Igor Tudor’s tenure at Tottenham Hotspur hasn’t exactly fulfilled his promised reputation as a struggling cup savior. Since arriving on the heels of Thomas Frank’s sacking, Tudor has lost all three of his matches in charge of the club and has made cryptic comments in press conferences (in what’s probably his fourth language) suggesting that the job is even bigger than he thought coming in.
The results have been poor, to be sure, with Spurs currently sitting one point ahead of West Ham and the relegation
drop zone with nine games to play.
That said, nobody seems to have any idea what this means for Tudor himself — whether he will remain in charge or whether Spurs’ hierarchy will swiftly dispose of him for someone else the way they did with Cristian Stellini after Spurs sacked Antonio Conte a few years ago.
Consider this — the Telegraph’s Jason Burt and Sam Wallace suggest Spurs are getting significant pressure and criticism from some of the club’s biggest and highest-spending supporters, the Tunnel Club, which is causing some in the club hierarchy to consider making another change.
As well as from a shell-shocked home crowd, many of whom left at half-time, there was also pressure on the club’s directors from members of the exclusive Tunnel Club. Some of those fans in the private members’ section, with season tickets costing about £20,000 per seat, directed their displeasure up one tier at the likes of chief executive Vinai Venkatesham.
Those who saw it unfold said that the criticism was not sweary and was all the more stinging for that reason. Tunnel Club members, usually a fairly reserved part of the match-going fanbase, who pay a premium for access to the club’s best hospitality, asked specific questions about the direction of Spurs under the Lewis family ownership.
— The Telegraph
That said, the BBC’s Sami Mockbel suggests that Spurs are, at least for now, sticking with Tudor, with the Croatian expecting to take the pre-match press conference ahead of Spurs’ Champions League Round of 16 match away to Atletico Madrid next week, but his future certainly doesn’t look particularly bright.
On Friday morning, club sources told BBC Sport that Tottenham have no immediate plans to change manager for a second time this campaign.
The club also confirmed that Tudor is scheduled to undertake the pre-match news conference before Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 first-leg tie at Atletico Madrid, providing further indication that Spurs are sticking with him for now.
But even if Tudor can steer Tottenham to Premier League safety, it is now looking highly unlikely that he will be a contender to take the role on a full-time basis.
— BBC Sport
It’s a tough stretch ahead with the two Champions League ties sandwich a trip to Anfield to play Liverpool on Sunday, March 15, leading to the distinct possibility of a 12th straight match without a win in the league and a dip into the relegation zone if West Ham were to win. It’s probably not a stretch to suggest that if Tudor doesn’t get a result in any of the next three games he could leave.
Interestingly, Mockbel also expanded on previous reporting that suggested Tottenham are actively trying to lure former Palace Director of Football Dougie Freedman to leave his second-tier KSA club and come back to the Premier League as co-Sporting Director. Other names in consideration are Chelsea’s Paul Winstanley and Bournemouth’s Thiago Pinto.
Freedman was hugely influential at Palace, successfully recruiting young players such as Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise, Marc Guehi, Adam Wharton, Dean Henderson, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Ismalia Sarr, Cheick Doucoure and Maxence Lacroix while at Palace. Many of these players, notably Eze, Olise, and Guehi, were later sold for huge profits (which was the plan as Palace are a selling club), but the recruitment was responsible for Palace winning the first FA Cup in club history last season.
Spurs are said to want a new Co-Sporting Director (ostensibly to work alongside Johan Lange and I have OPINIONS about that) in time to help hire a new permanent head coach that may or may not be coaching in the Championship next season.
