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Spurs have taken a remarkable risk in appointing Igor Tudor, but his sustained record of rescuing clubs mid-season does show method in the apparent madness.

Quite fittingly for a club that has lost its entire head, Spurs have appointed a Tudor.

The Croatian has been picked as the man to take over from Thomas Frank before a more permanent arrangement is made in the summer – when Mauricio Pochettino should become available.

It is sensational work for Spurs to ignore the recommendation of Fabio Paratici for Tudor to replace Frank, then listen only when Paratici has left.

But expecting joined-up, coherent, strategic thinking from Spurs at any point in their history, never mind these halcyon days of 2026, is not in itself the most sensible thing to do.

Have they, however, actually stumbled upon a decent decision? When one of the leading alternatives pushed to the foreground is Tim Sherwood: yes.

And Tudor does have a decent track record of being parachuted into clubs during seasons and doing well.

It remains to be seen whether that qualifies him as the best candidate to be thrown headfirst into a circus with his first game being a derby against perhaps the best club in the country, needing to turn around a team five points from a potentially ruinous relegation with 12 league games left. But he has done well in similar circumstances before…

Hajduk Split – appointed April 29, 2013

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Hajduk “found ourselves in a position where qualifying for Europe is in jeopardy,” as president Marin Babic said when sacking coach Miso Krsticevic, sporting director Sergije Kresic and consultant Fredi Fiorentini just one day after a defeat at home to Rijeka.

Croatia assistant Tudor was drafted in and secured European qualification on goal difference despite overseeing a single victory in four league games.

His biggest impact was evident in the Croatian Cup, which he delivered with a pulsating 5-4 aggregate win over Lokomotiva.

That should be easy enough to replicate in the Champions League.

Galatasaray – appointed February 15, 2017

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There were no such distractions in Tudor’s next post; Galatasaray had already been eliminated from the Turkish Cup by the time he arrived, with their European ban for financial irregularities also upheld that season.

Jan Olde Riekerink was shown the door with Gala third in the Super Lig, five points behind leaders Besiktas.

It was a gap Tudor could not close. Galatasaray even slipped to fourth, ultimately holding onto a European qualification spot but suffering a particularly bruising 4-0 defeat to Istanbul Basaksehir in April.

Spurs legend Emmanuel Adebayor scored a hat-trick. It was a different time.

Then Tudor started the next season being beaten by Graham Potter’s Ostersund in Europa League qualifying. Oh mate.

Udinese – appointed April 24, 2018

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“There is important work to be done, so we can end this season the way the club deserves, then we can resume with new energy,” Tudor said when making his long-awaited return to Serie A, this time as a manager.

Udinese had already dispensed with Luigi Delneri and Massimo Oddo by the time Tudor came in on the back of an 11-game losing run in the league.

He did stem that tide with a 3-3 draw with Benevento, before Inter thrashed Tudor’s side 4-0.

But the season ended with wins over Verona and Bologna to pull Udinese clear of any relegation worries; had they lost those two games they would have gone down by a point.

Tudor and Udinese could not come to an agreement to extend the union beyond the end of the campaign, however, so he upped and left…

Udinese – appointed March 20, 2019

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…only to return within the year to save them again.

His summer replacement, Julio Velazquez, only made it to November, while Davide Nicola lasted a handful of months himself. So for the second consecutive season, Tudor embraced the role of Udinese’s third manager in one campaign.

This task seemed tougher: they were 16th, one point above the relegation zone after winning just three of their last 14 Serie A games.

But Tudor again turned things around, engineering wins in six-pointers against Genoa, Empoli, Frosinone, SPAL and Cagliari – while this time holding Inter to a goalless draw at home – to secure mid-table safety.

Who patrolled Tudor’s Udinese midfield at the time? Another Spurs icon in Sandro. It’s meant to be.

Hajduk Split – appointed January 2, 2020

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Tudor does not subscribe to the notion that you should never go back, doing the Splits twice for his hometown club.

It did not go especially well the second time around. There was certainly no trophy, with everything other than their league endeavours taken off the table long before Tudor came in.

But with him in charge Hajduk slipped from a distant second to an almost disastrous fifth, losing as often as they won in one of his few true interim failures.

Lazio – appointed March 18, 2024

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After the second-longest reign of his entire managerial career – 48 games – was ended by Marseille, Tudor spent close to a year out of work until he landed at Lazio.

He replaced Maurizio Sarri on an 18-month contract, guided them from ninth upon his appointment to European qualification by winning more than half his games, beat Juventus twice and was only narrowly knocked out of the Coppa Italia at the semi-final stage.

Then he quit less than three months into his stay, reportedly due to ‘tiredness’ with the club. He might not last the week at Spurs.

