Football365

Is the new manager bounce a thing?

Is Arsenal bottling the Premier League title a thing?

There is certainly support for the former. Take Michael Carrick’s brilliant start at Old Trafford and Vitor Pereira securing an impressive 3-0 win over Fenerbahce in his first game as the latest Nottingham Forest boss.

If so, this is good news for new Spurs manager Igor Tudor as he looks to make an immediate impact after taking over from Thomas Frank.

As for the latter, the Gunners are playing into the hands of those saying they haven’t got the character to see this title bid through.

Blowing a 2-0 lead at Wolves in midweek means Mikel Arteta’s men have dropped points in five of their eight Premier League games in 2026.

Although Arsenal remain five clear at the top, if Manchester City win all their remaining games, Pep Guardiola’s men will be crowned champions again.

That will sit uncomfortably with everyone at the Emirates given that Arsenal have had opportunities to build a huge lead at the top.

How to watch Tottenham v Arsenal

Tottenham v Arsenal kicks off at 16.30 GMT on Sunday, February 22 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The game will be shown live on Sky Sports Premier League, with coverage starting from 16:00.

BBC Radio 5 Live will provide full match commentary.

Tottenham team news

It’s not easy to predict any new manager’s first starting XI but Tudor does have his hands tied by a list of ongoing injuries and suspensions so options are limited.

Skipper Cristian Romero serves the second of his four-match ban while Lucas Bergvall, Mohammed Kudus, Rodrigo Bentancur, Dejan Kulusevski, Wilson Odobert, James Maddison, Ben Davies and Destiny Udogie are all still on the injured list.

But there is hope that defender Pedro Porro and striker Richarlison will be fit enough to return.

Tudor prefers a 3-4-2-1 system so that’s one obvious tweak we should see.

Tottenham expected line-up

(3-4-2-1) Vicario; Palhinha, Dragusin, Van de Ven; Gray, Gallagher, Sarr, Spence; Kolo Muani, Simons; Solanke.

Arsenal team news

Arteta has a stronger hand to play with fewer players on the treatment table but there are still plenty of decisions to make.

Eberechi Eze scored a hat-trick in the first meeting between these sides this season, but may be squeezed out here if Martin Odegaard comes back in.

Up front, the jury remains out on Viktor Gyokeres in big games so Gabriel Jesus may get the central striker’s role although Kai Havertz is pushing for a return too.

Arsenal expected line-up

(4-3-3) Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie; Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.

Tottenham v Arsenal stats

– Spurs have lost their last three Premier League home games against Arsenal, as many as they had in their previous 23 (W10 D10). They last lost four in a row against them between 1952 and 1955.

– Arsenal have won six of their last seven Premier League games against Spurs (D1), including each of the last four.

– Tottenham are winless in their last eight Premier League games (D4 L4). They last had a longer run within the same campaign between August and November 2007 (9).

– Tottenham are the only side without a Premier League win so far in 2026. It’s their longest run without a win from the start of a calendar year since 1994 (first 10).

– Since their last league defeat against Spurs in May 2022, Arsenal have lost just one of their 21 away London derby matches in the Premier League (W14 D6), going down 2-1 at Fulham in December 2023.

– New Spurs manager Igor Tudor has won his first match in charge in each of his last five spells at a club, starting with his second spell at Hajduk Split in February 2020 (and with Verona, Marseille, Lazio and Juventus since).

– Eberechi Eze has scored six goals in his last four Premier League appearances against Spurs (including three in two at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium), netting a hat-trick in his first appearance against them for Arsenal in November’s reverse fixture.

– Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has won 41 of his 68 Premier League London derbies as manager, the best win rate (60.3%) of anyone to take charge of at least 20.

Tottenham v Arsenal predictions

Had this been Thomas Frank’s ailing Spurs against Arsenal, taking the 8/13 about a Gunners win would have seemed pretty much a no-brainer.

But if the new manager bounce mentioned earlier seems selective, when it comes to Tudor the evidence is absolutely black and white.

Put him in charge of a new team and he kicks off with a win. It’s happened the last five times he’s been in this position so the Croatian has a proven history of going in and waving a magic wand.

That wand will probably need to have Harry Potter-esque properties here given Arsenal’s recent dominance over Spurs but it’s certainly not beyond the realms that Tottenham can add to the Gunners’ wobbles.

The draw has merit at 3/1 and, with clean sheets unlikely, a scoring draw at 9/2 is worth investing in.

A more adventurous way to get to a draw is by trying to cash in on Arsenal not being able to defend a lead again, which happened in their two latest away games at Brentford and Wolves.

Arsenal to be leading at half-time but the game ending in a draw is a massive 16/1.

