Football Daily | Tudor period begins with chance for Spurs’ new man to write himself into history

IGOR THE GREAT?

So much for the glory game, for daring to do. For Tottenham Hotspur, this season’s highest aspiration – beyond an unlikely Bigger Cup triumph – now rests on That Lot From Down The Road/Woolwich FC (delete as applicable according to historical pettiness) blowing their title challenge again. Following Wednesday’s events at Wolves, the north London derby has now become AN EVEN BIGGER GAME. Igor Tudor, Tottenham’s new interim manager, has an instant chance to write himself into Spurs history. Or perhaps infamy. Winning the derby would be a dream holiday in other people’s misery, to misquote lifelong Gooner John Lydon. Arsenal’s collective collywobbles have permeated to their fans, a collective now wracked by anguish. A bit like the regulars in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, actually.

Tudor was something of a left-field appointment, though one made in desperation, as there were few live candidates for the job Thomas Frank made a right horlicks of. Mauricio Pochettino is in exile across the Atlantic, with word that he will make a prodigal return after coaching the USA USA USA in the Geopolitics World Cup. So, a temporary fix was needed. Ryan Mason’s spell at West Brom, Frank-esque in its disappointment, meant he would not be returning for a third sweep of the caretaker’s broom.

It was always unlikely that a call would be put into Ange Postecoglou. All is forgiven? Not a bit of it. Big Ange has lately been holding forth at the Overlap kitchen island, dining out on his Bigger Vase success with Gaz Nev, Jill, Wrighty, Keano and lashings of Huel. “Success has many fathers, and failure is an orphan” was Ange’s kiss-off to Micky van der Ven’s recent claim that Spurs’ triumph in Lisbon owed much to the players’ deciding Ange’s wasn’t the way they wanted to play, mate.

Nobody, it appears, is coming forward to take any responsibility for the dreadful Premier League season Spurs played out concurrently. Last week, Frank paid the same price as Ange for Tottenham sinking down the plughole, which is where Tudor comes in. Having coached Hajduk Split, Galatasaray, Marseille, Lazio and Juventus, among a considerable list of others, he’s no stranger to fixtures where winning or losing can overshadow an entire season.

Who made the decision? Tudor, with many years of involvement in Serie A, as a former Juventus player in the days when the black and white stripes struck fear into opponents and refs alike, resembles the kind of name who Fabio Paratici might have on speed dial. That’s Paratici who departed the club at the end of last month to Fiorentina with a comment that had Tottenham suits’ ears burning. “In my case, Fiorentina have a serious set of owners, a very serious set of owners who are of great value,” Partatici cheered, striking at what most Spurs fans think is the real problem, whomever the manager. Good luck then, Igor.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Tottenham have been given the name ‘Spursy’ – when you have opportunities but get no results. Madame Speaker, that is precisely how the Minister of Finance is handling the Swedish economy. The government risks making Sweden ‘Spursy.’ That won’t do. Sweden cannot perform like Tottenham” – Swedish MP Mikael Damberg launches an unfortunate broadside at the Lilywhites as he attempts to illustrate his nation’s economic struggles.

“In Football Daily letters on Thursday, Jonathan Harris suggests a rule change such that “no VAR review can take longer than 90 seconds – if you can’t tell in that time, it’s not clear and obvious”. If you had a pound for every time I’ve heard/seen someone say “it’s not clear or obvious” about a factual decision – offside, ball out of play, a foul in or out of the penalty area etc – to which those criteria do not apply, then you could afford to buy some prizes so you would not have a prizeless letter o’ the day. And how long do you think it would take before an official rushing to judge a complicated offside by the deadline made a mistake, then realised a few seconds late?” – Philip Cornwall.

“The only logical question centred around [sic] how many more Arsenal would spank”, wrote Barry Glendenning on Thursday. By definition, a centre is at the middle of other things; centred around is a nonsense. Revolve/circle around, centre on” – David Bolam (and no others).

Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Philip Cornwall [prize funding still TBC – Football Daily Ed]. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.