A Dozen Definitive Days No. 2

1 March 2026

Thanks to Chris Fincham for this picture

This was the second of the twelve Premier League matches for Spurs under the interim manager Igor Tudor to secure their Premier League status.

Once again Spurs had a referee's decision go against them for a goal. They felt that Jimenez should have been penalised before Wilson's goal. As with last week to blame the result on the referee is to ignore the other flaws that Spurs displayed in those matches. Once again they deserved to lose the game.

The only good news was that the six other teams who could contest the final relegation place with Spurs all lost.

The situation is worrying though.

Spurs haven't won any of their last ten league matches. The last time that happened was between January and March 1994 under Ossie Ardiles.

It is not just the recent form that is a concern. Since the beginning of December 2024 Spurs have played 54 league games. Their record is:-

P       W       D       L       Pts
54      12      12      30      48

That is relegation form over almost a season and a half of games encompassing two full time managers Postecoglou and Frank and an interim one - Tudor.

When Tudor was asked in his first press conference if Spurs would avoid being relegated he complacently said he was 100% confident they would. On the previous five occasions where he turned things around quickly in Serie A during the first two games for a total of ten, he won five, drew 4 and lost 1. After two matches with Spurs he has lost both and has made little impact. The Premier League may be a totally different proposition to Serie A.

After today's game he is publicly blaming the players which is worrying at a time when everybody needs to stick together.

Spurs can't rely on others teams losing their games to save their season. They need to start winning matches. The next three league matches are Crystal Palace (h), Liverpool (a) and Nottingham Forest (h). Liverpool at Anfield is never productive in terms of points.

However Palace on Thursday and Forest in three weeks are both must win matches if Spurs are to save the season.

We can but hope they win both.

. Spurs Odyssey match report
. Declan Mulcahy's series "A dozen definitive days" - Part One

Follow @spursodyssey