Igor Tudor sack decision made at Tottenham as crunch dilemma awaits | Football | Sport
Tottenham appear to have indicated that Igor Tudor will not be dismissed in the coming days as he remains scheduled to conduct a press conference next Monday evening. Spurs are due to face Atletico Madrid in a Champions League last-16 first leg 24 hours later, with Tudor set to be in the technical area despite losing his opening three matches in charge.
The Lilywhites are now just one point above the relegation zone following favourable results for West Ham United and Nottingham Forest. Their most recent setback arrived on Thursday evening courtesy of Crystal Palace, marking a fifth successive Premier League defeat following losses to Fulham, Arsenal, Newcastle United and Manchester United
A failure to generate an instant impact and some bewildering team selection choices have placed Tudor under scrutiny despite only being at the club for a matter of weeks. Nevertheless, it appears the club’s leadership will not be reaching a verdict on his future until at least following their forthcoming fixture in Spain.
Spurs have a free weekend to prepare for the encounter, having already been eliminated from the FA Cup whilst Atletico entertain Real Sociedad on Saturday evening. But they face a massive dilemma of whether to rest key players and prioritise their next Premier League challenge at Liverpool the following Sunday.
Tudor encountered some harsh questioning following the loss to Palace but the 47-year-old did provide a resolute response after his team competed with a numerical disadvantage for over 45 minutes.
He said: “I will tell you now maybe it will sound strange but I believe more after this game than I believed before. I saw something. I need to choose the right guys because the boat is going in the direction that I want to go and needs to go and who is in the boat can stay.
“Otherwise they can leave the boat. So when the other players will come back and choosing the right (players) I’m sure we will have a good team and the victories will come back. It’s not easy to accept the moment where we are now but it is how it is.”
Tudor seemingly remains convinced he can preserve Spurs’ Premier League status, though he may not get the chance to achieve that goal should further disappointing performances materialise. Ultimately, some responsibility should also fall on the players themselves, with former Manchester United star Patrice Evra echoing that view and insisting Tudor should not be shown the door.
