Tottenham announced on Sunday that they've parted ways with interim manager Igor Tudor, and now Spurs have begun the search for their fourth boss in less than a year
There has been a popular debate running among fans whether Tottenham being relegated would be a bigger story than Leicester City winning the title in 2016. Relegation would be unthinkable for Tottenham.
It seems impossible to imagine their £1billion world-class stadium welcoming Lincoln City in the Championship next season. And that is clearly why the Tottenham hierarchy have decided to roll the dice again and make another managerial change.
Ideally, they would have waited until the summer. But needs must. Igor Tudor has been a disaster from start to finish. The former Juventus boss was brought in to make an impact - but no-one expected it to be a negative one.
Incredibly, Tottenham have still yet to win a Premier League game in 2026 and, by the time of their next game at Sunderland on April 12, Spurs will be in the bottom three if West Ham beat Wolves two days earlier. The crisis is closing in.
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! Latest news, analysis and much more on Mirror Football's Facebook page
Tudor was in charge for seven games and did not manage a single victory in the Premier League. They won one game in the Champions League, managed one draw at Liverpool and suffered five defeats.
They are in serious danger of going down. It has only been heading one way under Tudor and only compassion - it was announced the former Croatia defender's father passed away after Tottenham's defeat to Nottingham Forest - stopped an announcement being made sooner. What is bizarre is that Tudor's last big job had been at Juventus.
Clearly, Spurs' former joint-sporting director Fabio Paratici, who had previously worked at Juventus, must have had a say which begs the question about the current regime's ability to make their own appointment. Agents and scouts have been distinctly unimpressed with Spurs' remaining sporting director Johan Lange who lacks experience, charisma and a track record of real note.
Even after the Tudor reign ended in him being ceremoniously dethroned, have been scouring the continent again amid a belief that it will be another risky appointment. They may turn to a fire fighting appointment to get them to safety and then look again in the summer.
Who should Tottenham appoint as their next manager? Let us know your pick in the comments section.
There has been lots written about Sean Dyche and he would provide experience and stability, but the former Forest and Everton boss is not interested in a short-term fix. Dyche until the end of the season is a non-starter.
They have looked at former Brighton and Marseille boss Roberto De Zerbi and Austrian coach Adi Hutter, who most recently managed Monaco, has also been linked with the job. Tottenham want to bring a new manager in the coming days so that he has time to work with the players ahead of that clash at Sunderland which already feels like it will be a defining fixture.
But the Spurs fans will rightly be questioning whether the next appointment will be any better than the last. Ange Postecoglou won the Europa League and got the sack for his trouble. His replacement Thomas Frank looked a good choice but his style was not embraced by the fans. However, you have to think of they had stuck with either they would not be in this mess now.
Suddenly, former chairman Daniel Levy, ousted back in September, does not seem so bad after all. The Lewis family took more responsibility but left the football decisions to Lange and chief executive Vinai Venkatesham.
Frank did well to survive Tottenham's home defeat to West Ham on January 17. If there had been a suitable caretaker in the building then there was a feeling they would have made a change the next day.
Three days later, Tottenham faced Borussia Dortmund. There were several club legends at the game. The club hierarchy gathered a few together. There was a feeling that if they had lost, Ledley King - who worked under Jose Mourinho - might have been asked to take charge.
Instead, Tottenham won and Frank limped on until they lost to Newcastle and he got sacked which gave them 12 days to find a successor. Ultimately, they chose badly. Tudor arrived and one of the first things he did was organise a team bonding meal. But players were squabbling across the dinner table even then.
The squad is underperforming, it lacks leaders and quality. They certainly did not listen to Tudor's broken English team talks. The 47-year-old is short on words but tried to bring passion.
His first game in charge was against Arsenal in the North London derby. He tried to go man-to-man, use high press tactics and they were horribly undone. Surely it was asking for trouble. They lost 4-1. And it got worse from there. Tudor's handling of the keepers shocked players, caused unrest in the dressing room and backfired.
First-choice Guglielmo Vicario was dropped against Atletico Madrid, Antonin Kinsky came in and had a nightmare and was hooked after just 17 minutes. That just about summed up Tudor's disastrous reign.
They cannot get it wrong again. Or, as Mick McCarthy might say, they can. But unless the new manager can connect with the players and galvanise the toxic atmosphere at home games, they are only heading one way.