Juventus – appointed March 23, 2025

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Tudor again spent about a year in the shadows, aware that he just needed to wait for Juventus to sack enough managers so that he’d finally get his Knows The Club-based turn.

That finally came to pass last season, when Thiago Motta was terminated for elimination from every competition while only having The Old Lady in fifth, a point off Champions League qualification.

Tudor could dedicate the entirety of his focus to that cause and ultimately benefited for it, comfortably dragging Juventus over the line in the end.

It went hilariously wrong beyond that initial remit, with Tudor sacked by October for a run of eight winless games. But Spurs will concern themselves with what comes after this season when they know whether to prepare for the Premier League or the Championship.

Tudor has engendered enough new manager bounces to suggest they should just about be alright.

Tottenham have scoured the interim manager market and landed on someone with no Premier League experience whatsoever in Igor Tudor, who was sacked by Juventus in October after leading them on eight-game winless run. This could be really grim/very funny.

Spurs sacked Thomas Frank on Wednesday after their 2-1 defeat to Newcastle on Tuesday evening left them just five points clear of the relegation zone after failing to win any of their last eight Premier League games, losing four of them.

Roberto De Zerbi and Mauricio Pochettino are thought to be Tottenham’s preferred permanent successors to Frank, but the former has decided to take a break from football after what looked like an exhausting end to his time at Marseille (as all endings appear to be for the eccentric Italian), while Pochettino will lead USMNT at the World Cup.

John Heitinga was in the frame to be promoted from assistant to caretaker boss, but Spurs have instead opted for Tudor in a bolt from the blue which has many of the necessary markers of disaster.

The 47-year-old has had a varied managerial career, including stints at Marseille, Galatasaray and several Serie A clubs among others, and Spurs will have been attracted to his reputation as a ‘fixer’, coming into clubs during the season and turning things around, having done that at Udinese (twice), Hellas Verona and Lazio.

But the eagle-eyed among you will notice a trend in those clubs, all in Serie A, and Tudor not only has no Premier League experience but has only ever managed two games against Premier League opposition – Tottenham ironically; both defeats while in charge of Marseille in 2022.

He’s known for intense, high-pressing, direct football, which may suit Spurs owing to their lack of ball-playing midfielders, and something of a no-nonsense attitude, both with players and club chiefs. He left both Marseille and Lazio after falling out with the hierarchy.

He absolutely could be the kick up the arse a floundering football club that’s completely lost its way needs, but the way things unravelled at Juventus in his most recent role should be a huge concern.

“Am I someone who resolves problems? I consider myself a coach,” Tudor said when announced as Juventus’ new manager just under a year ago. Probably an entertainer third.

“I started coaching young and I’ve been doing it for 10-15 years, I have gone around a lot, I can also be a bit particular because I make choices with my heart.”

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As will be the task at Spurs, he was charged with stabilising the Old Lady, and managed to lead them into the Champions League, and the same uptick in passion and tactical stability showed by the Serie A side in that last part of the season will see Tottenham cruise away from the relegation zone in what remains of the current campaign.

But the attack dried up after he was handed a long-term deal in the summer of 2025. The creativity was lacking and there was no clear evidence of tactical instruction in the final third. Sound familiar?

Another very Spurs(y) quirk to Tudor’s appointment is Fabio Paratici calling for him to replace Frank last month, Frank then outlasting Paratici – who left, sick of being ignored – before Frank was sacked and now Tudor hired. It’s exactly the sort of joined-up thinking we’ve come to expect from the Spurs powers that be and we’re thoroughly looking forward to Paratici’s return for a third spell.

It’s the sort of appointment that, if it comes off, will be hailed as a stroke of genius. But that’s also an appointment that indicates a not insignificant amount of risk. What if the ‘fixer’ can only fix Serie A clubs? What if the good, passionate bit comes to nothing and Spurs are left with a spiky operator who hates everything about the football club (Spurs have seen that before)?

Frank had to go, but Spurs fans will have hoped for his replacement to failsafe them against relegation. What’s actually happened is the board have thrown the dice. Again, this could be really grim/very funny.

Tottenham have struck a ‘verbal agreement’ for former Juventus head coach Igor Tudor to become their new manager, according to reports.

Spurs made decision to part company with Thomas Frank on Wednesday after their 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United on Tuesday evening.

It was their eighth match in the Premier League without a victory and 16th-placed Tottenham could be in relegation trouble unless they start winning soon.

There have been rumours about potential interim managers and permanent head coaches but former CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs has revealed that Tottenham have made their decision to go with a caretaker until the end of the season.

Jacobs wrote on X: ‘Spurs have decided to appoint an interim manager before proceeding with a permanent coach this summer.’

The transfer journalist later added that Tudor had been approached by Tottenham over the head coach role until the end of the season.

