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Spurs can be fixed pretty easily and that opens a massive Mailbox that also includes thoughts on Arne Slot, set-pieces and more.

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com

FrankenSpurs?

Whatever about Spurs precarious league position, surely their lack of brain is more worrisome?

Sixyardbox, Stockholm

How to fix Spurs

After another dismal result at Fulham, I got to thinking; It’s all very well ranting about ENIC and recruitment. What do we need to do? If this was Championship Manager and I ran the show, what would I do?

So, firstly, assuming we stay up which, bearing in mind that West Ham and Forest are as bad if not worse, I still think we will, what do we do this summer? Each is headed by a song title that seemed appropriate!

We all know who the fans want. Will Poch come? If he won’t, I’d consider Tim Sherwood. He knows and likes the club, he’s perceptive on Sky. And he’s realistic as a target. Guardiola or Ancelotti ain’t coming. Marco Silva could work.

The players we should try to persuade to stay, assuming they are restored to full fitness.

Porro & Richarlison

Van de Ven & Romero

Kudus & Kulusevski

Gray & Bergvall

Maddison & Simons

Tel & Odobert (but send them out on loan. They’ve got potential but they’re not ready.)

Udogie.

I’d add Palhinha if he was ours to keep.

AKA, ‘Don’t let the door hit you where the good Lord split you’.

Undecided: Solanke. Clearly a good player. But it isn’t working for him at Spurs.

Gallagher. Too early to say, especially when he’s being played out of position.

Muani. Not ours to keep. I’d take him for a lowball fee but not big bucks.

Part two of “Sam Fixes Spurs” will be a list of players we should target this summer, but that’s for another day.

Kind regards,

Sam

Why supporting Spurs really ain’t that bad

In these difficult days to be a Spurs fan I thought I would write in with something positive.

One of the various mocking memes etc, was looking at a rebrand of our “to dare is to do” motto and came up with “It’s just who we are”. I know it was being negative but I quite liked it.

A friend of mine’s son, who was born in Tottenham, lamented as a very young child, with a limited idea of geography, “why couldn’t I have been born in Man U?”. I have never wished that I supported someone else.

It is 59 years since my first visit to White Hart Lane and I don’t regret for a moment that fate and family took me that way. I am a Spurs fan, it is just who I am. It would have been nice to have won more cups but I do not envy other clubs’ success.

Supporting Tottenham for me is about the shared community that I belong to, not least with my family who are all Spurs fans.

What a dreadful season on and off the pitch Sheffield Wednesday are having, but I bet for many of their supporters, whilst not exactly enjoying it, they have really relished the shared camaraderie of their fellow fans of togetherness in the face of such adversity.

For all the long periods of turgid football and mediocrity at Spurs through the ages there have been some wonderful moments. Seeing Hoddle at his majestic best and being able to enjoy Greaves, Gilzean, Waddle, Gascoigne, Dele, Harry and Son. And the other ones not really appreciated outside your club, like the ungainly Darren Anderton, who looked as if he was playing with a coat hanger still in his shirt. Just great.

So on Thursday night I will be there at the stadium with my son and daughter, brother and brother in law to cheer them on. And if the worst happens and we go down, I and they will be back. Because it’s Spurs “it’s just who we are”.

Sean, East Finchley

PS, I know that the letters page would indicate that your audience has only ever known the premier league and Glen Hoddle as a very dull pundit, but look him up. He really was special.

Apocalypse now?

For those of you who are not religious and not expecting fire, flood or pestilence as your signs, I would contend that a couple of sure indicators of the coming end of the World are MUFC in 3rd with 9 games to go, or St. Tottingham Day in February!

Adidasmufc

(Of course, bombing Iran might be another one!)

To the ‘F365 are sh*t’ moaners

To those moaning about the lack of decent content and actual tactical analysis (aka Arsenal & Liverpool fans when they get write ups they don’t agree with/emails they take exception to), I expect you’ll all be flocking to discuss the recent article about Pep’s adaptation/rebuild cycle in a genteel and respectful fashion. Quality stuff IMO.

At the time of writing this mail, it has 4 comments – 2 each from a couple of the more cerebral BTLers. Compare and contrast with any mailbox ever/99% of the more, erm, tongue in cheek articles (or outrageous slurs if you’re a gooner/kopite), where the same folk trade the same insults and ridiculous paranoia, and we all have to scroll past Harold and Davos slow dancing with each other for several yards of text. Again.

Hopefully I’ll be proved wrong, but I doubt it.

RHT/TS x

(Slot is simultaneously dead right and utterly ridiculous, considering his position, with his comments about the ugliness of current PL football)

…Thought I’d give you some positive feedback after seeing multiple messages in the mailbox recently moaning about the standard of the articles on your site. Whilst I agree some aren’t to my taste, and others are obviously click bait, it’s a free website we can choose to visit or not. I mainly concentrate on the Mailbox as a break from my working day and, as a Spurs fan, have relished the fact that neutral fans have now realized how insufferable Arsenal fans can be (are). Something us fans of the European Champions have known for a long time.

Mostly though, it’s Mediawatch I look forward to. Always makes me chuckle, and I love the thought of your guys trawling through articles/posts hoping to come across some drivel worth taking the p*ss out of, jumping with glee when they find some. Though to be fair, these days it doesn’t seem too hard to find. Anyways, keep up the good work.

