Tottenham sack Mauricio Pochettino as manager after five years in charge

Tottenham have sacked Mauricio Pochettino as manager, the Premier League club announced on Tuesday.

The former Southampton boss, 47, was appointed in May 2014 and led the club to the Champions League final last season, where they lost to Liverpool.

But Spurs have made a disappointing start to the current campaign and are 14th in the Premier League.

We were extremely reluctant to make this change and it is not a decision the board has taken lightly, nor in haste, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy said in a team statement.

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.

@SpursOfficial have made a great sporting mistake in sacking Mauricio Pochettino! @ManUtd what are you waiting for???? Behold your new manager!!!! pic.twitter.com/N5hl5CFRGp

— Olomoinfo (@Olomoinfo) November 19, 2019

Assistants Jesus Perez, Miguel D'Agostino and Antoni Jimenez have also been relieved of their duties, the club confirmed.

Pochettino, who moved to Spurs from Southampton in May 2014, led the London club to the final of the UEFA Champions League last season, where they fell 2-0 to Liverpool in Madrid.

Tottenham finished in the top-four of the Premier League for the past four seasons under Pochettino who had become a much-loved figure amongst the fans.

However, results have tailed off badly this season and the club have won only three of their opening 12 Premier League games and are in 14th spot. They were also thrashed 7-2 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Mauricio and his coaching staff will always be part of our history, Levy said.

54% - Of managers to have taken charge of 50 or more competitive games with Tottenham, only Andre Villas-Boas (55%) had a better win percentage than Mauricio Pochettino (54%), who won 159 of his 293 matches in charge of the club. Spurred. pic.twitter.com/0nk6fRHqJo

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 19, 2019

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.

The statement said an update on the new coaching set-up would be made in due course.

@Manchester united behold your new Manager!!!! Dont miss this opportunity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!