‘It is an honour’: Tottenham confirm Igor Tudor as interim head coach until end of season

Igor Tudor has been announced as Tottenham’s interim head coach on a deal until the end of the season.

Spurs dismissed Thomas Frank on Wednesday after a dismal display in a 2-1 defeat at home to Newcastle a day earlier left the club in 16th position and only five points above the Premier League relegation zone.

Frank departed after only seven months following a run of two wins in 17 league fixtures, and Tottenham have turned to the experienced Croatian coach in their bid to move away from the bottom three.

“It is an honour to join this club at an important moment,” Tudor said. “I understand the responsibility I have been handed and my focus is clear. To bring greater consistency to our performances and compete with conviction in every match.

“There is strong quality in this playing squad, and my job is to organise it, energise it and improve our results quickly.”

Once Spurs chief executive Vinai Venkatesham – along with other influential figures – decided Frank’s tenure had to end, they switched focus to how best to salvage the 2025-26 campaign.

With a wider pool of managerial candidates to pick from in the summer, including former boss Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham elected to go down the interim route for the final three months of this season.

An experienced interim manager was favoured and Spurs have chosen Tudor, who has in recent years gone into Lazio and Juventus midway through league campaigns and delivered an instant upturn in results.

Tudor’s lack of Premier League experience has raised eyebrows amongst an already disgruntled and concerned Tottenham fanbase, especially given relegation to the second tier of English football for the first time since 1977 is a real possibility.

However, the former Juventus defender faced Spurs on two occasions during his time at Marseille in 2022 and won five of his nine matches at Lazio after his March arrival in the 2023-24 campaign.

Tudor produced an equally-impressive revival in Turin last year when he guided Juventus into the Serie A top-four with five victories during the final two months of the campaign, before he was dismissed in October.

Tottenham’s hierarchy will be desperate for Tudor to enjoy a similar upturn, but his first match in charge is a north London derby with Premier League leaders Arsenal on February 22 and the 47-year-old will be missing up to 12 players.

Captain Cristian Romero is suspended in a blow to Tudor, who has favoured a three-man defence and wing-backs system in recent jobs. Tudor will be familiar with some members of the Spurs squad after he worked with forward Randal Kolo Muani at Juve last season and has coached Radu Dragusin, Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski in the past, but the latter two are currently sidelined.

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