Former Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp insists Spurs are “bang in” relegation trouble after their 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace on Thursday night.
Spurs are having a disastrous season in the Premier League with the defeat against the Eagles keeping them just a point ahead of the relegation zone.
Tottenham are currently sit in 17th place in the table with Nottingham Forest and West Ham on their coat-tail ahead of an exciting final nine matches of the season.
After sacking Thomas Frank for his terrible start to the season, interim head coach Igor Tudor is not faring any better with three losses from his first three matches in charge.
And Redknapp now thinks Tottenham “could even be favourites out the four to go” down with relegation rivals Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Leeds United in better form than them.
Redknapp told talkSPORT on Friday: “Four or five weeks ago I really couldn’t see Tottenham being involved in a relegation scrap.
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“Every week has gone by it’s got worse. West Ham are now playing very well which is great, Forest picked up a big point the other night, the only other side getting sucked in now is Leeds, they’ve got sucked into that battle as well, I thought they were clear because they’ve had a good season, played ever so well.
“But Tottenham are bang in it now, must be truthful. They’re looking like they could even be favourites out the four to go, it’s that desperate.”
Tudor has not minced his words in assessing Tottenham performances under his management and when asked about the interim boss’ comments, Redknapp replied: “I mean, I don’t know the man. He’s been around a long time, he’s managed at top clubs. He looks a bit of a hard nut, doesn’t he? He looks like you wouldn’t want to have a mess about with him, for sure.
“But I don’t know if that is the approach. I think that confidence obviously is low. They go out when they play at home, it seems that they they’ve not performed and they need a bit of confidence. They need a bit of belief in the team.
“They look to me like they need a arm round, have a little chat individually with every player and get them get them on side and make them start believing, ‘look go out and as best you can, try and enjoy playing football’, because at the moment they do they do look a bundle of nerves. They really do look on edge, which is dangerous.
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“West Ham made a couple of signings, Summerville’s come back from injury and he’s absolutely flying, him and Bowen together in the side, they’ve got a centre-forward now. West Ham are starting to believe, their crowd are amazing, they’ll stay with them. I could see them getting themselves out of trouble. They did look dead and buried five weeks ago.
“Forest are picking up one or two results, they got some decent players, they played three at the back the other night, looked physically strong, they’ll be difficult to beat.
“Leeds don’t deserve to be there, they’ve played very well this year, they had a go in every game, the games you’ve watched where they’ve led and been pegged back last minute don’t seem to have gone their way. But I think I think Forest, you know, got every chance of staying up. So Tottenham are bang in it. There’s absolutely no doubt about that at the moment.”
When asked if he would accept an offer from Tottenham to return as manager if they asked him, Redknapp responded: “Of course I would have to, wouldn’t I? But it’s not going to happen.
“No, I can’t see that happening. I think I’ll be at Cheltenham on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
“Wednesday I’ve got a runner, Taurus Bay, he runs in the first race on Wednesday. He’s got a chance, a 20/1 shot, it’s an open race but he’s got a shot.”