Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed the sacking of interim manager Cristian Stellini following their humiliating 6-1 defeat to Newcastle United in the Premier League over the weekend.

Stellini has been in charge since last month, when his former boss Antonio Conte left the club. Ryan Mason will take over right away.

The longtime assistant to Conte won only one of the four games he was in charge of. This seems to have killed Spurs’ chances of getting into the Champions League next season.

Tottenham is still in fifth place in the Premier League, but they are six points behind the top four teams and have played at least one more game than those teams.

Spurs’ already tough season hit a new low at St. James’ Park when they fell behind 5-0 in just 21 minutes.

“Sunday’s performance against Newcastle was wholly unacceptable,” said Levy in a club statement.

“Cristian will leave his current role along with his coaching staff. Cristian stepped in at a difficult point in our season and I want to thank him for the professional manner in which he and his coaching staff have conducted themselves during such a challenging time.”

But the fact that Levy chose to replace Conte with a member of his staff in the first place has given fans more reason to criticise him.

“We can look at many reasons why it happened and whilst myself, the board, the coaches and players must all take collective responsibility, ultimately the responsibility is mine,” Levy added.

“I met with the player committee today – the squad is determined to pull together to ensure the strongest possible finish to the season. We are all clear we need to deliver performances which earn your amazing support.”

Mason will be in charge for Thursday’s match at home against Manchester United. He was also in charge near the end of the 2020/21 season.

Last season, Conte led Tottenham to a fourth-place finish. This season, Spurs fans hoped they could do even better, since the former Chelsea manager had brought in new players worth more than £100 million ($124 million).

Spurs only lost one of their first 10 league games, but they have lost 10 of their last 22.

Conte’s time in charge ended after he went on a shocking rant in which he blamed his players’ poor performance under pressure.

But things didn’t get better under Stellini. At relegation-threatened Everton, Spurs gave up a goal and a player to draw 1-1, and they lost 3-2 at home to Bournemouth before they fell apart at Newcastle.

Spurs’ problems have made people wonder what will happen to their best striker, Harry Kane.

The England captain has just one year left on his contract, and both Bayern Munich and Manchester United are interested in signing him.

Fabio Paratici, the club’s managing director of football, also quit last week after losing his appeal against a 30-month ban on doing his job anywhere in the world.

The Italian football federation (FIGC) banned Paratici in January after his old team, Juventus, was found to have done false accounting.