Tottenham Hotspur have announced they have parted company with manager Andre Villas-Boas.
The Portuguese tactician was understood to be on the verge of losing his job, after Spurs suffered a 5-0 hammering at the hands of Liverpool on Sunday at White Hart Lane, which followed a 6-0 loss at Manchester City last month.
The defeat - the club's worst at White Hart Lane in 16 years - pushed Tottenham down to seventh in the Premier League table, eight points behind leaders and archrivals Arsenal. And the club has now confirmed that they have shown the door to Villas-Boas.
"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," read a statement on the club's official website
"We wish Andre well for the future. We shall make a further announcement in due course," it added.
Early names being linked to the job include current Russia and ex-England manager Fabio Capello, former Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo, Swansea coach Michael Laudrup and Tottenham's technical director Franco Baldini, former Spurs playmaker and England boss Glenn Hoddle.
Speaking after the loss to Liverpool, Villas-Boas had insisted that he would not quit but admitted his post is not safe at the moment.
"That's [Sacking] the only thing I can't control, it's not my call so I can't say anything else. I have to get down to work, that's the only thing I can focus on. The call to make that decision is not mine, because obviously I won't resign and I'm not a quitter. 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."
There were rumours of conflict of interest between Villas-Boas, Baldini and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy at the beginning of the season as well, with some reports claiming the manager did not have a say in some of the seven new players the club signed in the summer.
Spurs, who are keen on breaking in to the top four this season, are understood to have spent around £110m in the summer, to bring in Roberto Soldado, Paulinho, Erik Lamela, Christian Eriksen, Etienne Capoue, Vlad Chiriches and Nacer Chadli, following the departure of last season's PFA Player of the Year Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for around £85m.
