It has long been a joke, but now, the possibility is real.
Tottenham could be relegated from the Premier League.
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After a 2-1 loss to Fulham on the weekend, Spurs remain just four points above the drop zone with ten games remaining and a run of fixtures that will have Tottenham fans shaking in their boots.
There has been no new manager bounce.
Igor Tudor has lost his first two games in charge, conceding six goals to arch rivals Arsenal and fellow London club Fulham in the process.
The Croatian manager, who was most recently in charge of Italian giants Juventus, has wasted no time in pointing out that he faces an uphill task.
Although, the interim boss might just be moving the deck chairs on the Titanic.
“It’s a complicated situation. A lot of problems. I cannot tell you nothing new. We need to find forces inside each of us,” he said after the defeat at Craven Cottage.
“I said to the players. It’s always what you are going to do. What do you want to do with yourself? More personality. More wish to do before reacting. Plenty of things.
“We lack when we attack. We are lacking the quality to score the goal. We are lacking in the middle to run. We are lacking behind to stay there and suffer and not concede the goal. An amazing situation.”
Spurs go down to Fulham as Arsenal win | 01:05
When the manager has such little belief, it is tricky for fans and pundits alike to keep the faith.
Before the Fulham loss, Sky Sports showed a graphic of Tottenham’s remaining Premier League fixtures and how they fared against those opponents last season.
It was not pretty reading for Spurs supporters.
Everton, who they will welcome to north London on the final day of the season, were the only team Tottenham defeated among the eight clubs who were in the Premier League last campaign – Sunderland and Leeds were promoted this season.
“If you look at that, and it plays out like that, they’re playing Lincoln at home next season,” former England attacking midfielder Paul Merson said on Sky Sports.
“If anything like that, they’ll be second bottom in the league.
“That is scary looking at that.”
Tottenham finished 17th last season, but ended the campaign 13 points clear of the drop zone as former manager Ange Postecoglou decided to put all chips in on the successful European league campaign.
The Australian put out youthful and inexperienced XIs in the league as several senior players managed injury issues to stay fit for their European stanza.
This time around, Tudor does not have a substantial buffer as a luxury and still needs to navigate a midweek continental campaign.
Spurs face Atletico Madrid across two legs in the Champions League Round of 16 this month.
The unlikely dream of another piece of silverware remains alive, but it will ask a lot of a squad in a relegation scrap.
March could almost seal their fate.
As well as next week’s trip to the Spanish capital and the return leg at home a week later, Tottenham host Crystal Palace midweek before visiting Anfield and welcoming Nottingham Forest in what is set to be a six-point game as the old cliche goes.
Those five contests take place in the space of 17 days.
Many pundits do not see them coping with the demanding schedule and the added pressure.
“The team that stays safe this season will be a team that get one of them results where you go, ‘oh, I didn’t see them winning there’,” Merson said on Sky Sports.
“Whether that be West Ham or Leeds or Forest or Tottenham, they will get that extraordinary result.
“But when I name all them teams, the team I least suspect to get that big result is Tottenham.
“It just is. I don’t know why.”
Tottenham Hotspur’s Brazilian striker #09 Richarlison.Source: AFP
Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara agreed, saying he has reviewed the footage of Spurs’ recent matches and their attitude problems were clear for all to see.
“As a player who played in situations where you’re down in the dumps, first and foremost, 20 minutes, track runners. Don’t let your man get the better of you. Don’t let him run past you,” he said
“And that is a mentality. That is not about ability. That’s not about talent. That is a mentality and a culture at a football club where players are like, ‘Nah, I don’t want to do that. I pass him on.’ What do you mean, pass him on? It’s the first 15 minutes of the game.
“I went and done the clips this morning. It took me five seconds to see the clips because I knew. First 15 minutes of the game, you’re passing players on, you’re not tracking runners. It was embarrassing. Forget talent. Forget creativity.
“Xavi Simons, you are in a relegation fight. You’re in a fight. You’ve got to play like you’re in a relegation fight. None of these players are playing like they’re in a relegation fight.
“Passing on, tracking runners, not getting back, allowing shots on the edge of the box. Embarrassing.”
