Tottenham Hotspur‘s hierarchy have finally addressed the mistake they made with the outlandish appointment of Igor Tudor as interim head coach – but the stakes are now so high they cannot afford another.
Tudor’s departure after only 44 days concludes a bizarre and potentially hugely expensive episode that leaves fingers pointing firmly in the direction of chief executive Vinai Venkatesham and sporting director Johan Lange.
If Venkatesham and Lange get the next big decision wrong it could conceivably end with Spurs in the Championship, leaving a scar on their record that would be impossible to recover from.
If there is merit in the argument that it is better to correct a mistake as quickly as possible, the counter-argument is that appointing Tudor was a mistake that should never have been made in the first place.
Time will tell, but Tudor’s spell in charge may yet end up as the 44 days that sealed Spurs’ Premier League fate.
Tottenham fans, who carefully note Venkatesham’s links to Arsenal from his previous job, will be waiting to see what he can pull off now.
The ominous spectre of relegation is even more of a possibility after Tudor’s seven games in charge, which brought one pyrrhic victory, while exiting the Champions League against Atletico Madrid, and none in the Premier League.
Venkatesham and Lange will know the stakes as Spurs stand one point and one place above the relegation spots, the end coming for Tudor after the humiliating 3-0 home defeat by fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest.
They were behind the decision to bring in Tudor, the combustible Croatian with a chequered coaching career and no Premier League experience, to succeed the sacked Thomas Frank.
Having delayed dismissing Frank, seemingly hoping for a revival that was never coming and a change in the toxic mood among fans that was too far gone to be rescued, turning to Tudor was left-field at best.