Jose Mourinho "lost the dressing room" at Tottenham when he spoke about the difference between Spurs and his old clubs.
That's the verdict of former Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea striker Chris Sutton, who felt Mourinho's comments to BBC Radio 5 Live after his side's 2-2 draw with Newcastle United would not have gone down well with his players.
The Portuguese head coach was sacked by Tottenham on Monday, with Spurs in seventh place in the Premier League and facing an uphill battle to qualify for the Champions League next season.
His exit came as little surprise to some fans and pundits, but the timing of it did surprise former Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole, who worked with Mourinho during his first spell in west London.
He said that he felt there must be a deeper reason for the decision to sack him just six days before facing Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley - and fellow BT Sport pundit Chris Sutton agreed.
He added that it was an odd decision to replace a “serial winner” in Mourinho with a “complete rookie” in Ryan Mason, adding that he would have given the Portuguese head coach until the end of the season.
But he said he felt that Mourinho “lost the dressing room” with his recent comments when asked to compare Tottenham with his other clubs and why Spurs had struggled to keep hold of leads this season.
In response, he said: “Same coach, different players.”
And Sutton believes that was the beginning of the end for him at Spurs.
“I think he was a goner then, because the players just are not having that, they would have been behind his back absolutely pummelling him.
“You can’t do that, he has lost the dressing room.”
