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Tottenham Hotspur’s sporting director Johan Lange sat down with a group of reporters on Friday, including The Athletic, to reflect on a turbulent few weeks.

Spurs have not won a Premier League game in 2026 and are five points above the relegation zone. They have only two victories in their last 17 top-flight fixtures and this alarming form led to the dismissal of head coach Thomas Frank. He was sacked eight months into a three-year contract and has been replaced by former Juventus, Marseille and Lazio head coach Igor Tudor on an interim basis.

At the beginning of February, Fabio Paratici joined Italian side Fiorentina just over three months after being appointed as co-sporting director alongside Lange. Spurs signed Conor Gallagher and Souza in the winter transfer window but have suffered a series of injuries, which means their squad is in a perilous state.

Tudor said he was “100 per cent” certain that Spurs would still be in the Premier League next season but admitted it was an “emergency situation.”

Lange addressed all of those topics, and The Athletic has analysed the key talking points…

On sacking Thomas Frank

“As the leaders, we of course constantly evaluate performances, we evaluate results. And after the Newcastle game, we made the decision. Ultimately, of course, it was a board decision. But we made the decision and that was why we decided it was the right time to change (…)

“Of course, we wanted to give Thomas every opportunity to succeed, but ultimately, it’s our responsibility to make the decisions. And we came to that point where we saw the performances, the results, and then you come to that decision (…)

“I think you saw over a period of time, with the performances and the results, why we came to that conclusion.”

Lange and Frank worked together for the first time around 20 years ago at Danish second-division side B.93. They crossed paths again at Lyngby before they had individual success in English football with Aston Villa and Brentford, respectively. Unfortunately, their reunion at Spurs turned sour. They had a close bond but it was Lange and chief executive officer Vinai Venkatesham who informed Frank he was losing his job.

Lange and Venkatesham offered Frank a lot of support. They surrounded him with experienced assistant coaches and gave him time to turn results around after fans became concerned following disappointing defeats by Chelsea and Arsenal in November.

Frank insisted performances were encouraging until the very end. He saw a four-match unbeaten run, which included scraping a draw against Burnley, as a positive. The club’s fans did not agree, and Lange and the rest of the board clearly felt that those results masked disappointing performances. Spurs made a habit of starting games slowly and looking better in the second half but were never convincing.

Back-to-back defeats by Manchester United and Newcastle United were the final straw for Lange, Venkatesham and the board.

On the appointment of Igor Tudor

“When you make the decision (to sack a manager during the season), it’s very important to go into a shorter process than you do if you are changing a head coach over the summer. We interviewed a few candidates, and Igor impressed us very much. Obviously, we also got some references for Igor.

“He comes in with very big experience at the highest level in football. He has shown the capabilities of coming into clubs around this time — February, March — and making an immediate impact. That was of course a very big reason. There is a big difference, if you are a coach, for example, who has only ever started a new job on July 1. You have six or seven weeks to prepare and to get to know the club.

“If you come in here on the Monday and you are playing at the weekend, you need to build relationships with the players and assess the style of the club immediately. He has shown that with great success, not only once but a few times. That is one of the reasons we believe he is the best candidate for (the club’s situation) now. But of course also with his reputation and what he’s done in his career, if things go well, he could be here for a long time.”

Tudor ticks a lot of boxes for Spurs. He has no experience of the Premier League but was an assistant coach to Andrea Pirlo at Juventus in the 2020-21 season and had a seven-month spell in charge of the Italian side last year. He is accustomed to working for a club with big expectations.

During his time working with Pirlo, Juventus’ squad included Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala, Gianluigi Buffon and Giorgio Chiellini — as well as current Spurs players Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur and Radu Dragusin. The Athletic reported last week that Frank experienced difficulty maintaining discipline in Spurs’ squad, but Tudor has experience managing big egos.

Tudor likes to play a 3-4-2-1 system and, crucially, in previous mid-season roles at Udinese, Juventus and Lazio, it has not taken long for the squad to adapt to his ideas. Spurs considered their former striker Robbie Keane as a replacement for Frank on an interim basis and that option would have appealed to supporters. But in Tudor, they have hired someone with a track record of making an immediate impact.

Lange refused to confirm whether Spurs spoke to Paratici, who previously worked with Tudor at Juventus, during the hiring process.

On the manager position, longer-term

“(Style of play) is definitely something high up on the list. We are very ambitious to create a team that can play dominant football and that can control matches with the ball for a few reasons.

“If you look across almost every league in the world, that is how the top teams normally are successful: being able to dominate possession, create chances, be aggressive without the ball.

“Then we are also a club with a rich history of having some of the best offensive players in the world and having a very particular style of play that resonates with the history, resonates with the fans and I think that combined with having a possession-dominant, aggressive style of play, those two things go hand in hand. Of course that is something that is important for us here at the club.

(Have the club discussed permanent options? Mauricio Pochettino?) “Igor has been here for five days. Our focus right now is to get high up in the table in the league, focusing on the Champions League as well. I am not going to comment on any names that have been linked to the job.”

Lange kept his cards close to his chest, but it was important to acknowledge that hiring a manager who can implement an attractive style of football is crucial for the fans. They became disillusioned during Frank’s reign because Spurs struggled to create chances from open play and only won two of their 13 home games in the league.

Lange, Venkatesham and the rest of the board should identify the club’s preferred style of play. They should then hire a head coach who they believe can fit into that mould. For too long, Spurs have jumped between managers with different ideas, Frank and Ange Postecoglou are the prime example of that, which means there is no consistency across their recruitment. They end up with a squad consisting of players who suit different tactical systems.

Last summer, they were interested in Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola and Fulham head coach Marco Silva before they appointed Frank. The only thing those three had in common was that they were in charge of ‘smaller’ Premier League sides. It would be encouraging to see Spurs demonstrate a clear vision of who they target to replace Frank instead of assembling a list of talented managers with wildly different ideas.

On whether the club hierarchy deems the current situation unacceptable

“We have just changed the coach. We are very clear that we think we have a team that has the potential to do more, so the focus right now is to get higher up the table and then be super competitive in the Champions League. I am sure you have been to many great nights at the stadium in Europe over the last two seasons and it is our hope that we can create more magic moments in that tournament, but we also know that we need to get higher in the (Premier League) table.

“When you work in sports across football or individual sports, it is about focus on the performance. When you are among players or coaches, the focus is on the next training session, it is on the next game. That is the reality of working in sports. It is not talking about (but) of course we know where we want to go as a club and we can come back to that, but the focus right now is in the moment.

“When you work for a big club like Tottenham, then pressure, or what you want to call it, is part of it. I’m sitting here today because I want to take responsibility for the club, everything that comes into football. Part of being here is expectations. That is part of why it’s fantastic to be here, because if you are working for a big club, there are big expectations, but also big opportunities and big possibilities.

“If you work for a very small club, if you work for a club with fewer fans, then maybe there’s less pressure or expectation. I think we are a big club and we work with high expectations and that is what I, personally, really, really love working here because of the expectations.”

Lange has come under a lot of scrutiny in the last few weeks, so he deserves credit for speaking publicly. Lange and Tudor — who held his first press conference a couple of hours later — both skilfully skipped around the word relegation.