Arsenal face Tottenham in the North London Derby on Sunday as they look to get their Premier League title hunt back on track after a midweek draw against Wolves.

Manchester City, who have a game in hand on the Gunners, have the chance to move to within two points of the Premier League leaders when they face Newcastle United on Saturday.

Arsenal have now won just two of their last seven Premier League matches as predictable predictions of them ‘bottling’ the title are made.

Tottenham are having a disastrous season in the Premier League and will face their arch-rivals with a new face in the dugout as interim boss Igor Tudor takes his first match after replacing Thomas Frank, who was sacked ten days ago.

The majority of pundits seemed to still be tipping an Arsenal win but at least one pundit is leaning towards 16th-placed Tottenham upsetting the odds on Sunday.

Alan Shearer

Shearer told Metro: “Arsenal have to win the game. I mean, it’s pretty simple. It would be a disaster if they didn’t, and they’re not in great form, losing a 2-0 lead in the way they did against Wolves, they go into it under huge pressure. It might even be more if City beat Newcastle on Saturday night.

“But Spurs give me no confidence, even with the new manager bounce, that they would hope that they’re going to get so I’m going to say an Arsenal away win.”

READ: Big Weekend: Tottenham v Arsenal in relegation-bottlejob derby, Newcastle, Pereira, Ndiaye

Chris Sutton

Predicting a 3-0 win to Arsenal, Sutton said on BBC Sport: “It was an incredible wobble by Mikel Arteta’s team against Wolves, drawing 2-2 after being 2-0 up, and I certainly didn’t see it coming. Maybe it is getting to be ‘squeaky bum time’ for them, but it didn’t affect them when they went away to Leeds a couple of weeks ago and won convincingly.

“You can imagine how Spurs will be champing at the bit, and I am expecting them to make a fast start and have a real go at them – but Arsenal have to deal with that, and find a way of bouncing back.

“I think the Gunners can do that, and their quality will make the difference in the end. I worry about Spurs in forward areas, and it will be interesting to see how Tudor lines them up in defence too. Ultimately, if Arsenal turn up and play how we know they can, then they will win – and I am expecting them to make a real statement.”

Paul Merson

Merson told Sportskeeda: “I’m sitting here and I don’t know what happens in this game! I thought I’d never say that, but it is what it is. It was one of Arsenal’s worst-ever games against Wolves. There were no patterns of play and they never looked like their usual self.

“Tottenham have a new manager and it’s basically a free swing for them in the derby now. If Tottenham lose, no one cares. The pressure is on Arsenal and if Newcastle lose to City, it just adds to it.

“I find it strange that Eberechi Eze did not start as the no.10 against Wolves. He was brought in to do that. Then why did he not start the game? Mikel Arteta used Bukayo Saka as a no.10 instead. He’s not suited to play there because he’s a proper winger.

“Noni Madueke also started against Wolves and he’s very hot and cold. He will do something amazing and the next thing he does would make you go, ‘why did he do that?’. Madueke is very direct but he has to mix it up. You can’t be direct all the time. He has still done better than what I expected this season though.

“I won’t be surprised if Saka goes to the wing and Eze comes on for Madueke in this game. For me, Eze has to play as the no.10 against Spurs. He’s good in tight spaces and is better than Saka in that role. I’m expecting Arsenal to win but I won’t be shocked if they failed to either. It just seems like they can’t open teams up anymore. Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Arsenal.”

READ: Hansi Flick and Pep Guardiola lead six genuine contenders to replace Mikel Arteta at Arsenal

Alan Smith

Smith told BestBettingSites: “None of us quite knows what to expect. Igor Tudor seems to be a bit of a firefighter. That’s where he’s had his success at other clubs.

“He’ll be trying to kick a few backsides, maybe, really rally them, which isn’t easy for a caretaker manager because players will be looking at him thinking, well, you’re not going to be here next season.

“But if he’s got something about him, maybe he can produce a reaction. And for Arteta, he’s thinking, ‘oh, how are they going to set up? How are they going to play?’

“So Tottenham and Tudor are a bit of an unknown quantity from that point of view. That might be something Tudor can take advantage of but I still fancy Arsenal. I’ll do 2-0.”

Harry Redknapp

Redknapp told BetVictor: “This is the big one, and a very hard game to predict it.

“Let’s be honest, who knows what to expect from Spurs. I like Thomas Frank but the performances of late have been really poor and they probably needed a change.

“Tudor’s come in and he’s got a decent reputation in Italy but how will he get on at Spurs, only time will tell. Talk about an early test for him though!

“As for Arsenal, who knows what to expect? I cannot believe they blew that game against Wolves, that’s just so unlike them and boy, has that put pressure on this game.

