Frank Lampard was happy to see Jose Mourinho join Tottenham, but the Chelsea head coach ruled out any chance of ever making the same move.

After a poor start to the season, Spurs sacked Mauricio Pochettino on Tuesday, announcing Mourinho's arrival less than 12 hours later.

Lampard played under Mourinho in the manager's two spells at Chelsea, winning back-to-back Premier League titles during the Portuguese's first stint at Stamford Bridge.

During his time at Chelsea, Mourinho stated he would never join Spurs, but Lampard holds nothing against his former manager for signing up with another London club, even if the Spurs move is not one he can envisage making himself.

"I can firmly say no," Lampard told a news conference when asked if he would ever join Tottenham. "You can replay that in 10 years. I was here for 13 years as a player, have a deep feeling for the club.

"That's no disrespect to Tottenham, I have a lot of friends who are Tottenham fans and Arsenal fans, but sometimes there are feelings which mean you just wouldn't do it. Not disrespectful to the club, but because of what Chelsea has given me as a player and now, it's something that is certainly not on my list.

"That's only [Mourinho's] decision and you only make that decision as you go. Jose has managed a lot of football clubs over a long career.

"That's his decision, whether fans judge him or not for it is something that's out of his hands. As a professional, you have to understand a right to work but we do have this tribal instinct in this country where fans react to it."

Mourinho had been out of a managerial job since he was sacked by Manchester United in December 2018.

Lampard, whose side face Manchester City on Saturday, insists Spurs are sure to be in contention for a Champions League place given their quality.

"History and results speak for themselves. The trophies and titles he's managed to win at the clubs he has worked at. Things like that are not shocks or surprises, they're because of hard work and what you put in, he's done that consistently at the teams that he's been at, that's what we measure him by," Lampard said.

"Wherever you go is a new beginning, so I don't think you can rely on that and I don't think he will be. People will hold up his record and expect big things from him.

"Spurs have had a difficult start but when you look at the team Pochettino has built and what Mourinho takes on is a group of very good players even though they're in a slightly false position at the moment for whatever reason.

"They're in the top-four race. That was the story at the start of the season and it'll be the story at the end of the season because of their quality.

"When you look at their team, pound-for-pound, over the last three or four years, it's why they reached the Champions League final. You look at their strength in depth, the individual talent, especially in forward areas, they're going to be a threat."