‘Respect Lost’—Igor Tudor Facing Dressing Room Mutiny As Tottenham Sack Verdict Made

Tudor has lost all four of his matches and faces a trip to Liverpool in the Premier League.

Igor Tudor’s tenure has turned sour. | Dennis Agyeman/Europa Press/Getty Images

Igor Tudor has reportedly lost respect from some sections of the Tottenham Hotspur dressing room for his treatment of the club’s goalkeepers yet is still expected to be in position for Sunday’s daunting Premier League trip to Liverpool.

Spurs teetered into what center back Micky van de Ven worryingly described as “doomsday scenario” after a 5–2 mauling at the hands of Atlético Madrid consigned the club to their first ever sequence of six straight defeats. Tudor has overseen the past four of those since replacing Thomas Frank but the prospect of the Croatian coach seeing out a contract which lasts until the end of the season has come under immense scrutiny.

Before a ball had even been kicked in Tottenham’s Champions League clash with Atlético on Tuesday night, Tudor had already “shocked” some members of his squad by dropping first-choice goalkeeper, Guglielmo Vicario, according to The Times.

Antonin Kinsky rapidly undermined the decision to hand him his Champions League debut with a ruinous opening quarter of an hour. The Czech youngster shipped three goals, two of which were a consequence of his own kicking blunders, before getting hooked in the 17th minute.

Tudor’s refusal to even acknowledge Kinsky upon his substitution is also thought to have been questioned by his teammates. The goalkeeper is expected to go in search of a Spurs departure this summer.

The exit door at Tottenham will surely be used by Tudor in the near future. However, multiple reports claim that no decision is planned—just yet.

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Tudor to ‘Fight on’ at Tottenham for At Least One More Game

Igor Tudor has overseen four straight defeats. | Harry Murphy/Danehouse/Getty Images

Despite the mounting pressure and dwindling faith from his playing staff, Tudor is set to “fight on” for Spurs against Liverpool at Anfield this Sunday, per The Guardian. Yet, that report is far from optimistic about the manager’s chances of still being in the dugout for the almighty relegation six-pointer against Nottingham Forest one week later.

Tottenham CEO Vinai Venkatesham opened up a dialogue with Tudor and his staff on Wednesday morning and is expected to leave the self-styled firefighter in the burning building for Friday’s prematch media duties at the very least, according to the Daily Mail.

Rather than any sign of encouragement, this stay of execution is simply the consequence of a lack of alternatives.

Tudor’s arrival came with a number of caveats yet he hardly beat out a swollen pool of obvious talent. While the likes of Roberto De Zerbi and Xabi Alonso appear out of reach for a side currently one point above the relegation zone, they have been left to consider a jumbled medley of candidates. Sean Dyche, freshly fired by Nottingham Forest, is the leading favorite to replace Tudor.

Harry Redknapp revealed this week that he has received no contact from Tottenham’s board but he did have a half-hour phone call with former executive chairman Daniel Levy.

The controversial figure was “marched out” of his position of influence at the start of the season yet still retains more than 29% of the club’s shares. According to Redknapp, the 79-year-old whose last job in management was in 2017 (his last Premier League posting came two years before that), he would have been Levy’s pick as Spurs boss.

“He did say to me, ‘Look, if I was there now, I would definitely, and I’m not just saying it, I would bring you back into it to the end of the season.’ So it would have been interesting,” Redknapp told talkSPORT.

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In-Fighting Within the Tottenham Squad—Report

Tottenham haven’t been relegated from the top flight since 1977. | Shaun Brooks/CameraSport/Getty Images

Beyond the figure limply flailing his arms around in the technical area, there is reportedly a sense of ill-will which exists between certain Spurs players.

This in-fighting has been sparked by accusations that some players are “not motivated” to battle Tottenham to safety. The Athletic sensationally claim that one unnamed individual has already let it be known that he “is not too concerned” by the threat of relegation as his future lies at a different club.

It’s little surprise for players in these dire situations to harbor selfish ambitions, but the willingness to let such a stance be public knowledge shows quite how toxic it has become behind the scenes.

“Every­thing that could go wrong went wrong,” Van de Ven fretted at the final whistle on Tuesday, his phone permanently switched off to avoid the waves of social media backlash washing the team’s way. “For our goalkeeper it’s terrible as well. You don’t wish that on ­anyone.

“It’s just really tough, and now we have an important match this weekend I won’t be able to play in because I’m suspended. It’s a really terrible period. It’s really, really awful.”

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