READ: Tottenham next manager: Shock new favourite emerges as De Zerbi hopes fade

Jacobs wrote: ‘Spurs have approached Igor Tudor to potentially take over until the end of the season, as @MatteMoretto first called. Spurs will put an interim in place ahead of making an appointment this summer.’

It came after Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio had claimed that Tottenham have reached a ‘verbal agreement’ on a deal until June.

Di Marzio wrote on X: ‘Verbal agreement reached between Tudor and Tottenham. The Croatian coach has accepted Spurs for a contract until June. Only the signature is missing.’

On his website, Di Marzio added more detail: ‘Tottenham are considering Igor Tudor as their new manager: the situation at the English club

‘Tottenham continue the casting process for their new manager and confirmation has arrived of Matteo Moretto’s morning rumours regarding Igor Tudor ‘s name as Frank ‘s successor.

‘A meeting was held this morning, and a contract offer lasting until June was made. Tudor, along with his agent Seric, is evaluating whether or not to accept. The consensus is that the offer is likely to be yes, despite the short-term nature of the contract. A final decision is expected in the next few hours.’

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Former Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou claimed on Thursday that Spurs are “not a big club” and that the whole club is “really curious”.

Postecoglou said on The Overlap: “You know, when you walk into Tottenham, what you see everywhere is ‘To dare is to do’. It’s everywhere. And yet their actions are almost the antithesis of that. It’s really curious in terms of understanding what they’re trying to build. What are they?

“There’s obviously been huge investment – they’ve built an unbelievable stadium, unbelievable training facilities. But when you look at the expenditure, particularly the wage structure, they’re not a big club. I saw that first-hand because when we were trying to sign players, we weren’t in the market for those players.

“They’re not a big club in terms of the wages they pay. The transfer fees might not be the biggest in the league, but they’re always there or thereabouts. However, there’s a cap on wages that won’t be broken.”

Tottenham have made ex-RB Leipzig head coach Marco Rose a contender to succeed Thomas Frank as they make a decision on an interim boss, according to reports.

The north Londoners took the decision on Wednesday to sack Frank after Spurs lost 2-1 at home to Newcastle United in the Premier League on Monday.

That defeat took their run of games without a win to eight in the Premier League with 16th-placed Tottenham in danger of getting sucked into a relegation battle unless they start winning soon.

There have been rumours about potential interim managers and permanent head coaches but former CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs has revealed that Tottenham have made their decision to go with a caretaker until the end of the season.

Jacobs wrote on X: ‘Spurs have decided to appoint an interim manager before proceeding with a permanent coach this summer.’

One manager Tottenham are now considering as their next boss is former Borussia Dortmund and Leipzig boss Rose, who played under ex-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp as a Mainz player.

READ: Tottenham next manager: Shock new favourite emerges as De Zerbi hopes fade

TalkSPORT claim that Rose is a ‘shock new contender’ to replace Frank at Tottenham as Spurs consider number of options to take over as head coach.

Netherlands international Xavi Simons – who discovered some of his best form under the German coach – ‘could now be reunited with Rose at Spurs, with the club on the lookout for a new manager following Thomas Frank’s sacking.’

Speaking about how Liverpool legend Klopp shaped his career in football, Rose said: “I spent a lot of years under ‘Kloppo’, and it was a great time.

“He shaped all of us. We picked up a few things in terms of football, but above all, it was the way he was with people [that was influential].

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“Maybe there are a few coaching parallels with me and Jurgen, but I’ve also found my own style.”

Rose also told the Bundesliga’s official website about his playing style and philosophy with Tottenham getting a glimpse of what they can expect from one option to replace Frank.

He said: “We want to be very active working against the ball when we lose possession, lots of sprinting.

“We want to win the ball high up the pitch and have a short path to goal.

“And when we have the ball ourselves, we want to play well; we don’t want to punt high balls up the pitch, but be quick and dynamic getting forward.”

Porto head coach Francesco Farioli has no intention of leaving the Portuguese club for Tottenham before the end of the season, according to reports.

Spurs made the decision to part company with Frank on Wednesday morning after losing 2-1 at home to Newcastle United in the Premier League.

Jacob Ramsey’s winning goal for the Magpies saw Tottenham continue their run of eight matches without a win in the Premier League with Spurs now 16th in the table,

It is currently unclear what path Tottenham will go down in terms of their next manager with interim and permanent options both currently on the table.

One manager who won’t be taking over, at least for the time being, is Porto head coach Farioli as Portuguese outlet Jornal de Noticias ‘understands that the Italian coach is not interested in leaving FC Porto mid-season, because he intends to see through to the end the work he started in the summer, when he was chosen by Andre Villas-Boas to replace Martin Anselmi.’

