Jose Mourinho has been kicked out by Tottenham

Jose Mourinho, 58, was dismissed after only 17 months in charge, even though he could have led the club to their first silverware since 2008. Tottenham have been struggling in their bid to qualify for the Champions League via a top-four finish in the Premier League. 

Spurs are currently seventh, five points behind fourth placed West Ham, and suffered a shock Europa League last-16 exit against Dinamo Zagreb. “The club can today announce that Jose Mourinho and his coaching staff have been relieved of their duties,” a Tottenham statement said. 

The bombshell news came less than 24 hours after Tottenham announced they were one of 12 clubs planning to launch a breakaway European Super League. Tottenham’s academy coach Ryan Mason, a former player at the club, will take first-team training this week and is set to pick the team for Wednesday’s Premier League clash with Southampton and the League Cup final at Wembley. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said: “Jose and his coaching staff have been with us through some of our most challenging times as a club.

 “Jose is a true professional who showed enormous resilience during the pandemic. “On a personal level I have enjoyed working with him and regret that things have not worked out as we both had envisaged. “He will always be welcome here and we should like to thank him and his coaching staff for their contribution.” 

Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann is the bookmakers’ favourite to replace Jose Mourinho, while Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers is also a contender. Nagelsmann has also been linked with Bayern Munich, who are set to lose boss Hansi Flick in a move that could have persuaded Tottenham to act on Jose Mourinho now rather than wait until the end of the season. 

Mourinho’s abrupt exit is the latest setback in a once-glittering managerial career that now appears on the decline. The former Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United boss was appointed by Tottenham in November 2019, less than 12 hours after Mauricio Pochettino had been dismissed. 

But unlike Pochettino, who led Tottenham to the 2019 Champions League final and regularly finished in the top four, Mourinho was unable to spark a response from his squad. Tottenham finished sixth last season and went out of the Champions League in the last 16. 

Amid reports of player discontent with Mourinho’s conservative tactics and boring training sessions, the Portuguese coach had been losing his grip on the job for several weeks. He had a public spat with on-loan Real Madrid star Gareth Bale about his fitness for an FA Cup defeat at Everton and claimed Toby Alderweireld was absent from the squad due to a late return from the international break when the Belgian was actually pictured at the training ground. 

With Tottenham unlikely to qualify for the Champions League, there are also fears star striker Harry Kane will ask to leave in the close-season. England captain Kane responded to Mourinho’s exit by tweeting: “Thank you for everything Boss. A pleasure to have worked together. I wish you all the best for your next chapter.” 

Only during his spell at Portuguese club Leiria has Mourinho posted a lower win ratio in all competitions (45 percent) in his managerial career than he did with Tottenham (51 percent). Tottenham dropped 20 points from winning positions and blew a 2-0 first leg lead against Dinamo in the Europa League. For the first time, Jose Mourinho suffered 10 league defeats in a single season. 

Having branded himself the ‘Special One’ after winning the 2004 Champions League with Porto, Mourinho won the Premier League title three times in two spells with Chelsea. He also led Inter Milan to Champions League glory in 2010 and won La Liga with Real Madrid. But his second spell at Chelsea ended in acrimony in 2015 when he was sacked after losing the support of key players. A two-year spell in charge at Manchester United brought Europa League and League Cup glory, but again Mourinho’s failure to keep his stars happy led to his sacking in 2018. Mourinho’s last game with Tottenham was a frustrating 2-2 draw at Everton on Friday that extended the team’s winless run to three matches and prompted the axe to fall.

VFD Group Plc receives SEC clearance for its proposed N4.13Billion Right Issue.

Lagos-based proprietary investment company, VFD Group, has received clearance from the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) for the proposed right issue of 7,452,054 Ordinary Shares of 50 Kobo each at N556 per share based on 1 share for every 16 shares held.

The proposed right issue was approved by the Board of Directors at its Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) which held on 23^rd November 2020. The capital raise is part of the long-term strategic plan of VFD Group to harness the opportunities in selected companies that meet VFD Group’s Investment criteria.

 

The Group Managing Director/CEO, Nonso Okpala, has expressed his gratitude to the regulatory body, SEC, for the clearance, while hinting on the next phase of the business.

 

“Our expansion drive has been a long time coming and with this clearance, one of our immediate first steps is the enhancement of our systems, and the integration of all our subsidiary offerings under a very effective and technological platform. We are focused on expanding further within the local financial services industry as well as on the African continent,” he disclosed.

 

VFD Group is a proprietary investment company that focuses on building positive and socially conscious ecosystems by aggregating potentially viable business with the objective of creating innovative products and solutions that are accessible to the everyday Nigerian citizen and entrepreneur.

VFD Group Plc was founded on the values of integrity and good governance, and built on the strength of innovation and network, the goal of VFD Group is to establish a firm foothold in various ecosystems on the continent through their subsidiary companies. VFD Group operates through various portfolio to provide innovative financial services – alternative funding and investment channels – that are accessible to individuals and small businesses that provide the following services: Financial Advisory, Currency Exchange, Debt services, Private Funds Management, Asset Management, Real Estate, International Remittance/ Settlement.