Spurs need to move quickly to find their potential saviour.
Tottenham are once again looking for a manager to save them from relegation following the departure of Igor Tudor.
Spurs announced on Sunday that Tudor had left the club by mutual consent after 44 days in charge. Tudor took just one point from his five Premier League matches at the helm.
He leaves with Tottenham a point above the relegation zone with seven games left. They have not won a Premier League game this calendar year and, with West Ham playing bottom club Wolves on Friday April 10 in the next round of fixtures, Spurs could be in the relegation zone by the time they kick off at Sunderland two days later.
Tottenham are expected to move quickly to appoint the man who will be in the dugout for that game, and here 101GreatGoals assesses the potential candidates.
Sean Dyche
Previous clubs: Watford, Burnley, Everton, Nottingham Forest
Dyche is reportedly the frontrunner if Tottenham cannot convince Roberto De Zerbi to take the job before the end of the season.
The 54-year-old had developed a reputation as a specialist at keeping clubs in the Premier League. However, his dismissal from his role with Everton last year and his failure to lift Nottingham Forest away from danger this season have dented that.
Dyche would be expected to improve a dreadfully leaky Tottenham defence. The question is whether he could get Spurs firing at the other end. Tottenham, for all their faults, boast plenty of creative attacking talents, yet Dyche’s style is unlikely to maximise their gifts.
Forest scored 20 goals in his 18 league games in charge this season, having scored 58 in 38 when finishing seventh in 2024-25.
Roberto De Zerbi
Previous clubs: Darfo Boario, Foggia, Palermo, Benevento, Sassuolo, Shakhtar Donetsk, Brighton and Hove Albion, Marseille
A fiery character who adopts a high-octane style of play, De Zerbi would be seen as an ideal fit for the job if he was appointed before the start of a new season.
While De Zerbi might give Tottenham an initial emotional lift, it is debatable whether his personality is the right one for the desperate situation in which Spurs find themselves.
De Zerbi left Brighton over a disagreement over the club’s recruitment policy, and it was no surprise that, after a promising start, the Italian did not see out his three-year contract at Marseille. If De Zerbi failed to deliver an immediate upturn in results, then things could quickly turn even more sour for Spurs.
Adi Hutter
Previous clubs: Red Bull Salzburg Juniors, Rheindorf Altach, SV Grodig, Red Bull Salzburg, Young Boys, Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Monaco
The Austrian is vastly experienced but, as was the case with Tudor before his brief spell with Spurs, has never managed in English football.
He does, though, have experience of leading a team away from trouble, having done so successfully with Gladbach in 2021-22.
Arguably too much stock is placed in knowledge of the Premier League when it comes to managerial appointments, but asking Hutter to enter the fray at this point would be a huge risk from an ownership with no credit in the bank with the Tottenham fanbase.
Ryan Mason
Previous clubs: Tottenham (interim x2), West Bromwich Albion
Mason has twice taken on the job of interim Spurs boss in his managerial career, albeit never in such dire circumstances.
He won six of his 13 matches in charge across those spells, drawing one, but his short time in charge of West Brom did not enhance his reputation.
Appointed in June last year, Mason was sacked in January with the Baggies 18th in the Championship. He won just nine of his 27 games at the helm at The Hawthorns.
Still, the case can be made that Mason fits the bill as someone who knows Tottenham inside out and can successfully motivate a group of players in desperate need of lift, though there a host of other names who also check those boxes.
A club legend
It is perhaps an oversimplification of what it takes to survive a relegation fight to suggest that Spurs would be best served by turning to a club legend whom the fans can rally around and who can give an emotional boost to the squad. Alan Shearer’s experience with Newcastle United in 2009 with a team that compares well to this Tottenham side serves as compelling evidence to the contrary.
Yet it is a school of thought that has gained increasing credibility as Tottenham have sank further into the mire, and it is seemingly one to which the club are open to subscribing.
Indeed, reports in the wake of Tudor’s departure claim Tottenham have discussed a host of club legend candidates.
Robbie Keane, Chris Hughton and Harry Redknapp are said to be among the names that have come up in internal talks, along with Mason, Ben Davies, Glenn Hoddle and Tim Sherwood.
Keane has thrived in his role at Ferencvaros, but would surely prefer a long-term job as he takes the next step in his career. While Redknapp or Hoddle saving Tottenham would make for a fairytale end for either man’s football career, it is worth taking how long they have each been out of the game into consideration.
Redknapp hasn’t managed since a brief spell with Birmingham City in 2017. He saved them from relegation from the Championship at the end of 2016-17 but was soon dismissed after a poor start to the subsequent campaign.
Hoddle’s last job was with Wolves two decades ago. The former England boss left Molineux in 2006 after failing to guide them to promotion from the Championship.
Sherwood has made no secret of his desire for a second spell as Tottenham manager, yet he has not managed since his Swindon Town side were relegated to League Two in 2017.
Hughton is a more unassuming personality and, while his star has faded in recent years, the former Newcastle boss has experience of getting teams to the Premier League and ensuring they survive the following season, having done so with Norwich City and Brighton. He was sacked by Newcastle in 2010 with the Magpies 11th in the Premier League following promotion the previous season.
Ultimately, at this point, Tottenham are going to be taking a gamble regardless of who they appoint. The key is that it is a well-calculated one. Given everything that has happened to this point, Spurs fans would be forgiven for not having much faith in the club getting it right.