Sam, Guernsey (Not even contemplating us going down, properly in denial)

Stop picking on Arne Slot, though

So Will Ford wrote a whole article, and a section of Big Midweek about Arne Slot’s comments that ‘ most of the games I see in the Premier League are not for me a joy to watch’.

I think that many would agree with Slot that there are currently a lot of games which aren’t great to watch, perhaps an over reliance on set pieces and penalty box grappling to gain an (unfair) advantage.

But he omits to mention that at no point did Slot state that Liverpool were any better or more attractive than the status quo, which is a telling omission, along with snide comments like ‘to hear Slot talk of the “joy” being sucked from football one would think he was one the great footballing philosophers.

It is clear Will Ford hates Arne Slot, but I have no idea why. He’s only said what many people think, and has not said his side is any better than the norm, so why the childish overreaction?

A, LFC, Montreal

…Will Ford seems to have found out Arne Slot, following his response to a question at a press conference. All the funny stuff with the heavy metal and the country and western! Must’ve been ages coming up with all that…

I’d love to make some alternative points. Slot was answering a direct question as honestly as he could. Last season, pundits were lining up to commend his refreshing honesty- a few months on and Will smells a bit of a chance to vent his anger and BOOM! He sticks the boot in. Nice one. Does Will remember who won the league last year? Does he feel they should win it every year? I am a football fan and I am interested to know what a premier league winning manager thinks because I think he might offer some insight.

What has Will done? Has he won the premier league recently? Because he certainly thinks very little of Arne Slot. He must think last year was very easy for Slot. After all, hadn’t Liverpool been winning it for fun lately? Well… no they hadn’t actually. They had won it once in about 4 decades so, unlike Will, I would think that Slot is allowed to have an opinion and after all, he was simply answering a direct question.

Does Will think Arne should celebrate this new physical direction that British football is taking and say “I love it, even though we are losing way more and are not good at set-pieces, I just love it- I love that we’re losing actually, it’s a great feeling.” Maybe he should jump on the table and celebrate like Tom Cruise on Oprah? Would that be better. Have some respect man.

Michael, Ireland

No sympathy for Villa

I’ve always like Villa. Always been good. Often been better than good. Had some very likeable players and managers. But I have zero sympathy for them right now.

From Big Midweek: ‘Strip any team of their starting midfield three and they would struggle in a similar manner.’

They have a talented midfielder that’s not even in their last 5 squads.

Yeah they can’t afford him…but they signed the loan deal. And now they leave a young player to rot even in the midst of an injury crisis!!

No sympathy. That sort of bad business mistake and bad faith to players you signed deserves bad outcomes.

This is the first time I can ever remember being happy with villa dropping points.

Elliott may not even be good enough to get them into the Champions League… but the treatment of him is enough to warrant a Villa fail.

Joe LFC

A note on penalties and Arsenal

My Good Lord there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth in this morning’s mailbox with regards to F365’s articles about Arsenal’s skulduggery at corners etc.

Look corners are always going to be a tussle. Put ten men in a small area chasing a ball with a lot on the line and there will be pushing and shoving. It’s inevitable for some competition and physicality to occur between players. But I think we’re definitely crossing a line between professionals competing and the sort of rough housing I would have expected to face in my old university league where everyone was shit, hungover and the refs were just representatives from other teams.

The level of shit housery we saw in the Chelsea Arsenal game was just ridiculous, embarrassing and nobody with three brain cells could try and defend the level of holding and outright fouls from both sides in that game. Any attempts do so can easily identified as biased tribalist nonsense

And the real problem here, in my humble opinion, is that refereeing is just wholly inconsistent. The outrage that Arsenal and Chelsea fans have while Spurs fans have seen the same decisions go against them with absolutely no consistency (I’m looking at you Gabriel going down like he took an RPG while similar goals get given against Fulham and Liverpool) is completely out of touch.

And we can talk about “interpreting the rules” until the cows come home but even in interpretation there has to be some consistency and we really are reaching the level of farce. Chelsea should have had two penalties as a result of those corners and I’ll even say arsenal should have had one. If refs won’t call these out then the bullshittery will continue and the quality of the league will keep falling

Finally one for my tinfoil hat enjoyers. I just saw today that Arsenal have conceded zero penalties this season. ZERO. NIL. The last time that happened over a full season was Liverpool 21/22 (obviously I’m aware there are still games to go but the point stands) and the reason I do find this egregious is because going back to the VERY first game of the season Arsenal had a stonewall penalty against Cunha in the 6 yard box not given. And after this last game against Chelsea where Arsenal players were defending in ways that would put you and me in the dock for sexual assault and there was STILL no penalty

So my tinfoil hat friends might think that there is general plan to help Arsenal win the league but let’s Ockham’s Razor here. I think if Arsenal had been conceding penalties at a more realistic rate in line with their “defending” were looking at a very different league table. Would love if someone had seen all their games and could shed some light on these penalty stats for and against because I don’t get to see much football. But I think the simpler reason is that poor refereeing standards have allowed Arsenal players to practice the dark arts (read: cheat) and they’ve been able to continue in that vein throughout the season to max points and find themselves top of the table.

Let me say that again. ZERO penalties against. NIL. F*** all. And after this weekends shenanigans I would love to hear my fellow mailboxers opinions about that.

Disgruntled, RSA

How do we combat the Arse?

Harold Eggfried Hooler asked the question what do we do about the win at all costs mentality versus entertainment, and that what possible rule changes could be brought in.

