Sherwood tears into failing firefighter Igor Tudor with major rant at Tottenham that could cost them relegation | OneFootball

Tim Sherwood has indicated he would now be hesitant to take on the Tottenham Hotspur job with relegation now a more realistic fear than ever, and having listed several ways in which Igor Tudor and the club’s board have let themselves down.

The Croatian was brought in to help stop the rot at N17, and with the club sliding perilously close towards the relegation trapdoor and a first domestic demotion in 49 years. However, Tudor’s arrival has had the opposite effect, with Tottenham slumping to four straight losses under his control in what was the club’s worst-ever run of form in their 143-year history.

While Tudor finally got a performance from his side last time out at Liverpool on Sunday, hitting back to claim a point in a 1-1 draw, the pressure still remains very much on, and the jury is still out on whether the 47-year-old will see out the season.

To that end, TEAMtalk sources have confirmed the Spurs board are continuing talks over both Tudor’s position and with regards a short and long-term replacement in the dug-out.

However, former Spurs boss Sherwood feels both the board and Tudor himself has made mistakes aplenty in recent weeks, and he has now suggested he would think twice if asked to step in on a short-term basis to try and save the club, suggesting other managers could have done a far better job than the Croat.

“I’d have one question for Tottenham if they offered me the job: I’d say, why didn’t you ask me a month ago? Why didn’t you ask me when there were three winnable games and still a chance in the Champions League?” he told NewBetting Offers.

“All right, it’s never a free hit when you’re playing in a North London Derby. It was always going to be difficult, wasn’t it? But you need to give the fans some encouragement and show something in that game. You showed nothing, absolutely nothing.

“Then you’ve got two very winnable games against Fulham and Crystal Palace. So now, whoever goes in now has an even tougher task. Because this job is not about tactics. It’s common sense.”

Hitting out at Tudor’s decision to play a number of players in unfamiliar positions (Joao Palhinha in defence and Archie Gray at left-back, to name two), Sherwood continued: “You play players in the correct positions where they’re accustomed to playing and you get the best out of them. And you stick to the system, you get it organised. So everyone knows their job. But this job is a man-management job now. Man-management doesn’t happen overnight…”

Sherwood knows how to get the best out of Tottenham players

On how he would have gone about things, Sherwood added: “You need time around the players to get to know them, look them in the eye, see who’s fighting for you, which ones are going in the right direction. You’ve got less time now.

“A month ago, when he was coming in, or three weeks ago, you had that time, and then you’ve gone into two winnable games, three if you count the North London Derby. So now it’s an even more difficult task than when he went in, it’s double difficult. The guy’s meant to be a firefighter who changes fortunes around very, very quickly. Well, he hasn’t done that.

“So what are they going to do about it? I don’t know who’s making the decisions. If I knew that, I could second-guess a little bit better. And I don’t know who the options are for them to come in and do this job. But I’ll tell you what, no one’s got a magic wand.

“No one would come in there with a magic wand and just say, ‘You know what, all of you players have been looking very poor or average at best. I’ll wave this around and all of you will turn Tottenham into world-beaters, and we’re going to run and win six games on the spin.’ That ain’t going to happen. It’s going to go right to the wire.”

Major relegation concerns for Tottenham

With Spurs just a point clear of the drop zone and facing a critical six-pointer at home to fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest on Sunday, Sherwood – who managed Spurs during a 28-game spell between December 2013 and May 2014 – now feels relegation is a very genuine possibility for the north London giants.

“You’re going to need the nerve to be able to get through it because, at the moment, Tottenham, you would say, are a team that the club has assembled players and managers in the past to fight in the Champions League,” Sherwood stated.

“Now it’s a shock to the system because they’re not at that level. Can they acclimatise to the environment they’re in at the bottom of the league? The players certainly look like at the moment they’re not capable of doing that.

“Someone needs to go in there and change the fortunes around, but there’s not long to go. We’ve got eight games. It’s very, very difficult, with Liverpool awaiting the next one. Then you’ve got two, and then you’ve got your second leg. Then you’ve got a two-and-a-half-week break.

“That’s the time, and then we’re going to give someone seven or eight games they need to win, definitely three, in my opinion, three and maybe a couple of draws in there.

“So, yes, it’s a real tough task, not impossible, of course it’s not, but from the outside, we’re looking in at those three clubs, four including Leeds, you would say Tottenham could be favourites to go down.”

Tottenham latest: Man City deal ON; Van de Ven slams ‘nonsense’ claims

Should Spurs suffer the drop, an alarming report has named FIFTEEN major stars who will depart if they go down.

Meanwhile, Man City are warming to the idea of selling a player Spurs have bid for before, and, if avoiding relegation, a massive new offer should be accepted.