Tottenham‘s season is spinning dangerously out of control and the 3-1 defeat by Crystal Palace on Thursday night has plunged the club into full crisis mode.
Spurs sit just one point above the drop zone, the interim appointment of Igor Tudor has been a disaster and there are nine games left to avoid the unthinkable.
Relegation rivals Nottingham Forest and West Ham have greater momentum and unless Tottenham can stop the rot, they could well be playing Championship football next season.
So, what can they do to save themselves?
Here, our experts have their say on how they would bail water out of the sinking ship to keep it afloat in the Premier League.
Igor Tudor’s Tottenham are plummeting towards relegation and are in full crisis mode
Swallow pride and give Ange a call – Oliver Holt
It was always a huge gamble to trust an interim manager with something as critical to the club’s future as relegation.
What is the point of waiting for Mauricio Pochettino to take over next season if he’s going to be taking over a Championship team?
It’s already clear the gamble on Tudor has failed. There doesn’t seem to be much more to Tudor than an authoritarian who wants the players to run a lot and that’s showing in performance. There has been no new-manager bounce. This has been a dead-cat bounce.
Spurs are in a relegation death-spiral. West Ham and Forest both have signs of some momentum and if Spurs don’t act, they will go down.
Desperate times require desperate measures and the club has to accept that, even though he has been hamstrung by injuries and terrible decisions by senior players, they have made a mistake with Tudor. It is time to abandon that experiment now.
The hierarchy have made such a mess of everything, there’s a limited field to pick from for their last throw of the dice but they need to swallow their pride and bring back Ange Postecoglou for the rest of the season.
I know they finished 17th in the league with him last season but he knows the players, he has the charisma to be a quick fix and he’s a legend with the fans after the Europa League triumph. It’s left-field but it’s the best chance Spurs have got.
Spurs were downed 3-1 by Crystal Palace on Thursday in another abject defeat
A Mason/ Hoddle double act? – Craig Hope
Forget giving a new manager time, because Spurs don’t have that. They have to ask themselves – is Igor Tudor taking them down? If, like most of us, they think yes, then a change has to be made.
He does not have the personality, it seems, to unite the club for this final charge towards safety. He seems resigned to their relegation, which is both staggering and alarming.
Who do they bring in? A Ryan Mason and Glenn Hoddle double act? I suspect that would be better than Tudor.
No viable alternatives to Tudor – Jack Gaughan
It’s not something I’d usually advocate but from afar, it looks like Tudor just hasn’t worked and Spurs have somehow regressed further.
The mood appears to be exacerbated by some of his answers in press conferences and while it’s ludicrous to suggest a manager (interim or otherwise) should lose his job after three matches, what other option is available to them?
One slight issue, I couldn’t name a credible manager to come in who’d definitely make sure they keep their heads above water.
Players should look at themselves – Kieran Gill
I wouldn’t be surprised if Spurs went full Crystal Palace and Frank de Boer by sacking Igor Tudor, but would it change much?
Who’s around as an alternative? Harry Redknapp? Tim Sherwood? Ryan Mason? Would Sean Dyche have the time to get this Tottenham team in shape?
Nah. My suspicion is Spurs are stuck with Tudor in their fight for survival. The players should be showing more themselves because they have been pathetic.
Micky van de Ven gave away a penalty and was sent off as Spurs capitulated on Thursday
Would boardroom change lift mood? – Tom Collomosse
The suggestion overnight was that sporting director Johan Lange and chief executive Vinai Venkatesham were in serious danger of being removed, possibly even as early as Friday, though Tottenham are currently distancing themselves from this idea.
On the one hand, removing an executive will not make the players perform better. But as Wolves saw when chairman Jeff Shi departed, the mood among the fans was lifted and this in turn helped the players and boss Rob Edwards.
Venkatesham was targeted mercilessly by Spurs fans on Thursday night, who do not love his Arsenal connections. That is why the club leaders may decide to move Venkatesham on. It may just calm the waters a little ahead of a defining period for the club.
Sack the manager and change keeper – Ian Ladyman
I have never seen a coach as ill suited to the job as Igor Tudor.
I was horrified by what I saw and then heard him say around the Fulham game and last night against Palace only served to harden my view that Tudor must go before it’s too late.
Losing at half-time last night, his only solution was to send his players out early to stew ahead of the second period. I am sorry, you are paid to do more than that.
If Tudor stays, Spurs will go down. His appointment was a terrible mistake and Spurs must own it now or live to regret it.
As for the goalkeeper, Guglielmo Vicario isn’t good enough and never has been. His nerves run through that Spurs team like a virus.
