BBC

Tottenham Hotspur's increasingly chaotic descent towards the Premier League relegation zone continued as thousands of supporters left early during their damaging home defeat by Crystal Palace on Thursday night.

Spurs stand one point off the drop zone after interim manager Igor Tudor lost his third game in succession after replacing the sacked Thomas Frank.

Tudor was appointed as a so-called "impact coach" based on his previous track record - but such has been his lack of impact that questions are already being asked about the Croat's future.

Their campaign has been characterised by toxicity, misery and on occasion high farce - so who is to blame for the collapse of a club that won the Europa League last season and reached the Champions League final as recently as seven years ago?

Former chairman Daniel Levy was always the lightning rod for criticism when Spurs struggled, with the 2008 League Cup the only success in his reign before he "stepped down" after almost 25 years last September.

Levy was the driving force behind Spurs' magnificent stadium, but found himself in the crosshairs of supporters for what they regarded as his failure to provide the financial backing to break into the Premier League elite on a regular basis.

Former Spurs and England goalkeeper Paul Robinson told BBC Sport: "This is a problem that has been building over years. You can circle a drain long enough but at some point you will fall in.

"Daniel gets a lot of criticism. Some if it is unfair. You look at the managers he has appointed when the clamour was for trophies.

"He employed 'win now' managers in Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte but he didn't give them 'win now' players."

Since Mauricio Pochettino's sacking in November 2019, Spurs have spent £979m on players with a net spend of £653m. Only Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal are ahead of them.

Other factors came into play with Levy, however, such as the suggestions he drove hard bargains which saw targeted players end up elsewhere, or players who could have been sold staying at Spurs because other clubs simply would not meet his demands.

Spurs' wage bill must also be factored into the equation, with Levy running a tight ship.

According to the Deloitte Money League, their bill last term was £248.6m, much lower than the rest of the top flight's so-called "Big Six".

Levy can point to financial and structural success off the pitch, but there was under-achievement on it.

He will also be associated with instability, including a revolving door of 12 sacked managers as Spurs reached 16 semi-finals and seven finals.

What his true legacy is may only be measured at the end of this season.

The fact that any straw poll of Spurs fans would end with Pochettino standing in the technical area at the start of next season shows the affection still felt for the Argentine.

Pochettino's high point was the Champions League final against Liverpool in 2019 - but that defeat also marked the beginning of the end.

He felt it should have been the reverse, a starting point, but fractures soon appeared in his relationship with Levy, with Pochettino feeling his wish to rebuild the side with greater glories in mind was not fulfilled.

Robinson agrees, saying: "You look back to that Champions League final. Spurs had a manager who people would walk over hot coals to get back now.

"This was the time to back him with a long-term contract, invest heavily to ensure you stay on that level. Ever since that day the club has regressed."

Tanguy Ndomdole's arrival from Lyon for £53.8m was the marquee signing in summer 2019.

The writing was on the wall in pre-season when Pochettino memorably said: "Sell, buy players, sign contract, not sign contract. I think it is not in my hands, it is in the club's hands and Daniel Levy.

"The club needs to change my title and description. Of course, I am the boss deciding the strategic play but in another area I don't know. I feel like I am the coach."

Just 171 days after reaching the Champions League final, he was sacked.

Since then, none of Pochettino's successors have truly captured the Spurs' fans imagination like he did, both in personality and playing style, which is why he is favoured to come back in the summer.

One question: Would he come back to a Championship club?

Once Pochettino was sacked, Levy's choice of managers was key to the club's trajectory after the high of that 2019 Champions League final.

In many ways, he went for choices many fans would have made - leading to conclusions that it was the culture of the club under his charge that was the problem.

Robinson says: "There is something that is fundamentally wrong at that club. Spurs have decreased the stock of managers who arrived at the club as winners, such as Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.

"Managers who had won regularly elsewhere didn't win at Spurs. You have to ask why that is."

Levy stood by a revolving door of 12 sacked managers as Spurs reached 16 semi-finals and seven finals, not including the Uefa Super Cup before his departure.

Mourinho replaced Pochettino, briefly took Spurs to the top of the Premier League, and was then bizarrely sacked in the week before a Carabao Cup final against Manchester City.

