Tottenham Hotspur F.C. is making a commitment on Valentine's Day, as it finds a temporary replacement for Thomas Frank. Igor Tudor will serve as the squad's interim manager for the remainder of the season, via theScore's Agence France-Presse. After making stops all throughout Southern Europe, the 47-year-old Croatian will set foot in arguably the most prestigious football league in the world.
The Spurs sacked Frank after just 26 games into the season, desperate to spark change amid an embarrassing stretch that has seen them sink further into the danger zone. Just two years removed from a fifth-place finish and Champions League berth, Tottenham currently sits in 16th place in the Premier League with a 7-8-11 record. The club is only five points clear of West Ham United, one of three teams currently facing relegation to the EFL Championship.
Frank does not deserve all the blame for the Spurs' downward spiral — they finished 17th in the 20-team field last season — but he was clearly not the right person to revive Tottenham at this time. The question is, though, can fans trust Tudor to ward off catastrophe?
The former Croatian Cup champion is coming off a rough stretch himself. Juventus fired him in late October after he went eight straight matches without a win. Tudor has had several months to reflect on his Italian experience and figure out his next steps. He now has an opportunity to display his coaching prowess in front of a new yet intensely passionate audience. If the former centre-back can breathe new life into this free-falling squad, then his stock will rise rapidly.
He is excited for this new chapter and believes Tottenham has the talent to finish the season strong.
“It is an honour to join this club at an important moment,” Tudor said, via Agence France-Presse. “I understand the responsibility I have been handed and my focus is clear. To bring greater consistency to our performances and compete with conviction in every match. There is strong quality in this playing squad, and my job is to organise it, energise it and improve our results quickly.”
Both Tottenham Hotspur and Igor Tudor are eager to change their current trajectories and reestablish themselves as true forces in the football landscape. That mission is officially underway. Tudor will be thrown right into the fire and make his Spurs debut against first-place Arsenal on Feb. 22.
