Image Credit: @FabrizioRomano Twitter
Who would have seen this coming? Tottenham Hotspurs have so far not had a fantastic 2026 as they have still yet to win a Premier League game this calendar year and it looks like the problems are about to get even bigger. On March 29th of this year, Tottenham Hotspurs released a statement announcing the departure of Igor Tudor with immediate effect with the Croatian Head Coach only being able to manage 7 games for the club this season. It is currently the final international break before the 2026 FIFA World Cup so during this break would be the perfect time for the Tottenham higher ups to evaluate Tudor’s brief tenure at the club and it appears that both Tudor and the Spurs management have come to a mutual decision to part ways.
Tudor’s 7 Games in Charge
Following the departure of Thomas Frank, Igor Tudor was appointed as Interim Head Coach for the remainder of the season for the sole purpose of ensuring the club do not fall into the relegation zone. Tudor arrived at Spurs with the club 5 points above the relegation zone and the Croatian Head Coach had the unenviable task of facing local rivals as well as league leaders Arsenal in a North London Derby for his first game in charge of the Lilywhites. Igor Tudor from the word go already showed he was ready to implement his system playing with a back 3 which also saw Bayern Munich loanee, João Palhinha, operate as one of the 3 centre backs in the system due to Spurs’ ever growing injury list. The game went as well as you would expect with Spurs getting humiliated in a 4-1 thrashing at home to the potential champions and continued the club’s ever growing losing streak.
Tottenham went on to lose their next 3 games in the Premier League against Fulham, Crystal Palace and in the UEFA Champions League against Atlético Madrid in a match that will go down in infamy in Tottenham Hotspur’s history. Backup goalkeeper Antonín Kinský was given his first big opportunity this season as he started in goals for the North London club however it was a night to forget for the young goalkeeper as Atlético Madrid went 3-0 up within the first 15 minutes of the game. Atlético’s 1st and 3rd goals were made from the goalkeeper’s errors while the 2nd goal came from a Micky van de Ven slip and this nightmarish start all culminated in Igor Tudor subbing off the goalkeeper in the 17th minute of the game. This game rather summed up Tottenham’s miserable season of things seemingly not going their way. Tottenham then managed to secure a shocking 1 point in their draw against Liverpool at Anfield and go on to win their 2nd leg fixture against Atlético Madrid however they were not knocked out of the competition due to the aggregate score being 7-5 to Atlético.
Finally, Spurs suffered a underwhelming 3-0 defeat to fellow relegation threaten strugglers Nottingham Forest at home right before the international break which now sees Tottenham Hotspurs 1 point above the relegation zone with 7 games left to play in the Premier league.
Who will takeover from Tudor?
As of March 30th, many reports suggests that former Marseille manager Roberto De Zerbi is Tottenham Hotspur’s top target with negotiations already well underway. The former Brighton & Hove Albion Manager is reportedly open to taking the job with Tottenham offering De Zerbi a 5-year contract with a top salary. Roberto De Zerbi and Tottenham have been in talks since yesterday with Spurs hoping to get the green light as soon as possible despite previous links of managers such Sean Dyche or Marco Silva being potential candidates. Most likely in the next couple of days, we will be sure to find out who will be Tottenham’s new head coach once the Premier League returns in April.
What is left for Tottenham?
After their elimination from the UEFA Champions League and given their position of being 17th in the league with 1 point separating them from the drop zone, whichever head coach comes in has a big job ahead of them trying save Tottenham from relegation with 7 games left of the season. No EFL or FA Cup games, no European competitions, just 7 Premier League to survive relegation and once that goal is achieved then Spurs could look to do a massive rebuild for next season. A famous coach once said “this is the operation at the open heart” and maybe that is what Tottenham Hotspur need going forward if things are going to change at the club for the better as many previous managers with successful resumés have complained about the culture at the club on the field as well as behind the scenes in management.