Lange’s desire for more “magic moments” in the Champions League is admirable, but perhaps that should be a longer-term ambition, even with next month’s round-of-16 tie against either Club Brugge, Galatasaray, Juventus or Atletico Madrid.

He is right to acknowledge that the focus has to be on climbing the Premier League table.

On transfers and Postecoglou saying Spurs don’t spend like a big club

“Now we are playing a different (Champions League) format, it means every point counts. You go into matchday eight — correct me if I’m wrong — but almost every team in the Champions League or Europa League had something to play for, whether that was better seeding or top eight. You are playing through December. Not in the beginning of January but the last part of January. You are playing two very competitive matches with the fact that not only us but a lot of teams have what they would say are too many injuries.

“It meant that in January, very few players who could make a difference for us now or in the future were available and then it’s back to the point even though the squad is too short we still have players we are unable to register for the last 16. So to bring in players that cannot help us now or we don’t believe have potential for the future, that unfortunately for me doesn’t make sense. And if you analyse all the transfers in January, I think everyone can see there were very few players available.

“That is reality and then as you say looking towards the summer the message has been clear from the owners of the club, Vinai has been on record saying this as well. I have been saying this as well and very happy to repeat it: that the sole focus of this club is to create on-pitch success. It is to be competitive across different tournaments and, very importantly, one of the ingredients in doing that is if you have a squad capable of competing on multiple fronts and we are not there yet but that is the clear vision.”

Lange refused to directly address criticism from former head coach Postecoglou and he did not give an insight into Tottenham’s long-term recruitment strategy. Spurs signed Gallagher and Souza in January but they sold Brennan Johnson to Crystal Palace. At a time when Frank needed help, he was left with a squad filled with holes.

Lange’s comments in the previous section about “big opportunities” at a big club are relevant here. It sounds nice, but all of the momentum from winning last season’s Europa League was thrown away. Spurs wasted an opportunity in the aftermath by failing to land any of their first-choice transfer targets, including Morgan Gibbs-White, Eberechi Eze and Antoine Semenyo (Lange also said he understood fans’ frustration with Frank’s apparent satisfaction with how close the club came to signing Semenyo, acknowledging that they wanted to see action and not words).

Lange also referenced comments Venkatesham made in the matchday programme before last month’s defeat by West Ham United about growing the wage bill to be competitive. It is encouraging that Lange and Venkatesham recognise an area where Spurs need to catch up to their rivals, but actions speak louder than words. They need to show they have learned from their mistakes this summer.

This was the first transfer window since former executive chairman Daniel Levy left in September. Paratici’s impending exit will have affected the dynamics, while Carlos Raphael Moersen has been appointed to the newly-created role of director of football operations.

It will be hoped that things will be more settled going forward.

Injuries

“What is very important to say is that on the one hand we have a short squad and on the other hand we also had players who could not be registered for European competitions because we have too many players. It is without a doubt, especially during the month of January, that we had too many injuries. Every time we played, we lost players. It’s something we are constantly reviewing with the greatest level of seriousness.

“I think if you are unpicking the injuries that we had in January, then a few of them were actually contact injuries, or I don’t know if it is the right word in English, but solo injuries. Odobert, the knee goes or Ben Davies or Lucas Bergvall or Kevin Danso — you have four of the injuries that are contact injuries/solo injuries. But of course it has been across the league that all the teams that are playing in European competition are suffering from injuries and that is something we are taking very very seriously to make sure that we, let’s say, optimise everything for less injuries and our new performance director (Dan Lewindon) started last week as well and that is just one step in that direction.”

Lange has avoided directly addressing the real issue, which is the number of soft-tissue muscle injuries that Spurs have suffered in the last couple of months. Destiny Udogie is ruled out for up to five weeks with a hamstring problem, Djed Spence missed two games with a calf issue, and Mohammed Kudus will not return until April due to a quad injury. Pedro Porro, Richarlison and Bentancur have missed a significant number of games too.

Spurs are grappling with an injury crisis for the second season in a row. The expanded Champions League and the Europa League are undoubtedly factors, but Spurs need to identify areas for improvement.

Maybe it is the consequence of a dizzying amount of change in the medical department over the last two years. It is hoped that the appointment of Lewindon will provide stability and leadership to prevent their injury list from being so severe in the future.

On Cristian Romero’s future

“Romero is here; he is our captain. He is here on a long-term contract with the club and that is my comment. We have been clear as a club that we have dealt with (his comments on social media about the club hierarchy) internally and now it is about being together, all of us, and finish the season in the best possible way in the league and in Europe.”

Before Frank was sacked, Romero was the centre of attention for his awful disciplinary record and habit of firing shots at the club hierarchy on social media. He is currently serving a four-match ban after he was sent off in the defeat by Manchester United — his fourth suspension of the season.

Lange’s stance on the club captain was understandably diplomatic. He highlights that Romero has a contract until 2029 but he does not go out of his way to compliment the centre-back. Lange has not mentioned selling the Argentina international, but he does not emphatically state a desire to keep him either. It is still unclear exactly how Romero was punished for his latest outburst on social media after the transfer window closed.

Spurs need Romero back available for the run-in, but this may be a saga that rumbles on in the background over the next few months.

A Swedish politician has compared the government’s handling of the economy to the running of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, saying Sweden is at risk of becoming “Spursy”.

Mikael Damberg, of the opposition Social Democratic Party, took aim at struggling Spurs during a debate on fiscal policy in the Swedish parliament, known as the Riksdag, on Thursday.

“I naturally think of Tottenham Hotspur, also known as Spurs, it is one of England’s most distinguished and rich clubs with an enormous stadium, dedicated and large supporter base – everything to be considered a ‘top team’,” said Damberg, who was the country’s minister for finance from October 2021 to November 2022.

“Despite this, Tottenham find themselves in crisis. They are fighting at the bottom of the table, just a few points above the relegation zone. Not because they lack resources or benefits, but because they have squandered opportunities.

“The club have been given the name ‘Spursy’, (which is) when you have opportunities but get no results. Madame Speaker, that is precisely how the minister of finance is handling the Swedish economy.

“Sweden has the power, ability and resources. We have the companies, workforce and innovation capabilities. Conditions exits for the Swedish economy to prosper.”

He added: “The government risks making Sweden ‘Spursy’. That won’t do. Sweden cannot perform like Tottenham.”

Tottenham were ninth in the latest Deloitte Money League, ranking the highest revenue-generating clubs in world football, with an estimated turnover of $672.6million (£499.3m) in 2025. The club won the Europa League in May, their first trophy in 17 years.

They are, however, currently 16th in the English top-flight, five points from the relegation zone, having finished 17th last season. Spurs host league leaders and rivals Arsenal on Sunday in their first game under interim head coach Igor Tudor, after dismissing Thomas Frank, the Croatian’s predeccessor, following a dismal start to the year.

Spurs’ two Swedish stars, Dejan Kulusevski and Lucas Bergvall, have boosted the club’s popularity in the Scandinavian country in recent years.

Ange Postecoglou approached his interview with Gary Neville and the Stick to Football team armed with stories of his rise from the “factory floor” to winning silverware in four countries and on the international stage with Australia as a head coach.

