The timing of yesterday's announcement was surprising; the fact Jose Mourinho has lost his job certainly wasn't.
Behind the scenes, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy had started the process of shifting the blame; trying to convince those around him that he was almost railroaded into offering the Portuguese the job in 2019.
Those at Spurs had seen this before - Levy was shifting into sacking mode. From that moment it's been a case of when, not if. Even up until a fortnight ago, the feeling was that Mourinho would see out the rest of the season before being sent packing.