Igor Tudor is the man tasked with keeping Tottenham Hotspur from their first relegation, as Spurs announced the 47-year-old as manager through the end of the season.
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The Croatian has already managed nine clubs in his career after earning 55 caps for Croatia across his playing days, which saw him with Hajduk Split, Juventus, Siena, and Trogir.
Spurs fired Thomas Frank earlier this week with the club five points above the bottom three.
Spurs’ Johan Lange, Igor Tudor statement on hiring
Igor joins us with a clear focus: to improve performances, deliver results and move us up the Premier League table. His mandate is straightforward – bring organisation, intensity and competitive edge to the squad at a decisive stage of the campaign.
Speaking about his arrival, Igor said: “It is an honour to join this Club at an important moment.
“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.”
On the appointment, Sporting Director Johan Lange said: “Igor brings clarity, intensity and experience of stepping into challenging moments and producing impact.
“Our objective is straightforward – to stabilise performances, maximise the quality within the squad and compete strongly in the Premier League and Champions League.”
Who is Igor Tudor, reported interim Spurs manager?
Tudor made his name managing longtime club Hajduk Split, winning the 2012-13 Croatian Cup before embarking on a tour of European leagues that has included good winning percentages but never another stop over 48 games.
Tudor managed PAOK, Karabukspor, and Galatasaray, winning 56% of his games at the last stop before a four-game firefighter stint at Udinese that kept the club from the bottom three. He was brought back to the club at the end of the next season.
After a short return to Hajduk Split, he’s gone onto Hellas Verona, Marseille, Lazio, and Juventus. He’s never boasted a win percentage under 37.78% and more often than not has been 50% or better.
And Tudor’s teams aside from Udinese have all had positive goal differentials. But again, no tenure has lasted a full year since his first run at Hajduk ended in 2015.
His resume reads like a consistency consultant — he’ll identify the problem and set it right but the long-term is a taller ask. The issue with Spurs is largely down to health. Maybe Tudor’s a healer of bodies and minds.