There are countless accounts from former coaching colleagues and players waxing lyrical about Postecoglou’s ability as an orator, with tales of how players would “run through walls for him” so common they have become a trope. It was evident again in front of Neville, Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright, Roy Keane and Jill Scott, who laughed and nodded along as he owned the narrative around the Europa League success at Tottenham Hotspur, and concurrent league collapse, as well as the 39-day disaster at Nottingham Forest, admitting it was a “bad decision” to take the job so soon after being sacked by Spurs.

But perhaps his most considered answer came as the interview was drawing to a close, when Neville asked the 60-year-old what it takes to manage Manchester United.

“My view is that (Manchester United) is the hardest job in world football,” Postecoglou said. “The scrutiny that the club has, and the spotlight it’s constantly under, beholden to the history it has, it’s going to take a unique individual to be able to overcome.”

Postecoglou then lists several characteristics he believes a United manager needs to be successful.

“A person who can handle over 100 press conferences every year.” Shortly before, Postecoglou noted that he had fronted the media over 130 times in his second year as Spurs boss.

“Handling winning 10 games and being torn apart for losing one.” Well, it wasn’t 10 wins in a row, but Postecoglou famously went 10 league games unbeaten as Spurs boss to start his reign, winning eight, before there was a public trial of his methods after the chaotic 4-1 defeat to Chelsea in November 2023, where he infamously stood by his “Ange-ball” principles despite going down to nine players.

“Winning and not winning in the right style.” Cue references to Tottenham’s Europa League triumph, where Spurs beat United 1-0 in the final with 26.7 per cent possession and one shot on target.

“History being a constant companion to everything you do.” Like, for example, shedding the ‘Spursy’ tag that seemed to suffocate Tottenham in their 17-year trophyless period.

“So it’s going to have to be someone who’s prepared to accept all that and be strong enough as an individual to say, ‘I will do it, but I’ll do it my way’.”

In other words, Postecoglou indirectly threw his hat in the ring for the United job.

It seems unlikely he will be under consideration if United decide to move on from interim head coach Michael Carrick at the end of the season and appoint a new permanent boss. Appointing a coach directly after failing at Forest does not tally with United’s status as one of the world’s biggest and greatest football clubs.

But whether you view it as audacity or boldness, Postecoglou’s apparent belief that he could be the person to restore United’s glory is why the Premier League is ultimately a better product with him involved.

And if there was any suggestion that he had mellowed after finding success by abandoning his principles in the latter stages of the Europa League in favour of a more pragmatic style, Postecoglou again outlined that his outlook would never change.

“If a club starts talking to me, it’s not like I’m going to walk in and do things differently,” he said, affirming his footballing values. “Do they really want what I have to offer? I’m going to play this way, I’m going to train this way, and I want to win things. I’ve done that my whole career.”

Despite not yet reaching 100 games in charge of a Premier League club, he remains one of English football’s biggest draws. Last week’s Stick to Football episode, recorded shortly after his successor, Thomas Frank, was sacked by Spurs, was the fastest in its history to reach one million views.

For context, the show frequently features British sporting icons, including David Beckham and golf career Grand Slam winner Rory McIlroy. Still, Postecoglou, who only entered the radar of British football fans after taking charge of Celtic in June 2021, manages to grip audiences better than almost anyone else in the game with his straight-talking brand and non-negotiable footballing approach.

Whether he’s a good fit for an English club is a different question. Asked which challenge he’d like next, he replied, “Something new, something I can make an impact in, somewhere I can win things.” His desire not to return to a previous club takes Tottenham, who will be in the market for a permanent manager in the summer, and Forest out of the picture. And aside from the usual suspects competing for trophies at the top of the table, there is not much out there for a coach who is unabashed in equating achievement and success with trophies.

Perhaps he could be the man to take over from David Moyes at Everton at some point, a club with a sparkling new home and refreshed aspirations. He credited Eddie Howe for his Carabao Cup win last year in the interview, and Postecoglou’s desire to lift silverware and play attractive football might align with the fervent Newcastle United support. Or if Nuno Espirito Santo keeps West Ham United in the Premier League, the idea of rebuilding a big club with recent trophy success in his image would appeal. Ultimately, however, the options in England appear both unlikely and few and far between.

But as a character and a bastion of the beautiful game — lamenting long throws and VAR at every opportunity — Postecoglou continues to charm British football. Whether that translates to another crack at the Premier League whip, however, remains to be seen.

These are not easy times at Tottenham Hotspur.

The real pressure arising from the club’s situation will not just be on interim head coach Igor Tudor, but on the people that run the club and ultimately on the majority-shareholding Lewis family. It is almost six months since the Lewis family sacked Daniel Levy, and in doing so, removed the man who effectively shielded them from scrutiny for so long.

Spurs host Arsenal on Sunday, the first of Tudor’s 12 Premier League games in charge. He only took his first training session on Monday, and must try to revive a team laid low by miserable league form and an unforgiving injury crisis.

This is a new situation for the Lewis family. And if a new head coach cannot turn around results, the fans’ ire will turn again to the owners.

Vivienne Lewis, her brother Charles Lewis and her son-in-law Nick Beucher have often been seen at Spurs games this season. But despite overseeing the club for much of the campaign, no member of the Lewis family has yet taken the Premier League’s test to qualify as a club director.

Who at Tottenham has taken the Premier League’s Owners’ and Directors’ Test?

The Premier League publishes the names of everyone who has taken the owners and directors’ test (OADT), listing them as either ‘Statutory directors’ or ‘Other Directors’ of their respective clubs.

The Tottenham Hotspur entry lists five people as ‘Statutory directors’: Peter Charrington (non-executive chairman), Matthew Collecott (chief operating and finance officer), Eric Hinson (non-executive director), Jonathan Turner (lead independent director) and Vinai Venkatesham (chief executive officer). Between them, those five men make up the board of Tottenham Hotspur Limited, the club’s holding company.

But of the new generation of the Lewis family who have been seen at games this season — Vivienne Lewis, Charles Lewis and Nick Beucher — especially since the dismissal of Daniel Levy as executive chairman last September, none of them is listed.

None of them, sources familiar with the situation told The Athletic, have taken the OADT, nor are they in the process of taking it.

Does this mean that the Lewis family is not involved?

Not quite. Under the club’s new governance model, the Lewis family, as majority shareholders, wants to trust the management to run the club. But the family will naturally be consulted by management — mainly Venkatesham, who has overall responsibility for on- and off-field decisions — on major strategic calls.

It is no secret that some members of the Lewis family have been more present at Tottenham in recent months.

In an interview with the Spurs website last September, four days after Levy’s removal, Venkatesham said that Vivienne Lewis was “a very regular attendee at Tottenham Hotspur games and also frequently joins us on pre-season tours”. And that “going forward, around the club you’ll be seeing a bit more of her brother Charlie and also her son-in-law Nick, and the thing that ties them all together is their passion for Tottenham Hotspur and their ambition for the club moving forward”.

On September 26, the Lewis family members attended a drinks event with staff to get to know them.

During the November international break, in another attempt to build relationships between owners and management, there was a summit in the Bahamas. Venkatesham, Lange and Fabio Paratici, before he left for Fiorentina, flew out for a series of meetings about club strategy going forward. There was even a social event on Joe Lewis’ famous yacht. Paratici had advised replacing Thomas Frank as head coach as early as November, but the hierarchy wanted to keep him at the time.

