'You have to give them a cuddle!' - Igor Tudor destroyed by ex-Tottenham manager for changing tune on relegation battle

Tottenham's situation has grown increasingly dire after a 2-1 defeat against Fulham was followed by a 3-1 home loss to Crystal Palace. Sherwood believes the intensity of the English game has caught the Tudor off guard. "I think he's been slapped straight in the face by the competition in the Premier League. It ain't easy. This is a tough competition. He looks lost at times on the touchline. He knew nothing about it," Sherwood noted on Sky Sports.

Sherwood expressed his disbelief at how quickly the atmosphere has soured, with Spurs currently sitting in 16th place following a string of disastrous results. Redknapp was particularly critical of Tudor’s shift in tone, moving from total confidence to publicly criticising his squad. "He's gone from, ‘I 100% guarantee we spend next season in the Premier League’, to, ‘the players are not fit enough, we're not good in attack, we're not good in the middle, we're not good at the back, we need our injured players back to fitness’. You've got to get on with what you've got. Forget all that nonsense. Concentrate on the players who are fit at the moment and try and give them a lift," he added.

According to Sherwood, the current aggressive approach toward the squad is likely to backfire as the threat of the Championship looms. "You don't get that [new manager] bounce by having a stick and whacking them with it," Sherwood argued. "Not if the downside looks like relegation. You have to give them a cuddle. You have to find the best solution. You have to give them an easy solution to how we're going to play. This is how we play."

Speculation regarding Tudor's future is already mounting, but the club appears set to stick with him for the immediate future. When directly confronted with questions about his job security after the Palace defeat, Tudor was tight-lipped over his Spurs future, offering a simple "no comment" when asked if he would be in the dugout for the next game.

The schedule offers no respite for the struggling giants. With a Champions League round of 16 clash against Atletico Madrid on the horizon and a daunting trip to Liverpool to follow, the pressure is reaching a breaking point. Only a year removed from Europa League glory, Spurs now face the very real threat of a relegation six-pointer against Nottingham Forest, a reality that Sherwood and the Spurs faithful find impossible to reconcile.