Igor Tudor. Lee Smith-Reuters via Imagn Images

Igor Tudor leaving Tottenham Hotspur doesn't solve all its problems

By Clark Dalton | Last updated Mar 29, 2026 3:17 PM ET

Igor Tudor's tenure as Tottenham Hotspur manager didn't last long, but what did you expect? He clearly never stood a chance.

On Sunday, the English club confirmed it had told Tudor to leave. The 47-year-old Croatian replaced Thomas Frank as interim manager on Feb. 14. His 43-day tenure as manager is among the shortest in English Premier League history. Per ESPN's Olivia Pagden, Sam Allardyce had the shortest tenure in league history (30 days with Leeds United during the 2022-23 season).

Critics of Tudor said he made Tottenham "undoubtedly worse," and they were right. He went 1-1-5 in seven matches as manager. However, few could succeed in the same situation.

Tottenham Hotspur's problems run deeper than Igor Tudor

Tottenham is on the verge of being relegated from the Premier League to the EFL Championship. The EFL Championship is like the UFL in American football, while the Premier League is like the NFL.

We can confirm that it has been mutually agreed for Head Coach Igor Tudor to leave the Club with immediate effect.

Tomislav Rogic and Riccardo Ragnacci have also left their respective roles of Goalkeeping Coach and Physical Coach.

We thank Igor, Tomislav and Riccardo for their… pic.twitter.com/I6HUdLdewL
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 29, 2026

The teams that finish in the bottom three of the 20-team league are sent to the EFL Championship, while the top three teams from that league are promoted to the Premier League. Entering Sunday, Tottenham was 17th (7-9-15, 30 points), ahead of West Ham United (7-8-16, 29 points). (Six Premier League matches remain for the team.) If the club falls into the bottom three and is relegated, it could reportedly lose millions.

How did Tottenham find itself in this mess? Like every dysfunctional sports franchise, it botched key decisions and has consistently failed to field a quality roster.

In three of its past four seasons, the squad has failed to win 20 or more matches. Losing longtime forward Harry Kane (now with Bayern Munich in Germany's Bundesliga League) after the 2022-23 season has continued to prove costly.

Entering Sunday, Brazilian forward Richarlison led Tottenham in goals (nine in 26 matches). Kane, meanwhile, had 31 in 26 matches for Bayern Munich.

"Spurs, as one senior figure recently publicly admitted, are a football club that hasn't focused on the football," wrote The Athletic's Tim Spiers in a story published Sunday. "They're a name, a brand, a venue, an events company. But not primarily a football team."

Tudor exacerbated the problems. But until Tottenham Hotspur realizes it's a soccer team first and a brand name second, it will remain a disaster.

Clark Dalton

Clark Dalton is a 2022 journalism graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He gained experience in sports media over the past seven years — from live broadcasting and creating short films to podcasting and producing. In college, he wrote for The Daily Texan. He loves sports and enjoys hiking, kayaking and camping.

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