Ex-Spurs boss insists Igor Tudor ‘can only fail’ in relegation battle at ‘toxic’ Tottenham | OneFootball

Igor Tudor has been told “he can only fail” after taking interim charge of Tottenham as they look to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

Thomas Frank was sacked on Wednesday morning having only taken charge of the club in the summer after a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle left Spurs just five points above the relegation zone.

He’s been replaced by Tudor, who has a reputation as a “fixer” for revitalising clubs in crisis after he helped Hellas Verona, Lazio and Udinese out of sticky situations, but his lack of Premier League experience and his most recent job at Juventus ending with an eight-game winless run has caused alarm among some Tottenham fans.

And Tim Sherwood, who was manager of Tottenham for 26 games in the 2013/14 season, wonders what the “upside” is for Tudor as he will get “no credit” for keeping Spurs in the Premier League.

“It’s going to be difficult, he has no knowledge of the Premier League. Apart from the money, what is the upside for him?” Sherwood said on Sky Sports.

“If he finishes 12th, he’s getting no credit. The downside is so catastrophic.

“Would you want your fingerprints all over Tottenham getting relegated from the Premier League?

“I go back to it — Thomas Frank would still be there if it wasn’t for the toxic nature of the fans. And I can totally understand the disgruntlement of the fans, because they’re not getting the results.”

Sherwood added: “I heard people say they’re sleepwalking into the Championship. I think they’ll have enough, even with the injuries, to get out of it — but he will get no credit for that.

‘The downside is so great… he can only fail. He’s getting no credit for keeping Tottenham in the league.”

Italian football commentator Patrick Kendrick has revealed what Tottenham fans can expect from the former Croatia international.

Kendrick told Sky Sports: “If you look back over Tudor’s recent career, he’s been quite happy stepping into these short-term roles. I think he sees himself as a bit of a firefighter.

“His typical formation is a 3-4-2-1. He doesn’t tend to play with too much width to begin with. It’s a very similar formation to what Ivan Juric used to have, the former Southampton manager.

“It was very successful with Verona, which was probably where he’s been the biggest success. He had a free-scoring team with two number 10s playing behind a lone striker, but the back three is pretty in vogue in Italy, and it’s looked at as a way of making sure you’re solid first and foremost.”

Tudor, who won a number of trophies with Juventus as a player, has only won the Croatian Cup with Hajduk Split as a manager and Kendrick expects the former centre-back will attempt to increase morale as his first objective.

Kendrick added: “His English is very good, it’s vastly superior to Antonio Conte, so I don’t think there’s going to be any issue with that.

“He’s got a lot of belief in his ability. He’s a very forthright character. He tends to speak his mind.

“Rather than looking at any sort of tactical revolution, I think he’s first and foremost going to be focusing on trying to get the players’ morale up.”