Tottenham axe boss Jose Mourinho just hours after being savaged for joining European Super League after dire Premier League season

Former Champions League winner Mourinho’s dismissal comes towards the end of a forgettable campaign for struggling Tottenham, who are languishing in seventh in the table after a dreadful run of form since briefly going top earlier in the season.

With little realistic prospect of qualifying for next season’s Champions League by finishing fourth, Spurs – who crashed out of the Europa League courtesy of a dismal 3-0 defeat after extra time at Dinamo Zagreb last month – have been widely mocked for agreeing to take part in the much-maligned new European Super League, with fans arguing that they are well short of rivaling the continent’s heavyweights.

Mourinho’s future was in doubt after he publicly vented his frustrations with his players and developed an ultra-cautious, counter-attacking style of play that was rarely pleasing to watch, although his chances of holding on to his job were thought to have been strengthened by his previously close relationship with Daniel Levy and the reported pay-off of around $21 million required for the Tottenham chairman to remove the Portuguese and his staff.

Spurs have won just one of their last six matches, including a loss at arch-rivals Arsenal, a 3-1 defeat at home to Manchester United after going ahead and a draw at relegation-threatened Newcastle in which they relied on goals from England striker Harry Kane to overturn a deficit before dropping two points.

Mourinho’s side were again indebted to a Kane double after going behind at Everton on Friday night in a match that ended 2-2, all-but extinguishing their hopes of a top-four finish.

The 58-year-old was due to lead Spurs into the League Cup final against runaway leaders Manchester City at Wembley on Sunday in an encounter that many fans were dreading in light of the contrasting form of the finalists.

He has now received his third lucrative sacking since December 2015, when Chelsea dismissed the man who initially transformed their fortunes on the pitch after Russian owner Roman Abramovich took over the club in 2003.

Manchester United fired Mourinho almost exactly three years later, reacting after a run of just seven wins in their first 17 Premier League games during a period when they had become known for tactics that were perceived as negative.

United won the Europa League in Mourinho’s first season in charge but were largely uninspired in the Premier League, subsequently suffering a Champions League round of 16 exit to Sevilla which prompted Mourinho to launch into a now-familiar rant about his managerial qualities, including unedifying brags about the Premier League titles he won at Chelsea in 2005, 2006 and 2014.

The acrimonious end to his Old Trafford reign made Mourinho a surprise choice to replace the popular Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham in November 2019, where his alliance with Levy was showcased in ‘All or Nothing’, an Amazon Prime Video documentary going behind the scenes at the club.

Any concerns Spurs fans held over the locker room atmosphere portrayed by the series have returned sharply into focus this season, most explosively when Mourinho

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