Yahoo News Jose Mourinho's final day at Tottenham... and the four hours of player talks after his sacking
Jose Mourinho stayed at Tottenham’s training ground hours after he was sacked and told “home truths” during a series of talks with players.
Telegraph Sport revealed Mourinho was leaving his role on Monday morning and he offered to leave immediately or pack up his office. And after staying to collect his belongings he had discussions with players for over four hours.
Players were told home truths about their performances, according to a first-team source. Mourinho left the club while they were seventh in the Premier League table and out of Europa League, although they have an EFL Cup final on Sunday.
Mourinho, who was dressed and prepared to take training on Monday, was locked in talks for two hours before he was dismissed, bringing an end to 17 months in charge of the club where he secured European qualification at the end of last season.
But it is understood the relationship with some of his squad hit rock bottom after Spurs were knocked out of the Europa League by Dinamo Zagreb a month ago, with the atmosphere around the training ground tense and players “afraid to smile”.
Mourinho’s “home truths” to his players were not confined to his final day at Spurs. He took aim at some of his first-team players in front of their team-mates.
During his time at the club he also fell out with Danny Rose, and was infamously caught on camera arguing with the former England full-back, who told him that players were getting picked despite poor form. Dele Alli was also sidelined this season and used mainly in European matches after a falling out of favour.
Ryan Mason, who has been appointed interim head coach, says the slate has been wiped clean for all players.
“Whatever happened before, I wasn't involved with, I'm not too sure what happened, but all I can take is the players, how they trained, the fitness of the guys, the mentality, the mindset, how the feeling is within the group, within the individual, then it's our job to pick a team to win games of football,” he said.
