Our new Men's Head Coach Igor Tudor takes his first steps in English football in a managerial career that now spans six countries since his first role in 2013.
A defender in his playing days, Igor started and ended his career with boyhood club Hajduk Split either side of a most notable nine-year spell at Italian giants Juventus - winning two Serie A titles, two Italian Super Cups, an Intertoto Cup and started in the 2003 Champions League final - and earned 55 caps for Croatia.
With a coaching CV totalling 10 clubs across Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Italy, France and now England, the 47-year-old has built a reputation for delivering instant improvements following various mid-season appointments through a style of play built on clarity, intensity and organisation.
Working in England for the first time, the Croat - who is fluent in English and Italian - has visited Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before in the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League - more on that later - and his primary task in the home dugout is none other than Sunday's north London derby against Arsenal in the Premier League.
As he introduces himself to our playing squad and gets to work at Hotspur Way this week, this is Igor's journey from early foundations in his home country to his latest adventure at Spurs.
One of his first assignments was the 2013 Croatian Cup final up against Lokomotiva and guided them to a 5-4 aggregate win over two legs in May 2013. In his first full season at the helm, he then led HAJ to a respectable third-placed finish in the Croatian top flight and would later depart the club with them in third position during the winter break the following term.
Trip overseas
In 2015, Igor moved to Greece to manage PAOK Thessaloniki and, prior to the Super League 1 season starting, he navigated PAOK through the UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds to the group stage proper - eventually ending third behind Krasnodar and Borussia Dortmund despite taking four points from the German outfit.
Spurs connection - Igor brought in Dimitar Berbatov on a free that summer.
He departed PAOK before the end of the campaign after 45 matches at the helm in March 2016 and made the move across the Mediterranean to Turkey later that year.
Initially joining newly-promoted Turkish Süper Lig side Kardemir Karabükspor ahead of the 2016/17 campaign, Igor impressed with the top division newcomers and, following 2-1 victories over both Galatasaray and eventual champions Besiktas in early 2017, he moved midway through the season to Turkish giants Galatasaray where he remained in post until the December.
Back to Italy
A household name in Italian football following his nine-year stint at the Old Lady in his playing days, his first move into managing in Serie A came at a struggling Udinese who were staring perilously at a first relegation in 25 years and on a 10-game losing streak in April 2018.
Having conceded a stoppage-time equaliser in a dramatic 3-3 draw with Benevento in his first game in charge, they bounced back from a 4-0 defeat to Inter Milan next time out with successive 1-0 wins over Hellas Verona and Bologna to beat the drop. The Croat departed Udinese at the end of that campaign, but was back the following term with the task of keeping them up once again as they sat one point above the relegation zone. With 11 games to navigate this time, and Spurs connection Sandro at the base of his midfield, he steered them well clear of trouble to end in 12th, a joint-best finish in the 13 years prior.
Igor left Italy in November 2019 and returned home for a brief second spell at Hajduk Split halfway through the 2019/20 season before being prized away by the club he played 174 games for to work under Juventus head coach Andrea Pirlo in 2020/21. During his time as assistant in Turin, he worked with our current players Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur and Radu Dragusin as Juve ended with the Coppa Italia and 78 points to finish fourth in Serie A – a tally which hasn’t been bettered since by the club.
He stepped back into management the following season when he took over a winless Hellas Verona four games into the 2021/22 campaign. Implementing an aggressive style of play and a back three tactical setup utilising energetic wing-backs, they were the league’s surprise package and finished above expectations in ninth with 53 points as well as the joint-fourth best scorers in the division.
After one season in Verona, Igor was then appointed as Olympique de Marseille head coach ahead of 2022/23 and his demanding fitness standards and structured pressing game shaped them into one of Ligue 1's most intense sides predominantly playing his favoured 3-4-2-1 system.
Unbeaten in his opening six league games - five wins, one draw - his first defeat of the campaign would come in the Champions League group stage opener when the French outfit travelled to N17 and a Richarlison brace in the final 15 minutes helped see off 10-man Marseille in September 2022.
In the return leg at the Stade Velodrome, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's winner deep into injury-time sealed a dramatic 2-1 victory to see us through to the knockouts with an impassioned Igor even on the pitch as Harry Kane squared to Pierre who rifled home.
Whilst Les Olympiens exited in the group stage, their domestic form remained strong as they knocked Paris Saint-Germain out of the Coupe de France and went on to secure Champions League qualification in third spot.
Second Italian stint
He left the Stade Velodrome of his own accord at the end of the campaign and spent a few months out of management until Lazio came calling in March to turn things around towards the end of 2023/24.
Igor's impact was immediate. His opening game in charge saw them score a stoppage-time winner to beat Juventus and, although his former side knocked them out in the Coppa Italia semi-finals (winning 3-2 on aggregate), his only league defeat was a 1-0 to city rivals Roma as they climbed to seventh to secure a Europa League spot.
Following his departure from Lazio in the summer, his next role came a year after taking over at Stadio Olimpico when he went back to the Bianconeri in March 2024, only this time to lead the men’s first team.
The Old Lady were fifth at the time and four teams sat within four points of each other vying for the final Champions League spot in fourth. Juventus secured it - Randal Kolo Muani on target in their crucial 3-2 success over Venezia on the final day - as they only lost once in his nine league games in charge that term.