“Are those Arsenal lads beginning to feel the pressure? That Spurs crowd should lift the players and make this a closer game that some might expect.

“I can see a nervy, entertaining draw! Bukayo Saka is one to watch as well, he’s signed a new deal and he’ll want to celebrate in style here.”

Former Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has made a claim about “unbelievable” defender Micky van de Ven which will strike fear into Spurs fans amid Real Madrid interest.

Van de Ven has been part of Tottenham‘s best centre-back duo since joining the club. When he arrived from Wolfsburg in 2023, he struck up a partnership with Cristian Romero which has seen them play 70 times together.

Injuries and suspensions have not allowed them to consistently pair up, and while Spurs have struggled this season, the pair remain two of their most important players.

The manager who brought him to the club, Postecoglou, has recently detailed the high ceiling of the Dutch defender, despite himself no longer being at Tottenham.

Postecoglou said on Stick to Football: “He can be as good as he wants to be. You watch him at the World Cup. I reckon they’ll play him left-back and he’ll be unbelievable.

“Once he gets going, technically he’s good, and his ability to cover ground is phenomenal. You’d set him up against any striker in the world without any fear that he was going to get outmuscled, and definitely not outrun.”

It’ll be a worry to Tottenham fans that one of their best players is being tipped for such success, given they are 16th in the Premier League and Van de Ven is of interest to Real Madrid.

If he can maintain a top level, there’s no way he should be playing for a side who have battled down towards the bottom of the Premier League for the last two seasons.

A report of late suggested Van de Ven is ‘generating the most buzz’ for Real Madrid at the moment, though they currently don’t want to pay the reported £69million asking price.

MORE ON TOTTENHAM FROM F365:

* Report names 15 players who Tottenham fans can expect to leave if they are relegated

* Igor Tudor ticks Spoke Well, I Thought box but Spurs’ future still looks terrifyingly bleak

* Tottenham warned over Pochettino risk as World Cup concern emerges: ‘Eye off the ball’

There is an alternative, with Tottenham said to be open to a swap if it includes Real winger Rodrygo.

If Van de Ven has the kind of World Cup that Postecoglou is expecting from him, there’ll be more sides in the mix for him and it’ll be all the more difficult for Spurs to keep hold of their star centre-back.

There is also the suggestion that Romero will be out the door this summer, so Spurs could lose both of their preferred centre-back pairing and have a big rebuild on their hands.

Tottenham revealed earlier this week that former Juventus head coach Tudor will take charge on an interim basis until the end of the season after they sacked Thomas Frank.

Tudor has never spent two years or more at one club with his longest spell coming at Hajduk Split in Croatia, where he lasted from April 2013 to February 2015, winning the Croatian Cup, his only major trophy during his managerial career.

And there is understood to be little chance of Tudor making it past the six-month mark at Tottenham with Spurs looking to appoint his successor in the summer.

Tottenham are currently 16th in the Premier League table, one place below Leeds United – who were promoted from the Championship last season – and the north London club face the very real danger of being sucked into a relegation fight if they don’t improve their form.

Crucially, 18th-placed West Ham are still five points behind Tottenham and a couple of early wins under new boss Tudor could see them clear of the drop.

READ: Igor Tudor ticks Spoke Well, I Thought box but Spurs’ future still looks terrifyingly bleak

However, The Athletic insists that Tottenham ‘should have no problem attracting interest from the Premier League and across Europe if the club were to be relegated’.

The full list of potential exits given by the report was: Guglielmo Vicario, Pedro Porro, Djed Spence, Destiny Udogie, Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero. Kevin Danso, Conor Gallagher, Rodrigo Bentancur, James Maddison, Xavi Simons, Mohammed Kudus, Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison and Dominic Solanke.

Former Everton CEO Keith Wyness is sure Tottenham are already in talks with USA head coach Mauricio Pochettino in order to convince him to rejoin as permanent manager after the World Cup.

Wyness told Football Insider: “Well, I’ve got to give a credit here to Tim Spears of The Athletic who described Igor Tudor as the Croatian Sam Allardyce, which I thought was very apt, given his track record of the number of clubs that he’s had.

“I think Igor Tudor is a short-term situation. I think it does point to the fact they want Pochettino back after the US exit the World Cup. And I think those discussions, I’m pretty sure, are going on.

“And that’s what I think would calm things down at Spurs and allow the Lewis group to really back somebody, like Pochettino, with a proven track record and to get things done. So I think that’s the plan.”

Glenn Hoddle has warned Arsenal they “will be in trouble” if they fail to get a result in the North London Derby this weekend after they collapsed to a 2-2 draw at bottom-side Wolves on Wednesday.

