Should Spurs make big move now?
Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer
Mauricio Pochettino would top a fan poll as the permanent successor to Thomas Frank â the Argentine still a much-loved figure after taking Spurs to the 2019 Champions League Final.
There is every indication he would jump at a return to north London after he was sacked by former chairman Daniel Levy only five months after losing to Liverpool in Madrid.
Spurs fans pin the blame on Levy for failing to back the coach and many would welcome Pochettino back with open arms.
Any notion of a Pochettino return, however, must wait until after the World Cup, as he is entrusted with coaching the United States at a home showpiece.
If Spurs are to seek an immediate full-time appointment, this leaves Roberto de Zerbi as frontrunner. The talented but combustible Italian established a fine reputation at Brighton and is available having left Marseille by mutual consent in February.
De Zerbi is also believed to be amenable to the idea.
The question is whether he would want to take the job immediately, with that prospect of relegation hanging over Spurs, or would be prefer to wait until the end of the season to see what division they are in?
If Spurs are in the Premier League they would be hugely attractive proposition to De Zerbi, but he may well have other options in the summer having been heavily linked with Manchester United.
De Zerbi may prefer to bide his time and sit tight as opposed to taking on a salvage operation.
Send for former Spurs firefighter?
Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer
Who can realistically step in for what is now a firefighting job?
Former manager Harry Redknapp has indicated his willingness to return, but is now 79 and has not worked in management since being sacked by Birmingham City in May 2017. He was sacked by Spurs 14 years ago and calling for him would surely smack of desperation.
Redknapp has said Spurs "know where I am." It would be a sign of their plight should they go to find him.
Spurs legend Glenn Hoddle has also suggested he would be interested, but once again this would be a dip into the distant past.
Hoddle, now a respected television pundit, is 68, but was sacked as Spurs manager in September 2003. The last post the former England manager occupied was with Wolverhampton Wanderers, leaving in July 2006.
Ryan Mason, sacked by West Bromwich Albion in January, is a well-respected and popular figure having twice served as Spurs' caretaker manager following the sackings of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, but his reputation took a hit during an unrewarding spell at The Hawthorns.
After that disappointment, would Spurs turn to him? Would he even want to walk into such an ominous situation?
Tim Sherwood, the former player who left Spurs in May 2014 after a six-month spell as permanent head coach, has made it clear he fancies the job, saying: "I would keep them in the Premier League. I believe that someone with common sense keeps them in the Premier League."
Robbie Keane, currently at Ferencvaros in Hungary, falls into the category of the younger up-and-coming manager, but would the former Spurs captain leave a full-time job for a new post that might only extend to seven games.
One Premier League point & out of the Champions League
Igor Tudor lost each of his first four matches as Spurs boss. The opening defeat by north London rivals Arsenal was followed by losses against Fulham and Crystal Palace in the league before a calamitous 5-2 Champions League last 16 first-leg defeat away to Atletico Madrid.
He celebrated his first point after Richarlison scored a 90th-minute equaliser at Liverpool, and then watched his side win their second leg against Atletico - although they failed to overturn their three-goal deficit.
However, the woeful defeat by Forest heightened Spurs' fears of suffering their first relegation from the top flight since 1977 and proved to be the final game of his brief spell.
The single point which Spurs have collected since Tudor's appointment is the fewest of any side in the Premier League during that time.
But they have been bottom of the form table since mid-December.