Tottenham Hotspur's 2025-26 season has disintegrated into one of the most alarming collapses in recent Premier League history, and the club's increasingly frantic search for a manager capable of saving them is running into wall after wall.
Interim boss Igor Tudor has managed just one point from his six Premier League games in charge since Thomas Frank's departure. Spurs sit 17th in the table, a single point above the drop zone with seven matches remaining. The prospect of their first relegation since 1977 is no longer a talking point at the fringes. It is the central reality the club is now operating around.
Roberto De Zerbi remains the first choice of the Spurs hierarchy. The former Brighton and Marseille head coach left Ligue 1 by mutual consent last month and is available. He is understood to be genuinely interested in the project at Tottenham but has now rejected their approach for an immediate start on multiple occasions, most recently issuing what sources described as a "not now" response this week. De Zerbi will not return to management before the end of this season. He is only willing to consider the role in the summer, and only if Spurs have maintained their top-flight status.
That stance has forced Tottenham into territory they did not plan for. Sean Dyche has now emerged as the leading candidate to take interim charge. The 54-year-old has been out of work since Nottingham Forest sacked him in February, and sources indicate he is open to taking on the challenge. Dyche's record in relegation fights is well established — he kept Everton in the Premier League across two consecutive seasons under severe financial pressure. Bookmakers have moved him to 2/1 favourite for the job in the past 24 hours.
Tudor's personal circumstances have made the situation more complicated. The Croatian lost his father this week and has been away from the club. Tottenham have handled the matter with sensitivity, but a decision on his future is expected by Monday. The club want a new manager in place well ahead of the Sunderland fixture on April 12.
Other names discussed include Adi Hutter and Harry Redknapp, while Robbie Keane has already turned down an interim role. None of those options appear to have gained serious internal momentum.
Twelve months ago, Tottenham lifted the Europa League. The idea that they would be discussing survival specialists and Championship contingencies before the end of their next season would have seemed absurd. It does not seem absurd now.