The Gunners had looked to be on course to extending their Premier League lead to six points after Piero Hincapie doubled their lead in the 56th minute but five minutes later and a dramatic collapse began.

With Wolves now only one goal behind, there was miscommunication between David Raya and Gabriel, allowing Tom Edozie a shot that ricocheted off substitute Ricardo Caligiuri on its way into the goal.

The result leaves Arsenal just four points ahead of Manchester City having played a game more and still with a trip to the Etihad to come, meaning for the first time in a long time, the title is in City’s hands as much as it is in Arsenal‘s.

For a team that has a history of capitulating, there are fears this is another “bottle” with Arsenal having won just three of their eight Premier League games in 2026.

Captain on the night Bukayo Saka was put up for media duties but pundit Hoddle suggested his demeanour was “very flat” at a time when he needed to rally the troops.

“That’s interesting, that, because he was the skipper tonight,” Hoddle said for Premier League Productions.

“For me, he was very honest, very honest there saying they need to do better… blah blah blah. But his demeanour for me wasn’t right.

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“Your demeanour needs to be a little bit more up, he was very flat, very flat.”

As for Arsenal, Hoddle believes Saka’s demeanour was reflective of the whole team and warned Mikel Arteta’s side that if they do not get a result in the North London Derby on Sunday, “they will be in trouble.”

“A few months ago they weren’t doing that, they were authoritative and were saying, “we’re Arsenal and we’re going to win the title”.

“But they’re doubting themselves and now they’re under pressure and it’s all about the mentality, they need to be strong and together to come again.

“It’s not a crossroads for Arsenal but they need to start again, go again. They’ve got to go again but there’s a doubt in their minds now, there’s definitely a doubt and they’ve got a huge couple of games ahead for them.

“Unless they get a result at the weekend they will be in trouble.”

It might not mean much or indeed anything at all when the post-mortems on Spurs’ season come to be written, but his first interview as Spurs boss did at least bring one slice of comfort to the fans: he gets it.

Igor Tudor understands the assignment. It doesn’t mean he will or even can complete it, but he understands it. In a five-minute in-house interview he showed a clearer understanding of what Spurs are, what Spurs should be, and how that chasm might be bridged than Thomas Frank did in eight months.

It’s… something. And right now that’s all Spurs have; something, anything to cling to that suggests someone, anyone, in a position of responsibility at the club understands the realities of just how serious Spurs’ current position remains but is also able to project some form of optimism for a better future from a position of hard-eyed realism rather than, well, guff.

Great care is always needed to avoid falling into the Spoke Well, I Thought trap with any new manager. Spurs fans know this as well as anyone, with memories of Nuno’s “We will make you proud” still painful and fresh.

But it’s also perfectly understandable for a fanbase that has spent recent months being gaslit by their manager and his baffling media cheerleaders to now want to latch on to a manager whose record reveals deep and worrying flaws but who does at least appear to understand that wanting halfway watchable football, not to get relegated and maybe even, if it’s not too much trouble, the occasional home win doesn’t make them impatient, cruel or entitled.

We all know by now Tudor’s record, largely in Italy. The kind reading of it is that he is a manager who definitely lends himself to an interim role. He does have a track record of being able to make quick, on-the-job repairs to a listing ship. He has no record of being able to build anything more substantial.

He is not the man to turn Frank’s infamous supertanker around. But he might be the man to stop it sinking altogether. That’s clearly the plan.

Yet here comes the next note of necessary caution for Spurs fans. Because while Tudor’s record and Tottenham’s current predicament mean that it’s obvious from the outside that this is the plan, it begs a further question: whose plan?

The only possible sensible answer to that is Fabio Paratici. This is Fabio Paratici’s plan to save Tottenham. And it is his last contribution.

The confirmation of Tudor’s coaching set-up this week, and with it the departure of Johnny Heitinga after being Spurs’ assistant coach for a month, sets off alarm bells.

Easy to jape about Heitinga’s Abe Simpson entrance and exit through the Spurs revolving door to complete an interesting nine months in the professional life of a man who was celebrating his part in Liverpool’s title win last season before deciding to find out what life is like as head coach and then again as assistant coach at clubs that are mental.

But it’s starkly revealing. We all assumed that Heitinga’s appointment to an assistant role in Frank’s team was a strategic move to place a viable interim manager inside the current, struggling set-up.

We now know it was not that. Which tells us a few things that we maybe should have more strongly suspected but can only now know for sure. What it tells us is that the people now in the very senior positions at a post-Levy Spurs really did not, even a month ago, realise quite how f**ked things were.

