The Athletic FC

Welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Ayob Akimwalari.

After 28 matches, spurs are just four points above the relegation zone.

So could they actually get relegated for the first time in almost 50 years?

And how would championship football impact a club of Tottenham's size?

All right, in with us today. We've got David Ornstein. We've also got Jay Harris as well.

All right, let's get some facts on the table, gentlemen. Spurs are currently 16th in the Premier League,

just four points above West Ham, who are in 18th.

They've taken 12 points from their last 19 games. Jay, you know where I'm going here?

This looks like relegation form. Could Spurs actually go down?

It doesn't look like relegation form. It is relegation form. Let's just say what it is.

Of course they could go down. I think one of the reasons why Spurs decided to get rid of Thomas Frank and bring in Igor Tudor was because Tudor has a proven track record of going into teams at a crisis point in the season. It's done with Lazio, Udnese, Juventus, and sparking a really quick turnaround. But his first couple of weeks in charge, that hasn't happened.

They've lost two games. And I think more concerningly than the losses is just the performances in

those games, a 4-1 defeat at Arsenal, 2-1 against Fulham at the weekend, and the defending was

comical, abysmal slapstick at times against Fulham. So 2.1 sort of flattered spurs. And it sounds

ludicrous to say, but it's true. We're in a situation where if spurs lose to Crystal Palace on

Thursday evening, then their interim head coach is going to be under a huge amount of pressure

because he was brought in to make a quick change. And that's not happened. And he's also already hit the, I don't know if the panic button is the right word, but he's already started, you know, criticising the players, saying that they lack quality, to attack, to score, to sort of suffer and concede. So if you're already sort of firing shots at the players in public, and even that's not provoking a response, then it's a

really dire situation. Yeah, but Jay, I mean, he's not going to be the first person at the helm to say such things in terms of let's look in the mirror and figure out who we are, you know, all those kind of things. We've seen Antonio Conte, we've seen Jose Morino. We've also seen Andyposoclux say very similar things. I mean, yes, you can put someone at the helm, but surely this is pointing at much more than that. It's not a coincidence that Spurs are in this position for the second season in a row. They've changed head coach. They've changed some of the players, but here they are again. And that's because of instability at the top of the club or mismanagement at the top of the club. So yes, Thomas Frank is someone who's going to take a lot

of response but here they are again. And that's because of instability at the top of the club or mismanagement of the top of the club. So yes, Thomas Frank is someone who's going to take a lot of responsibility for whatever happens this season. Ego Tudor is going to take a lot of responsibility, but there are other people who have had a huge part to play in it as well. Okay. David, Liverpool, after Crystal Palace, then they've got Nottingham Forest and then Sutherland and Brighton.

I mean, all those teams are in very strange form right now, but in better form than Tottenham, could Tottenham actually beat the drop?

They could, of course, beat the drop. They've got enough quality there and they've got enough opportunities to do so.

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