'Wrong person at wrong time' - but if not Tudor then who?

Where do Tottenham Hotspur go from here?

A calamitous 5-2 defeat by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday marked a new low point in Spurs' shambolic season.

On Wednesday, Tottenham said interim manager Igor Tudor would speak with the media on Friday at a news conference before the club's Premier League match at Liverpool.

Tudor, hired in part for having a positive short-term impact at the clubs he has managed, has overseen four consecutive defeats in a dismal 25-day reign since succeeding Thomas Frank on 14 February.

While hopes of Champions League progress appear in tatters following their latest chastening defeat, it is Tottenham's Premier League situation which remains most pressing.

It is the need to avoid an unthinkable first relegation from the top flight since 1977 which will inform the club's next steps.

Just 10 months after winning the Europa League, Spurs sit one point above the relegation places with nine games remaining.

"In footballing terms, this is an absolute crisis that Tottenham are in," commentator John Murray said on BBC Radio 5 Live.

With Tudor struggling to improve the club's fortunes, and little evidence of progress, is there anyone else Spurs could realistically call upon to rescue their season?

Among the factors which led to Tudor's appointment, Tottenham admired his work improving teams on a short-term basis - including at Italian giants Juventus.

Tudor was given the Juventus job on a permanent basis after achieving Champions League football with a run of just one defeat in nine at the end of the 2024-25 season.

But he has so far failed to have any such impact in north London.

Former Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson told BBC Radio 5 Live that Tudor "was not the right appointment from the start".

"We talk about a new manager bounce, when a new manager comes in and the players react and they get one or two results. That's what Tottenham were looking for," Robinson said.

"For Tottenham, it's the wrong person at the wrong time. You saw the performance of the players. The minimum requirement is maximum effort.

"The attitude and application was not there. They were not playing for the manager."

Tottenham must now dust themselves down for a meeting with Premier League holders Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, a stadium where they have conceded 17 goals in their past four visits in all competitions.

A crucial home game against relegation rivals Nottingham Forest follows next week's return leg against Atletico Madrid.

But the mood within the squad has also been clear off the pitch, with Spurs midfielder Yves Bissouma admitting the players view their situation as "a big emergency".

Former Spurs boss Tim Sherwood has accused Tudor of "adding fuel to the fire" in that regard.

Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, Sherwood said: "He hasn't given the players a lift at all.

"He's a firefighter who has a can of petrol in his hand - he's adding fuel to the fire rather than restoring confidence to the players."

A man manager with the ability to restore confidence in a squad which ended the club's 17-year trophy wait last season, but also finished 17th in the league, would seem of paramount importance - should Tottenham decide to make a change.

Not least given the nature of Tuesday's loss in Madrid, during which 22-year-old goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky was taken off after a brutal opening 17 minutes and was consoled by team-mates but ignored by his manager as he left the pitch.

However, former Tottenham winger Chris Waddle said it is also on the players "to stand up and be counted".

"The players are drained of confidence," said Waddle.

"We can talk all day about management and the players but the biggest thing in football is; if you've got no confidence, don't play.

"So many Spurs players hide because they've got no confidence. They don't want to cross that white line and you can see that."

Where might Tottenham look if they did decide to place man-management at the top of their search priorities?

Former Spurs midfielder Ryan Mason previously stepped up as the club's interim head coach in both 2021 and 2023, overseeing 13 games in the Premier League, before being appointed as assistant coach to Ange Postecoglou.

Mason ended his seven-year coaching career at Spurs last summer to take over at West Brom, but he was sacked by the Championship club in January.

Meanwhile, former Tottenham boss Sherwood, speaking on Sky Sports,, external said he could do a short-term stint as the club's head coach to help guide them out of trouble.

Another former Spurs manager, Mauricio Pochettino, was said to be a candidate to permanently replace Frank, but his contract with the United States men's national team does not expire until after this summer's World Cup.

One former Spurs manager who appears to have ruled himself out of contention is 79-year-old Harry Redknapp.

"I won't [take the job] - I don't expect to get a call," Redknapp told BBC Radio 5 Live. "My focus this week is enjoying myself at Cheltenham."

Former Tottenham striker Robbie Keane was reported to be interested, external in the job before the club appointed Tudor in February.

Spurs may choose to look further afield - but their current options, within the search parameters as they were a month ago, appear limited.

In addition to a track record of having an immediate impact, Spurs sought someone with top level managerial experience who plays attacking football.

When Spurs initially began their search to replace Frank, himself dismissed after less then eight months in charge, former Marseille boss Roberto de Zerbi, former Borussia Dortmund manager Edin Terzic and ex-Red Bull Leipzig boss Marco Rose were among the other potential short-term options.

Ex-Brighton boss De Zerbi left his role as manager of Marseille by mutual consent after just under two years in charge, three days before Spurs confirmed their appointment of Tudor.

Terzic has been out of work since asking Dortmund "to terminate his contract with immediate effect" in June 2024, after leading the club to the Champions League final.

Rose was sacked by RB Leipzig in March 2025, having won 72 of his 127 matches in charge and lifted the German Cup in 2023.

Within the Premier League, Oliver Glasner, Andoni Iraola and Marco Silva are among the names who will be available this summer - but would any be prepared to leave their respective clubs earlier to help Spurs' cause?

FA Cup-winning manager Glasner has confirmed he will leave Crystal Palace this summer, but his immediate future was understood to be in doubt in February amid a poor run of results.

Bournemouth are reportedly set to, external open contract talks with Iraola in an effort to ward off interest from Crystal Palace, Tottenham and Manchester United.

Meanwhile, Fulham chief Tony Khan has said he is confident, external Silva will stay at the club "for a long time".