Matt Doherty has admitted he and his Tottenham team-mates are partly to blame for Jose Mourinho's sacking in April.
Mourinho was relieved of his duties by Daniel Levy almost two months ago after a season of underperforming at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs were in seventh-place and had just been knocked out of the Europa League by Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb.
Ryan Mason took interim charge of the team until the end of the season, with the club looking for a permanent manager behind the scenes.
Doherty, who was a regular during Mourinho's Spurs tenure, has acknowledged that the players did underperform which contributed to the Portuguese boss being sacked.
"He was only there for 18 months. If it was three or four years, it could be a different conversation, but we just weren't getting the results for him," Doherty said, via Sky Sports.
"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.
"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.
"That was the case, but he is Jose Mourinho, he is one of the best ever and I have nothing but praise for him."
Spurs looked as if they were going to appoint Antonio Conte as their new manager, but football.london understands negotiations came to an end over some of the Italian's demands.
Levy continues to be on the lookout for a new boss, with plenty of names being linked, including Ajax manager Erik ten Hag.
