Igor Tudor has replaced Thomas Frank as Tottenham Hotspur boss in what has been a whirlwind few days for everyone associated with the club.
The Croatian has signed a short-term deal until the end of the season and has been tasked with steadying the ship in North London.
Tottenham are currently 16th in the Premier League, just five points above the relegation zone. Tudor is an experienced coach and was most recently with Juventus before being sacked.
Despite his track record of managing clubs in a crisis, Alan Pardew feels Tudor is set for a shock in the Premier League as he is unfamiliar with the rigours of English football.
Alan Pardew not convinced by Tottenham’s Tudor appointment
Pardew is a household name in English football, having played and managed a handful of clubs in the English top-flight.
The Englishman feels Tudor’s lack of knowledge of Premier League football could prove to be detrimental, with the club desperately in need of some stability between now and the end of the season.
Pardew exclusively managed in England before making the move to the Eredivisie in 2019 after he took over the reigns at ADO Den Haag.
And he had a bit of a reality check in the Netherlands as he failed to get to grips with the ins and outs of Dutch football.
The 63-year-old took his own example and compared it with Tudor, who he believes could have a hard time playing teams in and around Tottenham.
“Well, I’m going to give you an example of when I went into Holland as a novice there—you know, obviously a very experienced Premier League manager, but novice to that particular league,” said Pardew on talkSPORT.
“And I played the first game and I thought, ‘Okay, I sort of get the level now. You know, I understand where it’s at. You know, I think this team I’ve got are going to struggle.’ We didn’t have a lot of quality in the group.
“And then the next week we went to AZ Alkmaar and I watched the videos and they looked an okay side. They looked, you know, reasonable. When I got there, wow, it was like, ‘What is this?’ I mean, I did not expect this kind of fluidity, speed of movement, quality of finishing, so I got completely whitewashed there.
Tudor hasn’t managed in England, but during his career as a player, he has been involved in several clashes against Premier League opposition, which could bode well for him.
However, Pardew feels all of those things wouldn’t matter with him in the dugout, adding that Tudor isn’t what Tottenham need at this stage of the season, despite his track record of saving teams from relegation.
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“And that is going to happen to Tudor. I don’t care if he’s played English teams in the Champions League,” continued Pardew.
“The Premier League at its rawest, away from home, is going to find a shock or two. And as you say, you don’t really need that at this stage of the season. You want to know exactly what you’re doing.
“You know exactly what you’re going to get when you go to Sunderland, what you’re going to get when you go to Leeds, what you’re going to get when you go to South London facing Palace, etc., etc., etc.
“And I’m afraid he hasn’t had any kind of experience of that. Um, as much as when you look at his CV, he’s had a lot of clubs that he’s taken in relegation situations.”
Tudor’s career before Tottenham
Before Tottenham, Tudor managed six different clubs across five countries in his managerial career, which shows that he has been a bit of a journeyman.
He has only won one major honour as a manager so far, which is the Croatian Cup with Hajduk Split in 2012-13.
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That said, Tudor has mostly only been tasked with short-term gigs in his career so far, which he has done to good effect.
That is once again the case at Tottenham, and due to his experience, he might just be exactly what the doctor ordered for a squad in desperate need of new ideas.
Regardless of how well he fares between now and the end of the season, he is unlikely to get a contract extension.
In terms of permanent managers, Tottenham have been linked with Mauricio Pochettino and Roberto de Zerbi, with a decision expected to be made in the summer.