Former Nice and Ajax head coach Farioli only joined Porto in July and is now ‘part of a shortlist of candidates to fill the vacancy left by Thomas Frank’ at Tottenham.

READ: Tottenham next manager: Shock new favourite emerges as De Zerbi hopes fade

The report continues: ‘Not long ago, Francesco Farioli experienced a similar situation when he was in Chelsea’s plans, and there too he made a commitment that he was firmly committed to Porto and to the president’s project until the end.’

One manager who is ‘open’ to leaving their current club for north London is Ferencvaros manager Robbie Keane, according to The Sun, with the former Spurs striker ‘ready to come to Tottenham’s rescue’.

However, ‘it is unclear if Keane would be prepared to leave Hungary for a caretaker position’ as Tottenham could potentially appoint an interim.

Ange Postecoglou insisted on The Overlap on Thursday that Tottenham are “not a big club” and described the north London outfit as “curious”.

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After that interview, former Tottenham striker Teddy Sheringham insists Spurs should “never have sacked” the Australian and was a “big advocate” of the former Celtic manager.

Sheringham told MrQ: “I was a big advocate of Ange. Spurs should never have sacked him. He didn’t care where they ended up in the Premier League as long as he won something for the football club, and he did that. He told them what he was going to do, and he did it.”

When asked whether he would take Postecoglou back at Tottenham, Sheringham added: “I don’t think you can take him back now. I mean, there was such a funny vibe at the club when he went. I think that would be wrong to do that now.”

On who the next Tottenham head coach should be, he continued: “I’d like to see Xabi Alonso. I don’t know what went wrong for him at Real Madrid, but he’s an outstanding football man, and he’s had a good win ratio in his career.”

Fabrizio Romano has revealed the latest on reports linking Mauricio Pochettino and Roberto De Zerbi with the Tottenham job after Thomas Frank was sacked.

Spurs made decision to part company with Frank on Wednesday after their 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United on Tuesday evening.

It was their eighth match in the Premier League without a victory and 16th-placed Tottenham could be in relegation trouble unless they start winning soon.

However, it is still unclear how Tottenham will proceed in appointing their next manager with interim options on the table, as well as permanent ones.

Former Brighton boss De Zerbi, who recently lost his job at Marseille, and ex-Tottenham head coach Pochettino are two of the front-runners with the bookmakers – but the those two potential appointments seem to be more likely in the summer.

Romano said on his YouTube channel: “The Tottenham job is now available following the dismissal of Thomas Frank, and there are two key names to clarify.

READ: Tottenham next manager: Shock new favourite emerges as De Zerbi hopes fade

“Roberto De Zerbi is highly appreciated internally and would be open to returning to Premier League football.

“However, De Zerbi is not a coach who rushes into decisions. He wants clarity on the project, long-term vision and structure before accepting any role.

“Tottenham’s interest is confirmed, but De Zerbi is assessing the wider market as more positions could open up across Europe between now and the summer.

“Regarding Mauricio Pochettino, the current position is complicated because the US Federation do not want to lose him only months before the World Cup.

“A summer appointment could only become realistic depending on Tottenham’s strategy, especially if they choose an interim solution until after the tournament.”

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Ange Postecoglou was the Tottenham head coach last season before Frank took over in the summer and the Australian claims Spurs are “not a big club”.

Postecoglou said on The Overlap: “You know, when you walk into Tottenham, what you see everywhere is ‘To dare is to do’. It’s everywhere. And yet their actions are almost the antithesis of that. It’s really curious in terms of understanding what they’re trying to build. What are they?

“There’s obviously been huge investment – they’ve built an unbelievable stadium, unbelievable training facilities. But when you look at the expenditure, particularly the wage structure, they’re not a big club. I saw that first-hand because when we were trying to sign players, we weren’t in the market for those players.

“They’re not a big club in terms of the wages they pay. The transfer fees might not be the biggest in the league, but they’re always there or thereabouts. However, there’s a cap on wages that won’t be broken.”

Postecoglou, who won the Europa League in his final game at the club, continued: “At the end of my first year, when we finished fifth, for me it was: OK, how do you go from fifth to really challenging? Well, we had to sign Premier League-ready players.

“But finishing fifth that year didn’t get us into the Champions League, so we didn’t have the money. We ended up signing Dom Solanke, who I was absolutely keen on – I really like him – and three teenagers.

“At the time, I was looking at Pedro Neto, Bryan Mbeumo and Antoine Semenyo, Marc Guehi as well, because I said if we’re going to go from fifth to there, that’s what the other big clubs would do in that moment.”

Spurs seeking a manager, is it? Trying to avoid relegation, are they?

