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Former Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood has delivered his verdict on Spurs following Sunday's North London Derby and their chances of staying in the Premier League
Tim Sherwood has ripped Tottenham apart and believes that poor recruitment is one of the main reasons behind the club's struggles this season. Spurs have endured a horror Premier League season so far and have been dragged right into a relegation battle in recent weeks following a dismal run of form.
Indeed, Tottenham have failed to win any of their last nine top-flight matches and Sunday's 4-1 North London Derby defeat to Arsenal plunged them further into trouble. They sit 16th in the table after winning just seven of their 27 games, just four points ahead of 18th-place West Ham, who occupy the final relegation spot.
And ex-Tottenham manager Sherwood feels that there are a number of reasons why Spurs have had such a poor Premier League campaign to date - with one of which being the club's recruitment.
The 57-year-old outlined the fact Spurs have hired and fired a number of different managers in recent years and spent more than £200million on transfers last summer but haven't seen much improvement, if any.
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Sherwood told football.london: "I think it's the collective, but always the person who gets to blame is the manager. That's not only Tottenham, that's every football club, because the buck stops at the man who's picking the team, and the results aren't good, everything is bad at the whole football club.
"But I would look at the recruitment. I mean, who is actually picking these players? Because when you turn over so many managers, like the Nuno's [Espirito Santo], like the Ange Postecoglou's, like the Thomas Frank’s, and now you've got Igor Tudor, if they're still struggling at the bottom of the league, then when does the vindication come from the managers?
"And you say, you know what, maybe a little bit elsewhere here, perhaps it's the players. Who brought the players in? And I think they need to have a good look at themselves.
"Then something close to my heart, where is the academy? Have they closed that? I don't know. Where's the academy? They must have closed it and put a spa in there. Where's the academy players? Tottenham Hotspur, where are they? There's a few of them out on loan doing alright. Mikey Moore at Rangers? Bring them back and give them a chance to play. At least you gain something out of the season.
"I mean, at the moment, they're playing the players who they paid or 20s, 30s, 40 millions, 60 millions for, and they're still getting beat every week. You might as well get beat with the kids, at least you're getting some experience into them and seeing whether they're good enough for next year. The whole culture of that club has to change. It is a club I do not recognise from the outside when I was there."
Igor Tudor is the man that has been tasked to turn Tottenham's fortunes around, after he was appointed as Thomas Frank's replacement last week. The Croatian has signed a contract in north London until the end of the season.
When asked if Tudor, whose first game in the dugout ended in defeat to Arsenal, is the right fit for Spurs, Sherwood replied: "Well, who knows? Only time will tell. No-one knows do they?
"It's just an absolute left-field gamble, but anyone is a gamble, no matter if they've got Premier League experience, Thomas Frank had plenty of that, didn't he?"
Although Spurs still have time to drag themselves away from danger, there is some concern among supporters that the club could face relegation to the Championship this season. However, Sherwood still believes that Tottenham are going to survive, despite the issues on the pitch and behind-the-scenes.
"I think they will get out of it," Sherwood said. "I still believe the next two games are so crucial because you can forget about the injuries, you can maybe hold your hands up and say that it was obvious in hindsight that Arsenal were too good. But having said that, Arsenal on paper would be too good for Wolves, especially with a two goal lead and Wolves still got something out of it.
"So, Tottenham should have done better, just trying to find a way, but they haven't. They've got to dust themselves down, have a look for now, get calm heads, see where they are. You've got to go away to Fulham and home to Crystal Palace, if you get nothing from them two games, then the hole gets bigger. And you start looking up thinking, we're never getting out of this."
With Tottenham surviving, Sherwood has tipped West Ham, alongside Wolves and Burnley, to drop out of the Premier League. It would also mean that Nottingham Forest, who sit in 17th and two points behind Spurs at this present moment, would remain in the top flight.
"Well, West Ham at the moment, because they haven't got the points on the board," Sherwood finished. "But having said that, I've been looking at West Ham and they look like they've got a real bit of fight in them. It looks like they're really organised as well. Probably got more players capable of, mentally, realising they're in a relegation fight, rather than when you look at Tottenham squad, the worry is none of them come to Spurs to play in a relegation battle.
"They finished 17th last year, so a lot of people will say they should have been ready for it because they finished 17th. We all know why they finished 17th, because they put all their eggs in the Europa League basket and actually won it. So, they changed manager [in the summer] and now they've decided to change again.
"For me personally, I wouldn't have done it. I would have kept Thomas Frank there. I felt like they’d been safe with him. I feel like they’d be safe without him. But Igor Tudor has got a really tough job on his hands."
Tudor's second game in charge of Tottenham is a trip to Fulham on Sunday. Spurs then host Crystal Palace four days later before travelling up to face Liverpool on Sunday, March 15.
Tim Sherwood was speaking to Midnite, ahead of his appearance on their fan-led Youtube series Defend Your Career...
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