Arsene Wenger’s new offside rule looks like it will be brought in soon which is great (being trialled shortly in the Canadian league – but that’s a whole other story – plenty to come on that in time) – so that’s one. What I do believe however is that it is down to the managers – particularly the ones of the big clubs – you know – the ones with trillions to spend every year – but still insist on making corners their most potent and commonly used weapon rather than scoring from open play.

I’ve always disagreed with the notion that ultimately football/sport is all about winning. Not to me it isn’t. It’s an entertainment first and foremost – especially football. So if you have the resources to buy any footballer on planet earth every season then you really do have a responsibility to make your style of football ‘entertaining’.

We all have different tastes – but apart from Arsenal fans who just want to win at any cost (and always did – re: George Graham/offside trap/1 nil to the Arsenal – they got fed up and hounded Wenger out of the club because of his (sound) principles) – most fans do not wish to see 3 goals all scored from corners – and any likelihood of more goals coming from that source too. Its not that they are scoring from corners – its just that thats all they are doing. Say what you like about Ferguson, Pep, Klopp, Wenger, even Ange, (add in Luis Enrique and a few others in Europe the last few years) – they did not settle for just winning. They knew they had an obligation to their fans, football fans in general – and also to themselves – to make their brand of football progressive but above all great to watch.

I’m a Liverpool fan but I inwardly loved Utds style of play throughout the 90’s and 2000’s – always going for the win – always being positive and playing good looking direct football. In fact it used to embarrass me a bit when under Benitez we often didn’t do that and achieved a few triumphs with less than entertaining football. Not always – but often.

If you are mid-low position teams then maybe it is understandable – at least till you cement your place in the division. But if you are earning the bucks that the likes of Arsenal are then come on – you do owe it to the public to not be Big Sams Bolton. In fact they were way better to watch.

Shunt

…Harry, the answer to the corner scrums is mostly fairly simple: apply the existing laws properly and consistently.

Impeding a player by dragging or purposefully blocking them is a foul (easily identified at corners by players not looking at the ball but the player they’re seeking to stop). It doesn’t matter if both sides are doing it, punish them both, punish them all consistently and this nonsense will stop. If it takes a VAR pause of 10 minutes the first time to deal with all the stuff going on, take it, deal with it all and people won’t think they can get away with it just because there’s 5 other incidents going on.

As far as the time wasting, I don’t think 5 seconds would be reasonable although the chaos would be pretty hilarious as possession was passed back and forth before anyone could know they had it with ensuing yellow cards for kicking the ball away. But a firm limit on 20 seconds max would cut out a lot of that too. Does that give enough time for the big lad at the back to get forwards? It should, players in egg ball don’t get a breather when moving from ruck to maul.

A player moves too far from the spot for the throw-in or does a foul throw-in, warning then card.

Player dives for a free kick / penalty? VAR can see if there’s legit contact and if not, then it’s a yellow for simulation. If there happen to be 3 other incidents going on in the back ground of the same video review, deal with them as well.

Just apply the damned rules, and the same rules for each team.

Set pieces are a good aspect of the game, where organisation and training ground routines can be brought out. No issue with that at all. Free kicks take good skill to pull off. United won in 99 thanks in part to excellent corners and free kicks.

But the tolerance for routine piss-taking needs to stop. Go zero-tolerance scorched-earth. Treat players (and managers) like the unruly spoiled children they are, and they’ll learn soon enough. As long as they think they might get away with it, they will try and they’ll never stop pushing you.

Badwolf

Arsenal getting picked on part 427

There’s a lot of whining going on about corners and long throws. Lots of it directed, unfairly, at Arsenal.

For years Arsenal have been criticised for walking the ball in the net, having no grit etc etc, and have had to play against teams who park the bus (sorry, “low block”). Solution – work on a weakness and turn it into a strength, which is met with… Criticism. And just so people can get a sense of clarity, go and look at a typical Arsenal set piece. It isn’t all mayhem, grappling, chaos – it’s well practised routine. Now go and look at the set piece attacking/defending of teams who don’t play in red and white, and consider is it more of less physical than Arsenal’s approach. Also, you’d think Arsenal have a monopoly on this, but they’re what, one or two goals ahead of the next club on the list?

Now, there also seems to be a lot of noise about rules, punishments and VAR stepping in to ‘clean up corners’. Bullshit. Let them at it. Arms down, that’s it. Football is getting so pathetic. We’ve already allowed diving and simulation in the door. Remember when it was a keepers prerogative to wipe out anyone in their path. Stick with that! In all seriousness, can you imagine the inconsistencies in refereeing decisions – it will be piss boiling for supporters on a weekly basis.

Finally, unrelated, I’m glad there has been some recognition of the anti-Arsenal bias lately. Will Ford aka Stewie is no doubt a click-driver, but his bias is getting embarrassing for a mainstream website. He’s down in the pits with Chris Sutton at the moment, with Johnny-Nic on his way to joining them. Cliff R put it better than I could.

Diaby

The law is an ass

It is unfathomable how, in the same sport, someone can be rugby tackled or body-checked with impunity, while someone else can have a light hand on someone’s back or three fingers on their shoulder and it’s a foul and even a sending-off offence.

This isn’t a complaint about set pieces because I know how difficult it is to get a goal from a corner. But it’s beyond ridiculous that in the same penalty area, such vastly different standards are being applied.

