Tottenham Hotspur have terminated the contract of head coach Andre Villas-Boas in the wake of their 5-0 home loss to Liverpool on Sunday - the Merseysiders' biggest ever win at White Hart Lane.
A statement on the official Tottenham Hotspur website stated: "The Club can announce that agreement has been reached with Head Coach, Andre Villas-Boas, for the termination of his services. 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."
This is Villas-Boas' second high profile sacking in English football. The former Porto coach fired by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich just nine months after appointing him after a poor run of form which saw him lose the trust of high-profile players John Terry, Frank Lampard and Petr Cech.
Villas-Boas' insistence on employing a high defensive line was highly criticised as being an improper tactic in the high tempo English game. Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling were afforded acres of space behind the Tottenham back line in Sunday's game and the duo created chance after chance.
Defensive woes aside, AVB couldn't get his forwards working either with only 15 league goals scored all season across the whole team (Suarez has 17). Since the loss of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, Villas-Boas' Spurs have looked toothless and big money signings Roberto Soldado, Erik Lamela, Paulinho and co. have largely failed to deliver.
Fabio Capello, Michael Laudrup, Guus Hiddink, Tim Sherwood, Frank de Boer and Mauricio Pochettino are the early favourites to succeed the Portuguese.