Frank, dismissed as head coach last week, also spoke publicly about his relationship with members of the Lewis family.

Last month, the Dane revealed in a press conference that he had lunch with Beucher, Venkatesham and Lange at the training ground on January 19, and then again with Beucher and Lange on January 22.

“Nick was here this week,” Frank said on January 22. “That was planned five weeks ago, so that’s normal if he’s over and we have lunch one or two days at the training ground.”

Frank talked up the Lewis family’s commitment to the club. “The most visible ones are Vivienne, Nick, and then Peter Charrington,” he added. “All three are very determined, focused on doing everything they can so that this club has success. They’re very, very committed.

“They want to do everything they can to get us to where we all want to be.”

Why haven’t any Lewises taken the test?

The majority shareholding is owned by “a discretionary trust of which certain members of Mr J(oe) Lewis’s family are potential beneficiaries”, according to the Tottenham website. Charrington, the chairman, has passed the OADT — he represents the Lewis family trust on the board.

The other members of the family not taking the OADT largely comes down to a matter of choice. Ultimately, the Lewis family’s view is that they do not want to be involved in the day-to-day running of the club, and they never have been.

For more than 20 years, they entrusted the daily running to Levy, right up until his dismissal as chairman last September. Since then, they have been more visible, but even with a new governance structure in place, the family still does not want to run the club day to day. This model — trusting the experts to run their businesses — is how the Lewis family looks to conduct its operations in other sectors.

Management on the ground has been entrusted with the daily execution of decisions. CEO Venkatesham, who arrived at Tottenham last summer, before Levy’s dismissal, is the most important person in how the club is run.

This season, he has built up an executive leadership team, with appointments in key roles, effectively replacing many of the functions previously filled by Levy and others who used to run the club. Venkatesham has also effectively become the club’s voice, speaking publicly about the Lewis family’s plans and strategies, something the family has not done.

Venkatesham and the management make recommendations to the board, as was the case on February 11, when Frank was dismissed as head coach.

So, how much does all this matter?

The Lewis family are clearly still involved in regular discussions about what goes on at Spurs, as you would expect. There is nothing untoward about dialogue with the ownership.

But the short answer is that this matters only if the family, rather than the club’s management, were making all the decisions. Sources close to the Lewis family have been clear that it is the management who run the club.

The situation at Spurs, though, is certainly uncommon within the Premier League. If you read through the Premier League’s ‘Public Register of Club Directors’, you will see that for almost every other club, the owners are also directors and generally sit on the club’s board. And if they are listed by the Premier League, it means that they have passed the OADT.

Now, not every one of these situations is the same. Newcastle United, for example, are 85 per cent owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the club chairman, is the governor of PIF, but he is not its owner. Some clubs — such as Chelsea, Crystal Palace, and West Ham United — have a diverse owner group. The Manchester United arrangement, where Sir Jim Ratcliffe effectively runs the club as a minority shareholder, is unique.

But it is nevertheless generally the case that the owners of the other 19 Premier League clubs have taken the OADT, and they often also sit on the club’s board.

What about the new regulator?

The independent football regulator (IFR) had its powers switched on in December, revamping the way clubs’ owners, directors and senior executives are monitored, known as the ODSE regime. This has no connection with the Premier League’s own OADT process, and will run separately and in parallel.

This week, the IFR will write to all of the 116 clubs within its scope, from the Premier League down to the National League. These letters will demand that clubs declare who their key decision-makers are so that the IFR can establish a baseline for regulation. The IFR will not automatically test those people declared by the clubs, as its test will only be used under specific circumstances. These are request for information (RFI) letters, which means that all clubs written to must respond because of the regulator’s powers granted by the Football Governance Act. The clubs will need to provide personnel statements to the IFR when applying for their provisional licences.

From May, the IFR will also have the power to test new owners, or anyone taking up a role that means they fall under the ODSE regime.

After the IFR has all the relevant information back from clubs on personnel, that will eventually be published online, although that may not be until late next year.

If Igor Tudor’s appointment as Tottenham Hotspur head coach tells us anything, it’s that the board are concerned about the prospect of relegation to the Championship.

The 47-year-old Croatian twice rescued Udinese from relegation in Serie A, before plugging holes at Marseille and Juventus — ensuring Champions League football on both occasions. Tudor is a premium alternative to the likes of Tony Pulis and Sam Allardyce, who built reputations domestically on reviving disastrous seasons.

While Opta’s data model indicates Tottenham’s actual chances of relegation are remote, at 3.36 per cent, they are just five points ahead of a resurgent West Ham United in 18th, having failed to win in eight league matches.

With 12 top-flight games remaining, and 36 points available, The Athletic has assessed what going down for the first time since the 1970s would mean for Spurs.

Which players would be likely to depart?

The majority of Tottenham’s first-team squad should have no problem attracting interest from the Premier League and across Europe if the club were to be relegated.

The defence, probably the strongest area of the pitch in the first half of this season under the recently sacked Thomas Frank, would be pretty much picked clean, with a core of experienced internationals in their prime years unlikely to want to spend a season in the Championship. That would mean replacing Guglielmo Vicario, Pedro Porro, Destiny Udogie, Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero. Kevin Danso and Djed Spence will also likely attract significant interest and could find new homes at top-tier clubs, either permanently or on loan.

Looking at midfield, January signing Conor Gallagher was courted by Aston Villa before deciding on a move to Tottenham, and will surely want to continue playing at the highest level. Rodrigo Bentancur committed his long-term future to the north London club last October and was pivotal under Frank before undergoing hamstring surgery in January, but may seek a move should Spurs go down.

In forward areas, it’s difficult to envision Dominic Solanke, Mohammed Kudus, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Xavi Simons or Richarlison spending a season (or more) in England’s second tier during their peak years.

And who could thrive?

Having suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury in the recent 2-1 defeat against Newcastle United, the chances of Wilson Odobert departing in the event of relegation are reduced.

The France Under-21 international enjoyed his best stretch through January and February, thriving as a right-winger in Kudus’ absence. While Odobert may not return to action this calendar year, having a period in the Championship, where he would surely be one of the division’s most talented forwards, may aid his development and build confidence.

It would also offer the opportunity to build a long-term wing partnership with Mikey Moore, who is thriving on loan in Scotland at Rangers. After a difficult initial period under the Glasgow side’s previous manager Russell Martin, Moore has excelled under successor Danny Rohl and should head back to north London in the summer ready to make an impact, particularly if his parent club are in the second tier when he returns.

Archie Gray is perhaps another who may benefit from a season as a bona fide starter in the Championship, as would Pape Matar Sarr and Lucas Bergvall, who Spurs would do well to retain after attracting interest from Chelsea and Villa in January. Goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky would have the opportunity to develop into a starter, backed up by Brandon Austin.

Relegation would arrive at the perfect time for Luca Williams-Barnett, Jun’ai Byfield and Tynan Thompson to step up from the academy and contribute, while offering senior opportunities to academy graduates Dane Scarlett, Jamie Donley and others who are currently out on loan. Souza, 19, who arrived from Brazilian side Santos in January, could also benefit.

