The Portuguese was shown the exit door at Spurs on Monday following a poor run of results that saw them crash out of the Europa League and FA Cup, while also dropping out of the Champions League spots in the top flight.
Ryan Mason has taken over the reins at Spurs on a temporary basis as interim boss for the remainder of the campaign, and led his team to 2-1 league win over Southampton on Wednesday in his first game in charge.
Their latest win has seen Tottenham climb up to sixth in the standings and former top flight hitman Barnes has backed them to break into the top four in the coming weeks as he stressed sacking Mourinho has not hurt their chances of doing so.
Barnes explained that it is too early to say whether letting Mourinho go midway through a season was the right thing to do and pointed out the answer will depend on how they finish the current campaign.
“Tottenham can still get in the top four”, Barnes told Bonus Code Bets.
“With Mourinho there, could they have? Yes.
“Without him, can they? Yes.
“If they don’t make the top four does that mean they have got it wrong [by sacking him], we don’t know. You take a decision, and you live and die by it.
“They made the decision and there’s no way back.
“It won’t be the wrong decision in terms of them getting relegated, but if they finish eighth instead of seventh because they sacked Jose Mourinho, then is it the wrong decision? Not necessarily.
“We won’t know unless they qualify for the top four with Ryan Mason in charge, whilst they don’t have a manager.”
Mason will now turn his attention to Sunday’s EFL Cup final at Wembley against Manchester City and will be determined to lead them to their first piece of silverware since 2008.
