Spurs Agree Deal For Former Juventus Boss To Interim Head Coach

Tottenham Hotspur have verbally agreed a deal to appoint Igor Tudor as interim head coach until the end of the season, The Athletic’s David Ornstein reports, in a move designed to halt a Premier League slide that has left the club five points above the relegation zone.

Tudor, 45, arrives without the security of a long-term contract, charged solely with delivering short-term results and restoring belief inside a dressing room that has won only twice in 17 league matches under the departed Thomas Frank. The Dane was dismissed after an eight-game winless run culminated in a 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle United, a result that left Spurs 16th and intensified fan unrest.

While Spurs cruised into the Champions League last 16, domestic form deteriorated so sharply that the board opted for what club sources describe as a “firefighter” appointment rather than a structural rebuild. Managing director of football Johan Lange and chief operating officer Vinai Venkatesham have led negotiations, with plans to reassess a permanent hire in the summer.

Tudor’s résumé is built on rapid interventions. A former Juventus defender with 174 appearances and two Serie A winner’s medals, he has since taken charge of Juventus, Marseille, Galatasaray and Lazio, environments notorious for instant pressure and high turnover. Ornstein notes the Croatian’s “track record of making an immediate impact,” a quality Tottenham hope will translate into points before the season slips away entirely.

His previous spell in Turin ended after seven months and a winless streak of eight matches, yet insiders believe that experience of navigating institutional expectation will serve him well in north London. The squad’s next assignment could hardly be more volatile: a north London derby against Arsenal that may decide whether optimism or dread colours the final weeks of the campaign.

Interim coaches often reshape hierarchies, and players who have underperformed for Frank now face a reset. Tudor’s reputation for defensive rigour and direct, intense sessions suggests Spurs may shelve expansive principles in favour of compactness and swift counter-attacks. Supporters, resigned to survival mode, have welcomed the pragmatism, hoping the new voice can galvanise a group that has looked short on confidence.

A positive result at the Emirates would buy precious goodwill; a heavy loss would edge the club closer to a relegation fight few envisioned when European qualification was the summer target. Either way, Tudor’s brief is explicit: steady the ship, collect points, and leave the next permanent manager a platform rather than a wreckage.

For a club that craves long-term vision, the short-term fix may be exactly what this fractured season demands.