Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Darren Anderton has suggested that the club always intended to sack manager Tim Sherwood at the end of the season.
Sherwood, who was appointed in December, was dismissed from White Hart Lane on Monday with around one year left on his contract.
The 45-year-old guided Spurs to a sixth-place finish in the Premier League table during his short spell in charge of the team.
However, Anderton believes that chairman Daniel Levy never had any plans to keep hold of Sherwood beyond the summer.
"They gave him 18 months and there was a break clause and maybe this was the way [Levy] thought it would go," he told Sky Sports News.
"If Tim had got them into the top four then maybe he would have kept his job. Who knows?
"The team got into the Champions League two years ago under Harry Redknapp and once you're in it then you want it every year and that has to be the aim."
Ajax coach Frank de Boer and Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino are among the favourites to replace Sherwood.
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