The Athletic’s Tottenham Hotspur correspondent, Jack Pitt-Brooke, has ruled out the possibility of the club sacking Jose Mourinho this summer, via The View From The Lane podcast (March 6th, 25:25).
What’s he said?
Spurs were knocked out of the FA Cup on Wednesday night as they lost on penalties to Norwich City.
It is the latest in a run of poor results that has seen them lose four on the bounce and appear to run the risk of falling out of contention for a top-four finish; they are currently five points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, having lost to them at Stamford Bridge.
The Athletic hosted a podcast in which they answered questions from fans and one asked if there was pressure on Mourinho ahead of the summer.
Pitt-Brooke, though, batted away such a suggestion, insisting that chairman Daniel Levy will not be looking to make another managerial change, having replaced Mauricio Pochettino with the Portuguese in November.
He said: “It would be such a humiliating admission that he got his biggest ever call wrong.
“Whatever you think of Mourinho, I just cannot see it happening.
“I think it’s completely implausible that Mourinho will go anytime soon.”
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Inescapable truth
This is completely right.
While results haven’t exactly been tremendous, Spurs are in a transitional period and everybody within the club will know that.
Mourinho took over a club with just 14 points and in the bottom half of the Premier League table; they are now in contention, at least, to qualify for the Champions League.
The acid test, really, is next season, when Mourinho has had a full pre-season with his players and has been able to navigate a complete summer transfer window, in which he can potentially reshape pieces of his squad.
If Spurs are clinging on in the top-four race come next March, then questions may be asked.
As it is, Mourinho has something of a free pass as the season progresses; any success, surely, will be seen as a bonus.
Meanwhile, Spurs fans have absolutely slated Mourinho for one reason!