Players also to blame for Mourinho’s sacking – Matt Doherty

Jose Mourinho-Tottenham Hotspur

Matt Doherty has admitted that Tottenham players are partly to blame for the sacking of Jose Mourinho.

The Portuguese coach was sacked by Spurs last April after just 18 months in charge of the North London club. He left the club lying in seventh place in the Premier League table and with no place in Europe after his side was dumped out of the Europa League by Dinamo Zagreb.

The former Chelsea manager was criticised for using defensive tactics and his poor handling of Spurs players like Dele Ali and Gareth Bale, leading to his sack in April.

But Matt Doherty has come out to rubbish with the theory. The full-back who Mourinho brought in from Wolverhampton in the summer of 2020 believes that Mourinho remained one of the best managers in the world and was not entirely at fault for how his time at Tottenham ended.

Speaking to the media, Doherty, who is currently on international duty with the Republic of Ireland, denied claims that burnout of players was responsible for Mourinho’s demise.

“He was only there for 18 months.” Doherty said.

“If it was three or four years, it could be a different conversation, but we just weren’t getting the results for him.”

He also admitted that players must share in the blame for how Mourinho’s time ended.

“The manager is always the one to lose his job, but as players, we were the ones on the pitch, and we weren’t able to get the results for him, which was a shame because he’s one of the best managers ever.”

The defender also played down claims that he was not appropriately treated by Mourinho, stating that he enjoyed a great relationship with the coach.

“I definitely got a fair crack of the whip. I still played 25, 26, 27 games – that’s a lot of games in a season, so I definitely got a fair crack.

“I had a great relationship with him. He was my neighbour for the whole year, so the relationship was fine. He was a great guy, but unfortunately, these things happen in football.”

The Portuguese has so far been appointed AS Roma coach while Tottenham are yet to find a replacement for him.