And that should terrify Spurs fans. They weren’t putting in a contingency, they really were trying to help out a manager that everyone who wasn’t a Spurs board member or senior football columnist could already see was beyond that help. A manager who was dragging Spurs into a relegation fight neither he nor they were equipped to win.

It also paints the January transfer window failure in new light. We’d kind of thought until now that Paratici had played Spurs, you see.

When Spurs announced Paratici’s departure for Fiorentina, they also said he was staying on for the rest of the January transfer window. When Spurs did no further business in January, while Fiorentina signed several new players for their own survival fight, it was understandable to think that the Spurs board had had their wallets inspected by a man with notable talents but, let’s say, not an unblemished record of propriety. Paratici is not a man who necessarily earns the benefit of the doubt in these situations.

But right now in this specific instance he does. Because now we know with some certainty that it’s actually worse than we feared. Paratici didn’t play Spurs; Spurs played themselves.

They didn’t sit on their hands in January because Paratici had checked out, but because the likes of CEO Vinai Venkatesham and sporting director Johan Lange really didn’t think they needed to gamble. He didn’t stop trying, the others stopped listening.

When they were publicly patting themselves on the back for being sensible grown-ups and not getting dragged into the silliness of the transfer window it wasn’t an act – they meant it.

They killed Frank with kindness, having decided that he – or anyone – could muddle on with a dozen fit players once they’d failed in their bid to sign Andy Robertson, the only footballer in the world who could improve this squad.

Paratici hadn’t downed tools; his voice just wasn’t being heard. Only after he’d left and Frank plumbed sarcastic levels of dreadful in defeat to a Newcastle side going through its own misery, only after Frank had contrived to continue his policy of conceding two stupid goals in every game even against a team with no forwards to speak of, did Vinai and Lange reluctantly acknowledge the situation had spiralled out of their control.

At that point they did the only thing they could, incapable as they appear to be of any independent action. It might be too late already. They put into place Paratici’s parting gift, the contingency plan he had lined up while they were genuinely trying to help an ailing manager by putting another head coach into his backroom staff seemingly oblivious to how that obviously looked.

Paratici’s record at Spurs is, at best, spotty. But it contains a few undeniable and notable hits among the misses. That’s the good news for Spurs fans, who must hope that his final contribution in identifying Tudor as the short-term quick fix they obviously and desperately need is another one for the hitlist rather than the sh*tlist.

The bad news is that bringing in a man to continue the proud Croatian tradition at Spurs (Modric, Corluka, Kranjcar… Pletikosa) is the last fling of Paratici’s now departed dice.

Everything that happens from this point on is the work of Vinai and Lange.

What a glorious season of Premier League Managergeddon this has been, and there’s still the prospect of plenty more to come.

Nottingham Forest have already binned off three managers as Mr Marinakis loses the entire run of himself. To place that effort in some recent historical context, only three Premier League managers lost their jobs during the entire 23/24 season.

But it’s hardly been a lone furrow that the admittedly elite manager-cullers at Nottingham Forest have ploughed. In all, eight permanent managers and all manner of caretaker and interim appointees have been canned this season so far, and with the relegation battle showing promising signs of becoming a right Battle Royale to avoid 18th there could be plenty more to come.

Which is this. This is what is definitely to come between now and the start of next season at assorted clubs that have caught the managergeddon bug.

Nottingham Forest

Having cycled through every flavour of manager imaginable in a virtuoso display of main-character posturing, Mr Marinakis achieves his inevitable final form after an irrevocable breakdown in his relationship with Vitor Pereira three weeks from now and appoints himself head coach.

Against the odds, his brand of intimidation and dread fear proves as persuasively successful in a relegation battle as it did in convincing Morgan Gibbs-White to sign that new contract, and Forest stay up.

His success inevitably attracts interest from rival clubs during the summer, but Mr Marinakis’ refusal to allow Tottenham to speak to Marinakis, who they see as the ideal man to get them back into the Premier League, causes an irrevocable breakdown in the relationship between manager and chairman.

Further differences of opinion between Marinakis and Mr Marinakis over transfer policy and the long-term direction of the club leave Marinakis’ position untenable and he is sacked on the eve of the new season.

Nuno Espirito Santo is appointed in his place.

Tottenham

After three grimly inevitable defeats in his first inevitably grim three games, Igor Tudor has swiftly led Tottenham into the bottom three and himself out of a job. Tim Sherwood spends four unwatchable hours of Soccer Saturday telling anyone who will listen and plenty who won’t that his prediction rate is second to none.

At Spurs, it is now a full-blown crisis. Arsenal-obsessed CEO Vinai Venkatesham sets about sourcing a second interim manager.