It’s a fascinating and grim situation Spurs have fashioned for themselves here, because this is not your usual late-season managerial appointment; it’s rare for teams to find themselves in Spurs’ current nexus where short-term realities collide so violently with long-term ambitions.

Spurs have neither the luxury to just write the season off under a throwaway caretaker; they’ve waded too far into the sh*t under Thomas Frank to go that route. But nor can they make a permanent appointment with only the next few nail-biting months in their thoughts or they’re just going to end up straight back in another mess.

They’ve already blown the chance to get a new manager when they could get him some new players, so whoever comes in needs to work with what he’s got and that does in the very short term mainly mean just making everyone feel a bit less sh*t about themselves and trying to produce some football that is a) effective and b) doesn’t make everyone involved decide they prefer rugby or, heaven help us all, g*lf.

So who should it be? We’ve eliminated options that are too far-fetched because they simply won’t come to Spurs or are too unavailable, with the exception of one who would definitely come to Spurs but is too unavailable. But that’s just because he’s still third favourite to actually get the job despite it appearing to be impossible and is also the clear frequently vocalised choice of match-going fans, as well as being just the obvious appointment if it was possible to make, which it isn’t.

We’re sure you’ve guessed who that is. But apart from him, all of these options feel like they could be readily achievable if mainly being deeply flawed. And yes, these things are very much linked.

Now listen, we’re not saying this is what Spurs should do okay? They definitely shouldn’t do actually specifically this actual thing. It would be a mental thing to do. His last proper management gig was with Birmingham, which ended with them second bottom of the Championship after five straight defeats and Redknapp announcing his retirement.

Sure, he rowed back on that to sniff around the Leeds job after Jesse Marsch was deemed just too American for anyone to take seriously, but nothing came of that either. His last Premier League experience was yo-yoing QPR out of and back into the Barclays in 2013 and 2014 before walking away in 2015.

So no, Spurs should not actually entrust their Premier League and financial security to a man who turns 79 last month and who has been retired for eight years.

But – and with all due understanding of the fact that anything before the but can and will be ignored – there is a case for a Redknapp type to come in for the last 12 games of the season and do, well, pretty much what he did when he turned up and turned around the infamous two points from eight games season largely by telling a group of players who no longer believed after months spent with a mood-hoover for a coach that they were all in fact triffic top, top footballers.

I mean, it’s the same isn’t it? He would come in and tell them they’re brilliant. He would tell everyone else that he is brilliant.

What nudges Sherwood above dear old ‘Arry is most obviously that he is significantly younger, but also that there is a win-win element to this: he would either keep Spurs up, which is good news for Spurs, or in relegating them destroy that second-to-none win percentage of which he is so enormously proud.

But we remain here very obviously in the realm of the terrible idea that obviously shouldn’t happen and more importantly definitely won’t. We don’t think.

Spurs are many things as a football club, but subtle is rarely one of them. One of the many ways they sought to support and help their man Thomas Frank while not giving him any more actual footballers was to appoint Heitinga as his assistant.

It’s a wonderfully Spursy move, because it was either entirely guileless and obvious succession planning, which is bad, or they genuinely are now a sufficiently clown-car operation that they really were just trying to help and didn’t realise how it would obviously look if they appointed an assistant who had only recently left title-winning Liverpool because he didn’t want to be an assistant any more, trying his luck with disastrous consequences as head coach of Ajax.

In spectacularly Spursy fashion they’ve ended up positioning an obvious interim who was both obviously overqualified for the assistant role yet alarmingly underqualified for even a temporary head coach gig.

Heitinga brings a tiny bit of lots of beneficial qualities, but surely not quite enough of any of them given the gravity of the situation.

He Knows The Club a little bit. He has been head coach of a bampot big club a little bit. If Spurs were in a ‘season’s a write-off, let’s bin the manager and muddle through to summer as best we can’ scenario, Heitinga would be fine.

But the relegation threat is too immediate, too real and too unthinkable a prospect. There is no really good option for Spurs here, but promoting anyone connected – however tenuously – to the despised Frank regime won’t have the galvanising effect an outside appointment could and there just isn’t enough convincingly plausible upside to an unknown quantity like Heitinga to make this worthwhile.

Gets points for being funny. And would be even funnier after he popped along for a nice chat with Gary Neville and the lads to sh*t all over Spurs in full Conte style. But, we suspect, probably does make this even more of a non-starter than it already was.

Available. Would keep them up. Would wind them up. Would definitely not be seen wandering around holding a tiny little coffee cup with the Arsenal badge on it.

Here we arrive at a vaguely plausible version of the Redknapp-Sherwood-type short-term vibes appointment. One that feels a bit more Michael Carrick than those, in that no, Keane doesn’t have a CV that screams suitability for this job but nor is it entirely empty with all massive recent employment gaps.

