Andre Villas-Boas’ spell as Tottenham manager came to an abrupt end on this day seven years ago as the Portuguese was sacked a day after a 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool.
The humiliation, which followed a 6-0 drubbing by Manchester City the previous month, was the final straw for Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, who delivered the coup de grace in person at the club’s training ground in Enfield.
Villas-Boas, who was able to say farewell to the players before his departure, left after 18 months in the post.
Andre Villas-Boas’ time at Tottenham was abruptly ended after a 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool (John Walton/PA)
“The club can announce that agreement has been reached with head coach, Andre Villas-Boas, for the termination of his services,” Tottenham said in a statement.
“The decision was by mutual consent and in the interests of all parties.”
At the time of Villas-Boas’ sacking Spurs sat seventh in the Premier League, two points ahead of Manchester United, and won their Europa League group with a 100 per cent record, scoring 15 goals and conceding just two in six games.
Villas-Boas also had a good record overall as Tottenham manager, averaging 1.83 points per league match, the highest of all Spurs bosses in the Premier League era.
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He did however spend heavily over the summer, to the tune of £108million with seven new players coming in as Tottenham reinvested Gareth Bale’s enormous transfer fee.
Tim Sherwood succeeded Villas-Boas as Tottenham boss (Nick Potts/PA)
A bright start in the Premier League was not maintained but Villas-Boas insisted after the Liverpool defeat he would not quit.
The 36-year-old said: “The call to make that decision is not mine, because obviously I won’t resign and I’m not a quitter. The only thing I can do is work hard with the players to get them back on track.
“This is a top-four squad but in our Premier League form we are not there.”
Fabio Capello, Glenn Hoddle and then Southampton boss Mauricio Pochettino emerged as the early contenders to succeed Villas-Boas.
But Tim Sherwood took interim charge and days later he was handed an 18-month contract until the end of the 2014-15 season.
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