Sat in his official Arsenal office chair, sipping thoughtfully from his Arsenal Invincibles mug, the former Arsenal suit realises the problem: Tudor simply hadn’t spent anything like enough of his short time at Spurs telling everyone how good Arsenal are, and had failed to be photographed with a single piece of Arsenal-branded merchandise.

This is Venkatesham’s eureka moment. Knowing how beloved he and Thomas Frank are by the Spurs faithful, he realises that what is required to save Spurs from themselves is a bit more Arsenal around the place.

But Venkatesham is no fool. He knows that while the key qualification for any prospective senior employee of Tottenham Hotspur moving forward must obviously be a deep and pathological love of Arsenal that you constantly bring up, unprompted and however out of context, at this crunch time of the season with survival on the line it would also help for the new boss to know Spurs a little bit as well. Someone who can combine a long-standing love of Arsenal with sufficient experience of the unique delights of Tottenham Hotspur to finally bring everyone together and move the club forward.

Sol Campbell is appointed manager. Spurs are relegated after inexplicably failing to win a single game under such a unifying candidate and come to be known as The Vincibles. Vinai responds to these setbacks as only he knows how: by swiftly releasing three limited-edition commemorative kits, one to mark each of the three draws Spurs managed under Campbell.

Manchester United

Another four straight wins see Man United bow to the inevitable and hand Michael Carrick the permanent job against their better judgement and in full knowledge of what inevitably happens next.

Sir Jim is happy at least, declaring the appointment a significant first victory in the war on foreign managers coming over here and flattering to deceive in their early games as Manchester United manager, and clear proof that English managers can do it just as well as any Jonny Coloniser.

Far more importantly, four straight wins has Hairy Man United Superfan Frank Illet firmly back in the spotlight, and an intense period of study with the FBI-trained Minions fan off of The Traitors has Illet able to far more convincingly lie throughout his monetised livestream about definitely wanting United to win their fifth game in a row this time so he can at last get the haircut he has been entirely free to get at any time over the last 18 months.

“I’ve really got to say this,” he adds mysteriously. “Hair clippers are available from Argos.”

The twin powers of both Carrick’s permanent gig and the haircut grift lead to United coming inevitably unstuck in a Friday night fixture at Bournemouth, with the result prompting all manner of unconvincing puns as the word ‘hair’ is artless crowbarred into the first syllable of ‘Iraola’ in headlines and standfirsts throughout the land.

With further grim inevitability, United fail to win another game all season. After a suitable period of reflection, Carrick is relieved of his duties during the summer, with Iraola promptly installed as favourite to replace him. Paddy Power make Illet 8/1 third favourite, which instantly becomes the lead story on all three red-top football websites on the opening day of the 2026 World Cup.

Brighton

With Brighton sucked ever closer to the relegation fight, patience with Fabian Hurzeler is finally exhausted and he is replaced by Thomas Frank with eight games to go.

A six-game winless run has Frank in trouble before a narrative-laden 1-0 win at Dr Tottenham is followed by just enough 0-0 draws to keep Brighton above the cutline. This clearing of the lowest possible bar with a sensible small club whose name begins with B is immediately used as compelling evidence by tearful journalists wearing I BELONG TO THOMAS T-shirts that Spurs fans are just absolute monsters.

Things soon turn sour, though, when Frank insists on bending everyone’s ear at the training ground talking about how great Crystal Palace are. He duly leaves in the summer to join…

Crystal Palace

Oliver Glasner and Crystal Palace keep their sham marriage going until the kids move out in the summer.

In comes Thomas Frank, who immediately endears himself to fans of his new club by turning up to his first press conference in a match-worn Neal Maupay Brighton shirt.

The swooning assembled press agree this is a masterstroke on the part of Frank, and insist he immediately be given the Manchester United or Liverpool job as is his birthright.

Liverpool

Patience and loyalty are dirty words in football these days, sadly, and so title-winning manager Arne Slot is out of a job for no reason other than playing consistently bang-average football following a half-billion-pound investment in his squad, and conceding injury-time winners on the regular.

Liverpool move swiftly to replace him with a beloved, iconic former midfielder who is out of work after leaving an ill-fated appointment elsewhere but due to an admin mix-up accidentally appoint Steven Gerrard instead of Xabi Alonso.

Chelsea

A BlueCo corporate reshuffle sees Liam Rosenior’s job title changed from manager to head coach.

Rosenior is typically philosophical about the change, declaring “In English, ‘head coach’, if you split the two words, is ‘head’ and ‘coach’, so you’re ‘coaching heads’” before saying he considers himself both a manager and a coach anyway and “probably entertainer third” before giving an unprompted 1000-word summary of what ageing Chelsea’s men had taught him about B2B sales.