He has trod an interesting path through the early days of his coaching career, winning league titles in both Israel and Hungary as well as working in India and England and with the Ireland national team.

Keane famously has many boyhood clubs, but it is Spurs with whom he is most indelibly linked after playing over 300 games for the club across two spells,

There would not quite be the uniting energy that we suspect only really Poch can bring, with the doubts about Keane’s untested credentials at this level entirely valid, but there would be a groundswell of support. Spurs fans would at the very least all want one of their favourite sons to succeed, and there would definitely be a significant lift in the mood.

Into the realm of feasible permanent appointments, with one Italian source putting the former Chelsea boss in ‘pole position’ while claiming this to be a ‘surprise’ which does rather suggest they are not particularly au fait with Tottenham’s managerial history over the last 15 years or so.

Even with the last couple of appointments having a shocking lack of Chelsea in their history, it is still more common to have it be there than not.

Maresca is available, which does immediately elevate him to the realms of the possible. But is he any good? We’re not actually sure he’s any good. It’s just very hard to tell with anyone at Chelsea. Or Spurs, for that matter.

Very possible he is quite good, though. And definitely better than some of the other names a desperate football club will be desperately scrambling around after.

But it does feel like, whether permanent or interim, this appointment needs vibes and a unifying feel-good energy that we don’t think Maresca quite delivers.

More to the point, the Man City job might be his in a few months and it would seem extremely foolish on his part to jump at the Spurs ‘opportunity’ and scupper that one. And we’re sure Spurs don’t want that on their conscience either.

Now there’s the former Chelsea manager you want to bring in. If he wasn’t in charge of Trump FC for the upcoming Trump World Cup it would probably have already happened. The Spurs fans have been singing his name for months, and there has always been a sense of unfinished business here for both club and manager.

We’re not sure either can really move on until they’ve scratched that itch.

The positives are obvious. Instantly has the fans onside, bringing everyone together and instantly lifting the poisonous fog that hovers over the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on every matchday. Proven record of working with young talent and improving it out of sight. Knows the club to an almost pathological degree.

Problem is, the timing doesn’t work at all. Waiting until summer under an interim now represents a staggering gamble with Tottenham’s whole future while the threat of relegation is so real.

Unless Pochettino is going to tell Trump to shove his peace prize up his arse, this just doesn’t seem like a goer. And yes, that would be magnificent and ideal in just so, so many ways. But it’s also not going to happen.

Spurs (or the fans at least) want Poch, and Poch wants Spurs. But Spurs need him now and they can’t have him now. Poch wants it in the summer, and that’s too late.

It’s just too big a gamble.

It’s not ideal, but what working through this list should have told you by now, if events of the last eight months hadn’t already done so, is that Spurs are not operating in the realm of the ideal. They are so very far beyond the search for ideal solutions.

What Spurs can’t do is allow perfect to be the enemy of the good. And De Zerbi is, for many reasons, a good solution. Probably the best one that exists among halfway realistic options.

Once you establish that going to any kind of rookie or callow interim option is too risky at this point, you’re left with a permanent appointment. And that permanent appointment needs to offer two things. First, the prospect of pretty quickly improving the current sh*tshow and not getting actually relegated. Second, the further prospect of having a realistic chance of being not sh*t next season as well.

We’d argue that in De Zerbi you get that. He knows the league. He will at least attempt to play something approaching watchable and effective association football. He’s not perhaps the vibesy arm-round-the-shoulder sort, but he’s not Thomas Frank either. Not yet at least.

He is available, realistic, achievable, and can if he’s up for it be in position quickly. He is also the one name among the currently realistic and available candidates you can imagine making his way to a shortlist in the summer.

If he’s in position quickly, and accept as we must that the game against Arsenal in 10 days’ time is largely a write-off anyway, then he could have two clear weeks working with the small handful of players available to him before the real business of Operation Avoid Disaster begins in earnest at Fulham on the first day of next month.

He might not be the best candidate in several categories, but across all of Spurs’ requirements and needs in the short and medium-term he may be the optimal one.

There’s also a good chance that, whatever happens, he flounces off in some huff or other at the end of next season, freeing Spurs up to then appoint whoever they want anyway.

According to reports, a ‘surprise’ manager is in ‘pole position’ to be Tottenham Hotspur’s next permanent head coach after Thomas Frank.

Spurs are currently searching for a new manager as they opted to part ways with Frank on Wednesday morning.

The former Brentford boss was tasked with steadying the ship following his move last summer, but Tottenham’s performances under him were arguably worse than during Ange Postecoglou’s chaotic reign.

Spurs are proven to be a difficult club to manage and they have been dogged by injuries this season, but Frank failed to click with their supporters over his uninspiring tactical approach and small-time mentality.