Also, what happened to obstruction? Is it still against the rules? No one ever gets a free kick for it any more. We’ve all seen the defender leaning back against the attacker, with his arms back, as he “shepherds the ball out of play”. Some of the blocking at corners surely qualifies as obstruction.

We need clarification so that football retains its physicality and players are not rewarded for going over easily, but wrestling is confined to a different sport.

Paul in Brussels

Strictly come football

I see the predictable wailing and gnashing of teeth after Sundays CornerFest took football back to the bad old days (which were also the good old days when real men could take a tackle without rolling on the floor as if they were shot – it’s hard to keep up).

Goals scored from corners aren’t real goals obviously so should only be worth half a goal. Own goals aren’t real goals either are they? Half a goal for them too. What about goals bouncing in off yer arse after a goalmouth scramble? Scuffed toe pokes? Mishit crosses that end up in the net? Bit ridiculous that they’re worth as much as a 40 yard thunderbastard.

The only way to save football is to go full Strictly and have a panel of judges award marks out of ten for each score. Winners of the game will only be announced once the panel have concluded their deliberations. In a really tight title race the champions night only be crowned once Mays Goal of the Month has been decided.

Tottenham are frustated that an Arsenal-supporting academy scout made a joke about the Spurs badge not touching his skin, according to reports.

Thomas Frank, who was sacked earlier this year, came under fire in early January for strolling around the Vitality Stadium with an Arsenal-branded cup ahead of their 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth.

It was a disaster for Frank, who was already unpopular among Tottenham supporters, and the Dane was sacked just over a month later as poor results continued.

And now Tottenham have another embarrasing incident to address with the Daily Mail claiming Spurs are ‘deeply unimpressed’ that a new Arsenal-supporting academy scout, Neros Coachman, joked about not wanting the badge to touch his skin.

Coachman posted a picture of himself on social media posing in a Tottenham tracksuit with the caption: ‘Looking forward to getting the new set of superstars to the club’.

The Tottenham academy scout added: ‘You know the project’s good when you’re a boyhood Arsenal fan and you switch sides.’

READ: Igor Tudor and Spurs next? Ten managerial firefighters who couldn’t prevent relegation

One fan on social media responded, ‘Do not let that badge touch your skin’ to which Coachman replied: ‘I’ve already got the base layer.’

The usual attempts at fan banter followed with another poster insisting that Arsenal ‘need someone on the inside’ with Coachman responding with ‘shhhhh’.

After a snake emoji was shared, the new Tottenham scout said: ‘I know, I know, it’s deserved haha.’

Coachman, who was clearly responding in jest, claimed ‘it was tough’ when asked: ‘how the hell did you get dressed in that?’, about his Tottenham tracksuit.

Despite Coachman clearly joking around, the Daily Mail insists that his comments ‘are not thought to have gone down well at the Tottenham Stadium.’

MORE TOTTENHAM COVERAGE ON F365…

* Big Midweek: Aston Villa v Chelsea, Liverpool, Igor Tudor and Kai Havertz

* Premier League jumps on Tottenham-teasing bandwagon through hastily-deleted Vicario clip

* Tottenham: Ornstein reveals relegation ‘provision’ as Levy struck deals to ‘protect against doomsday’

The report adds: ‘Spurs are aware of the situation, thought to be ‘deeply unimpressed’ and the matter is understood to be being dealt with in-house.’

It is not what Tottenham needed at the moment with Spurs losing both of their matches since Igor Tudor replaced Frank to become interim boss until the end of the season.

Tottenham are four points above the relegation and responding to their latest defeat to Fulham, Tudor told reporters: “I cannot tell you anything new. We need to find the forces inside each of us.

“I said to the players: ‘It’s always what you’re going to do, what you want to do with yourself,’ you know? More personality, more wish to do before reacting, plenty of things …

“We are lacking when we attack, we lack the quality to score the goal. We are lacking in the middle to run and we are lacking behind to stay there to suffer and not concede the goal. So, an amazing situation. Amazing.”

We imagine the social media journalist working for the Premier League responded to queries as to why they took the bold decision to openly mock Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario on their X channel as Jay Cartwright might when asked to explain his misdeeds in The Inbetweeners: “Funny.”

Tottenham are indeed very, very funny. The Fulham defeat was a veritable goldmine of Tottenham-teasing content, as was Igor Tudor’s reaction to it.

Spurs have done away with the vestiges of respect they retained through their “it’s who we are, mate” football under Ange Postecoglou and are now the purest of all laughing stocks; fair game to all, including the Premier League, who couldn’t help but jump on the Spurs-sneering bandwagon. Next stop, the Championship.

The Premier League shared a clip of Guglielmo Vicario hoofing a free-kick from his own half straight out of play in the 2-1 defeat to Fulham, accompanied by the caption: ‘Just how the play was drawn up’.

The post was viewed half a million times before it was deleted amid reports claiming Tottenham had asked it be removed after it prompted criticism of Vicario and led Spurs fans to not unreasonably question whether the actual Premier League should be posting anything with the clear aim of denigrating their football club or players.

It post itself was neither smart nor funny – the very base level of football comedy – and even the content paled in comparison to the clip of Joao Palhinha slide tackling the ball to cede possession with no Fulham player within five yards of him on Sunday.

The cause of mirth is in imagining a Tottenham fan viewing that post with arms outstretched in disbelief at their being quite literally no limit to who is now allowed to laugh at their football club.

