Error code: %{errorCode}
Desperation or brilliance? What recent late-season manager changes can tell us about Spurs' Tudor sacking
Tottenham Hotspur parted ways with Igor Tudor on Sunday after the Croatian was in charge for just seven matches.
Spurs' desperation is easy to understand with a simple glance at the Premier League table, which shows the north London club teetering just above the relegation zone with just seven matches left to play.
Tudor was brought in on Valentine's Day to steady the ship, but instead he was only able to lead the club to a single point in the league during his short time in charge, with a lone win coming in the Champions League against an Atletico Madrid side who already had one foot in the quarter-finals thanks to their three-goal victory over the Premier League strugglers a week earlier.
Now, whomever steps into Tudor's shoes must stop the bleeding at a club that are winless in 13 league matches and in serious danger of dropping out of the English top flight for the first time since the 1970s.
But with just a handful of matches to turn the tide, will Tottenham's gamble pay off? DAZN News looks at recent examples of other Premier League clubs who have made similar late-season changes and whether their desperation worked.
2022-23: The season of late coaching changes in the Premier League
Stu Forster/Getty Images
Rewind to three years ago, when no fewer than five Premier League clubs decided to pull the trigger on a managerial change in the closing stages of the season (mid-March onward).
Not all were in danger of relegation, though. Chelsea put Frank Lampard in charge as caretaker after sacking Graham Potter and the former midfield great proceeded to win just one of his 11 games before the season ended. However, the Blues were in a good spot before Lampard took over and finished 12th, their worst showing since 1996.
Similarly, Tottenham themselves were among the teams to execute a late-season sacking, sending Antonio Conte packing before using both Cristian Stellin and Ryan Mason as interims for the remainder of the season. Spurs actually ended up finishing eighth, bringing in Ange Postecoglou for the following campaign.
Chelsea and Spurs were exceptions that season however, as Leeds United, Leicester City and Crystal Palace were all in the relegation fight when they made coaching shake-ups.
Leeds went through no less than three managers after firing Jesse Marsch in February 2023, with Michael Skubala, Javi Gracia and Sam Allardyce all patrolling the sidelines for the club as 2022-23 wound down. Neither Skubala nor Gracia could improve Leeds' standing as relegation loomed, and Big Sam's hiring was a last-gasp roll of the dice with just four matches left.
Allardyce was brought in with the explicit purpose of keeping Leeds up, but the club did not respond to his hiring, drawing once and losing three times before finishing 19th.
Meanwhile, Leicester were in a similar boat to Leeds under Brendan Rodgers, who was let go in early April with 10 matches left to salvage the camapaign. A six-day spell as interim for Adam Sadler preceded the hiring of Dean Smith, who arrived at the King Power Stadium with eight games to turn things around for the Foxes.
Unfortunately, Smith's fate was similar to that of Allardyce's, as Smith could only win two of his eight matches and was thus unable to stop Leicester from being relegated.
Getty Images
However, one late-season change managed to buck the trend after Crystal Palace saw the writing on the wall when Patrick Vieira failed to win a match in an 13-game stretch prior to St. Patrick's Day.
Palace dismissed Vieira and brought in Roy Hodgson (after a one-game interim stint for Paddy McCarthy), with the well-travelled manager spurring the Eagles to a stunning turnaround as they won five of the final 10 matches of the season, drawing three and losing two, to finish 11th.
What Spurs can expect from their late-season head coaching change?
Hodgson's success at Palace aside, recent history clearly shows that a handful of matches is simply not enough to salvage a sinking ship.
Spurs have seven games left to avoid the drop, and while they may do so under their next manager there should be no real expectation of a massive upswing in form between now and the end of the season.
Tottenham's squad is good enough to be at least a midtable finisher, but their results have put them in a tough position for any incoming manager. With survival paramount, the new man will be loathe to rock the boat too much, likely aiming for incremental gains rather than wholesale improvement.
While that strategy could (and should) be enough to ensure their place in the top flight for next season, at some point a fresh, new approach will need to be implemented, lest Spurs end up in this exact same position this time next year.
How to watch the Premier League in Canada
Soccer fans in Canada can watch every Premier League match during the 2025-26 season on DAZN.
With Fubo Sports on DAZN, Canadians can catch Premier League and Serie A action. Additionally, DAZN is the home of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Bundesliga, and more.
For pricing information and to sign up to watch, click here.