Nuno Espirito Santo was well down a list of successors when he was appointed in summer 2021. He lasted only four months before he was replaced by Antonio Conte.

The combustible Italian, who won the Premier League and FA Cup with Chelsea, took Spurs into the Champions League but left after 16 months following a savage attack on the club after a draw at Southampton, saying: "Tottenham's story is this - 20 years there is this owner and they never won something. Why?

"The fault is only for the club, or for every manager that stay here? I have seen the managers that Spurs had on the bench."

Ange Postecoglou followed, winning that long-awaited trophy, but a finish of 17th place in the league saw him sacked.

Thomas Frank tried and failed.

The record suggests Levy tried all shapes and sizes of manager - none have truly fitted this dysfunctional club.

Son Hueng-min left Spurs in the summer to join Los Angeles FC after scoring 173 goals in 454 games.

The great South Korean's partner in goals, England captain Harry Kane, decided his career needed trophies, leaving for Bayern Munich in August 2023 in an £86.4m deal as Spurs' record goalscorer with 280 goals in 435 appearances.

"It is worth pointing out that Spurs do not have their top three scorers for the last three seasons," Robinson said. "Kane, Son and Brennan Johnson have all been sold."

Two big proposed moves also went down as Arsenal hijacked a £60m deal for Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace, while Spurs thought they had a deal for Morgan Gibbs-White poised for completion until he signed a new contract at Nottingham Forest.

Big summer signings Xavi Simons and Muhammed Kudus, through injury and lack of form, have not had the desired impact, leaving Spurs rueing those missed deals even more.

"This appointment was the wrong one from the start," says Robinson. "They needed a Harry Redknapp or a Sean Dyche to keep them in the division.

"They need a manager who would hand over a Premier League club to whoever - maybe Pochettino - next season.

"Igor Tudor, regardless of how he does, will not be manager next season. He might not even be there at the end of this season.

"I also look at some players who can't wait to get out of Spurs so they can go and play European football next season.

"These things accumulate and now Spurs find themselves in a crisis."

As thousands of Tottenham fans streamed out of their stadium at half-time on Thursday, no one could have been in any doubt about the threat of relegation.

After taking an early lead against Crystal Palace, three goals for the visitors in 12 first-half minutes - sparked by a penalty conceded and red card for Micky van de Ven - condemned Igor Tudor's side to another miserable defeat.

Spurs remain the only Premier League side without a victory in 2026. Their 11-match winless league run is the club's longest since 1935, when they went 15 games without winning.

With nine matches to go, they remain one point above the relegation zone and in real danger of losing their Premier League status for the first time.

The thousands of empty seats were telling. The fans who remained until the end met the final whistle with loud jeers as belief of survival appears to be draining from them.

"Anxiety was all through the stadium," former Chelsea and England winger Joe Cole said on TNT Sports. "The whole performance was tepid.

"There was no bite and no anger and the fans were feeling that. It feels like they have given up.

"It looks like the fans are disillusioned, disenchanted and not believing it."

When Tudor was appointed as interim boss last month, he said Tottenham "100%" wouldn't go down. It would take a brave person to say that now.

"Of course i understand the fans [leaving]. It's normal, they wanted more," said the Croat, whose has lost all three of his matches in charge.

"I need to choose the right guys: Who is in the boat and who will leave the boat."

Tudor refused to be drawn into conversations about his future after full-time, despite questions already being raised about whether he would see out the season.

Spurs fan Chris Cowlin told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I'm lost for words over what I've seen tonight. You want fight, desire and most importantly points.

"It is too much for a lot of people and this is the reality that Spurs might get relegated.

"When we moved to this stadium in 2019 it was meant to be a game changer for us, the springboard for success and always competing for top honours. I've never known a time like this.

"We've gone through so many managers since moving to this stadium; six permanent managers and four interim appointments. Spurs have gone round in circles."

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is not a happy place at the moment.

They have not won in the Premier League in 2026 and have only led in league games for 13 minutes since 7 January.

Outside the stadium, Tottenham supporters told BBC Sport the club were "in their worst moment in history" and "were more likely than not to go down".

One fan blamed Tottenham's form on the players, saying "there are too many egos" and "the players are still living off that high of the Europa League and sleep-walking to relegation".

