Speaking recently on the Extra Inch podcast, regular contributor Bardi discussed whether Jose Mourinho could face the sack should Tottenham Hotspur finish the season outside of the top four and win no trophies this season.
After taking over at Spurs in November 2019, Mourinho guided the club to a sixth-placed finish in the Premier League last season, as well as the last 16 of the Champions League, and the fifth round of the FA Cup.
This year, however, after a highly active summer transfer window, which saw the arrivals of Sergio Reguilon, Matt Doherty, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Joe Rodon, Carlos Vinicius, Joe Hart and Gareth Bale, Tottenham got off to a flying start in their 2020/21 Premier League campaign, losing just one of their opening 12 league fixtures of the season.
However, with the club now in the midst of a less profitable run of form, having won just one of their last six league games, one Spurs fan questioned the Extra Inch podcast as to whether they could imagine Mourinho being sacked at the end of the season – if his side fail to qualify for the Champions League and do not win a trophy.
In response, Bardi said: “I think there might be a way out for both parties, depending on what happens in the Euros. Maybe Portugal change their manager and Mourinho has a way out there. He would save face, Spurs would save money, that’s always a way out.
“I still think we’ll win something. I think the League Cup opportunity is just incredible, the run we’ve had. We beat Chelsea, but then after that, we’ve just played trash the whole way to the semi-finals. So, if we get through Brentford, Mourinho has the opportunity to win a cup and if the Portugal job comes open and he leaves, he can [say], ‘I won a cup at Tottenham, no one else does that,’ and everybody’s happy and then we can move on to something else.
“But, if we finish top four and we get a trophy he’ll stay, for sure. He’s not going anywhere. He’ll want a crack at the Champions League.”
Can you see Tottenham sacking Mourinho if he fails to win a trophy this year?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts on Bardi’s comments regarding Jose Mourinho’s future at Tottenham…
Considering the fact that Mourinho was given a contract that runs until the end of the 2022/23 season when he joined Spurs last November, and the fact that the 57-year-old is, according to Forbes, earning £15 million per year in north London, should Daniel Levy indeed decide to sack the manager, it would certainly be an expensive decision to make.
As such, unless, as Bardi suggests, Mourinho is offered another job that he would like, in our opinion, even without the success of a trophy or Champions League football, the Portuguese manager will be at Spurs for the foreseeable future.