Tottenham are rotten and Mourinho is falling too but sacking him may be madness

It's a danger of becoming a bit of a tradition at Tottenham. A trip down to Brighton to answer some tough questions... followed by a humbling, and a return journey with few answers and perhaps even more queries.

Well, we got one answer at least. Are Spurs in a title race? If their 1-0 defeat at the Amex Stadium revealed anything it's that considering this side as contenders may actually be an insult to those actually involved in the battle for the Premier League crown.

Last season, Tottenham's response to a European record home defeat dealt by Bayern Munich in a 7-2 Champions League crushing, was followed by an arguably even worse performance when they were easily dispatched 3-0 at Brighton just a few days later.

The writing was on the wall for beleaguered boss Mauricio Pochettino then, and after failing to add another Premier League win he was sacked just over a month later.

It's appearing to come full circle for his successor Jose Mourinho, whose team were just as lifeless in their defeat on Sunday against a team whose only previous home victory in the Premier League in the last year was against Arsenal back in June.

Spurs were top of the table in the middle of December but a run of just two wins in their last nine games reflects a team who have been stuttering on the pitch throughout that period, and back-to-back defeats by Liverpool and Brighton have only ramped up pressure on Mourinho.

However, this is a Spurs side very many did not tip to even finish inside the top four this season, and with over half of the campaign gone they are only six points off a Champions League spot with a game in hand, as well as a League Cup final to look forward to in April.

Mourinho's tenure at White Hart Lane has been a curious one. It's had its highs and lows but both appear to be exaggerated by their fanbase depending on which side of the increasingly partisan 'Jose In' or 'Jose Out' divide they are on. It's rare to find a fan camped in the middle.

Many supporters fuming over Pochettino's departure have never taken to Mourinho's appointment, believing the Argentine still had the ability to turn around a team in awful form and that he deserved more time to do so having reached the Champions League final a few months before, and having turned Spurs into top four regulars.

Yet out went arguably Spurs' most successful manager in the Premier League era and in came Mourinho. He of Chelsea fame, and in his approach to football was the complete opposite to the man he was replacing.

Attacking instincts, of which Spurs fans largely crave, was abandoned and now pragmatic defensive counter attacking football was the order of the day. That's already a deal breaker for many supporters, and if it doesn't even get results then enemy lines have been drawn and calls for another sacking soon follow after any defeat.

There are though fans who have grown tired of seeing Spurs play 'pretty football' yet always end the season with nothing but a patronising pat on the head to praise their efforts in getting close but not close enough.

Tottenham have won just one trophy in the last 21 years. Since winning the League Cup in 2008 they have lost the final of the competition twice, been defeated in the Champions League final, finished runners-up in the Premier League and somehow finished third in a campaign when were left as the only team who could haul in eventual champions Leicester City during the 2015-16 season.

Factor in another five domestic cup semi-final defeats and you have a squad that have now developed a reputation for 'bottling it' on the big occasions.

The answer it seemed was simple, bring in a winner - and Mourinho's pedigree of three Premier League titles with Chelsea, league titles with Inter Milan and Real Madrid as well as European success with Porto, Inter and Manchester United made him an ideal choice to try and turnaround the 'loser mentality' which seems embedded in at White Hart Lane.

In his 14 months in charge, there have been signs he has made progress on this front, notably reaching the aforementioned League Cup final against Manchester City in April, defeating rivals Chelsea along the way, while the extraordinary 6-1 win at Manchester United earlier this season is one of the club's best ever Premier League results.

Going top in November was something they had not done since Pochettino's first couple of weeks in the job and appeared to suggest that while Spurs were not easy on the eye, they were building towards becoming a feared outfit.

Yet there is a charge sheet against Mourinho too, and he appears to have already fallen out with former stars from the Pochettino era. Danny Rose  has all but become a forgotten man without a squad number and Dele Alli has also been frozen out of the first team having largely underperformed.

Rose's spat with Mourinho became public when a heated debate about his lack of playing time featured on the 'All or Nothing' TV documentary, while Alli's frustrations were also seen by the live camera after he kicked out angrily having been subbed in the League Cup quarter-final win at Stoke - he has only played once for Spurs since.

Mourinho's relationship with now key midfielder Tanguy Ndombele was so bad it required intervention from chairman Daniel Levy in the summer to patch up their differences at least professionally, while Serge Aurier storming out the stadium at half-time after being substituted in the recent 3-1 defeat by Liverpool reflected on what seems to be poor dressing room morale at the club.

In addition the Mourinho signings have been a mixed bag. Sergio Reguilon and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg have been good additions to the first-team but Gareth Bale's return has largely flopped, striker Carlos Vinicius still can't get a game in the absence of the injured Harry Kane, young defender Joe Rodon is still raw and Matt Doherty, Steven Bergwijn and Gedson Fernandes have made little impression on the starting XI.

A brutal assessment of Mourinho would suggest his team look no better than the one he took from Pochettino, with confidence levels just as shot and a fanbase just as enraged over the current form.

But who really is better equipped to take on Tottenham now? With no transfer window to act on, who could Spurs realistically appoint who would be ready to inherit what is looking like a stale squad that is mentally scarred and laden with runners-up medals from previous regimes and no transfer window to act on?

Even if you bring up caretaker manager arguments, is Spurs' position that bad that they would require one to take over from Mourinho?

Under the ENIC ownership since 2001, Spurs have sacked nine managers but none had the pedigree provided by Mourinho. Even Pochettino was given more time to develop after an average first full season in 2014-15, and to a certain degree it paid off.

Barring a total collapse in results, there simply is no point in dispending with Mourinho who still has plenty of deadwood to clear out before this Spurs team is shaped into his mould.

With an elusive trophy on the horizon, and still in strong contention for a Champions League spot it would simply be a dummy-spitting knee jerk reaction to get rid of him in the near future.

For now his job should not even be under consideration. On current projection it might however be worth a review in the summer... or after another trip to Brighton next season.