Tottenham Hotspur fans were photographed fighting one another after the team went down to their fifth-straight defeat, 3-1 to Crystal Palace, and were left just a single point above the relegation zone.
The mood was rebellious in the stadium following Micky van de Ven’s red card and three goals for Crystal Palace before half-time. There were angry barbs aimed at the directors’ box. The club have nine games left and the future of interim manager Igor Tudor, who has lost all three games in charge, will surely be in doubt.
The Croat refused to comment on whether he had the support of the club hierarchy. Spurs play Atlético Madrid on Tuesday in Spain in the Champions League and then have 10 days until their next Premier League fixture away to Liverpool. His team took the lead through Dominic Solanke but there were two goals from Ismaïla Sarr, the first from the spot after Van de Ven’s foul, and another for Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Tudor said: “Of course I understand the fans’ [frustration]. It’s a normal thing that happens in football. They are disappointed. They wanted more. We are aware of that. We also wanted to give more. Unfortunately this is the moment that we pay everything. One red card changed everything.
“I will tell you now – maybe it will sound strange – but I believe more after this game than I believed before. I saw something. I need to choose the right guys because the boat is going in the direction that I want to go and needs to go…. who is in the boat can stay [sic]. Otherwise they can bow down, or leave the boat.
Asked whether he would be in charge for the Liverpool game, Tudor said: “I don’t think in that direction. I have my job to do and that’s all.”
Tottenham’s night of torment
Here Telegraph Sport identifies six pictures that show Spurs are in disarray.
The roar from the home fans when Dominic Solanke scored sounded more like an exorcism than a sigh of relief. However, the groans of despair were just as loud when referee Andy Madley awarded a penalty to Crystal Palace and sent Mick van de Ven off merely two minutes later. The fact that their captain could do something so foolish indicates how frantic and desperate Tottenham are at this point in the season.
Tottenham fans could have used the half-time whistle to disguise their exit from the ground but many could not face watching another second. Sarr added Palace’s third a minute before the whistle but by the time Madley had blown hundreds were already outside the ground making the long trek to Seven Sisters station.
If you wanted any indication that Igor Tudor was unhappy with their first-half performance, the players aimlessly arriving out of the tunnel early and standing around the pitch for five minutes before kick off was it. The Croatian’s face throughout the second half told the story of a man who realised the magnitude of the task ahead of him to keep them up.
Pedro Porro is regarded as one of Tottenham’s more senior players at the ripe age of 26 but after being hooked in the 73rd minute the Spanish defender angrily slapped the chair and threw an innocent water carton on the floor. Tottenham supporters in the stadium were enraged by his petulance which further ignited the fire in the stadium among fans who had not already left.
After shouting at analysts in the press box, the directors’ box, and anyone else looking like they worked at the club the Tottenham fans started to turn on themselves as the final whistle drew closer.
Will the last Tottenham fan to leave please turn off the lights? One chap could not even bring himself to leave and found solace in just doom scrolling on his phone.