Keep Tudor? Go for De Zerbi, Mason or Redknapp? Where do Spurs go next?

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Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Spurs interim manager Igor Tudor looks downcast during the home defeat by Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.

Chief football writerPublished6 hours agoIgor Tudor's position as Tottenham head coach is under major threat with the club's hierarchy facing another defining decision.

Tudor's failure to rescue a season spiralling into crisis was brought into even sharper focus by the damaging 3-0 home defeat by fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest on Sunday, leaving Spurs one point and one place above the Premier League's relegation zone.

The pressure is now on CEO Vinai Venkatesham - previously at Arsenal - sporting director Johan Lange, and the Lewis family, who are over-seeing affairs, as the gamble of Tudor's appointment continues to backfire.

Venkatesham, who comes under special scrutiny from fans given his Arsenal links, must get this next move right after Tudor's chaotic reign has brought only one win in seven matches so far.

If those in charge at Spurs get it wrong, the price could be arguably the most-embarrassing relegation in Premier League history and a place in the Championship.

So what can Spurs do next to stop the slide?

Tudor, after four successive defeats, actually inspired improvement from Spurs in a deserved draw at Liverpool before beating Atletico Madrid – albeit in a losing Champions League cause – but normal service was resumed with the humiliating loss to Forest.

The Croat deserves sympathy, not least as he comes to terms with the death of his father, but also because he walked into a toxic atmosphere which built up under sacked predecessor Thomas Frank. He has inherited a squad decimated by injuries and stripped of all confidence.

Spurs have problems not of Tudor's making, but he has failed to establish any connection with supporters – or seemingly his players – and there has been very little language of support, at least in the football context, from the club.

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Tudor inherited a host of problems from sacked predecessor Thomas Frank.

Tudor's brusque style has inspired no more out of the Spurs squad than Frank's more empathetic approach, while a series of tactical shifts have suggested he is not sure how to navigate the best route out of the current crisis.

The low point came in the Champions League last 16 first leg away to Atletico Madrid. Tudor gambled on Antonin Kinsky in goal ahead of first-choice Guglielmo Vicario, only to remove the Czech after just 17 minutes following his two catastrophic errors that left Spurs 3-0 down in an eventual 5-2 defeat.

Do those in charge of Spurs really believe Tudor has the ability to pull them out of the mire – or do they acknowledge they made a serious error and it is time for another change?

This is the biggest dilemma Venkatesham and his fellow power brokers face as they work on a strategy before their next Premier League game, away to Sunderland on 12 April.

It might be one thing to decide Tudor has to go, should they chose to make that change, but who can realistically step in for what is now a firefighting job?

Former manager Harry Redknapp has indicated his willingness to return, but is now 79 and has not worked in management since being sacked by Birmingham City in May 2017. He was sacked by Spurs 14 years ago and calling for him would surely smack of desperation.

Redknapp has said Spurs "know where I am." It would be a sign of their plight should they go to find him.

Spurs legend Glenn Hoddle has also suggested he would be interested, but once again this would be a dip into the distant past.

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Harry Redknapp has said he would happily take a call from Spurs despite being sacked as manager in June 2012.

Hoddle, now a respected television pundit, is 68, but was sacked as Spurs manager in September 2003. The last post the former England manager occupied was with Wolverhampton Wanderers, leaving in July 2006.

Ryan Mason, sacked by West Bromwich Albion in January, is a well-respected and popular figure having twice served as Spurs' caretaker manager following the sackings of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, but his reputation took a hit during an unrewarding spell at The Hawthorns.

After that disappointment, would Spurs turn to him? Would he even want to walk into such an ominous situation?

Tim Sherwood, the former player who left Spurs in May 2014 after a six-month spell as permanent head coach, has made it clear he fancies the job, saying: "I would keep them in the Premier League. I believe that someone with common sense keeps them in the Premier League."

Robbie Keane, currently at Ferencvaros in Hungary, falls into the category of the younger up-and-coming manager, but would the former Spurs captain leave a full-time job for a new post that might only extend to seven games.

It does not take a leap of imagination to announce that Igor Tudor will not be the Spurs head coach at the start of next season.

Should they throw caution to the winds and try to bring in a full-time appointment now to save their season from the ignominy of relegation?

Mauricio Pochettino would top a fan poll as the permanent successor to Thomas Frank – the Argentine still a much-loved figure after taking Spurs to the 2019 Champions League Final.

There is every indication he would jump at a return to north London after he was sacked by former chairman Daniel Levy only five months after losing to Liverpool in Madrid.

Spurs fans pin the blame on Levy for failing to back the coach and many would welcome Pochettino back with open arms.

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Former Brighton coach Roberto De Zerbi - who left Marseille in February - is believed to be interested in the Spurs job.

Any notion of a Pochettino return, however, must wait until after the World Cup, as he is entrusted with coaching the United States at a home showpiece.

If Spurs are to seek an immediate full-time appointment, this leaves Roberto de Zerbi as frontrunner. The talented but combustible Italian established a fine reputation at Brighton and is available having left Marseille by mutual consent in February.

De Zerbi is also believed to be amenable to the idea.

The question is whether he would want to take the job immediately, with that prospect of relegation hanging over Spurs, or would be prefer to wait until the end of the season to see what division they are in?

If Spurs are in the Premier League they would be hugely attractive proposition to De Zerbi, but he may well have other options in the summer having been heavily linked with Manchester United.

De Zerbi may prefer to bide his time and sit tight as opposed to taking on a salvage operation.

Sean Dyche's name has inevitably been linked after a good body of work fighting against the odds at Burnley and Everton, where he kept both teams up when relegation beckoned.

Do Spurs see Dyche as the sort of personality to handle Spurs, especially as his last job ended when he was sacked by Nottingham Forest after only 114 days in charge?

Austrian coach Adi Hutter is a rank outsider, although he did win admirers in the Premier League with his work at clubs such as Eintracht Frankfurt.

Hutter is on the market after being sacked by Monaco in October, but he really would be a wild card.

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