Guardian Series

Both local clubs are deep in the relegation zone. The other teams involved in the scrap to avoid the drop are Nottingham Forest and Wolves, with Burnley and Sheffield United effectively gone.

It will come as a rude shock to West Ham or Spurs supporters to be hosting Championship football in their vast stadiums should either fall out of the top league. So how has this sorry situation come to pass?

Both teams have been on the managerial roundabout for the past two seasons.

The biggest mistake West Ham’s owners made was getting rid of David Moyes in the summer of 2024. The previous season the club had won the Europa Conference League; in Moyes’ final season they finished ninth and reached the quarter‑finals of the Europa League.

Moyes is now at Everton, who sit comfortably in mid‑table and are pushing upwards.

West Ham appointed former Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui, who never looked settled in the role and lasted only half a season. He was followed by Graham Potter, formerly of Chelsea and Brighton.

Potter steadied things enough to secure Premiership survival, but the wheels came off again at the start of this season.

Goodbye Potter, hello Nuno Espírito Santo, formerly of Nottingham Forest and Spurs. It took him some time to settle things down, but he now seems to have the team heading in the right direction.

The fans like Nuno, but there is a growing campaign against joint‑owner David Sullivan and chief executive Karen Brady. Many have never forgiven the pair for moving the club away from its iconic Upton Park home, and recruitment has been poor in recent years.

Spurs’ demise is harder to fathom.

Winners of the Europa League last season, the club then seemed to follow West Ham’s blueprint for mismanagement by sacking Ange Postecoglou.

In came former Brentford manager Thomas Frank. Things started brightly enough but results soon turned and Spurs have been in freefall since Christmas.

Frank was sacked and replaced by Igor Judge on an interim basis, but his 44‑day tenure was no better.

All the sides in the relegation battle, except Leeds, have had multiple managers this season. Forest tops the list with four (Espírito Santo began this season with them before moving to West Ham), Spurs have had three and West Ham two.

So what will happen? Spurs have a better‑quality squad than West Ham, but at the moment the players do not seem to want to play for the club.

West Ham have a good spirit within the squad but are overly reliant on two or three players. There is a basic lack of quality and inconsistency.

The ideal outcome, of course, would be that both survive, which is quite feasible. Indeed, that is the scenario I favour, with Leeds or Forest taking the final relegation place.

That, though, will depend on Spurs’ players finally coming together for the club and West Ham showing far more consistency. The next few games will be vital.

Tony Lenaghan, who worked as lead physiotherapist for Tottenham Hotspur FC during the 1980s, recently celebrated his 80th birthday in Ilford, where he continues to work part-time at Practice Plus Group Hospital Ilford.

The 80-year-old, who now mentors staff and treats patients recovering from hip and knee replacements, has spent more than 15 years serving the Ilford community.

His career has been shaped by personal health experiences, having undergone several operations at the same hospital where he works as an NHS patient.

His procedures have included two knee replacements, a hip replacement, and a hernia repair.

Mr Lenaghan said: "I genuinely love what I do. Having had surgery myself, I know how life-changing timely treatment can be. If I hadn’t had my joint surgeries when I did, I doubt I’d still be fit and active enough to keep working.

"Being treated by colleagues I work alongside made all the difference. It’s inspiring to help patients get back on their feet and regain independence.

"I want to keep working part-time at the hospital for as long as I can. I don’t have any plans to fully retire… yet."

Mr Lenaghan is well known for his quick return to work following surgery—once telling his wife that he "needed to exercise" before heading to the pub on crutches shortly after being discharged.

Mark Gilmour, hospital director, said: "Tony represents the very best of community healthcare. His long career in elite sport and local patient care is extraordinary.

"The fact that he has undergone joint surgery here and continues to work with such energy speaks volumes about both his resilience and passion to keep working.

"He is an inspiration to both his colleagues and patients."

A committed physiotherapist, Mr Lenaghan treated Tottenham Hotspur FC players in the 1980s before going on to work with professional teams in the Middle East for ten years alongside his wife Ann, who was also a physiotherapist.

Outside his professional life, Mr Lenaghan is also known for an act of bravery. As a teenager in Glasgow, he saved a man from drowning when he was just 19.

The man later tracked him down to thank him, and Mr Lenaghan was honoured with a long-overdue Bravery Medal at Glasgow’s City Chambers last year. The original medal had been stolen years earlier.

Practice Plus Group Hospitals continues to help reduce NHS waiting lists in routine operations such as hip and knee surgery, hernia and cataract operations. NHS patients can request a referral from their GP, while private patients can book directly through Wellsoon by Practice Plus Group.