We’re half expecting Thomas Tuchel to snigger when asked why he’s not selected any Spurs players in his next England press conference or for Keir Starmer to do a TikTok reimagining of Xavi Simons’ inert attempts to create from the No.10 position.

Another caption on the post read ‘An interesting free-kick from Vicario’ along with a laughing emoji, before the biscuit-taking addition of the word ‘whoops’ and another laughing emoji as the video cut to Tudor on the touchline.

It would be like the BAFTA social media account clipping up the critically panned ‘Life of Chuck’ and captioning a particularly dodgy piece of Tom Hiddlestone’s acting with ‘uh oh’ or Ofsted labelling a failing school’s use of one teacher per 60 students as ‘intriguing’.

It’s absolutely not OK for the Premier League to take a stance like that, which is precisely what makes it so brilliant as it pertains to Tottenham.

According to reports, ‘most’ of Tottenham Hotspur’s squad are ‘facing wage cuts’ if they are relegated from the Premier League.

Spurs are facing the increasingly real threat of relegation from the Premier League, with Igor Tudor’s side only sitting four points clear of the bottom three.

Former Juventus boss Tudor has been drafted in to guide Spurs to safety after doing similar salvage jobs elsewhere, but he has had a dire start since replacing Thomas Frank.

Under Tudor, Spurs have been comprehensively beaten 4-1 by north London rivals Arsenal and deservedly beaten 2-1 by Fulham.

Spurs are now winless in ten Premier League games and are under pressure to earn all three points when they host Crystal Palace on Thursday night.

READ: Premier League winners and losers: Wolves, Tudor, Raya, Pereira, Man City, Newcastle, Manchester United

Up until now, it had been unclear whether Spurs have taken measures to limit the potential damage of relegation, but respected journalist David Ornstein has revealed that they have.

In a new report for The Athletic, Ornstein claims Spurs players ‘are facing wage cuts should the club be relegated’ as there are ‘clauses written into their contracts’.

The report explained:

‘The Athletic can reveal that most members of the first team squad are on deals which include mandatory salary reductions and the vast majority would see their earning slashed by around 50 per cent.

‘It was a provision factored into all existing agreements struck before Daniel Levy’s departure as executive chairman in September, granting Spurs an element of protection against the doomsday scenario of demotion.’

More to follow…

It’s not taken long for Igor Tudor to seemingly start losing his mind at Tottenham Hotspur after accusing his players of lacking ‘brain’ in the damaging 2-1 defeat at Fulham on Sunday.

Spurs remain 16th in the table after failing to record their first Premier League victory of 2026 at Craven Cottage, although defeats for relegation rivals Nottingham Forest and West Ham softened that blow ever so slightly.

Tudor initially took his anger out on the officials and a ‘cheating’ Raul Jimenez after the contest, blaming them for refusing to overturn the home side’s opening goal.

Indeed, the Tottenham interim boss said: “Their first goal changes the situation on the pitch. It’s a big refereeing mistake. There’s no consistency last week, what happened today was incredible. The referee was incredible today – not giving a goal there is madness.

“It’s about consistency of the decision, they need to understand even if it is a soft touch but he is not watching the ball, it is a foul. He [Jimenez] gained an advantage and they scored. You need to give these fouls.”

But, after venting his frustration over matters beyond his control, Tudor then turned on his team and intimated that his messages are clearly not getting through.

The Croatian had the best part of the week to prepare for the north London derby hammering by Arsenal, although that was almost a free pass as he got to know the abilities of his players.

However, after another week of preparation before the trip to Craven Cottage, the fact that Spurs once again looked so disjointed should really see the finger being pointed at Tudor, but not as far as the former Juventus chief is concerned.

Speaking after Sunday’s game, a downbeat Tudor was clearly taking a shot at his players as he said: “I cannot tell you anything new.

“We need to find the forces inside each of us. I said to the players: ‘It’s always what you’re going to do, what you want to do with yourself,’ you know? More personality, more wish to do before reacting, plenty of things… We are lacking when we attack, we lack the quality to score the goal. We are lacking in the middle to run and we are lacking behind to stay there to suffer and not concede the goal. So, an amazing situation. Amazing.”

DON’T MISS: Spurs set for relegation after latest nightmare performance against Fulham

Tudor also insisted that him switching to a 4-4-2 formation, away from his normal 3-4-2-1, was not the problem and accused his players of lacking “brain” to be able to cope with those changes.

He added: “It’s not about systems at the moment. They arrive [at the ball] before us. They predict and we are always late on everything. That’s the problem.”

Tottenham will again get the chance to record that elusive first domestic win of 2026 on Thursday evening when they host London rivals Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

Tottenham Hotspur have been told they have three ‘huge problems’ as their battle for survival suffered yet another blow following a 2-1 defeat at Fulham on Sunday, while some supporters are already calling for Igor Tudor’s head.

It’s now 10 Premier League games without a victory for a Spurs side seemingly spiralling towards relegation, although they were at least helped by Nottingham Forest and West Ham directly below them also failing to win.

The so-called new manager bounce for Tudor has also not transpired, with the Croatian losing his first two games in charge and facing a huge crunch clash with Crystal Palace on Thursday night.

However, outspoken former Tottenham midfielder O’Hara feels there are multiple problems at the club surrounding three key areas.

Writing on X after the loss at Craven Cottage, O’Hara said: “Chickens have come home to roost, years of terrible recruitment, poor standards and weak mentality, embarrassing to watch every week, top to bottom huge problems.”

