Tottenham Hotspur fans are in despair. 2026 started poorly like no other year since 1935, and it is only a matter of time before they’re Championship bound if Igor Tudor doesn’t steer the sheep the other way. The Croatian manager is obviously out of his depth, but even with three consecutive defeats to start his career in London there are no plans put in place to replace him as of now.
No one could have predicted that once again the Spurs are going to battle relegation like they did in the 2024/25 season. Yet, here we are witnessing the demise of a club once worthy of England’s Big 6. Igor Tudor started his career in London so poorly that his team now has 16.1% chances of going down. After the last round, Tottenham has only one point more than the team placed at the spot No18. During this year, they have not recorded a win in a domestic competition.
Their latest defeat was a home loss to Crystal Palace, and it was a 1:3 disaster. Tudor replaced Thomas Frank 22 days ago, and it was his job to end the losing streak. Instead, he added three more Premier League defeats. If you’re into soccer betting, this is the right moment to wager against the North London side as they’re on a free fall that can hardly be stopped. By now, both fans and pundits are starting to wonder whether they’re having a coaching issue, is it the roster available, or something else, as they’re on their seventh manager in less than seven years.
The fans still haven’t given up. Tottenham Stadium was packed on Thursday night. Yet, after the first half some fans were seen leaving the ground, as it was 1:3 by the half time with their centre back Micky van de Ven being sent off and guilty of a penalty. Since his arrival to London, Tudor faced defeat after defeat, being rather critical of his squad after each match pointing out that it’s not a matter of quality but rather of team mentality. The worst part is that their next match is an away fixture against Liverpool. Also, they have a Champions League duel vs. Atletico Madrid. It is hard to believe that any of these fixtures is going to lift the morale in North London, especially when we know that their bitter rivals Arsenal are closing in on the title.
Knowing the schedule of Tottenham and their rivals in the relegation scrap, it would be no surprise to see them in the relegation zone when they face Nottingham Forest at home in ten days time. The duel vs. Forest at home will be their World Cup final. A duel that needs to be won, or else, relegation will become a reality like it was never before for Tottenham Hotspur. What makes the downfall of the Spurs so interesting is the fact that it comes after the team won the Europe League last season, secured a spot in the Champions League, and even made it to the knockout stages this season. What’s even funnier is that the idea now is that Tottenham is going to sacrifice their Champions League ambitions to be able to focus more on the Premier League.
That idea would be plausible if we weren’t talking about one of the biggest teams in England. There is enough depth in the squad to fight on two fronts, and there’s no guarantee that sacrificing the CL in order to retain the PL status would be fruitious. Either way, it’s not like the Spurs are favoured to go past Diego Simeone’s Atletico. They’re not, and if they’re not careful they will soon be favourites to go to the Championship. At the moment, as certain travellers to the second tier of English football are seen, the Wolves with 99.9% chances of going down, and Burnley with 99.4%. West Ham currently stands at 49.5% chances, while Forest has 26.9%. Tottenham is just slightly above these teams with its chances being set at 16.1%. If their poor form continues, they will soon enough find themselves much closer to Forest and the Hammers.
While Igor Tudor was brought in to be the team’s fire fighter as he has done so for many of his previous teams, so far he is only adding oil to the fire. In three PL matches he has the same number of losses, and things are not looking too bright for the North London side. Many people are already thinking about replacing him. It’s not a crazy idea. After all, it is evident that he is a wrong fit for this Tottenham side. Of course, not everything that’s happening in London is his fault. The Spurs are a team that is marred with injuries. It’s been a while since their head coach had all players at his disposal and that trend doesn’t only apply to Tudor, but also to Thomas Frank and Ange Postecoglou before him.
As far as the rest of the league goes, they are more than eager to face Spurs. Crystal Palace came in with issues of their own but in much better form and proved it down on the pitch. At the same time, the home team fans couldn’t believe that they paid to witness yet another desperate performance by their boys. With the stories of Tudor resting players for their round of 16 Champions League tie getting louder, Spurs are going to become the first team in the history of that competition to rest players in a duel that important.
