Pochettino relationship with Spurs players BREAKS DOWN before his sacking (Mail)

Mauricio Pochettino's relationship with a number of his Tottenham players had broken down in the weeks before his sacking, Sportsmail understands.

Tottenham's stars were not expecting Pochettino to leave as early as Tuesday night, when he and his backroom staff were shown the door following a poor start to the season.

Even as Spurs' fortunes showed little sign of improving, there was little sense that their boss was resigned to his fate.

But as his time in north London drew to a close, a detachment had developed between the manager and his players.

It's claimed Pochettino would hardly speak to his members of his squad - or want them to question his methods.

Among some players, frustration had been growing at the way the manager over-scrutinised everything they did.

They felt the Argentine would take exception to fairly innocuous things - both on and off the pitch.

Another part of the problem, it's claimed, was that many of the players had been under Pochettino for several years and had therefore grown bored of the same voice.

By the end, Sportsmail has been told, some players were also annoyed at the way the manager's messages in public would not marry with how he was operating behind doors.

As results suffered in recent months, Pochettino had called on his squad to come together, to refocus - and not to have 'different agendas'.

But among certain stars there was frustration that he continued to reward those who weren't perceived to be playing ball, by picking players who wanted to leave the club.

The growing disconnect rarely spilled into the public arena, though recent comments by Kieran Trippier and Danny Rose indicated that underlying issues had been bubbling.

Last week Rose suggested 'people upstairs' had tried to force him out of the club over the summer.

Generally, though, members of the Spurs squad have been quick to back their manager in public.

Behind the scenes the atmosphere was less harmonious, but players were reluctant to be seen to be breaking rank.