O’Hara added: “The biggest worry I’ve got is the stomach for a fight. These players that we’ve brought in, I think their heads are down, they’re looking at an excuse, ‘Oh, the board’s not doing this, we’ve not signed anyone’. Yeah, I get all that, but you have got to find a way as football players to get yourselves out of this hole, and that’s what I’m worried about, because I don’t know if they have.
“I don’t know if they’re looking at the exit door before actually the job is done, and the job right now is to stay in the Premier League.”
LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 22: Micky van de Ven and Xavi Simons.Source: Getty Images
Completing that job is not being helped with a lengthy injury list.
Wilson Odobert (ACL), Destiny Udogie (hamstring), Dejan Kulusevski (knee), James Maddison (knee), Mohammed Kudus (quad), Rodrigo Bentancur (hamstring), Ben Davies (ankle) and Lucas Bergvall (ankle) are all regular first team players watching from the sidelines.
But Tottenham’s depth has also been tested by the absence of their leader, Cristian Romero.
The Argentine World Cup winner is not allowed back until the trip to Anfield due to his red card suspension.
The central defender’s absence has been greatly, felt on and off the field as he is regarded as a fierce competitor, or “a winner” as Postecoglou called him in a recent interview on The Overlap.
“Spurs are feeling sorry for themselves,” former Premier League goalkeeper Rob Green said on Sky Sports at Craven Cottage.
“They’re looking around the dressing room, going well who’s gonna drag us out of it? It’s certainly not going to be our captain.
“He’s thrown us into it.”
The disorganisation that has come with Romero in the stands was symbolised by a free kick from Guglielmo Vicario against Fulham.
With the whistle blown in Tottenham’s half, the Italian goalkeeper stepped up to take the kick to allow his teammates to push up the field.
But he proceeded to blast it roughly 30 metres past Fulham’s defensive line and the ball took once bounce inside the field of play before sailing into the stands.
Vicario’s long ball blunder was also the antithesis of how Postecoglou liked his goalkeeper to play out from the back.
The replay has since blown up on social media, with many fans mocking how the video is emblematic of Tottenham’s struggles.
If they do not correct such mistakes, it could be incredibly costly.
Clubs take a significant financial hit by dropping down to the Championship.
Broadcast, matchday and commercial revenue is greatly slashed, and as Leicester City have shown in recent times, poor financial decision making can have long term impacts.
The Foxes, who famously won the Premier League in fairytale fashion a decade ago, are staring down the barrel of back-to-back relegations and playing in the English third tier next season.
Tottenham’s most recent wage bill was roughly £254m (A$480.5m), more than six and a half times the Championship average of £38m (A$71.9m).
That figure would have to be significantly reduced to factor in an estimated revenue loss of around £261m (A$493.8m), if they are relegated, according to BBC Sport.
Attracting top talent would be a struggle and players would need to be sold.
LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 01: Igor Tudor, Interim Manager of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League match between Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur at Craven Cottage on March 01, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Especially given Spurs will need to pay off £337m (A$637.6m) in outstanding instalments for current players.
“In 2023-24, the most Spurs generated an average of £84 per supporter per match, the highest figure in the Premier League,” football finance expert Kieran Maguire told the BBC.
“That figure would face significant downward pressure, not from the size of the crowd, but from what clubs can realistically charge.
“Corporate clients who pay a premium for a home fixture against Liverpool or Arsenal are unlikely to pay the same for a visit from Swansea.
“There is also great financial vulnerability around sponsorship. The front-of-shirt deal with AIA, worth around £40m a year almost certainly contains relegation clauses that could halve its value.
“The kit deal with Nike, estimated at £30m annually, is likely to take a smaller hit.
“Spurs supporters will still buy replica shirts regardless of division, but a reduction is likely. Broader sponsorship and partner agreements across the club would face similar issues.”
He added: “For a club of Spurs’ ambitions and financial scale, relegation would not simply be a short-term sporting setback. The economics of English football make recovery a multi-year project.”
Those numbers highlights the severity of the situation.
For Tottenham, the prospect of relegation is no joke.
It is staring them right in the face unless something is done to get their heads back above water.