He’s certainly not wrong, as the club are showing a complete lack of leadership from top to bottom, and also poor judgment when it comes to interim manager hires – if you go by what Tudor has accomplished so far.

Indeed, some Tottenham fans are already calling for the head of the former Juventus chief after another shocking performance at Fulham that was nowhere near as close as the 2-1 scoreline suggests.

Losing his job so early in his tenure could even become a reality if results do not pick up quickly, with a report last week from an insider on X with a ‘team of five elite reporters’ and over 700k followers, claiming that the Croatian could be shown the door.

They said on X: ‘Exclusive: The Spurs board are willing to terminate Igor Tudor’s contract if results continue on a downward spiral. The club have backup plans in place. The club cannot afford to get relegated!’

And now the fans have also been having their say, with one taking to Reddit: “Tudor always felt like a real wild card, and I don’t think it’s an absurd discussion to have about sacking him if we lose on Thursday.

“I’m not even sure it would be a crazy discussion today given the team he picked. He gave us zero chance of winning.”

Another agreed, saying he’s already seen enough from the Croatian, commenting: “I’d honestly get rid of Tudor, it’s obviously not happening, not his fault, but there’s been no reaction. We are going down with him in charge.”

Tudor and Tottenham now face arguably their biggest game of the season in front of an already unhappy home fanbase when they face Palace this week.

Igor Tudor launched into an incredible rant after Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat on Sunday, claiming Fulham were the beneficiaries of a “home referee” and have a “cheat” in their midst.

Tudor has now lost both of his games in charge of Spurs, with the defeat at Craven Cottage following the 4-1 battering at the hands of Arsenal in the North London derby and is already showing his spiky side.

Fulham scored twice in six minutes with Harry Wilson sweeping the ball in following a Kenny Tete cross and Alex Iwobi finishing brilliantly – albeit having been given an absurd amount of space on the edge of the box – after a neat exchange with Wilson.

Richarlison gave Spurs hope in the second half but Tudor’s side offered little else in attack and got exactly what they deserved from the game.

But that didn’t stop Tudor from venting his frustration at the opening goal as he claimed Fulham’s Raul Jimenez of “cheating” as he pushed Radu Dragusin in the box and claimed twice that referee Thomas Bramall was a “home referee”.

The Croatian boss is of the belief that Tottenham were denied a goal in similar circumstances last week when Randal Kolo Muani had a goal ruled out against Arsenal for an alleged push on Gabriel Magalhaes.

Tudor told BBC Sport: “Their first goal changes the situation on the pitch. It’s a big refereeing mistake. There’s no consistency last week, what happened today was incredible. The referee was incredible today – not giving a goal there is madness.

“It’s about consistency of the decision, they need to understand even if it is a soft touch but he is not watching the ball, it is a foul. He [Jimenez] gained an advantage and they scored. You need to give these fouls.

“I didn’t like the referee today, too much of a home team referee. I didn’t feel well with him. All the decisions were on their side. He doesn’t understand football, the feeling of what is wrong and what is right.

“He [Jimenez] was not thinking about the ball, he was thinking how to cheat, he cheated the player, was pushing, it was cheating and it’s a foul. Ninety-nine of 100 people will say it’s a foul, it’s so obvious.”

Asked what needs to be done to turn Tottenham’s form around as they remain four points above the relegation zone, Tudor wants “everything more”.

“We need to find forces inside each of us, where are we going to go?” Tudor added.

“When we attack, we lack the quality to score the goals. I want to see everything more, more personality, more wish to do things. We were not good, lacked everything. Attacking and defending, Fulham were much better.

“Of course it is a confidence problem, it’s not about systems. I don’t want to speak about relegation all the time – I give the same answer, my answer is always the same.

“We don’t need to think about that [relegation], not because it cannot happen, but we must focus on growing mentality as a team, concentration, physically.”

In a season in which Tottenham Hotspur have performed well below expectations, supporters have deemed a number of players ‘not good enough’ while calling for their sales.

Yet with contract negotiations stalling amid rumoured interest from Real Madrid, Micky van de Ven’s potential departure is the most polarising.

In the aftermath of Spurs’ Europa League final triumph, those in charge made a pivot. Manager Ange Postecoglou was relieved of his duties, and a line of key figures have followed since: Daniel Levy, Donna Cullen, Fabio Paratici and the scorer of the game’s winning goal, Brennan Johnson.

The moves signalled a change in direction headlined by the appointment of Thomas Frank.

Van de Ven’s relationship with the club appears to have soured since. The defender has been visibly frustrated all season, with cameras capturing moments that fuelled speculation he had ‘ignored’ both Frank and his successor Igor Tudor in North London derbies.

Tottenham’s form has faltered at a time when Van de Ven’s individual stock continues to rise. Spurs will be aware that he left former clubs Volendam and VfL Wolfsburg shortly after seemingly outgrowing them. Luka Modric and Gareth Bale have already proved the pathway from Tottenham to Madrid can be fruitful.

If the Dutchman’s head has been turned, it may explain why many supporters believe his level has dropped this season.

Yet Van de Ven’s frustrations are understandable. He joined a club fighting for Champions League places. Now he is expected to lead a team riddled with inexperience.

Serving as captain against Arsenal, Tudor expected leadership. If there is even a perception of detachment, it undermines the cultural reset Tottenham need.