The final straw came on Tuesday night, with the 2-1 loss to Newcastle extending Tottenham’s winless run in the Premier League to eight games. They are only five points clear of the relegation zone with 12 games remaining.

READ: Ange Postecoglou quotes twisted to create Thomas Frank beef

With Spurs out of the FA Cup, they do not have a game until their Premier League clash against Arsenal on February 22, but it has been reported that they want to make an appointment before next week.

There have been conflicting reports on whether Spurs will appoint a permanent or interim replacement, and they are already linked with several potential replacements.

It has been suggested that beloved former boss Mauricio Pochettino is a contender, but they would have to wait until the summer to secure his return as he is set to lead the United States at this summer’s World Cup.

Alternatives such as Roberto De Zerbi and Robbie Keane have been mentioned, but Sportitalia claims former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca is the ‘surprise’ manager on ‘pole position’ to join Spurs.

The north London side are said to be favouring Maresca because they want him ‘to revitalise a struggling Tottenham, bring stability to the project, and maximise the squad’s potential’.

Still, Spurs could easily miss out on Maresca as he is also being linked with Manchester City as Pep Guardiola’s future appears uncertain.

Regarding Pochettino, Football Insider are reporting that his ‘private stance’ on returning to Spurs is that he is ‘keen’.

The report explains: ‘Mauricio Pochettino is keen on returning to Tottenham as their new manager, sources have told Football Insider.

‘The 53-year-old United States manager has privately made it clear he would jump at the chance to manage his old club for a second time.’

And Harry Redknapp thinks Pochettino would be a “good shout” for Spurs.

“I like Pochettino. I have a lot of time for him. He is popular at the club. He would be a good shout for me,” Redknapp said.

“A lot can happen from now until the end of the season. Tottenham have to make sure they stay in the Premier League and then they will attract the big names. The end of the season is a long way off.”

Ange Postecoglou on Spurs was already fascinating; there really was no need to claim he said the Dane DESERVED sack.

Somebody always has to go too far. Except Richard Keys, who entirely missed the boat.

Not fair game as Ange comments entirely twisted

Ange Postecoglou was very interesting on The Overlap as he appeared on the same day the sacking of Thomas Frank was announced by Tottenham. Glorious timing.

But very interesting is clearly not good enough for some; as Ma Mediawatch always said…somebody always has to take it too far.

TO BE FRANK…Postecoglou tells axed Tottenham boss he DESERVED Spurs sacking and dubs north London club ‘baffling’

Did he though? TO BE FRANK…did he f***.

This is what he did say (though you wouldn’t know it from that Mirror headline):

“Having been in that position now twice in the last six months, it’s tough. You know that he can’t be the only issue at the club and that’s probably every manager.

“But, ultimately that’s what we get judged on. But it goes back to me, it’s a curious club Tottenham. It’s made a major pivot at the end of last year, not just with me but with Daniel (Levy) leaving as well.”

DESERVED? Or just ‘well, ever manager gets ultimately judged on results’? Rather more the latter.

He doesn’t even say that Spurs are a ‘baffling’ club, despite the quote marks around the word ‘baffling’ that would absolutely suggest (nay, claim) he did.

The Sun – of course – shift further from the truth with this headline:

‘It’s a fair departure’ – Ange Postecoglou gives verdict on Tottenham sacking Thomas Frank and says ‘I built that squad’

There’s no other way to read that headline but to think that Postecoglou has said that sacking Frank was a ‘fair departure’. That’s clearly what you are supposed to infer.

And yet that Postecoglou quote – “it’s a fair departure” – has been entirely taken out of context. What he meant that Frank’s style is a ‘fair departure’ from his own and did not suit the squad. Read here:

“It’s a fair departure from me, anyone who studies the game, it wasn’t like it was a progression from me. I built that sort of squad for want of a better word to play a certain way for a number of years and he’s sort of coming in and like we said, it’s a curious club Tottenham.”

These are belting quotes, mate; there really was no need to pretend he said something he absolutely did not.

Over at football.london, they land here:

Tottenham’s five-word message that Ange Postecoglou has brutally slammed

A message? Or a motto? When did ‘message’ become such a powerful headline tool? Around the time that words lost all meaning?

And he didn’t even ‘brutally slam’ that message/motto. Again, let’s go through the tiresome nonsense of what he actually said:

“When you walk into Tottenham, what you see everywhere is ‘To Dare Is To Do’ (the club motto), and yet their actions are almost the antithesis of that. I think they didn’t realise that, to actually win, you’ve got to take some risks.”

A brutal slam of a ‘five-word message’ or self-serving criticism of the apparent lack of faith in a club motto? You decide. No actually, we’ll decide: it’s poppycock.

