Welcome to another edition of Trending Up / Trending Down, where hoddle headquarters takes a look at all things trending up and down around Tottenham Hotspur.
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The last time I did this it felt like things couldn’t get worse. Thomas Frank was on his way out, Spurs were flirting with a relegation battle and the mood surrounding the club had fallen off a cliff.
Here we are now, about a month-and-a-half later, and things might actually be worse (or at the very least, the same). Igor Tudor’s job is in jeopardy,
relegation seems like a serious possibility, and the mood surrounding the club is wretched.
So now, with that in mind, let’s take a look at who (or what) is trending up, and what’s trending down.
Trending Up:
- Nothing is trending up at Tottenham Hotspur. Nothing.
Trending Down:
- Antonin Kinsky: A humiliating performance in his Champions League debut, in which he slipped twice within a span of 10 minutes to concede two goals, has effectively destroyed his future at the club. Not only that but it likely puts a serious dent into any major ambitions for now of joining a club of a similar stature in the future. And it’s way too soon to say if this is something he will be able to mentally recover from after being pulled within 17 minutes.
- Igor Tudor: Four games, four defeats. All but one by miserable margins. A 1-4 defeat to Arsenal, a 2-1 defeat to Fulham, a 1-3 defeat to Palace and now the 5-2 loss to Atletico Madrid. That’s 14 goals conceded in four games with five scored. The players look even more lost on the pitch and have no mettle in them to claw back from the slightest bit of adversity. They look a heck of a lot worse under Tudor, who was brought in to bring instant stability to a club that was fending off relegation. Instead they’re now in a full-on freefall into the drop zone. His brutal management of Kinsky – in which he didn’t even acknowledge the player after yanking him – was shocking. This is one of the worst decisions the club has made (and they’ve made a lot of bad ones). He needs to go before it’s too late.
- Johan Lange and Vinai Venkatesham: Of course, a significant share of blame must squarely fall on the two men leading the boardroom decisions. From doing almost no work in the January window, to holding onto Thomas Frank for too long and then bringing in a manager who is – at best – incompatible with this club, Lange and Venkatesham have carved out a special place in Tottenham ignominy. There seems to be no plan for where this club is headed, or what will happen if the once unthinkable happens. Should relegation happen, the consequences must manifest in at least one of these men’s dismissal.
- Micky van de Ven: Kinsky’s errors should not cover up van de Ven’s own woeful performance on Tuesday, where he was responsible for the second goal because of a slip of his own. It wasn’t as if van de Ven was coming into that match with a great deal of form anyways. Don’t forget he got himself sent off during that loss embarrassing loss to Palace and is now out of contention for Liverpool this weekend.
- Cristian Romero: The Spurs captain had served his four-match ban for a red card he received against Man United in February. After a clash of heads with Joao Palhinha on Tuesday, he’s now a doubt for Sunday’s fixture as well. Oh, and there’s also a Matt Law report out there that Romero could leave the club this summer.
Fitzie’s track of the day: Bandoleros, by Mariachi El Bronx
And now for your links:
The Independent: “Tottenham lose their balance, the ball and all remaining dignity in abject defeat to Atletico”
The Athletic ($$): “What should Tottenham do about Igor Tudor? We asked five of our writers”
Alasdair Gold: “Every word Igor Tudor said on taking off Antonin Kinsky, his Tottenham future and Romero fears”
The Telegraph: “Igor Tudor’s position untenable as Tottenham humiliated”
The Standard: “Tottenham Supporters’ Trust issues damning statement after Champions League ‘disgrace’”