While Tottenham would undoubtedly field lucrative proposals for his signature in the summer, 18-year-old centre-back Luka Vuskovic is among the brightest prospects in the world in his position. The Croatia international is already attracting interest from across Europe thanks to an impressive debut season on loan at Hamburg in the German Bundesliga, but a stint in England’s second tier would help with his long-term adjustment to the Premier League’s intensity once Spurs manage to return to the top flight.

Will the cost of season tickets reduce?

Tottenham have one of the Premier League’s most expensive season tickets, with prices ranging from £856 to £2,147 ($1,159 to $2,907) — not including domestic cup or Champions League matches.

At arguably English football’s most impressive venue, a short train ride from central London, the club can justifiably market themselves as a premium sporting product when competing at the top of the Premier League. However, Spurs have been dreadful at home this season, winning just twice and losing seven times in 13 matches. And while they might expect to win significantly more often at home if they were relegated, supporters would expect a notable deduction in both matchday and season ticket prices. On Wednesday, The Athletic reported that Tottenham had decided to freeze their season ticket prices for next season following consultation with fan groups.

While there is little comparison between Tottenham’s financial power and that of any club previously relegated from the Premier League, Villa, Newcastle United and Fulham come closest. Villa were most recently in the second tier in 2018-19, when they won promotion back to the Premier League via the play-offs. That season, their cheapest adult season ticket (purchased during early-bird sales) was £322, with others costing up to £595. The following year, as a top-flight club again, their ticket prices increased to £370-£684.

For new season-ticket purchasers, Newcastle’s category-two season ticket prices dropped around 10 per cent (£520 from £578) as they bounced straight back in 2016-17 as EFL champions, then increased by 15 per cent the following term.

Though Newcastle and Villa may be more similar to Spurs in terms of historical footballing success, Fulham are based in an affluent part of west London, have some of the league’s most expensive season-ticket prices, and were in the Championship more recently.

For their second-tier 2021-22 season, the cheapest season ticket at Craven Cottage was £399, with the most expensive at £809. There were eight price categories in total, with a mean cost of £554. After winning promotion, the cheapest season ticket for new purchasers was £460, with the most expensive at £1,005 — a mean cost of £666.25, a 20.3 per cent increase.

In reference to the threat of relegation and the knock-on financial effects, a Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust spokesperson said: “While we know the spectre of relegation is real and we are confident that the club are acutely aware of its catastrophic implications, we believe that their 100 per cent focus is, rightly, on improving performances and results. In short, avoiding relegation at all costs.

“The impact on supporters, damage to reputation, financial sustainability and practical considerations like ticket pricing, are matters for another day. But whether or not the club is successful and retains its Premier League status, salutary lessons need to be learned throughout the club and wise investment made to ensure we are never in this position again.”

How far could going down set Spurs back financially?

There is no precedent for a club of Tottenham’s size and financial strength suffering relegation to the Championship, so it’s difficult to say.

They are the ninth-wealthiest team in the world game, according to Deloitte, with revenue of €672.6million in 2024-25 — around €88m more than the next-richest, London rivals Chelsea. After reaching the upcoming round of 16 in the Champions League despite their domestic struggles, that number is in line to increase this season. No club in the 34-year Premier League era have recorded more than £200million in single-season revenue and gone down.

While their current wage bill would dwarf any in Championship history, Tottenham’s relative frugality in terms of salary spending means they are in a comparatively better position than some of their competition in the event of relegation. And as covered above, many of the highest earners would surely depart, whether on loan or for large transfer fees — though Spurs’ weak bargaining position could mean such players leave for reduced fees or require the club to pay a wage contribution. It is not yet clear whether Tottenham have inserted relegation clauses into first-team contracts.

And their stadium, which is set to host Tyson Fury’s return to boxing in April and a Bad Bunny concert in June, as well as the regular pair of NFL games in the autumn, is a huge money-spinner. Relegation would have a limited impact on such operations outside football.

Though dropping to the Championship may not pose an existential threat to the north London club, television, matchday and sponsorship revenues will decline considerably.

The Premier League’s UK rights deal is worth £6.7billion for the years 2025-29, with U.S. rights holder NBC paying £2bn for rights through 2028. The EFL’s deal with Sky Sports, in comparison, is worth £935m over five years. Needless to say, Tottenham would need to bounce back from relegation at the first time of asking to minimise the long-term harm.

Will sponsorship opportunities be affected?

Tottenham’s current deal with global principal partner and front-of-shirt sponsor AIA expires at the end of the 2026-27 season.

Industry sources, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, say they would not be surprised if the club were thinking of looking for alternatives to the Hong Kong-based insurance company, which will become the club’s training kit partner from July 2027 until 2032. With a reduced global audience in the Championship, Spurs would likely renegotiate deals with other existing partners or secure new short-term sponsorships.

“There may not be a relegation clause in their front-of-shirt contract with AIA,” says Mike Jackson, chief executive of Elite Sports Marketing, a sponsorship agency which works with several Premier League and Championship clubs.

“(Premier League strugglers) Burnley, or even Coventry City (who are currently top of the Championship), will have relegation and promotion clauses, which give first option to the company to continue the sponsorship at up to seven or eight times what they’re paying in the Championship, but AIA may not have that clause, because it would never have been a consideration that Tottenham would get relegated.

“Conversations (with AIA) are probably happening as we speak. Tottenham will understand that AIA will not pay a Premier League rate (the contract is reported to be worth £40million per year) for a Championship club. They will not get the billions of eyeballs in the Championship that they would in the Premier League, and the reputational harm of not renegotiating the deal is not worth it in the long term. Having assessed the Championship market, it could be around the £4million to £5m range.”

In the event of relegation, Spurs may continue with AIA on revised terms, but if an agreement cannot be reached, they could explore the market for a one-year front-of-shirt deal. A short-term arrangement like that would allow them to find a more lucrative long-term alternative should they return to the Premier League within a year.

“I expect AIA to stick with them next year, but if they don’t, they will be fine because of the size of the club in the Championship,” says Jackson. “If you look at it from a brand’s point of view, they will know success is guaranteed practically every week. So it’s nothing but good news, records being broken, etc. So it’s good for any brand that joins them.”

How will it affect the club’s international visibility?

For international fans, the EFL’s iFollow subscription service means that watching Tottenham on a game-to-game basis can largely remain the same. This season, the service is priced at £180 for all 46 of a Championship side’s league games.

British supporters would also have much more Tottenham on their television sets should they go down, with every match, except the Saturday 3pm kick-offs, available on Sky Sports.

However, not being involved in the world’s biggest sporting league will have detrimental effects on retaining followers around the world and attracting new ones. There would be no marquee matches against traditional rivals Arsenal or Chelsea, never mind the increase in interest when playing against Liverpool and Manchester United, two of world sport’s titans.

And following a World Cup being held in North America this summer, Tottenham’s absence from the 2026-27 Premier League will take them out of the equation for many new fans of the sport in the United States and Canada looking for an English club to follow.

Tottenham Hotspur have frozen their season-ticket prices for next season following consultation with fan groups.

The decision is the result of discussions with the club’s Fan Advisory Board and the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust, which began late last year.

Spurs did not raise season the price of season or match tickets for the current 2025-26 campaign, but began removing the concession for new senior season ticket holders (for those aged 65 and above) — a decision which resulted in criticism from some fan groups.