Tottenham’s age profile is a reflection of a broader recruitment strategy, which has focused on finding talented prospects rather than established stars. Among the most talented is Luka Vuskovic, who is currently impressing on loan at Hamburg after his pathway into Spurs’ first team was effectively closed by Van de Ven’s presence. If Tottenham are to double down on their new direction, Vuskovic’s development will hold priority over an unhappy Van de Ven.

Van de Ven’s services will be in high demand. If he is made available, a bidding war will likely ensue. In an inflated market, surpassing the current world-record fee for a defender is not implausible. This summer will bring more change for Tottenham, who are still searching for their next permanent manager. Van de Ven’s sale would significantly bolster their capability to rebuild the squad for whomever they appoint. Sacrificing established figures to make way for a new direction has become a trend, and selling him would reinforce that.

Maintaining a strategy is crucial now. Having seen a vast turnover of managers and directors in the last decade, Spurs are in need of stability. The board showed patience with Frank, underpinning their determination to trust a process. If Van de Ven’s timeline does not coincide with the club’s project, a separation is mutually beneficial.

Although difficult to see during a tumultuous season, Spurs have built some long-term foundations. They cannot afford another half-commitment. If they are rebuilding, they must rebuild completely – even if that means selling one of their best players.

According to reports, Tottenham Hotspur have no intention of selling Archie Gray amid interest from Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

Gray joined Tottenham from Leeds United for £35million in the summer transfer window of 2024.

The 19-year-old played 46 times across all competitions last season as his side finished a disappointing 17th in the Premier League but won the Europa League, beating Manchester United in the final.

Naturally a midfielder, Gray played at right-back, centre-back and left-back due to constant injuries to Spurs defenders.

Injuries and suspensions have piled up in recent months, which has led to Gray playing more in defence again.

He will be delighted to play so many minutes for a ‘Big Six’ club while displaying incredible versatility, but rarely playing in his natural position is far from ideal.

Spurs’ struggles have hardly helped either. After an abysmal 17th-place finish last season, they currently sit 16th, only four points above the relegation zone.

Under Ange Postecoglou last term, Spurs could prioritise the Europa League because the bottom three were so catastrophically bad. This year, that is not the case.

MORE ON SPURS RELEGATION

* Manchester United and Liverpool could shatter transfer record this summer as £404.5m XI revealed

* West Ham handed major survival boost as Spurs and Forest count cost of ‘success’

* Tottenham ‘too good to go down?’ Keane picks ‘doomed’ club for relegation

Wolverhampton Wanderers have looked as good as down since November, while Burnley look doomed, but the final relegation spot remains uncertain, with Spurs, West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Leeds United among the teams in danger.

Should Spurs go down, there will be a mass exodus of players, and even if they stay up, their better players will probably look to leave after another shocking league campaign.

Gray is one player who could depart, while Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero have also been linked with exits.

According to Tribuna, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are both interested in signing the teenager.

The report states:

Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are closely monitoring the England U21 international. In Munich, a midfield spot is expected to open from the summer of 2026 following the confirmed departure of Leon Goretzka.

However, any potential transfer would come at a high cost. Tottenham are reportedly demanding around €60 million (£52.6m) for the teenager. With his contract running until 2030, Spurs are in a strong negotiating position.

Transfer journalist Pete O’Rourke has added that Spurs are very unlikely to sell Gray – who could replace Arsenal target Goretzka at Bayern – this summer.

Speaking on Football Insider’s Transfer Insider podcast, he explained: “Nah, I don’t see it at all. Obviously Tottenham spent a lot of money to sign Archie Gray from Leeds.

“He’s been one of the shining lights for Tottenham in the last 12–18 months.

“Such a versatile player, he’s slotted into so many positions – right-back, centre-back, midfield – he’s played everywhere and been a real success for Spurs.

“Tottenham want to keep hold of their best players. Obviously they’re battling relegation, but I don’t think they’ll be entertaining any offers for Archie Gray.

“He’s still only 19. I think he’s got the potential to be a world-class player, he’s got so much potential, and if he fulfils that, I think he’ll be a long-term success at Tottenham.”

You’d better believe it’s another Big Weekend. They all are at this time, with The Business End Of The Season rapidly approaching.

It’s another big London derby for Arsenal, who will hope it goes much like last week’s. And another big London derby for Tottenham and Igor Tudor, who will hope it very much does not go like last week’s.

Erling Haaland returns to his home city, and we might even get a slightly clearer idea of whether Vitor Pereira’s start at Nottingham Forest has actually been particularly bouncy at all.

Game to watch: Arsenal v Chelsea

For the second week running, Arsenal face the prospect of having to respond in a Super Sunday London derby to whatever pressure Man City have applied on Saturday evening.

There’s good news and bad news for the Gunners beyond that, though. The good news is that they won’t have to spend this weekend fighting a bottle-based narrative. The bad news is that they don’t get to play Spurs. Particularly distressing for Ebere Eze, we imagine.

What they get instead is Chelsea. Now there are two key things to note about Chelsea at this time. They are definitely better than Spurs, but also maybe by not that much. Certainly, Arsenal ought to have few enough problems sorting out a side that had won four games in a row to seemingly take control of their Champions League qualification bid only to then come unstuck in consecutive home games against Leeds and, worse, Burnley.

The piddling away of four points in those two games, both of which Chelsea led, could be costly indeed for the Champions League chasers given a ticklish upcoming run of league games that includes not only Arsenal this weekend but Aston Villa, Newcastle, Everton, Man City and Man United by about mid-April.

