First-half goals from Luis Suarez and Jordan Henderson followed by second-half strikes from Jon Flanagan, Suarez again and Raheem Sterling completed an emphatic victory over Tottenham. PHOTO: REUTERS
The news arrived a day after Spurs were thrashed 5-0 by Liverpool at White Hart Lane, which left the north London club five points below the Champions League places in seventh in the Premier League table.
“The club can announce that agreement has been reached with head coach, Andre Villas-Boas, for the termination of his services,” read a statement on the Tottenham website.
“The decision was by mutual consent and in the interests of all parties. We wish Andre well for the future. We shall make a further announcement in due course.”
Villas-Boas, 36, had also seen his side demolished 6-0 at Manchester City last month, despite Spurs having invested around £105 million on new players during the close season.
Speaking after the drubbing by Liverpool, Villas-Boas had vowed that he would not walk away from the club.
“The call to make that decision is not mine because obviously I won’t resign and I’m not a quitter,” he said.
“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.”
Russia manager Fabio Capello, the former England head coach, was swiftly installed as the British bookmakers’ favourite to succeed Villas-Boas, who first came to prominence at Porto.
Swansea City manager Michael Laudrup is also reported to be in contention, but the agent of Guus Hiddink ruled the experienced Dutchman out of the running as he is due to become coach of the Netherlands for a second time after next year’s World Cup.
Rodgers hails ‘best yet’ Liverpool, cools title talk
Brendan Rodgers hailed Liverpool’s 5-0 humiliation of Tottenham as his side’s best performance since he took charge of the Anfield club 18 months ago.
But the manager refused to talk up his side credentials as Premier League title challengers despite moving second, two points behind leaders Arsenal.
“It was probably the most complete performance,” said Rodgers. “To come here and get a victory like that. But more importantly, the performance. The model of our game was outstanding.”
But when asked about his side’s title aspirations, he added: “I’m not even thinking about that. My job was to develop the style of football while moving the club forward, and that’s what we’ve tried to do.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2013.
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