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola’s storied reign comes to a weary end and he is replaced by Enzo Maresca.

“The city has been colonised by baldmen, really, hasn’t it?” laments Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Tottenham Hotspur would be taking a huge risk appointing Mauricio Pochettino as manager after the United States’ World Cup campaign, says Bobby Zamora.

Pochettino is the favourite to be named Tottenham’s next permanent manager following the sacking of Thomas Frank.

Spurs chasing new manager after sacking Frank

Frank was dismissed with the Londoners on a torrid run of two wins from 17 Premier League matches, leaving them 16th in the table.

Former Juventus boss Igor Tudor has been placed in interim charge until the end of the season and the Croatian staying on permanently is viewed as unlikely, unless he somehow manages to win this season’s Champions League.

Not only with the bookmakers, but Pochettino is also the favourite among Spurs supporters to succeed Frank.

MORE: How Arsenal fan Frank ‘baffled’ Spurs players, gave one star ‘preferential treatment’ and almost left in November

The Argentine managed the club between May 2014 and November 2019, leading them to a second-place finish in the Premier League and the Champions League final six months before his sacking.

He is comfortably the most successful Spurs boss in the Premier League era and most fans are open to him returning.

The biggest hitch is that Pochettino isn’t currently available as he is preparing for this summer’s World Cup as United States head coach.

He will lead the host nation and might not be able to take over at Spurs until July, depending on how far the USA progress. Their final group game is on June 25, which would be the earliest Pochettino could leave his post.

Not only would the 53-year-old be a late appointment from a Spurs perspective, but speculation about his future will hardly benefit him or his players at the World Cup.

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Why Pochettino return is a huge risk for Spurs

Former Spurs striker Zamora thinks the USMNT hierarchy will demand Pochettino is focused on his current job and that ‘taking his eye off the ball’ could cost them at this summer’s tournament.

“He can’t start until after the World Cup. If you are his nation, you are saying ‘I don’t want you taking your eye off the ball’,” Zamora told best betting sites (via CBS Sports).

“I know you’re not full-time, every single day in the office, but I would be saying I don’t want you taking your eye off the ball.

“Although he’s the fans’ favourite and they want him there, it’s going to be a tricky one.

“I think the likes of Poch would want time, a good pre-season. Whoever goes in there, they will want a whole pre-season.

“It’s hard because of the World Cup. All of these players aren’t going to get back until the end of July if a few of the boys get quite far. They will want a break, they will want two weeks off at least. It’s a tricky job for anyone.

“Poch obviously had a great time there. It didn’t end in the greatest way, but I can understand why the fans want him back.”

Asked if Pochettino will have other options when his contract expires this summer, Zamora added: “He will. It’s a big club, though, a huge club. He has got fond memories there as well.

“It’s a huge club, it really is. The infrastructure of everything is second to none.

“It’s just that final part of the puzzle that they haven’t been able to solve over the last six or seven years. It just hasn’t clicked and found that understanding. I don’t understand what it is that is going to make it happen.”

Meanwhile, former Spurs boss Tim Sherwood says Pochettino being approached to replace Frank is a sure thing.

Sherwood told Sky Sports: “We know who is coming in – it will be Pochettino, 100 per cent. I do not think the club will be brave enough to turn to anyone else.

“There are other options out there but the pressure on another man getting that job and losing two games, and then the crowd saying ‘You had a chance to bring Poch back’. It is impossible for them to look elsewhere.”

Former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood has revealed that two targets Igor Tudor must achieve to have “any chance” of the permanent Spurs job.

Tottenham revealed earlier this week that former Juventus head coach Tudor will take charge on an interim basis until the end of the season after they sacked Thomas Frank.

Tudor has never spent two years or more at one club with his longest spell coming at Hajduk Split in Croatia, where he lasted from April 2013 to February 2015, winning the Croatian Cup, his only major trophy during his managerial career.

And there is understood to be little chance of Tudor making it past the six-month mark at Tottenham with Spurs looking to appoint his successor in the summer.

Former Spurs head coach Sherwood has outlined what Tudor will have to do if he wants to have an outside chance of being appointed permanently with Mauricio Pochettino set to take over.

Sherwood told Sky Sports News: “I said for him [Tudor] there is very little upside. The upside is managing a wonderful football club in Tottenham Hotspur and I think he’s come out and said he’s proud to get the opportunity as I think every other manager would say.

READ: ‘Lame duck’ Tudor to be ‘next manager out’ as Spurs ‘sleepwalking into catastrophic relegation’

“But he needs to win the Champions League and win every game in the Premier League or 90 per cent of the games in the Premier League to have any chance of taking that job on the long term.

