'It's... wow!' - Tottenham legend Gus Poyet left in utter disbelief at 'tremendous' Spurs decline & insists relegation would be biggest shock in Premier League history

A decade ago, Leicester stunned the football world when savouring the most unlikely of title triumphs - famously bucking odds of 5,000/1 along the way. Few could have predicted that the Premier League would deliver greater drama than that.

Spurs are, however, in the process of writing their own remarkable story. Theirs is more of a horror show than a fairytale, with a humbling fall from grace being suffered. They were able to end a 17-year wait for major silverware last season, as Ange Postecoglou oversaw a Europa League success, but Tottenham have become basement dwellers domestically.

A 17th-place finish in 2024-25 was considered to be the lowest of lows for Spurs, but they may yet dip even further. With games beginning to run out this term, a trapdoor that leads into the Championship is starting to creak open.

Quizzed on whether relegation for Spurs would eclipse Leicester’s trophy-winning exploits as the Premier League’s biggest ever shock, Poyet - speaking in association with Gambling.com, who review all slot sites UK - told GOAL: “Good question. I would say yes, bigger, and I don't want to take nothing from Leicester. Leicester was, I think, about momentum. Leicester was the typical thing that we say among coaches, when you have the momentum, when the players are motivated, when the players believe, they get together and something happens and you're thinking ‘they're going to lose, they're going to lose’, and they never lose and then they're going to want to win it.

“And this is bad because I think Spurs want to be a good club with a certain level. I was in the old training ground and I was at the old stadium and in terms of infrastructure, they went to the top. It's absolutely amazing, the training ground and the stadium. And after doing that, the possibility to go down is tremendous. I mean, it's wow.

“Now, me, what I always say, and I try to be honest with people, and people sometimes say ‘you think you know everything’. No, I don't. But last year, Tottenham finished 17th. That's an accident, one year. This year is not an accident anymore. It's a problem. And when you start playing with that situation, anything can happen.

“I'll tell you my experience in Sunderland. I say ‘you play with fire every year, you're going to go down’. They were ‘ah, we are Sunderland, we are Sunderland’. I got safe, somehow. Dick Advocaat got safe, somehow. Sam Allardyce got safe, somehow. And then they went down, because you cannot play every year to go down. You can't. Because then you miss, like they're missing now, the key players and now you're worse.

“Because last year it was not about injuries. It was about that side of your mind that is European competition and the possibility of a trophy, and the Premier League. And they took it really bad. Luckily, there were three teams that were really awful. But this year, it looks like it won’t be like that. Now it's coming, and everybody feels the pressure. And now it's a different game. And it's a long way to go. It's not two or three games. It's a long way.”

Spurs parted company with Postecoglou after seeing him break their barren run on the trophy front. Thomas Frank has come and gone since then, lasing just eight months at the helm, with Igor Tudor opening his reign as interim head coach with four straight defeats.

Croatian tactician Tudor is untested in the Premier League, as a player and manager, so should Tottenham have taken a leaf out of Manchester United’s book - after seeing them turn to Michael Carrick in an hour of need - and favoured somebody that boasts professional ties to the club?

Responding to that question, Poyet - who spent three years at White Hart Lane as a player - said: “I think it's easier to agree with you. It's very easy. Everybody's going to be happy, but in the summer, they did that. They brought Thomas Frank because he knew the league. But it was nothing to do with the football that Tottenham play and Brentford play. As a coach, he's been many, many years successful at Brentford. And it didn't work.

“Now maybe they say, no, let's go completely the opposite. You know why? It's the decisions. I say as coaches, when we make good decisions, we are good coaches. And when we make rubbish decisions or bad decisions, we don't get that job. And that's simple. And I think the people at the top are the same. You know, they're going to live or die by decisions. And until the end, you know, it's Igor Tudor. And let's hope he can find that point or something that will make the team win games.”

Click here to read article