Igor Tudor has claimed he has seen enough of Tottenham’s defeat by Crystal Palace to develop belief they will avoid the drop.
Tottenham are in crisis and face a real possibility of relegation after a shock 3-1 home defeat that saw Mickey van der Ven sent off.
Spurs went 1-0 up but collapsed after Van de Ven was dismissed. This means Tudor lost all three games he was in charge of. Spurs, who were last relegated from the top flight in 1977, are just one point above the drop zone and next face Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League.
“I understand the fans want more,” he said after the game. “We also wanted more. The red card changed everything.
“It may sound strange, but I believe more after this game than I did before.
“I saw something. The boat is going in the direction I need to go, so I have to pick the right people, and the people on the boat can stay, and if not, they can leave the boat.
“I am sure that when the other players come back, we will come back with a good team. It is not easy to accept the moment we are in.”
Spurs’ relegation odds are now 19/10, equivalent to a 35% chance of them qualifying for next season’s Sky Bet Championship.
Asked whether he would take charge for the next game against Liverpool, Tudor said: “I don’t comment on that question.”
21 days later: Could Tottenham really pull the trigger on Tudor?
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Tottenham Hotspur manager Igor Tudor says he has more faith in his side than ever before following their 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace.
Lewis Jones on Sky Sports:
“Just 21 days into the Tudor reign, the question already hovering over the boardroom is one that sounds faintly comical when said out loud: Can they fire him already?
“But football has never been a place where decision-making is halted by ridicule.
“Numbers have nothing to do with fixtures or reputations. The Premier League table simply deals with points and at the moment Spurs are collecting too few points. Every week the cushion is shrinking and the odds are falling. Every week the conversation is changing from ‘this will change’ to ‘we need to fix this quickly’ to ‘Lincoln are pretty good this time of year’.
“And when panic begins to creep into relegation danger, clubs reach for the lever they believe can deliver the quickest jolt: their manager.
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Sky Sports’ Gary Cotterill and Peter Smith analyze Tottenham Hotspur’s defeat at home to Crystal Palace, which put Tottenham at risk of relegation.
“This is the only move the board can make immediately. They can’t sign five players tomorrow morning. They can’t turn the season around, but they can change the voice in the dressing room.
“Firing the manager after three weeks may be their only reasonable course of action. In football, three weeks can really be a lifetime.”
Spurs’ next six games
- Tuesday March 10th: Atletico Madrid (A) – Champions League, kickoff 8pm)
- Sunday March 15th: Liverpool (A) – Premier League, 4:30 PM kick-off (live broadcast) sky sports)
- Wednesday March 18th: Atletico Madrid (H) – Champions League, 8pm kick-off
- Sunday March 22nd: Nottingham Forest (H) – Premier League, 2:15 PM kick-off (live broadcast)sky sports)
- Sunday, April 12: Sunderland (A) – Premier League, 2pm kick-off (live broadcast) sky sports)
- Saturday, April 18: Brighton (H) – Premier League, 5:30 PM kick-off (live broadcast) sky sports)
