob aware the plan was in play to sack him .
I’m sad because it didn’t work out how we’d envisaged. The words of Daniel Levy.
How did he think it would work out? That a squad that he had underinvested over several windows would just morph into supermen on Jose’s appointment.
Levy always conveniently forgets that pretty much football success is dependent on squad investment, much more so than the impact of a manager.
For instance City won the title with Mancini and Pellegrini in charge both of whom could only be described as middling at best
Did being top of the table in Jan? indicate anything to Levy?
We played entertaining football under Poch but moaned that we didn’t win anything. We played crap football under Jose [most of the time], still didn’t win anything but got to a cup final. Sacking him now can only mean one thing – Levy has a replacement lined up & had to make sure he can join us at the drop of a hat. No-one wants to buy/sponsor us. Can’t imagine why, its not like we’re in a mess or decline at all. Oh, hang on a minute ……
I think why he is gone is relevant to our last 22 years Tappa.
Even the timing is disappointing.
Yup!! My thoughts exactly, “bury the lead story”.
So many unknowns right now, there’s talk of 50bn euro fines for Euro super League participation so with nonsense like that flying about you don’t know what to believe. Great time to announce José is off right when the biggest news to his football in recent living memory has just been released, keep it on the down-low
no
With the ESL announcement I think talk of CL football was all smoke and mirrors. This has been discussed in closed smoky rooms for some time until all was ready to be revealed.
Levy chose today to “bury the lead story”, no coincidence there, he’s far too calculating.
It’s happening right now as we speak and is pretty big news so thought I’d comment on it. But yes we’ll get behind the new caretaker management team, not the owners or the chairman though, they have a lot to answer for, so do some of the players.
This begs the question, what now for Kane & Son?
CL qualification is kind of irrelevant now though, isn’t it…
I’d that’s the case and Mourinho did so because of the announcement of the ESL then I salute him. I’m sure his detractors will say he got himself sacked.
The only shock for me was timing..I expected this in 2 weeks time.., also expecting Benitez to get a call. Its rather ironic but based on annual wage bill we pretty much are where we should be in the league. Over a period of years, monies spent on transfers & wages tend to be reflected by league position. I personally dont see any return to CL football unless 100 mill+ is invested into the sqaud in the forseeable future.
2 points from the Buff.
Why is everything so predictable? I said 18 months tops ending in acrimonious disaster. Voila!
SLOW MOTION CAR CRASH FC
Must have been some kind of bust up, reports that Mourinho refused to take training this morning.
Will bringing in Nagelsmann make any difference?
Who cares about all that now. He’s gone. Its about C Powell & r mason now. Chrissy win me that cup
As for this Super League closed shop if a team like Everton or Leicester finish in the top four they won’t get into it. Who’s going to invest big money in clubs that can’t qualify for the Super League. The Saudis won’t buy Newcastle United now.
Is the Champions League going to continue for the teams outside that top six. What a mess.
This is all driven by the Americans who don’t have relegation in American football or basketball.
He should have gone about two months ago when top four was still within reach. The timing of the sacking after conceding the top four spot is further evidence that Champions League football was the minimum requirement. As well as the 2m bonus he was on.
”brought in the winner to win trophies” what a load of garbage that was…
Agree totally with that.
Exactly what did you expect Mourinho to do in 17 months with the world as it is and the way Levy operates, mmm??
Unless his brand of football was going to be winning football, it was always going to end like this…
True but when you look at how flat we’ve been recently, I think we stand just as much chance with a caretaker coach in a one off game.
There was no way we’d have won that game under Jose with things so bad, and we still probably won’t win but if it lifts the players then it’s worth a try…
Oh no…so upset…the serial whinger is gone. If you going to lose, you may as well play well Jose!!
Ryan Mason pitting his wits against Pep. Lord save us.
In a way, i can see a kind of sense in doing it now. With someone else coming in, even Ryan Mason, it might lift the sense of gloom around the team and give them some impetus to play more freely and without fear of upsetting “the special one”.
We saw earlier in the season how we can play when the so-called “shackles” are off so it could certainly mean the team will head out to the final in a more positive mood.
On all official Social Media channels now.
What’s that saying about doing the same thing all the time and expecting different results?
Confirmed just now by THFC.
Oh boy, I really thought he’d be given a bit longer.
The only club to truly break Jose’s resolve, not something that bodes well but fingers crossed something positive happens in the next few seasons.
Seems a spiral of negativity right now.
Sure has.
Go and win the Cup
Jose has been trying to get Sacked for the last few weeks
Media trying to make it look like José was sacked as a result of the ESL, this stinks of smokescreen tactics to let Levy off the hook for another poor acquisition. José was sacked because he failed to work with what he had and was unable to beat poor teams with arguably better players and overall a huge squad. If it’s truly a sacking as a result of José refusing to train the players in light of the ESL agreement then we won’t have paid him off will we, just sacked for not fulfilling his side of the contract. But I highly doubt he’s given up his contractually binding salary all in the name of his moral obligation to the footballing world. Nahnsense!
The whole Jose thing was a complete and utter waste of everyone’s time, including his own. I’ve no idea what even happened, but the word Amazon probably springs to mind doesn’t it?
The escalator taking spurs to the top keeps on turning. Problem is we only have the down one running on high speed. Good luck to the next guy.
Absolutely. Disgraceful behaviour from many fans and media. The naysayers got their wish so let’s see what happens next with the incredible squad we have on our hands.
Sanchez and Dier against Messi, Lukaku/Martinez or Benzema/Vinicius Junior in the ESL is a particularly mouthwatering prospect.
Ryan Mason and Chris Powell are in temporary charge.
Confirmed by BBC and The Guardian.
Has he actually gone though?
Disagree. Whilst the timing is strange, having lost his midas touch the guy is a divisive controversial busted flush!!
The one thing that made sense to me was keeping Jose around for the Super League – if we are getting a lot of cash in, it makes sense to have the box office manager who historically did well whenever backed financially.
Without backing Jose, it feels like we’ve wasted a year and a half with this experiment. I hope the next guy gets backed fully.
No doubt. Not by me though. I got behind my manager as I always will do. Simple.
Whatever anybody thinks about him he’s been treated shabbily.
Good luck Jose in whatever you do. Neeeeeext
The Magic Roundabout starts again.