The club increased season-ticket prices by six per cent for the 2024-25 season, leaving the most affordable adult season ticket at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium priced at £856.

Senior supporters who purchased a season ticket for the current campaign did not receive a concession, while existing season ticket holders who become eligible for a discounted season ticket from 2025-26 saw their concession begin to be reduced, with a five per cent fall each season for the next five years.

From 2029-30, senior season tickets at Spurs will therefore cost 25 per cent more than they did last term.

Tottenham have the second most expensive adult season ticket in the Premier League at £2,223 – behind only Fulham whose dearest offering is £3,084.

Spurs sit 16th in the Premier League table before their next fixture, the visit of north London rivals Arsenal, five points clear of 18th-place West Ham United.

Time is running out for Randal Kolo Muani to prove that his loan to Tottenham Hotspur this season has not been a wasted opportunity.

The France international has failed to score or assist in 18 Premier League appearances for Spurs so far. Kolo Muani’s record in the Champions League is much better with three goals and two assists in seven games though, bizarrely, he has only found the net against his former employers Eintracht Frankfurt and current parent club Paris Saint-Germain.

With that in mind, Kolo Muani is probably desperate for a meeting with Juventus, where he spent the second half of last season on loan from PSG and who are one of already-qualified Tottenham’s four possible opponents in the round of 16, should the Italians overturn a 5-2 first-leg deficit at home and get past Galatasaray of Turkey in the ongoing play-off round.

Juventus are, of course, also the previous team of Tottenham’s new interim head coach, Igor Tudor.

Kolo Muani initially worked with Thiago Motta at the Turin club, scoring five times in his first three of 11 appearances under him but failing to find the net in the other eight.

Motta was then sacked in the March and replaced with Tudor, who has now arrived at Spurs in similar circumstances following last week’s dismissal of Thomas Frank. The 27-year-old will hope Tudor can reignite his form for the second year in a row, after he scored five times in six late-season games under him across Serie A and the Club World Cup, and boost his chances of making France’s squad for the World Cup.

He arrived on loan from PSG on the final day of the summer window and made his debut a couple of weeks later as a substitute in the Champions League opener against Villarreal but then suffered a dead leg in training that forced him to miss five games. Maybe that was an early sign this relationship was going to be tricky.

The majority of Kolo Muani’s 12 league starts for Spurs have come either at the tip of a 4-2-3-1 formation or on the left in support of Richarlison.

Frank experimented with personnel and the team’s shape a lot, which meant it was difficult for any of the attacking players to find consistent form.

Until he suffered a groin injury in January, £55million ($74.5m at the current rate) summer signing Mohammed Kudus’ position as the first-choice right-winger was secure, but the manager kept switching between Xavi Simons, Mathys Tel, Lucas Bergvall and Wilson Odobert for the other positions behind a central striker.

Spurs never played to Kolo Muani’s strengths during the Dane’s brief reign.

He has only taken 11 shots in the Premier League, and registered an xG figure of 1.33. He has 1,028 minutes of top-flight game time for the north London side in total across 18 appearances.

Tottenham’s club-record signing Dominic Solanke, who returned from an August ankle injury a month ago, has only played 408 minutes in seven league outings but managed to take nine shots and score twice from an xG of 1.21. The England international tends to be more involved in the build-up play than the Frenchman, but it is not good enough that the latter has barely been presented with any high-quality chances by his team-mates.

Kolo Muani is capable of scoring a variety of goals.

Those three strikes against Frankfurt and PSG came from him reacting quickly around the six-yard box to pounce on a loose ball, while during his time in Turin last season he displayed a trademark move which Spurs fans have rarely seen him attempt.

Kolo Muani’s biggest assets are his speed and ability to carry under pressure. He excelled in Tudor’s 3-4-2-1 system at Juventus because it was built around moving the ball quickly. Whether it was Francisco Conceicao, Nicolas Gonzalez or Kenan Yildiz playing behind him, they knew to release the ball into space for Kolo Muani to chase, so he could drive at back-pedalling and off-balance defenders.

He scored twice in a 5-0 stroll past Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates in the group stage of the World Cup, and should have had a hat-trick. Here, he latches onto a simple long ball from Khephren Thuram for his second goal.

And here, in the 66th minute, Kolo Muani accelerates away from Al Ain’s disjointed defensive line but sees his attempt at a chipped finish saved by Rui Patricio. He had intelligently curved his run and moved across the defenders when they were too busy concentrating on Conceicao as he dribbled upfield.

There are lots of other examples of Kolo Muani tearing through teams with his pace.

He overtakes Antonio Rudiger and Aurelien Tchouameni in this next set of images but his chip over Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois lands on the roof of the net.

It is difficult to recall many occasions when he has been presented with similar opportunities during his time with Spurs, apart from last month’s 2-0 Champions League home win against Borussia Dortmund, when he should have shown more composure.

Tudor and his coaching staff need to maximise Kolo Muani’s threat on the counter.

Spurs released a video interview with Tudor on Tuesday, and there were a couple of lines in it which will give supporters a small dose of optimism.

The Croatian said “there is no time to find excuses”, which might sound like an obvious thing to say but fans became frustrated by Frank’s attempts to justify poor performances. Tudor added “I like to be positive” and “I like to play offensive football”, which will both be a relief ahead of his debut in the north London derby at home to league leaders Arsenal on Sunday. The last time these clubs met, in November, Spurs only registered an xG number of 0.03 in a 4-1 defeat.

The most interesting thing Tudor spoke about was in relation to injuries.

With Odobert joining Kudus and Dejan Kulusevski on the treatment table, Tudor does not have a natural right-winger. During his spells in charge of Marseille, Lazio and Juventus, he rarely moved away from playing a back three. However, Cristian Romero has only served one game of a four-match ban, while Kevin Danso, Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro are recovering from injury. There is a small pool of defenders to pick from.

“We need to find the best system that suits the players that are available at this moment,” Tudor said.

This suggests he is considering different formations.

Tudor’s preferred 3-4-2-1 system could work but would involve dropping midfielder Joao Palhinha in alongside Micky van de Ven and Radu Dragusin at centre-back. Djed Spence and Archie Gray could play as wing-backs with some combination of Solanke, Kolo Muani, Tel and Simons as the three up front. Frank already used a version of this towards the end of his reign. The problem is, one more injury would topple this whole plan.

Another option is a back four and two central strikers, with Simons roaming behind them. Solanke’s ability to drop deep could be beneficial for Kolo Muani by drawing defenders out of position and creating more space for the latter to run into.

They have only started once together so far — the 2-2 draw with visitors Manchester City earlier this month. Frank was unable to develop them as an effective combination due to Solanke’s injury struggles. Tudor could now benefit from having both available and desperate to prove they should play at the World Cup for their respective countries.

Kolo Muani scored with each of his first three shots for Juventus, though one of them was a freakish deflection. It is a level of efficiency Spurs are desperate for him to replicate in their final 12 games of the season as they seek to push clear of the relegation places.

In Tudor, they have arguably the perfect manager to unlock his talents.

The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust (THST) has accused the club of selectively omitting key points from the minutes of their latest meeting.

