Tuesday November 19, 2019 is a date that Tottenham fans are unlikely to forget any time soon.
Not only did Mauricio Pochettino unceremoniously get the boot from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, his replacement was already lined up – in the form of former Chelsea and Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho.
Yes, less than 12 hours after announcing Poch was gone, Jose was confirmed as the club’s new head coach – with the footballing world now left to salivate while they ponder how he might get on in north London.
Taking Over
So with Spurs laying 7th (that’s an improvement on reality), Daniel Levy pulls the trigger and got rid of Pochettino – immediately installing everybody’s favourite Portuguese boss.
The First Month
Settling in…..But Struggling?
Jose has only ever taken charge of a side mid-season once in his career – at Porto back in 2002 – so this is new territory for him.
That may explain why getting across his ideas may have been taking slightly longer than he hoped – with the table in February showing that actually, things haven’t improved. Arsenal, meanwhile, are having a purple patch under beleaguered boss Unai Emery and are now third.
Oh, and Spurs haven’t sign anybody in the January transfer window.
A Torrid End to the 2019/20 Season
Fast forward time to May 2020 and things aren’t going too well.
To make matters worse, Arsenal cream the Lilywhites at the Emirates Stadium and easily finish third – 16 points ahead of Mou and the boys.
Furthermore, Mourinho’s position is suddenly under threat – with rumours at the end of the season that he may depart…
2020/21 Pre-Season
Having clung on to his job by his fingernails, Mourinho needs to strengthen Tottenham in the summer.
We’ve heard from Poch all along that Spurs need a reboot, but the ‘Special One’ isn’t so sure it seems. He does, however, solve the problem right-back area with two major signings – Max Aarons for bucket loads of money and Achraf Hakimi on loan – snaps up Giovani Lo Celso on a permanent basis and………yes, you got it, brings back Gareth Bale, on loan, on deadline day!
Elsewhere, there are some major, major moves – an indication of what’s to come in the summer of 2020?
A Promising Beginning
Wouldn’t you know it, Spurs get off to a cracking start – perhaps Jose has worked out the team to lead him to glory.
Five played, four wins, one draw – and joint top of the Premier League. Pressure? What pressure?
Just Over a Year in
Mourinho has now been in charge for 13 months, and things really are looking rosey.
Engrossed in a highly competitive title race, doing well in the Europa League and no longer pressure, Jose is dreaming of his customary trophy in his first full season in charge.
Can he keep up the momentum?
The 2020/21 January Transfer Window
The start of February rolls around, and although Tottenham have slipped to fourth in the table, it’s still an exceptionally close title race.
Six points separates the top four, and Mourinho makes one huge signing on deadline day to shore up things in midfield – bringing in Ruben Neves from Wolves for £60m.
Nifty work.
It All Goes Wrong
Turns out getting rid of Poch probably wasn’t a good idea, after all. Because, as you’re about to see, the season is all over – and Spurs have contrived to not only fall out of the title race, but fall out of the top four picture altogether.
Not only that, they are humiliated by Rosenborg in the Europa League quarter finals and are eliminated, on penalties, by Huddersfield in the FA Cup quarter final.
An incredible collapse that sees just Tottenham win just four of their final 15 games of the season, drawing six and losing five.
Ah…
It’s All Over
It could be a fun and bumpy ride everybody!
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