Tottenham have sacked manager Nuno Espirito Santo after only four months in charge.
Spurs have lost five of their past seven league matches, including Saturday’s defeat by Manchester United.
They are eighth in the Premier League and 10 points behind leaders Chelsea.
“I know how much Nuno and his coaching staff wanted to succeed and I regret that we have had to take this decision,” said managing director of football Fabio Paratici.
The Portuguese, 47, was named Spurs manager on a two-year contract in June after four years at Wolves.
“Nuno is a true gentleman and will always be welcome here. We should like to thank him and his coaching staff and wish them well for the future,” added Paratici.
Tottenham said a decision on who will succeed Nuno will “follow in due course”.
Spurs, who were booed off following the 3-0 home loss to United, started the season strongly and after winning their first league three matches, Nuno was named Premier League manager of the month for August.
However, the results started to suffer. Despite wins over Aston Villa and Newcastle in October, there were defeats against Chelsea, Arsenal, West Ham and Crystal Palace, as well as a Europa Conference League loss at Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem.
Difficult summer search for new manager
Tottenham conducted a protracted search for a new manager in the summer following the sacking of Jose Mourinho in April.
They made contact with Paris St-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino about the possibility of the Argentine returning to manage them but the French club were not prepared to let him go.
Antonio Conte appeared set for the role, only for talks between the Italian and Spurs to break down.
Ex-Roma manager Paulo Fonseca then thought he was taking over, only to be sidelined in favour of Gennaro Gattuso, who was rejected when fans reacted badly to the existence of social media posts which brought the Italian’s commitment to inclusivity into question.
No sooner had Nuno been appointed than he had to deal with speculation over Harry Kane’s future, but the Spurs and England captain stayed and an opening-day win over champions Manchester City seemed to have set the tone for a positive season.
However, he has failed to get the most from his star players – most notably striker Kane who has scored just one Premier League goal this season.
The decision to sack Nuno was taken because of a combination of mixed results, the style of play and fan reaction.
There is sympathy internally as Nuno has not come in at the easiest time and has had to handle a lot of difficult situations, including the summer transfer saga involving Kane.
Early indications are that former Chelsea and Inter Milan manager Antonio Conte figures heavily in Tottenham’s thoughts to take over.
Spurs negotiated with Conte following Jose Mourinho’s exit but opted not to do a deal amid concern over the Italian’s demands.
It is thought Conte wants to get back into management after leaving Inter in the summer and he doesn’t appear to be at the top of the list of potential candidates to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, if the Norwegian manager leaves Manchester United.
