BREAKING: Mauricio Pochettino sacked

Breaking news, and it’s not the good kind. Tottenham Hotspur released a club statement announcing that Mauricio Pochettino has left the club.

We have absolutely no idea the details right now because Tottenham’s site keeps crashing, but we’ll update as the info comes.

We’ve debated ad nauseum the last couple of months as to how Levy would handle this situation if it got dire enough. The believe was, up until a couple of weeks ago, that Levy would back Pochettino and January would be a busy one. Unfortunately, with a lack of refreshing the squad in the past couple of windows and the terrible run of form domestically, there was no way Pochettino was going to last to the next transfer window.

A buy-out of reportedly £12.5 million is due to Pochettino and we’re sure to get the terms of that down the road, given that info came out earlier today that the figure may be much larger.

Pochettino exits the club almost six months to the day of managing Tottenham in the Champions League final. Officially, his final record will be 160 victories, 60 draws and 73 losses. For all of the turnaround he has ushered into the club, he will also leave without a major trophy won for the North London club.

EDIT: Here is the statement from the club. He was fired.

The Club can today announce that Mauricio Pochettino and his coaching staff Jesus Perez, Miguel D’Agostino and Antoni Jimenez have been relieved of their duties.

Chairman, Daniel Levy, said: “We were extremely reluctant to make this change and it is not a decision the Board has taken lightly, nor in haste.

“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.

“Mauricio and his coaching staff will always be part of our history. 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.

“We have a talented squad. We need to re-energise and look to deliver a positive season for our supporters.”

We shall provide an update on new coaching staff in due course.