Duncan Castles has been talking all things Tottenham Hotspur on the latest episode of The Transfer Window podcast and disclosed what led to Jose Mourinho’s dismissal.
Spurs parted ways with the 58-year-old on Monday after a 2-2 draw with Everton made it three games without a win for the north London outfit.
Mourinho was set to lead Tottenham out at Wembley Stadium in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday as the capital club search for their first piece of silverware since 2008, but it was a disagreement regarding the showpiece event that reportedly contributed to the Portuguese’s premature exit.
Castles claims the former Real Madrid and Manchester United boss wanted to rest key personnel for their midweek clash with Southampton in order to prioritise the cup final, however, Daniel Levy disagreed, and it proved to be the final nail in Mourinho’s coffin.
He said: “I can tell you the information I have from people close to Mourinho is that ahead of that game he talked to Daniel Levy, and he explained that he intended to rest two or three players, of his most-used players, for the Premier League game against Southampton tomorrow night in order to get the team in the best possible condition for the League Cup final.
“And my information is that Levy told him, ‘No, I want you to play the strongest team possible against Southampton because league position is more important to us than winning that cup.’
“Now, the people close to Mourinho think that was more a form of provocation from Levy, that he had decided he was going to change manager.”
TIF Thoughts on Mourinho…
Mourinho was brought to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to end the club’s trophy drought and return them to the upper echelons of the Premier League.
Given that he was unable to achieve either throughout his 17-month stay at Spurs, his time at the club will ultimately go down as an unsuccessful one.
Tottenham currently sit in sixth place in the top-flight table and another season away from the Champions League looks likely.
In other news: ‘These players need to go’, ‘Got him sacked’ – Many Spurs fans fume at ’embarrassing’ news