Another added "Nottingham Forest and West Ham have got fight and grit. We don't have any of that."

One supporter said the board's failures in the transfer market was the main culprit, pointing to a lack of goalscoring options and a failure to cover Tottenham's many, many injuries.

Spurs currently have nine players sidelined.

Fans also pointed to the team's lack of discipline. Cristian Romero was serving the final game of a four-match ban after a straight red card in February.

Van de Ven's sending off on Thursday means he will now serve a three-match ban.

Many also queried the appointment of former Juventus boss Tudor. The Croat had never managed in the Premier League before his appointment in February.

Others defended him with one adding each new manager appointment simply "papers over the cracks".

One of the Premier League's traditional 'big six', Tottenham haven't been relegated since 1976-77.

Ten months ago, they won the Europa League and, despite being 16th in the Premier League table, are in the Champions League last 16.

Since promotion from the Second Division in 1949-50, they have spent just one season below the top flight (1977-78).

But none of that guarantees anything right now. Tottenham's next Premier League game is at Liverpool on 15 March. They still need to play fellow strugglers Forest, Leeds and Wolves. And they need points.

"Tottenham have not got many games left, but they need to find a concoction and some understanding to go get some results over the line," former Crystal Palace striker Glenn Murray told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"It is ridiculous to think of them sacking [Tudor] after three games after seeing what the players have ultimately produced.

"This is the same group and sacking the manager after three games is an admission that he was the wrong man in the first place."

Reaction after Tottenham Hotspur beaten at home by Crystal Palace. Glenn Murray and Jonathan Pearce join Eleanor Oldroyd to reflect on a dismal night in North London for Spurs. Hear their thoughts on why everything changed after Micky van de Ven's first half red card and where this leaves Tottenham with nine games of the season remaining. Tottenham fan Chris Cowlin joins to give his immediate thoughts, plus hear from both managers: Igor Tudor, and a victorious Oliver Glasner.

Time Codes:

Fri 2000 Wolves v Liverpool (FA Cup)

Sat 1230 England v Iceland (Women's World Cup Qualifiers) on Sports Extra

Sat 1530 Wales v Montenegro (Women's World Cup Qualifiers) on Sports Extra

Sat 1700 Scotland v Luxembourg (Women's World Cup Qualifiers) on Sports Extra 3

Sat 1745 Wrexham v Chelsea (FA Cup)

Sat 2000 Newcastle v Manchester City (FA Cup)

Sun 1200 Fulham v Southampton (FA Cup) on Sports Extra 2

Sun 1330 Port Vale v Sunderland (FA Cup)

Sun 1630 Leeds v Norwich (FA Cup)

Mon 1930 West Ham v Brentford (FA Cup)

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner praises his team's reaction as they fight back from a goal down to beat Spurs 3-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with all the goals coming in the first half.

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS: Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Crystal Palace

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Igor Tudor says he believes the club will be able to avoid relegation from the Premier League, insisting "the moment will pass" after watching his side lose 3-1 at home to Crystal Palace, a result that leaves them one point above the relegation zone.

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS: Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Crystal Palace

Tottenham stay just one point above the Premier League relegation zone following a 3-1 home defeat by Crystal Palace, having had to play more than 45 minutes with 10 men after Micky van de Ven was sent off.

MATCH REPORT: Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Crystal Palace

The prospect of one of the Premier League's six wealthiest clubs being relegated to the Championship should be essentially impossible, given the immense resouces they have at their disposal.

But with 10 games left to play Tottenham Hotspur are just a point above 18th-placed West Ham, and in the kind of wretched run of form that makes it difficult to see where enough points are going to come from.

So, what would be the financial impact on Spurs if the unthinkable really does happen?

Spurs earned £690m worth of income last year, according to data from the Uefa European club finance and investment landscape report, putting them ninth overall in Europe.

That income would take a serious hit if they were to drop into the Championship.

According to BBC Sport analysis, the reduction could be as much as £261m overall.

One key area in which they would be harmed is ticket revenue, which earned the club £130m, the fifth-highest across the continent.

Currently, Spurs charge an average of £76 per fan for each home match, with only five clubs in Europe costing more.

Since building their new stadium for around £1bn, Spurs have focused heavily on selling hospitality tickets and corporate packages for matches in order to maximise matchday takings.

