Tottenham might genuinely have to consider sacking Igor Tudor, but what results have led to his dismissal by his other clubs and what could be the final straw for Spurs?
Suspicions were raised about Tudor right from the off. Yes, the vast majority of Spurs fans wanted Thomas Frank gone. Yes, Tudor was only an interim appointment. But his track record didn’t exactly quell any nerves when he took the reins for Tottenham.
And now, three games in, Tudor has suffered three defeats. First it was 4-1 to Arsenal. Then 2-1 to Fulham. And most recently, 3-1 to Crystal Palace as their dismal home record continued.
Spurs are just one point above the relegation zone with nine games left. Could they panic and admit defeat with Tudor prematurely?
You barely hear of clubs sacking caretaker/interim/acting head coaches, but Spurs have done it before with Cristian Stellini in 2023. Now, expect to hear some calls for Tudor to face a similar fate.
But what does the end of a Tudor reign usually look like? These are the games that have got him sacked from his previous jobs (not counting any he resigned from or left by mutual consent).
Juventus (2025)
Lazio 1-0 Juventus
When he took the Tottenham job, much was made of the fact that Tudor had left Juventus at the end of an eight-game winless run a few months earlier. That didn’t really bode well.
Tudor had originally been an interim manager for Juventus at the back end of last season and, really, it should have stayed that way.
Although he helped them qualify for the Champions League, Juventus weren’t really convinced by Tudor. It was merely a lack of alternatives that prompted them to stick with him last summer.
He didn’t even make it to November at the helm, though. Back-to-back defeats to Como and Lazio in Serie A saw Juventus fail to score, as did a Champions League loss to Real Madrid in between.
The 1-0 loss to Lazio was not just the culmination of a three-game losing streak, but the end of the road for Tudor. Despite having 60% of the possession, Juventus only created three big chances against a team who’d already lost three of their first seven games and that Tudor should have been better prepared against after spending time in their own dugout in 2024.
Udinese (2019)
Udinese 0-4 Roma
With the same owners as Watford, Udinese aren’t shy when it comes to dispensing with managers.
Tudor has been there twice, returning in March 2019 – 11 months after his first appointment.
Seven months later, Udinese got rid of him after a 4-0 home defeat to Roma, who were down to 10 men for more than half of the game and had less possession than Tudor’s side.
That wasn’t even their worst defeat that month. Three days earlier, they fell to a 7-1 thrashing by Atalanta.
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Galatasaray (2017)
Yeni Malatyaspor 2-1 Galatasaray
Tudor took charge of Galatasaray in February 2017 after vacating his role with fellow Turkish side, Karabukspor. His new side went on to finish fourth by the end of that season.
They kept Tudor on, but only until that December. His downfall was a 2-1 loss away at Yeni Malatyaspor, who were newcomers to the Turkish Super Lig and were five games without a win at the time.
Galatasaray found themselves two goals down before half time and could only claw one back in the second half. Having registered just three shots on target, Galatasaray slipped from top of the league – having been eight points clear at one stage – to third after the loss.
Tudor said afterwards: “All my life is pressure. There are two popular things in Turkey. One is, ‘Tudor resign!’ [and] the other is this worthless system. Everyone is happy when my system fails. It is the mentality in Turkey. When the team loses, I am guilty one but when it wins, the success belongs to the footballers. Every coach in the world makes mistakes.”
The pressure had been building on Tudor for a while. Their elimination from the Europa League qualifiers by Graham Potter’s Ostersunds in July rang the first alarm bells, as did points dropped in Istanbul derbies with Fenerbahce and Besiktas.
The writing was on the wall and there was no way back from the Yeni Malatyaspor defeat.
PAOK (2016) 9/3/16
Panthrakikos 2-1 PAOK
After resigning from his first job with Hajduk Split in 2015, Tudor faced the sack for the first time with PAOK in Greece.
The axe fell in March 2016, less than a year into the three-year contract he was given the previous summer.
PAOK took the lead away at Panthrakikos, but ended up losing 2-1, conceding the winner with just a few minutes left.
PAOK’s club statement also blamed his sacking on “derogatory comments regarding the team’s quality”. Insert your own joke about Spurs here.
READ MORE: Spurs doomed for relegation under Tudor as worst self-destruction yet sparks ineffective ‘headloss’
