Tottenham lost 2-1 at home to Crystal Palace on Thursday, sparking a revolt from the home crowd and dashing Tottenham’s hopes of avoiding relegation to the Championship.
Tottenham fans made their feelings clear (Image: Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Igor Tudor ended a disastrous night in Tottenham by talking about boats. Spurs appear to have driven their head coach to desperation and naval analogies, with Thomas Frank declaring before his departure that the north London club were a tanker and would take time to turn around.
But such an analogy only conjures up the image of a sinking ship. HMS Tottenham Hotspur has been left in the water as decisions made by the club’s players, head coach and hierarchy have left them porous.
At half-time during the 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace, several Spurs fans shouted at a club analyst: “We’re going to destroy the club.” “You’ve killed the club,” another yelled at those in the director’s box, including CEO Vinay Venkatesham, sporting director Johan Lange and one of the owners, Vivian Lewis.
Fans were fed up with the club and in the 94th minute the traveling Palace faithful sang “You’ll soon be booing”. The rest of Tottenham supporters took it for granted. It was a game that took a frightening turn in the first few minutes.
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Archie Gray, the 19-year-old who was named Spurs’ man of the match by a country mile, evaded two Palace defenders and slotted home Dominic Solanke for the goal. But Spurs captain Micky van de Ven put his brain on standby mode and grabbed Ismaila Sarr by the arm as he ran towards goal and dragged him to the floor.
Referee Andy Madrid had no choice but to wave a red card and award the penalty, which Sarr scored. Tottenham have the second most red cards (four) and the most bookings (72) in the Premier League.
When asked if the club had a discipline problem, Tudor replied with bewilderment: “We don’t have a discipline problem at all. Quite the contrary.” His misplaced optimism was similar to how Frank felt the night before he was fired.
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Igor Tudor has lost all three games as Tottenham manager (Image: Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
“It may sound strange, but after this match I believe more than before,” the Croatian said. “I saw something. The boat is going in the direction I want it to go and it has to go and the people on the boat can stay so I need to pick the right people or they can get off the boat.”
Tottenham’s leaders now have to decide whether to give King Tudor a little more time in his reign, or decide they have made another managerial error and desperately look for someone else who can lift these players up. A regular email sent to the media on Friday confirmed that Spurs held a press conference in Madrid with Tudor on Monday night ahead of their Champions League last-16 first-leg draw.
Although it is not a complete guarantee that the Croatian will stay in the Spanish capital, it is an indication that some expect him to stay. The problem for the Spurs is that there is no alternative to stepping into the dugout and reading like the TV pundits.
Harry Redknapp, who turns 80 next year, last managed the Premier League 11 years ago when he left QPR second-from-bottom. He will be a nostalgic choice for fans who saw what Martin O’Neill achieved at Celtic. Others mentioned are Tim Sherwood, primarily Tim Sherwood, as well as Jermain Defoe and Ryan Mason.
Vivian Lewis (centre) and Vinay Venkatesham (right) watch the game on Thursday (Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
There’s something akin to the Four Horsemen of the Tottenham Apocalypse when you see that quartet coming over the hill. Anju Postecoglou is also available now, but his return would be too much trouble for Venkatesham and Lange. Their position will come under scrutiny following decisions made at a club in turmoil.
Spurs need to be saved. Relegation would be a disaster, as it is reported to leave a £250m black hole in their finances. Many club officials fear their jobs will be in jeopardy due to the need to make redundancies.
Tottenham are currently sleepwalking towards the Championship so something needs to energize them and that will affect far more than just the 11 players on the pitch.
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