But they will simply not be able to charge the same amount for an opening day fixture against a side like Lincoln City - who are currently chasing promotion from League One - in the second tier in August, should they ultimately finish in the bottom three, and a drop in attendances would likely occur too.

Midfielder Dele Alli has returned to Tottenham Hotspur to train independently.

The 29-year-old has been allowed to use the club's facilities while he improves his fitness and looks to join a new club.

Dele has posted clips of him training at the club's academy grounds on his social media platforms.

He has been without a club since September 2025, when he left Serie A club Como after his contract was terminated.

Dele recently returned to Spurs as a special guest at the north London derby against Arsenal in February.

He scored 67 goals over 269 appearances over seven years for Spurs, before leaving in 2022.

Dele has played most of his career game time at Spurs, at a total of 19,150 minutes, having previously played a total of 6,514 minutes at MK Dons.

Since leaving north London, fitness and form struggles prevented the midfielder from fully establishing himself at Everton or Besiktas.

Dele made 13 appearances for the Merseyside team between 2022-2024. playing a total of 369 minutes.

He went on loan to Turkish side Besiktas, where he scored three goals in 15 appearances between 2022 and 2023, playing 830 minutes.

The prospect of one of the Premier League's six wealthiest clubs being relegated to the Championship should be essentially impossible, given the immense resouces they have at their disposal.

But with 10 games left to play Tottenham Hotspur are just a point above 18th-placed West Ham, and in the kind of wretched run of form that makes it difficult to see where enough points are going to come from.

With Wolves and Burnley almost certainly set to occupy the bottom two places at the end of the season, and the likes of the Hammers, Nottingham Forest, and Leeds still at risk too, Spurs are by no means favourites for the drop.

But they are now at enormous risk.

So, what would be the financial impact on Spurs if the unthinkable really does happen?

Spurs earned £690m worth of income last year, according to data from the Uefa European club finance and investment landscape report, putting them ninth overall in Europe.

That income would take a serious hit if they were to drop into the Championship.

According to BBC Sport analysis, the reduction could be as much as £261m overall.

One key area in which they would be harmed is ticket revenue, which earned the club £130m, the fifth-highest across the continent.

Currently, Spurs charge an average of £76 per fan for each home match, with only five clubs in Europe costing more.

Since building their new stadium for around £1bn, Spurs have focused heavily on selling hospitality tickets and corporate packages for matches in order to maximise matchday takings.

But they will simply not be able to charge the same amount for an opening day fixture against a side like Lincoln City - who are currently chasing promotion from League One - in the second tier in August, should they ultimately finish in the bottom three, and a drop in attendances would likely occur too.

Elsewhere, Spurs' broadcast revenue would plummet too. They would no longer have access to the funds generated from the Premier League's lucrative domestic and international broadcast deals, which last year meant Ipswich Town earned more in broadcast revenue than Barcelona.

And the tens of millions they earn from Champions League TV income will drop to nothing, unless they manage to win the tournament, which would guarantee them a place in next year's competition even if they are playing second-tier football.

Furthermore, the club-record £269m of commercial income Spurs earned last year would likely take significant damage.

Sponsorships such as kit manufacturer Nike and front-of-shirt sponsors AIA's deals (worth around £70m combined annually) will have their values slashed thanks to relegation clauses.

Playing four more home matches in the Championship could also have an impact on Spurs' ability to host other lucrative events and concerts, which the club has heavily focused on.

"For a club of Spurs' ambitions and financial scale, relegation would not simply be a short-term sporting setback", says football finance expert Kieran Maguire. "The economics of English football make recovery a multi-year project."

Spurs lost £129m last year, according to the data, and the risk of even greater losses going forward if relegated is evident.

In some regards, Spurs' expenses would be reduced by dropping to the Championship. It has been widely reported, for example, that their players' contracts include a clause dropping their salaries by 50% in case of relegation.

If that clause is inserted into the contract of every player in the squad, then last year's record wage bill of £276m could be turned into £138m when the contractual period ticks over to the new season on 1 July.

But in a variety of other ways outgoings would remain the same, and potentially even rise.

One of the major financial issues clubs across the continent have been facing in recent years is rising operational costs, including things like utilities, transport, insurance, marketing, and administration.