READ: How Arsenal fan Frank ‘baffled’ Spurs players, gave one star ‘preferential treatment’ and almost left in November

Very, very late to the party

Yes, you have probably already seen it but…

Mediawatch for one was not remotely surprised…roughly five hours after he was sacked.

Murphy’s Law

The twin trends for a) using X as a source of ‘news’ and b) searching desperately for ‘gotcha’ moments, leads us here on The Sun:

‘Aged well Danny’ – Match of the Day pundit’s advice on Sean Dyche comes straight back to haunt him as Forest boss axed

Now Mediawatch is not one of Danny Murphy’s biggest fans but actually, Murphy’s advice on Sean Dyche did the opposite of ‘coming straight back to haunt him’ on Wednesday night.

Did he say that Dyche would not be sacked? Did he balls. This is what he said:

“I think for this battle at the bottom you couldn’t have a better manager than him.

“He’s been there and done it, he stays calm.

“I think they would be crazy to get rid of him but it doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen.

“I don’t think there’s a manager you could bring in that is as capable as he is.”

He’s right. On every single count. It did absolutely age well and it will age even better if Forest are relegated at the end of the season.

Picking up the baton were GB News, who wrote that Murphy ‘was left red-faced’ and was ‘brutally mocked’ by fans.

Former boss Ange Postecoglou has hit out at Tottenham Hotspur following their decision to sack Thomas Frank, with Spurs “not a big club”.

Postecoglou has made a well-timed appearance on The Overlap, which followed the announcement of Frank‘s exit from the north London club.

The former Celtic and Nottingham Forest boss exited Spurs at the end of last season, with their dire Premier League form deemed unacceptable despite their Europa League triumph.

Frank was appointed to steady the ship, but they were arguably even worse during his tenure. He departed with them only five points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.

Now, Postecoglou has spoken on why he thinks Spurs are “not a big club”, revealing four signings he wants to make.

“It is curious in terms of understanding what are they trying to build. They have an unbelievable stadium and training facilities, but when you look at their expenditure and wages structure, they are not a big club,” Postecoglou said on The Overlap.

READ: Who will be next Tottenham manager now Thomas Frank is sacked? ‘Arry and Ange back in top 10

“I saw that because when we tried to sign players, we were not in the market for those players. There are certain players… at the end of my first year when we finished fifth, we had to sign Premier League ready players to go from fifth to challenging.

“But we didn’t qualify for the Champions League so we ended up signing Dominic Solanke, who I really liked, and three teenagers.

“I was looking at Pedro Neto, Bryan Mbeumo, Antoine Semenyo, Marc Guehi… because that is what other clubs would do in that moment. Three teenagers aren’t going to get you there.

“When you walk into Tottenham, you see ‘To Dare Is To Do’ everywhere. But their actions are almost the antithesis of that. To actually win, you have got to take some risks at some point.

“I felt that Tottenham, as a club, say they’re one of the big boys. And the reality is I don’t think they are in terms of my experience. When Arsenal need players, they will spend £100million on Declan Rice. I don’t see Tottenham doing that. When was the last time Tottenham signed someone and you went, ‘Wow’?”

MORE SPURS COVERAGE ON F365…

* Spurs ‘pushed’ to appoint ex-PL manager ‘in November’ as ‘most obvious’ Frank replacement named

* A ‘transitional season’ isn’t just euphemistic cover for ‘sh*t season’, Thomas

* How Arsenal fan Frank ‘baffled’ Spurs players, gave one star ‘preferential treatment’ and almost left in November

Postecoglou has also offered his thoughts on Frank’s exit, with the former Brentford boss not the “only issue at the club”.

“It’s tough. You know he can’t be the only issue at the club. It’s a curious club, Tottenham. It’s made a major pivot at the end of last year. Not just with me, but with Daniel leaving as well. And you have created this environment of uncertainty. For what reason?” Postecoglou added.

“Thomas is walking in… what’s his objective? What’s the club’s objective? At the start of the year they said they wanted to compete on all front, well the club hasn’t competed on all fronts for a very long time.

“Also the most influential person at the club for the last 20 years is also going, so if you’re going to do such a major pivot, you’ve got to understand that there is going to be some instability there. Did Thomas know he was walking into that? It’s a curious club.

“You look at the list [of managers] and there isn’t really a common thread of what they’re trying to do. Tottenham’s DNA is they do like their team to play a certain way.

“With Mauricio [Pochettino] they were going down that path. At the same time, people have been too dismissive of Harry Kane’s influence in that period. Even him leaving, you can’t plug that hole.

“They have gone from Mauricio… then they wanted winners, went for Jose, got to a cup final and sacked him. Then it was Antonio. Then I come in and they want the football. Even though my DNA is that I win as well. Then we go down that path.”