The losing mentality is showing its ugly face, and it would appear that for some reasons Spurs are used to losing. While they are looking relegation in the eye, to be honest they will most likely survive. That’s why they are already looking at the top available managerial targets. But, who would love to join Spurs at a moment like this. The team will not have Champions League next year on their books. What they do have is a massive budget, a new and expensive stadium that brings in a lot of revenue, and one of the best training grounds in the PL. They’re an attractive destination despite being rather poor at the moment. We are sure they will have a new coach come July, but there are more pressing issues at play now.
Last season was one of the worst in the club’s recent history. Yes, they’ve won the Europe League, but they nearly escaped relegation. It was not by any chance by their own merit. It was just that the other teams were so poor that they were relegated long before Tottenham started losing games left and right. This season is different. West Ham and Forest are not going to go down without a fight. Even Leeds who is a few points above the Spurs is still not out of danger. In the coming weeks, the Spurs are going to play both Forest and Leeds. They also have games against Liverpool, Sunderland, Brighton, Wolves, Aston Villa, Chelsea, and Everton.
Out of these teams, who are you certain that Tottenham Hotspur can beat? Even Wolves is an away tricky fixture. Not only that their schedule is not favouring their run, they are also far from being the fittest team around. In fact, they have one of the worst health conditions in the league with the number of fit players at the moment ranging from 12 to 15. With all of this said, it is no wonder that both fans and pundits are already speculating about Tudor’s replacement, and we’re not talking about a summer one, but an immediate replacement.
The Spurs are not having a match scheduled for this weekend, with their next fixture being the duel vs. Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. Tudor will be working in silence during the next few days with his team, with a press conference being scheduled for Monday, a day ahead of the CL clash. This is a clear signal that Tudor will be at the helm during the first leg of the Champions League fixture. He will probably have a go vs. Liverpool too. If these two matches are both losses we can see him losing his job, with an attempt to install fresh blood before they have to face Nottingham Forest being an idea. As of now, Tudor is the head coach, and during his last address to the public he was clear that he has a job to do in London, and that the team will head in a direction he wants it to go.
While seeing Igor Tudor not losing his confidence is nice, Tottenham finds itself in a peculiar situation. With nine more matches to go, and crucial duels with Liverpool and Forest looming, the club would be wise to make contingency plans in case of relegation. Would it be the end of the world? No. Would it be scary for both the fans, upper management, and everyone involved with the club? Yes.
Seeing Spurs playing in the Championship would be a similar story to one when we saw Leicester City lifting the Premier League trophy. It would be a story for ages as far as the history of the PL goes. Arsenal fans are salivating at the mere thought of seeing their bitter rivals leaving the top flight at the same time as they lift the trophy at the end of the year. If we’re using logic here, it is hard to imagine a club of Tottenham’s size moving down to the Championship. Yet, they are playing poorly, and are moving in that direction as we speak.
It is a general opinion that as far as football goes, the Spurs have one of the best stadiums in the world. The revenue it generates currently stands at £4.5m per match. If relegated, some of the top earners at the club could have their wages reduced by 50% as part of their clauses in the contracts they’ve signed when no living soul believed that those clauses could be activated. Wage cuts are only part of the issue. The real question is just how many of their star players would be willing to stay at the club, play in the championship, and do it on reduced wages. Not many if you ask us. The team would need to be re hauled, and most players would leave the team on reduced fees and in bad spirit too.
Last season, they won the EL, which secured them a spot in the CL, which was a strong attraction point for both the managerial hunt and bringing in reinforcements on the field. Even with that the best they could do was Thomas Frank and Xavi Simons. The Championship would reduce their targets in both domains. While at that point Tottenham would be a top project for many, it would attract top managers that are going to be available at the end of the year. The finances would be tightened, and plans for the future would have to be worked and re worked in detail. Only a few years ago, Tottenham appeared to be a club with a clear plan, but all of that fell apart in a matter of months, coinciding with the departure of their long time head honcho Daniel Levy.
While fans weren’t always on the same page with Levy in the past, many are calling for his return, no longer seeing him as being guilty for their constant failures to fill the trophy cabinet, with the club now having a completely different set of problems. The worst part is that the answers to those problems need to be given down on the field, and Spurs are failing to do so massively.
What is sure is that at the moment no one knows what’s wrong with Spurs and who’s to blame.Whether its former chairman Daniel Levy, or the fact he left the team. Is it the failure to win when win now managers were instilled in Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, or the failure to bring in the needed players and the manager, but also the people in chairs too.
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