By Bimbo Ogunnaike
Less than 24 hours Tottenham boss,Mauricio Pochettino was sacked, the club management appointed former Chelsea, Manchester United coach, Jose Mourinho to replace him.
An official club statement read: “We are delighted to announce the appointment of Jose Mourinho as Head Coach on a contract that runs until the end of the 2022/23 season.
“Jose is one of the world’s most accomplished managers having won 25 senior trophies. He is renowned for his tactical prowess and has managed FC Porto, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United. He has won a domestic title in a record four different countries (Portugal, England, Italy and Spain) and is one of only three managers to have won the UEFA Champions League twice with two clubs, FC Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan in 2010. He is also a three-time Premier League Champion with Chelsea (2005, 2006, 2015).
Commenting on the appointment, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy said: “In Jose we have one of the most successful managers in football. He has a wealth of experience, can inspire teams and is a great tactician. He has won honours at every club he has coached. We believe he will bring energy and belief to the dressing room.”
Speaking on his appointment, Jose said: “I am excited to be joining a Club with such a great heritage and such passionate supporters. The quality in both the squad and the academy excites me. Working with these players is what has attracted me.”
Meanwhile,Tottenham Hotspur striker, Harry Kane, has expressed his gratitude to manager, Pochettino, for the impact he had on his career.
“Gaffer. I will be forever thankful to you for helping me achieve my dreams. We have had some amazing moments over the last 5 and a half years that I will never forget. You were my manager but my friend as well and I thank you for that relationship. Good luck with your next chapter,”Kane posted on his Instagram.
It would be recalled that Pochetino appointment as a coach of the team was terminated on Tuesday evening with Spurs’ Levy, citing the club’s “extremely disappointing” start to the season for the decision. Levy said a change had to be made in the “club’s best interests”.
An official club statement read: “We were extremely reluctant to make this change and it is not a decision the board has taken lightly, nor in haste.
“Regrettably domestic results at the end of last season and beginning of this season have been extremely disappointing.
“It falls to the board to make the difficult decisions – this one made more so given the many memorable moments we have had with Mauricio and his coaching staff – but we do so in the club’s best interests.
“Mauricio and his coaching staff will always be part of our history. I have the utmost admiration for the manner in which he dealt with the difficult times away from a home ground whilst we built the new stadium and for the warmth and positivity he brought to us.
“I should like to thank him and his coaching staff for all they have contributed. They will always be welcome here. We have a talented squad. We need to re-energise and look to deliver a positive season for our supporters.”
The Argentine spent five-and-a-half years in north London and Spurs qualified for the Champions League four times during that period.
Pochettino led Spurs to top-four finishes in four of his five seasons in charge, as well as their first Champions League final in the 2018/19 campaign.
Former Tottenham Hotspur manager, Harry Redknapp, has slammed the current crop of players, for “massively under-achieving” and turning in “relegation form” that led to Pochettino’s sack.
Redknapp feels the club chairman Levy, was not ready to miss out on Champions League football and took decisive action.
“I’m surprised but looking at the form, it’s been relegation form over the past 24 or 25 games That’s where they’ve been from the end of last season into this year. Tottenham not making Champions League this year would be a disaster in Daniel’s eyes. With the money they’ve spent on the stadium and the training ground,” Redknapp told Sky Sports News.
Former Tottenham Hotspur striker, Peter Crouch, has blamed some of the club’s current crop of players for the sack Pochettino.
Crouch stated that he thinks some of Tottenham players need to have a ‘look at themselves in the mirror’ following the sacking of the 47-year-old.
“I’m flabbergasted by Tottenham’s decision. I know results have been poor and I understand why the top teams act when their potential to qualify for the following season’s Champions League is in jeopardy, but it is ridiculous to think Pochettino has suddenly lost his spark.
“It never sits easy speaking about the demise of a manager because I have been in football long enough to know that sacking is never just about one man and I would hope that there are some players in Tottenham’s dressing room who are having a look at themselves in the mirror this morning,”Crouch told Daily Mail
“The harmony, clearly, had been broken and it is obvious that a number of players have wanted to leave.He led Tottenham into the Champions League final on June 1. Some clubs, who aren’t accustomed to that stage, would build a statue for a manager who took them to the biggest game in club football, but all Pochettino has got is his marching orders. I fear it is a decision Tottenham will regret,”Crouch added