“That job is going to Mauricio Pochettino if he wants it and if they’re in the Premier League, which I believe they will be in.

“The downside is so catastrophic it’s not even worth thinking about. For Tottenham Hotspur to be in the Championship next season, we need to move on. I get shivers thinking about it.”

Sherwood doubts new Tottenham interim boss Tudor will even receive any credit for a good end to the season that sees them move comfortably away from the relegation zone.

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The former Tottenham boss added: “There’s not enough time to do a job, there’s injuries to the squad. What success looks like? That’s the point I was making about him.

“If he finishes well and has a good run and finishes 12th in the Premier League, he’s not going to get any credit for that.

“I believe he should but from the outside and the wider footballing public, nobody is giving him any credit for Tottenham Hotspur finishing 12th. If he was to get them relegated, then they would all know his name.”

Tottenham Hotspur have an absolute gem on their hands in Luka Vuskovic, who is so good he could join Bayern Munich this summer without playing a competitive match for the Premier League side.

Vuskovic has emerged as one of the standout centre-backs in the Bundesliga this season, enjoying a fruitful campaign on loan at Hamburg.

Luka Vuskovic: Spurs’ future world-class defender

The 18-year-old Croatian has been named Bundesliga Rookie of the Month on three occasions and even won the German top flight’s Goal of the Month award for December.

Not only is the teenager already an elite centre-back, but he has an eye for goal as well. He won the Belgian Golden Shoe Goal of the Season award in 2024 and scored seven league goals in 28 appearances on loan at KVC Westerlo last season.

He was an unused substitute in Tottenham‘s opening two Premier League games of the campaign and in the UEFA Super Cup defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

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Vuskovic has been a regular in the Hamburg defence since September and there are rumours he could move to a top European club before he has even played a minute for the Londoners.

There is genuine interest from Bayern Munich, who are always looking to sign the best players from their domestic rivals, and Tottenham supporters fear they will lose their Croatian gem.

With Vuskovic, Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero all linked with moves away from Spurs, they are weighing up their options for the summer transfer window.

Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger has been linked, but another player on Spurs’ radar is Bayern’s Kim Min-jae, whose departure could pave the way for Vuskovic to join the German champions.

Bayern eye Spurs’ best young star

According to CFBayern Insider, Chelsea and Spurs are both showing ‘interest’ in the South Korean, who impressed against Werder Bremen in Saturday’s comfortable Bundesliga win.

Chelsea could make a move for Min-jae after missing out on new Liverpool signing Jeremy Jacquet, though the 29-year-old is older than their usual transfer targets.

Min-jae is not a regular starter under Vincent Kompany and would be a wise sale for Bayern and a smart signing for Spurs.

Bayern head coach Kompany has previously been very complimentary of Vuskovic, claiming that his Hamburg loan is “ideal” for his development…potentially ahead of his arrival at the Allianz Arena.

Spurs talent Vuskovic earns praise from Kompany, Tah, Olic

Kompany said: “He’s a big talent. The Bundesliga is a very difficult league to develop as a young centre-back. You need to be physically strong.

“Having an important role at HSV is ideal. He needs to listen well to his good coach there. He doesn’t need to do much more.”

Bayern defender Jonathan Tah – who could partner the teenager from next season – has also praised Vuskovic.

“I think he is really good for his age. We have had contact from time to time,” Tah told Sky Sports Germany.

“He should keep going this way – keep working on himself, keep pushing. I like the energy he brings to the pitch – his confidence. That is something I pay close attention to.”

Vuskovic is clearly very highly rated and Croatia Under-21 manager Ivica Olic has backed him to play for the senior team at this summer’s World Cup.

“If Luka continues to perform so well for HSV and his country and stays healthy, I’m convinced he will be at the World Cup,” Olic said.

“He was carefully developed, loaned to Poland and Belgium. And the loan from Tottenham to my former club also makes a lot of sense. A lot of things were done right. That’s how you develop talent. But it’s important that he continues to play well.

“Luka is a down-to-earth boy who is very mature for his age, both on and off the pitch. He lives and loves football. You can feel that in every training session, in every game. He always gives 100%.”

His Hamburg team-mates know how special Vuskovic is as well.

Hamburg’s Miro Muheim said: “He’s a monster, for sure. I don’t think he lost a single header. He’s doing a great job. The boy is a superb footballer and is helping us tremendously.”

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes said: “When you see Luka, how he always goes for headers as a flexible player, that was something you need in games like this. This aerial dominance he has, this presence. It’s simply something that’s good for us.”