Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is highly unlikely to axe Jose Mourinho midway through the season with Spurs still competing for three trophies this season, according to reports. Pressure is building on the Portuguese coach after his side suffered three straight Premier League defeats for the first time in nine years by losing to Chelsea on Thursday night.
The Spurs boss lost back-to-back home league matches for the first time in his managerial career and the north London outfit’s slide has seen some calls for the manager to be sacked.
Mourinho had inspired hope that Spurs might be in the title mix this season but they have only won two of their last 10 top-flight matches.
Having lost five of nine since a last-gasp defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on December 16, Spurs are suddenly fearing they could miss out on Champions League football again this year.
Their torrid run has seen them slip to eighth in the table, albeit having played one match less than all of the teams between second and sixth in the table.
Spurs sit on 33 points from 21 games but their slim hopes of a first league title since 1961 have been extinguished with leaders Manchester City on 47 points from the same number of matches.
Fourth-placed Liverpool are on 40 points from 22 games but Spurs drastically need to improve their form and have tricky encounters with City and West Ham to come this month.
However, the Londoners are into the fifth round of the FA Cup and face Everton next Wednesday and resume their Europa League campaign against Wolfsberg later this month.
Crucially, Spurs also have a League Cup final to play against City on April 25 as they seek a first piece of silverware since 2008.
The Athletic say as a result Levy is highly unlikely to dismiss Mourinho before the end of the season despite their current struggles in the league.
Speaking after the 1-0 defeat to former club Chelsea, after Jorginho netted from the penalty spot, Mourinho said: “The reality of the first half is that with them being superior, it was a penalty that decided the first half and that decided in the end the result of the game.
“In the second half we were much better and because we were much better they were not superior at all.
“It was for them then to be in the lower block and trying something in counter attack so I believe in the second half deserving more than what we got.”
Spurs are missing injured captain Harry Kane and Mourinho added: “The reality is that since Liverpool half-time, that is very difficult for us to connect certain dynamics.
“We tried without Vinicius against Brighton. We tried today with Vinicius and two up. We tried in the second half with him as a target man and two wingers and a No 10.
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“We’re trying to go on the search but I saw togetherness. It’s not easy to see togetherness with bad results, defeats, difficulties, injuries.
“Togetherness is very easy to show when you’re on a high and winning matches, when everything is amazing.
“But in difficult moments it’s more difficult to see that togetherness but I saw that in the second half. No doubts for me.”
Mourinho has been sacked by both of his last two clubs Chelsea and Manchester United and would be sacked for the fourth time as a Premier League manager if he was axed by Spurs.
The 58-year-old was shown the door by Chelsea both in September 2007 and December 2015 while he was axed by United in December 2018.
Mourinho has been in charge at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium since replacing Mauricio Pochettino in November 2019 and has won 36 of 70 games, losing 17.
His 51.43 per cent win ratio is only bettered by Andre Villas Boas (55 per cent) and Pochettino (54.27 per cent) in the post-Second World War era.
Spurs are next in action when they welcome relegation-threatened West Brom to north London this Sunday (12pm kick-off). They then face Everton in the cup three days later before travelling to City next Saturday.