The media is fixated on the manager. The Irish Times and others have asked whether Tudor can fix Tottenham or whether he should be sacked. The real story is that Tottenham’s ownership and structure make any manager a scapegoat, and swapping Tudor for someone else changes nothing unless the board changes.
The Manager Carousel Is the Wrong Story
Igor Tudor was appointed interim manager in February 2026 after Thomas Frank’s departure. According to The Irish Times, he agreed a deal until the end of the season. By early March he had lost his first four matches, the club had lost six in a row for the first time in its history, and Spurs sat one point above the relegation zone. The Guardian quoted Tudor calling the Tottenham rescue job the biggest problem of his career and noting he had only around 12 available players. The Times argued that admitting the Tudor error might be Tottenham’s only route to safety, given the estimated 250 million pound cost of relegation. The Irish Times has framed the question as whether any manager can fix Tottenham. The answer the mainstream coverage avoids is that the question is backwards. The structure and the board have produced a cycle of short tenures, crisis appointments, and scapegoats. Nuno Espirito Santo lasted 124 days. The club has had caretakers and interims repeatedly. Tudor is the latest face of a deeper problem.
The Irish Times and Ken Early have asked how you solve a problem like Tottenham Hotspur. The piece is not about one manager; it is about the culture and the hierarchy. Daniel Levy stepped down in September 2025; the new regime under Vinai Venkatesham and the board chose Tudor in a relegation scrap. When results did not improve, the same outlets that asked whether Tudor can fix Spurs began asking whether he should be sacked. The narrative stays on the manager. The real story is that the board hired a manager for a crisis, gave him an injury-ravaged squad and a short leash, and will likely replace him with another name without fixing the structure that created the crisis. The Irish Times has been one of the few to question whether any manager can succeed in this setup. The mainstream fixation on Tudor obscures that.
Structure Over Personality
Tottenham’s recent manager history is a pattern. Mauricio Pochettino had years of relative stability; since his departure the club has churned through Mourinho, Nuno, Conte, Postecoglou, Frank, and now Tudor. The Telegraph has said that if Spurs are relegated, it will be on the new regime, not Levy. That implies the current board owns the outcome. Yet the same board is the one that appointed Tudor and is now reportedly considering a U-turn, as Sports Illustrated and the BBC have reported. So the board is both the author of the crisis and the one deciding whether to swap the manager. That is the structure. Unless the board changes how it makes decisions, who it holds accountable, and how it supports managers, the next appointment will face the same cycle. The Irish Times is right to ask whether any manager can fix Tottenham. The answer is no, not unless the board changes.
What This Actually Means
Swapping Tudor for another manager might buy a headline or a short-term bounce. It will not fix the underlying problem. The media is fixated on the manager because it is the easiest story. The harder story is that Tottenham’s ownership and structure have produced repeated crises and that any manager in this job is set up to become the next scapegoat. The Irish Times and a handful of others have pointed in that direction. Unless the board changes, neither Tudor nor the next manager will fix Tottenham.
What Is Tottenham’s Recent Manager History?
Since Mauricio Pochettino’s departure, Tottenham have had Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo, Antonio Conte, Ange Postecoglou, Thomas Frank, and Igor Tudor. Nuno lasted only 124 days. The club has repeatedly used caretakers and interim appointments. The pattern suggests structural instability: each new manager is hired in hope and then judged against results that are shaped by injuries, squad depth, and board decisions. The Irish Times and other analysts have argued that the question is not who the manager is but whether the structure allows any manager to succeed.
Who Is Igor Tudor?
Igor Tudor is a Croatian former defender and current manager. He was appointed Tottenham’s interim head coach in February 2026 after Thomas Frank’s departure, with the task of steering the club away from relegation. He had lost his first four matches by early March and faced intense criticism and reported dressing-room unrest. His preferred system uses 5-2-3 or 5-3-2 with aggressive pressing, but results and structural issues at the club have overshadowed tactical debate.
Sources
The Irish Times, The Guardian, The Times, The Irish Times, The Telegraph, Sports Illustrated