Arsenal meanwhile will be less keen for this one to so accurately follow the reverse fixture as last weekend’s trip to Tottenham did, with the Gunners only managing a 1-1 draw against a Chelsea team that spent most of the game with 10 men after Moises Caicedo lost the run of himself at Stamford Bridge back in November.

Team to watch: Tottenham

Now the work really begins for Igor Tudor. The North London Derby was a bit of a free hit, but it was also f*cking grim and did appear to leave the latest poor bastard to have stumbled blinking and confused into the Tottenham hotseat realising just how big a sh*tshow he’s let himself be talked into.

But he’s also had another full week with his players and doesn’t have to play Arsenal again, which is definitely a boon. It’s also very obviously not (yet) a win-or-bust situation for Spurs, although that day grows uncomfortably close with the gap over 18th-placed West Ham having withered away from 13 points to four over recent weeks.

What this game does represent is an uncomfortably massive moment in Spurs’ season. If they can’t get a win – or at the very, very least a point and halfway-convincing overall performance – then the hopes pinned on a new-manager bounce will begin to evaporate and things could get very ugly very fast.

Spurs’ situation is a bleak one. They are a terrible team in horrible form with a nightmarish injury crisis and a slightly confused looking new manager. It has every chance of ending in a previously unthinkable catastrophe.

But there are also reasons for some optimism. That the returns of players as underwhelming as Pedro Porro and Kevin Danso is such big news for Spurs is damningly revealing in itself, but they are crucial players to have back. And more so now under Tudor than they would have been under Thomas Frank.

It’s a fair sign of just how fast and chaotically the wheel turns at Spurs, but worth remembering now that when Porro arrived at Spurs three years ago it was to play as an attack-minded right wing-back in Antonio Conte’s 3-4-3 having played a starring role in Ruben Amorim’s version at Sporting.

His expected return from injury this weekend to take that job in Tudor’s slightly more 3-5-2-flavoured iteration from young midfielder Archie Gray really should make a noticeable difference. Porro can be a frustrating flatter-to-deceive sort, but he does have crossing ability in his locker as well as a knack for a diagonal ball to find midfield runners.

The return of Danso gives Tudor another chance to put a round peg in a round hole by the simple delights of having three centre-backs to pick in a formation that requires three centre-backs. The knock-on effect of being able to pick a third centre-back to be third centre-back and a right wing-back to play right wing-back is that Joao Palhinha and Gray now bolster his options for a midfield that was so alarmingly overrun in the NLD last weekend.

What we should get on Sunday, with the slightly less dire squad restraints Tudor will now be working with, is a clearer example of how and how well and indeed if Tudor’s approach will work over the perilous months ahead. It seems very hard to predict, a sense only heightened by it just always being impossible to know what you might get from Fulham one week to the next anyway.

Player to watch: Erling Haaland

Haaland returns to the city of his birth this weekend, looking to help find a way past Leeds’ newly resolute five-man defence and help get himself out of one of those (relative) mid-season funks of his.

Haaland has a bit of a habit of this during his time in England. It is all very, very relative; had any other striker in the Premier League scored only three goals in the year approaching the end of February you’d hardly notice. But with Haaland every blank feels conspicuous. Last weekend against Newcastle he even turned provider by digging out a dinked little cross for Nico O’Reilly to decisively head home in what looked like a scene from a wildly misjudged body-swap comedy.

Two of Haaland’s three Premier League goals this calendar year have been from the penalty spot and while we never like to join the ranks of those who insist they shouldn’t count for some reason – especially when one of those two penalties was the dramatic winner at Liverpool – it would be nice for City to get their main man back once again scoring more regularly in more different ways as the title race takes shape ahead of the final run-in.

Manager to watch: Vitor Pereira

A curious start to life for the latest Nottingham Forest manager. There has been a new-manager bounce of sorts but… it kind of hasn’t really got them anywhere. A 3-0 win over Fenerbahce in the Europa League play-off round was a fine start, sure, but Forest then made harder work of the second leg than they wanted or needed to.

Defeat on the night in that one followed a late defeat to Liverpool and a nagging sense of opportunity lost.

If West Ham can do to a stuttering Liverpool this weekend what Forest could not last weekend, then Pereira will begin just his second game as Forest manager at Brighton already in the bottom three. Just the prospect alone should be enough to focus minds, as should the fact that a Forest win on the south coast not only significantly improves their own prospects but also stops Brighton pulling away from the relegation squabble altogether.

Football League game to watch: Cambridge United v MK Dons

A trip down to League Two this week because why not? This one pits second v third in a key clash in the promotion race, and also two teams bang in form.

Cambridge have won nine of their last 11 league games and lost only one since October – a rogue bad afternoon at relegation-threatened Harrogate. The Dons have won six and drawn three since losing narrowly to Colchester on New Year’s Day.

European game to watch: Borussia Dortmund v Bayern Munich

Dortmund are just about clinging to Bayern’s coat-tails at the top of the Bundesliga but won’t be hitting this Klassiker feeling tip-top about life after dropping points last weekend at RB Leipzig and then having their pants pulled down spectacularly by Atalanta in the Champions League punishment round after a 2-0 first-leg win seemed to have set them up nicely to progress.

Having already been knocked out of the Pokal by Leverkusen, defeat this weekend would effectively be a season-ender for Dortmund before we’ve even kicked February into touch.