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All change at Spurs again and Igor Tudor has a relegation battle on his hands | Jonathan Wilson
#Tottenham Hotspur#Igor Tudor#Thomas Frank#Premier League relegation#Managerial changes#Injury crisis#Lewis family ownership#West Ham United
📌 Key Takeaways
Tottenham sacked Thomas Frank and appointed Igor Tudor as interim manager amid relegation fears
The club has won only 2 of their last 17 Premier League matches with 12 players injured
This is the 8th managerial change in 5 years at Tottenham, raising questions about stability
The appointment marks the first major decision under new Lewis family ownership
Immediate survival is the priority before considering a permanent managerial solution
📖 Full Retelling
Tottenham Hotspur has sacked manager Thomas Frank and appointed former Juventus coach Igor Tudor as interim manager in early 2026, with the north London club facing an unexpected relegation battle amid a severe injury crisis and poor form. The decision comes as West Ham United closes the gap on Tottenham in the Premier League table, leaving the traditionally top-half club with serious concerns about their future in the top flight. The situation has deteriorated significantly for Tottenham, who have won only two of their last 17 league matches and just five home games since November 2024. With 12 players currently sidelined through injury, including key creative talents like Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison, the team lacks both quality and confidence on the pitch. This managerial change represents the eighth such decision in five years at Tottenham, raising questions about both stability and the club's recruitment process. The timing is particularly significant as it marks the first major decision under the new Lewis family ownership, which replaced Daniel Levy as club chairman in September. Looking ahead, Tottenham faces a critical period with potential further upheaval expected in the managerial market this summer, but immediate survival remains the priority with Tudor tasked with extracting maximum points from a squad that has no recent experience of fighting relegation.
🏷️ Themes
Managerial Instability, Relegation Battle, Club Ownership Transition, Injury Crisis
Igor Tudor (born 16 April 1978) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.
Capable of playing either as a defender or defensive midfielder, Tudor spent most of his playing career at Juventus, winning several t...
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, TOT-ən-əm, , TOT-nəm) or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have played their home matches in the ...
Tottenham Hotspur's recent managerial shake‑ups and injury crisis have pushed the club into a precarious relegation fight, threatening its financial stability and long‑term competitiveness.
Context & Background
Tottenham have lost 12 of 17 league games and only five home games since November 2024
12 players are injured, including key figures Kulusevski and Maddison
The club has undergone eight managerial changes in five years, now appointing Igor Tudor as interim manager
What Happens Next
Spurs must win or draw in the remaining fixtures to avoid dropping into the Championship; a permanent manager will likely be appointed after the season, with candidates such as Mauricio Pochettino or Xabi Alonso on the radar
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Tottenham in a relegation battle?
Poor form, a high injury toll, and frequent managerial changes have left the club near the bottom of the table.
Who is the interim manager?
Igor Tudor, a former Juventus coach, has taken charge after the sacking of Ange Postecoglou.
What are Tottenham's chances of staying up?
They need at least 40 points to feel secure, but current results make survival uncertain.
Who could replace Tudor?
Potential replacements include Mauricio Pochettino, Xabi Alonso, and other managers available after the World Cup.
Original Source
All change at Spurs again and Igor Tudor has a relegation battle on his hands Jonathan Wilson Tottenham have rolled the dice and an injury-ravaged side’s anxiety may only get worse as West Ham close the gap W hen did the reality dawn? Perhaps it was towards the end of the first half of West Ham’s game at Chelsea at the end of January with the away side leading 2-0. Or perhaps it was when West Ham took the lead against Manchester United 10 days later. As it turned out, West Ham won neither fixture; had they done so they would have had five points more and so been level with Tottenham going into this weekend. And then Tottenham’s proximity to relegation could not have been denied. West Ham’s revival means this isn’t like last season, when a win at Ipswich at the end of February took Tottenham to 33 points and as good as confirmed their continued presence in the Premier League, allowing Ange Postecoglou to focus on Europe. Were Spurs to pull off something extremely unlikely and beat Arsenal on Sunday, they would move to 32 and, for all the glee their fans would feel, nobody would feel secure. If Nottingham Forest’s performance at Fenerbahce is indicative of what is to come under Vítor Pereira, this may be a season when it actually does take 40 points, the traditional mark seen as necessary for survival, to stay up. Which should make every club in the bottom half a little anxious. Quite apart from the fact that Spurs really shouldn’t be in a relegation battle, it wasn’t at all clear under Thomas Frank where the four wins they may need were going to come from. For Spurs, this season has been the Niles Crane to last season’s Frasier. The obvious thing to do when the sitcom was created as a spin-off from Cheers would have been to make Frasier’s brother his opposite; the genius lay in making him an even more extreme version. For Tottenham, the relegation fears became more acute, the injuries even worse, the potential European redemption sought not in the Europa League but t...