THST met with four representatives of the club, including chief executive Vinai Venkatesham and chief communications officer Kate Miller, on February 3 — eight days before head coach Thomas Frank was sacked.

THST claimed that “a number of specific points raised during the meeting” were not included in the final, publicly-available minutes — including fans’ concerns “at the risk of relegation” and the club’s “lack of ambition”.

“As a democratic supporters’ organisation elected to represent fans’ views, we believe it is vital that supporters can see what issues are being raised with the club, how those issues are being discussed and what responses are being given,” THST said in a statement, accompanying the publication of the minutes.

“Publishing a full record of the points raised helps ensure accountability and allows members, and the wider fan base, to understand how the Trust is fulfilling its role on their behalf. Transparency is integral to our role and in our dealings with the club.”

Among the sections that THST said it had asked to be included but were not accepted by the club was a paragraph in which the Trust relayed supporters’ fears over Spurs’ “current position and direction”.

It read: “The team is not winning, and change is not visible. Having watched just four home league wins in a year, this anxiety and pessimism is not surprising. Fans are genuinely concerned at the risk of relegation. The belief generated by the Europa League win has now been lost. Fans are concerned at a perceived lack of ambition and at results, performances and the failure to strengthen the team despite injuries to key first team players.”

THST claimed seven other sections which it had asked to be included were also left out by the club, including the Trust’s concerns about the use of young players and supporters’ desire for “a style of play that transcended as a ‘golden thread’ from the youth system right through to the men’s first team”.

Tottenham declined to comment, but sources close to the club, not authorised to speak publicly, indicated that they were asked for a narrative account of the meeting but chose to stick to a more procedural version of the minutes.

A THST source disputed this version of events, and said the Trust only agreed to publication of the minutes in the club’s preferred format on the basis that it would also publish the amendments which were omitted.

Venkatesham has been given overall responsibility for matters on and off the pitch since executive chairman Daniel Levy was sacked by the majority shareholding Lewis family in September.

THST and the club have an agreement to meet twice a year to discuss supporter experiences and concerns.

Frank was dismissed as Spurs head coach on February 11 and has been succeed by Igor Tudor on an interim basis until the end of the season.

Spurs are 16th in the table, five points above the bottom three, ahead of their next fixture against league leaders Arsenal on Sunday.

The fallout from Tottenham Hotspur’s decision to sack Thomas Frank has dragged into a second week.

After contacting Robbie Keane and informally approaching Edin Terzic and Marco Rose about the vacancy, Igor Tudor was announced as Frank’s replacement over the weekend. The 47-year-old Croatian, previously in charge at Marseille, Lazio and Juventus, among others, will take charge on an interim basis until the end of the season.

However, there were still a few issues to resolve with the rest of the coaching staff. Would Tudor be allowed to bring in his own team of assistants, or be forced to work with the carryovers from Frank’s regime?

Negotiations with Brentford over hiring Frank last summer were complicated by how many of his colleagues he wanted to bring with him. Spurs paid Brentford £6.7million to hire the Dane, but that figure rises when you include the appointments of assistant coach Justin Cochrane, head of performance Chris Haslam and analyst Joe Newton. Medical lead Nick Stubbings, head of strength and conditioning Tom Perryman and nutritionist Ted Munson worked under Frank at Brentford, too.

Andreas Georgson left Manchester United last summer to move to Spurs and he has a long-term connection to Frank, having been in charge of his Brentford side’s set-piece routines during the 2019-20 season, when they finished third in the Championship then lost the play-off final to Fulham.

Frank’s backroom staff was completed by first-team assistant coach Matt Wells, goalkeeping coach Fabian Otte, individual development coach (IDP) Cameron Campbell, first-team/academy transition coach Stuart Lewis and assistant goalkeeping coach Dean Brill. In an interview which was published on the club’s website at the time, Frank revealed he requested the newly-created role of an IDP coach, along with sporting director Johan Lange.

Wells was the only member of Ange Postecoglou’s first-team staff to stick around when the Australian was fired at the end of last season, while Lewis and Brill were promoted from the academy. Frank’s assistants were a blend of people who had worked with him for a long time, had experience of European competition or had a long-term connection to Spurs.

On Monday, The Athletic reported that Cochrane, Haslam and Newton had followed Frank out of the exit door, along with John Heitinga. The latter only joined the club in the middle of January. Heitinga, who was one of Arne Slot’s assistants when Liverpool won the Premier League last season, departed only 33 days after he was appointed as a first-team assistant coach. It is a farcical situation which highlights the mess Tottenham now find themselves in.

It makes sense that Cochrane, Haslam and Newton have gone, because of how close they were to Frank. It is a particular shame that things did not work out with Cochrane, who will now fully focus on his role assisting England head coach Thomas Tuchel at this summer’s World Cup. Cochrane had spent time working in Tottenham’s academy earlier in his career and the move across London from Brentford was supposed to be a grand homecoming that reunited him with Wells, a colleague in those days, though the latter left the staff in December to become head coach of MLS side Colorado Rapids.

Tudor has been allowed to bring in a few familiar faces to support him. Ivan Javorcic will be his assistant, Riccardo Ragnacci is the new physical coach and Tomislav Rogic will work with the goalkeepers.

Rogic is arguably Tudor’s most trusted lieutenant. They have known each other since 2014, when Rogic briefly worked under Tudor in what was the latter’s first crack at management in their homeland with Hajduk Split. Rogic gained further experience at Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit in Russia, Club Brugge of Belgium, India’s national team and China’s Shanghai Port before he was reunited with Tudor two years ago at Lazio and then joined him at Juventus.

Ragnacci has also worked with Tudor on a couple of occasions.

They first crossed paths during 2021-22, when Tudor led Hellas Verona to a ninth-placed finish in Serie A. Tudor left the club that summer and went to Marseille but Ragnacci stayed on for another 12 months. He spent a season each at Lecce and Empoli before the pair were reunited at Juventus last year. Tudor had replaced Thiago Motta as head coach in the March on an interim basis and was handed the role permanently after qualifying the Turin club for the Champions League — they finished fourth, a point ahead of Roma. Ragnacci joined his coaching staff in July but left three months later when Tudor was fired.

Javorcic represented Brescia during his playing career and had a spell with Atalanta as well as Italian lower-league sides Crotone, Treviso, Arezzo and Pizzighettone. He had a brief spell in charge of Venezia in 2022 and became countryman Tudor’s assistant at Lazio two years later. Tudor replaced former Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri as head coach in March 2024 and won five of his nine league games in charge. Lazio qualified for the Europa League by finishing seventh but Tudor left that summer due to a dispute with the club’s owner and sporting director. Rogic and Javorcic both followed him to Juventus early last year.

On paper, it seems like a messy situation.

Tudor’s backroom staff is now a wild mix which includes people loyal to Frank, or who he recommended to Spurs. He needs to find a way to quickly forge a tight-knit unit with everybody on board as Tottenham try to stave off relegation. The risk with these situations is that Tudor only trusts his long-term associates and the other coaches are left feeling excluded or unable to have an input on tactics and team selection.

Pay close attention to the dynamic between the goalkeeping coaches, Otte and Rogic.