Last year, Spurs had the third-highest operating costs in all of Europe, paying out £260m. That was a rise of £27m on the previous year, and the figure could rise again if essentials like energy prices continue to increase in the wider global economy.

Many of those day-to-day operating bills won't simply be reduced by playing at a lower level - the price for powering the stadium for a night match against Norwich City in the Championship is the same as doing so for Newcastle in the Premier League.

Spurs also had 877 full-time employees last year, an increase of 57 on the previous year, giving them the 12th-biggest workforce in Europe.

Barring a cull of that workforce, Spurs will have to keep paying top-tier European salaries while not even playing in the English top flight.

In recent years Spurs have been simultaneously lauded for being one of the most sustainably-run clubs in Europe, while also drawing criticism from fans for not using more of their revenue to pay higher wages.

Some believe that the financial peril that plummeting to the Championship would bring is partly due to a reluctance to take financial risks in recent years.

"I would say money," ex-Spurs winger Gareth Bale told The Overlap podcast when asked why the club finds itself at such great risk of relegation.

"Look at the wage bill - it's lower [than other clubs with big ambitions].

"They always seem to buy young and hope they're going to grow into something bigger, which has worked in the past with me and a few other players, but they're an established club now.

"They have the stadium, they have the training ground, they have the fan base. They need to be buying bigger players, maybe paying a bit more. It's that bit of a gamble that you maybe need to take that, from a business point of view, they're not willing to do.

"For me that's probably the biggest issue - they don't sign the finished player.

"A £50 million player is not what it used to be. You have to be spending £80m, £90m, £100m now just to get a good player.

"It's like they just need to gamble a bit more, other clubs are more willing to take a risk financially."

Gareth Bale has revealed he carried a secret injury throughout his career, with the problem eventually leading to his early retirement.

Bale, 36, won five Champions League titles with Real Madrid to become one of Britain's most successful players.

He called time on his playing days at the age of 33 shortly after playing for Wales at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

He has now disclosed details of a back injury suffered while a teenager at Spurs that he says contributed to his decision to step away from the game.

Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Bale said: "I tore my disc in my back when I was 18 at Tottenham. I played my whole career with that.

"I had a lot of calf injuries which was due to my back. I never came out and said this when I was playing because some people would say 'he's making excuses'.

"It was manageable but over time it caught up with me."

Bale's move to Real Madrid in 2013 broke football's transfer record and he says the Spanish giants were aware of the issue.

He called the problem "manageable" but said it hung over his time in La Liga, where he played a key role in the club's return to European dominance.

He says he was even forced to brush his teeth while standing on his heels because of the risk of injury to his calf.

"I never knew when it would come," he said, "and obviously people were like, 'oh, he doesn't look after himself' [but] I would literally make sure my calves and soleus were bulletproof.

"But again, if it misfires and it goes, there's nothing I could do about it. I'd have an injection in my back to calm it all down."

Arguably Wales' greatest footballer, Bale broke records for appearances and goals for the men's national side having made his debut as a 16-year-old.

He was talismanic as Wales reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016 and also helped them reach the last 16 of Euro 2020 before scoring the goal against Ukraine that booked a place in the country's first World Cup in 64 years.

"I always got to a point where I guess a lot of people do in their career, do you keep going for what reason? What else do I want to achieve?" said Bale, who retired with 111 Wales appearances and 41 goals, having also played in MLS with LAFC.

"I felt like I achieved everything I wanted to. The last thing I did was qualify for a World Cup, which was the one thing that was last on my list.

"I felt it was the right time. It was a few years prior that I was probably ready but it just caught up with me."

Bale also said a family illness was a factor in retiring and added he had considered post-retirement plans for several years before announcing in January 2023 he was hanging up his boots.

That has included an interest in club ownership, with Bale forming part of a consortium that showed an interest in buying hometown club Cardiff City last summer.

Cardiff did not give serious consideration to the proposal that Bale admits "didn't materialise" but he says ownership remains an ambition.

"I always said when I retired, I wanted one, two, three years just to decompress, enjoy the kids and then try and find a few paths I want to do," he added.

"Something like that interests me more than... going into management. I feel like I've done that as a player and you've got to put even more hours in as a coach and a manager."