As Tottenham’s season continues to unravel and push them closer to the relegation zone, fans and pundits are asking serious questions.
Thomas Frank has already been blamed and sacked. Igor Tudor has now gone, likely to be replaced by Roberto de Zerbi.
But what about those above them? Sporting director Johan Lange and Vinai Venkatesham have decisions to answer for, having taken a top six club to the brink of the Championship.
The pair have largely flown under the radar with the press, although perhaps not with Tottenham’s fanbase.
They, after all, have wanted change for a while. But that was largely focused on Daniel Levy. He acted as the lightning rod for criticism, bearing the blame amid perceived failures. Now he’s gone, attention must turn to those who remained.
BBC analysis points the finger at the hierarchy
And back in Lange’s native Denmark, they’re becoming aware of his failures. Ekstra Bladet report on the 46-year-old today and how ‘could be the next fired’ at Tottenham.
They report on a piece from BBC football editor Phil McNulty, who writes this week that the spotlight has shifted away from the dugout at Tottenham and onto the boardroom.
According to him Johan Lange, appointed in 2023, is among those under pressure.
He describes Igor Tudor’s short-lived tenure as “a bizarre and potentially big and expensive mistake”. The responsibility, according to him, lies with Vinai Venkatesham and Lange.
Another misstep from those two in appointing Tottenham’s third manager of the season could have catastrophic consequences.
A decision that could define Tottenham’s future
“If Venkatesham and Lange make the wrong decision in their next appointment, it is conceivable that Tottenham could end up in the Championship,” McNulty writes. Such a relegation, he argues, would leave a scar “impossible to recover from”.
Tudor’s reign of five defeats, one draw and a single win from seven games, has only deepened the crisis. With no replacement announced yet, pressure is growing on Spurs leadership by the day.
And now Johan Lange’s failures have made it back to his homeland. Denmark is learning that one of their star men, is not shining brightly.
A summer of sackings
As Tottenham now search for stability, the question is whether the next dismissal is on the touchline or the in the boardroom.
The club’s owners will surely be assessing every level of the hierarchy, and Johan Lange may find himself uncomfortably close to the danger zone.
Questions are already being asked in the British media. Now it’s spreading to his homeland, and others will surely follow.