Otte has previously worked with the United States’ men’s national team (USMNT), Burnley, Borussia Monchengladbach and Liverpool. Retaining him suggests Spurs want Otte to be part of the long-term coaching staff regardless of what happens with Tudor over the next three months. Yet we are in a situation where he, Rogic and Brill will be responsible for only three senior goalkeepers. And how will first-choice Guglielmo Vicario react if newcomer Rogic asks him to do something completely different to what was expected under Frank? It will be slightly awkward undermining Otte’s previous instructions right in front of the guy.

It will be interesting to see how all the players react, really.

The majority of this squad will be working under their third head coach in less than a year. They are constantly being asked to adapt to different formations and styles of play. Tottenham’s next game is a home north London derby against arch-rivals and Premier League leaders Arsenal. Tudor probably does not have enough time with the squad before that match on Sunday. Spurs are also grappling with an injury crisis for the second season in a row, which gives Tudor a limited group of players to pick from.

Based on his previous jobs, the Croatian prefers to use a 3-4-2-1 system, but centre-back and captain Cristian Romero has only served one game of a four-match suspension while first-choice full-backs Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro are both injured, massively restricting his defensive options.

Research has shown that footballers are more susceptible to injuries after a coaching change, due to the new tactical demands placed on them. Tudor and his staff have to try to strike a delicate balance between injecting more energy and intensity into the team’s performance without overloading individuals.

It is an imperfect and disjointed coaching staff, but all that matters is they pick up enough points over the remaining 12 games to propel 16th-placed Spurs away from the relegation zone.

Welcome to Row Z, The Athletic’s weekly column that shines a light on the bonkers side of the game.

From clubs to managers, players to organisations, every week we’ll bring you the absurdities, the greed, the contradictions, the preposterousness and the oddities of the sport we all love…

Sir Jim is sorry… if you didn’t like what he said

It’s a common theme in English football parlance that supporters and the media “want to hear more” from their owners.

Full credit to Manchester United’s Sir Jim Ratcliffe, then, for making everyone want to hear less from him. Much less.

Row Z was beyond shocked to hear that the 73-year-old white, male billionaire who doesn’t live in the UK had less-than-sympathetic views about the country taking in immigrants — you know, those people who might be fleeing war or persecution and attempting to find a better life in the UK.

It’s just so out of keeping with Ratcliffe’s character, what with him cancelling staff Christmas parties, ordering people to work in the office instead of at home, cutting staff bonuses, swapping staff lunches for a piece of fruit, making 450 people redundant, turfing the women’s team out of their own training ground building and choosing to watch a Premier League match instead of the women’s FA Cup final (which United won for the first time) and, when asked about progress of the women’s team, said: “There’s only so much that you can do… if not, you get spread too thinly.”

He’s just a people person.

“I mean, the UK has been colonised, it’s costing too much money,” Ratcliffe told the world in a Sky News interview last week while also claiming the country’s population had increased by 12million in the past six years (it’s 2.7m). “The UK has been colonised by immigrants, really, hasn’t it?”

The list of those either condemning or distancing themselves from Ratcliffe’s comments included the UK prime minister, the mayor of Manchester, numerous Manchester United supporter groups, anti-discrimination campaign group Kick It Out and England rugby union captain Maro Itoje. Oh, and Manchester United themselves, who released this statement that named no names: “Manchester United prides itself on being an inclusive and welcoming club. Our diverse group of players, staff and global community of supporters reflect the history and heritage of Manchester, a city that anyone can call home.”

One person not on the above list is Nigel Farage, the leader of UK political party Reform. It’s always good to be on the right side of the argument, isn’t it?

To be fair to Ratcliffe, he later said he was sorry if people didn’t like what he said. Nice one.

We’ve yet to hear from any of Manchester United’s foreign players on the comments (not that it is on them to respond, nor should we blame them if they keep their counsel), but far more pertinent would be a penny for the thoughts of England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, for example, whose parents both migrated to England from Ghana.

How about defender Ayden Heaven, who also has Ghanaian heritage? Further afield, Leny Yoro was born in France and is of Ivorian descent, Joshua Zirkeee was born in the Netherlands to a Nigerian mother, Tyrell Malacia was born in the Netherlands and has a Curacaoan background, while Patrick Dorgu was born in Denmark but his family’s roots are in Nigeria.

Even Manchester United’s other owners, the Glazer family, came to America via grandparents who were Lithuanian Jewish immigrants.

Is it annoying when someone from a foreign land moves to your country? Well, let’s ask the residents of Monaco, who kindly took Ratcliffe in when he moved there in 2020. Monaco, completely coincidentally, doesn’t collect personal income tax or capital gains taxes. What a guy.

A short-lived Tudor time?

So it turns out Tottenham Hotspur, or Tottenham as they just love being called, had a plan all along when finally sacking Thomas Frank, who leaves the club with the worst win percentage of any permanent Spurs manager.

In hiring renowned (sort of) firefighter Igor Tudor purely for three months to keep them in the Premier League, Spurs have essentially called on the Croatian Sam Allardyce.

A club statement announcing Tudor’s appointment left out some crucial details about his career, though, which Row Z has helpfully amended in brackets for your delectation.

After spells with a range of clubs including Galatasaray (sacked after 10 months), Udinese (sacked after eight months), Hajduk Split (resigned after seven months) and Hellas Verona (left by mutual consent after eight months), Igor led Marseille to a third-place Ligue 1 finish in 2022-23, securing Champions League qualification (and left immediately after doing so).

In March 2024, he joined Lazio, delivering a strong finish to their Serie A campaign to secure Europa League qualification (and resigned immediately afterwards), and most recently at Juventus, guided them to the Champions League having arrived in March 2025 (sacked after seven months).

To be fair, it’s only a three-month appointment and Tudor achieved several objectives at said clubs, so Spurs (who were ninth in the most recent Deloitte money league with revenues of £584million, $796m) should be fine as they look to finish higher than last year’s effort of 17th.

At the very least, Tudor’s arrival has headline writers and pun purveyors delighted.

Talking of managers who might not hang around long…

Since we’re thinking about managerial statements, Nottingham Forest published 229 words of gushing praise when hiring Sean Dyche the other day.

It was October 29 when the club eagerly highlighted “the former Forest youth player” in the second paragraph, plus noting his “experienced coaching team”, comprising two club legends (Ian Woan and Steve Stone).

The joyous statement talked of the “respected and experienced” Dyche’s “perfect blend of character, tactical acumen and proven achievement”, with the teams he had managed “defined by defensive organisation, resilience, and strength from set pieces”.

“As a former Forest youth player who lives locally, Dyche also has a deep understanding of the values and pride of Forest and its supporters,” the club added, before, for the second time, specfically referencing his character and tactical acumen, as well as his man-management skills, with all of the above representing the “best opportunity” for a successful season.

February 12 at 12.31am: “Nottingham Forest Football Club can confirm that Sean Dyche has been relieved of his duties as head coach.

“We would like to thank Sean and his staff for their efforts during their time at the club and we wish them the best of luck for the future. We will be making no further comment at this time.”

Forest had given Nuno Espirito Santo — you know, that guy who led them to their best finish in 30 years — a new contract in the summer. Obviously that didn’t last long, then they hired Ange Postecoglou, then Dyche, with those three contracts totalling six and a half years. Between them, the trio lasted seven months.