It remains to be seen whether or when Igor Tudor will be replaced at Tottenham Hotspur, after the Croatian’s tumultuous interim tenure left the team in further turmoil following the weekend’s heavy defeat at home to Nottingham Forest.
Despite Spurs’ strong performance against Atletico Madrid in midweek, they were left with just one point from five Premier League games, failing to provide much-needed momentum for their new manager.
The injury-hit squad will no doubt have to shoulder some of the blame after two successive top-flight disasters, but if there’s an obvious quick fix, it would be to remove Tudor from action.
The 47-year-old was given a suspended sentence following the trip to Anfield to beat Atleti, but Sunday’s 3-0 defeat felt like a real setback and ensured that a new manager is likely to be in charge before the international break ends.
Spurs approach signing Igor Tudor’s replacement
Where do we go from here? That is the problem facing N17’s ENIC regime, and their bold decision to appoint a manager with no Premier League experience, either as a coach or a player, has backfired spectacularly.
Desperate times may call for desperate measures, and talk of hiring the likes of Glenn Hoddle and Harry Redknapp seems overdone, while Ryan Mason has already been given some chances as interim coach.
There are suggestions that another former provisional player, Chris Hughton, could be a more realistic target, but reports in France suggest the Lilywhites could well be considering another, more left-field option.
L’Equipe reports that the Austrian has been contacted by the club this week, with suggestions that the north London side have already made an approach for free agent Adi Hütter.
The 56-year-old has been out of work since leaving Ligue 1 side Monaco in 2025, but most of his previous work was in Austria or Germany, both as a coach and as a player.
Hütter – Manager Career | ||
|---|---|---|
club | game | PPG |
monaco | 93 | 1.77 |
Gladbach | 37 | 1.38 |
frankfurt | 141 | 1.65 |
young boys | 133 | 1.95 |
salzburg | 54 | 2.09 |
grodic | 75 | 1.76 |
Altach | 102 | 1.01 |
The report also claims that talks are underway with Roberto De Zerbi, but there is strong belief that the Italian will wait until the summer.
Why Hütter is an upgrade to Tudor
If the Lilywhites were to replace him with Hütter, after the obvious mistake of appointing Tudor, there would be a sense of history repeating itself, especially considering this is a manager who has yet to coach in the Premier League.
Negotiations held: Spurs could hire a more suitable 4-2-3-1 manager than De Zerbi
Everything is looking a little hopeless at Spurs and perhaps Sunday will be the last straw for Igor Tudor.
With only seven games left in the season, that risk seems excessive, but it has to be said that if such a call-up were to come, Hütter would at least represent an upgrade on the unfortunate Croatian.
The unemployed coach, who is nine years older than Tudor, boasts far more experience at elite level, with a notable coaching career to date at the likes of Monaco, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt.
It was in the latter post that Footer appeared to have “helped Mikel Arteta take up his post at Arsenal”, according to the Telegraph’s Matt Law, with Frankfurt beating the Gunners 2-1 in Unai Emery’s final game as manager.
He has played an indirect role in Arsenal’s rise under Arteta and is expected to have a substantial say in Tottenham’s future if he takes over the reins at the end of the season.
Little known to Premier League viewers, Hitter has twice been named Bundesliga Manager of the Year and has also won league titles in Austria and Switzerland with Red Bull Salzburg and BSC Young Boys.
Beyond his experience, an added advantage over Tudor will be the 56-year-old’s more progressive, attack-oriented style of play. Eric Dier praised Hütter’s approach as “similar” to the one he encountered with Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
Unlike Tudor, who launched Spurs with frantic defending against the likes of Arsenal in recent weeks, Hütter could inspire even greater things from this injured squad.
Indeed, he himself has previously spoken of his desire to play “attacking football in a good way”, which may sound like music to the ears of Spurs supporters who have endured a disastrous spell under Tudor and Thomas Frank.
For example, in our last post in Ligue 1, Hütter played 93 games and scored 1.77 goals per game, better than Tudor’s 1.58 goals per game in just 24 games at Juventus.
Of course, at such a critical moment in the season, Hütter’s rookie status in the Premier League will be of great concern, but is he really any worse than Tudor?
Spurs negotiated to hire a 4-2-3-1 manager like De Zerbi and Pochettino
Spurs could be looking for yet another manager in north London.
