If any single moment sums up Igor Tudor’s thus far short but ignominious reign as Tottenham’s interim head coach, it was the sight of the Croatian pointing to his temples as he urged his players to maintain their composure against Atlético Madrid in Madrid on Tuesday. Composure? What composure? Spurs were 3-0 down after 17 minutes and the players in question were watching their goalkeeper trudge disconsolately from the pitch after suffering the public humiliation of being replaced for being rubbish. Studiously ignored by his manager, the crestfallen 22-year-old was followed down the tunnel by a trio of more senior players eager to console their mate. Only Tudor knows why João Palhinha, Conor Gallagher and Dom Solanke weren’t making themselves useful out on the pitch but his decision to leave all three seasoned professionals on the bench for a Bigger Cup tie that always had the potential to become the stuff of nightmares is just one of many inexplicable calls the Croatian has made since replacing Thomas Frank.
Billed far and wide across the media as “a fire-fighter” upon his arrival, Tudor has proved quite the opposite, taking no time at all to torch his own reputation as a coach and leader, along with whatever sort of positive relationship he might have fostered with Tottenham’s players and fans. Rather than extinguish the bin-fire that is Spurs’ season, this agent of chaos has doused it with gallons of petrol, masterminding four defeats in a row while reducing an already maligned rabble of highly paid professionals to the status of international laughing stock. And while that’s all well and good for neutrals who enjoy a spot of rubbernecking, his ice-cold treatment of Antonin Kinsky seemed a step too far. Whether it was those baffled by Tudor’s decision to throw an inexperienced goalkeeper into the Wanda bearpit for his first start since
No comments:
Post a Comment