After huge losses in important matches against Arsenal, Fulham, Crystal Palace, and Atletico Madrid, the common referendum on new Tottenham Hotspur interim manager Igor Tudor was that, somehow, he was even worse than Thomas Frank - or, at best, just as bad.
But after Spurs drew Liverpool 1-1 with a second half comeback and defeated Atletico Madrid 3-2 at mid week, Tudor appeared to have won Spurs fans back. He was giving minutes to the team's young stars like Archie Gray and Mathys Tel, who were blossoming into the team's best players. Meanwhile, Lucas Bergvall was coming back, and it seemed like Spurs had more heart and desire under Tudor. Plus, unlike Frank, Tudor was unified behind the fans instead of pitting them and the player against each other, which was one of Frank's many cardinal sins.
That honeymoon period lasted one week. Because after watching Tottenham flounder to a miserable 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest in a loss that may be looked back on as historic, Spurs fans can only come to the same conclusion they had before the second Atletico Madrid game - that Tudor is not the right man for the job.
Igor Tudor took a massive step back from Atletico Madrid
Tudor never really had a track record of success before Tottenham Hotspur. Sure, he managed Marseille to third in Ligue 1, but they were second the season before he arrived. And he wasn't bad for Juventus last season in comparison to Thiago Motta, but, well, he wasn't exactly good either.
So far at Tottenham, Tudor has been poor, and even if he has been better than Frank, the difference is only marginal. And it's not like a comparison to Frank is exactly a high bar to set here, given Frank just might be the worst manager in Spurs history.
Tudor made so many mistakes against Nottingham Forest. It was as if he learned nothing from what worked against Atletico Madrid. Xavi Simons? On the bench. Richarlison? He was poor, but between the two strikers, it was wild to see him hooked off the pitch instead of Dominic Solanke, who delivered the worst single game performance of any Tottenham attacker this season just when his team needed it the most.
There's no question that Igor Tudor set this team up to fail on Sunday. Playing against one of the other worst teams in the Premier League this season, Tottenham looked like THE worst. They were disorganized defensively again, unable to progress the ball, and isolated their attacking players. If that sounds familiar, then it is because it has been the story of the season. Tottenham fans thought Tudor had turned the corner and righted the ship, but the Forest game proved just how wrong their optimism was.