🚨 UPDATE, June 2026: Roberto De Zerbi was appointed Tottenham head coach on 31 March 2026 on a five-year contract, replacing interim manager Igor Tudor. He joined with Spurs sitting one point above the relegation zone and went on to secure Premier League survival with a 2-0 win over Everton on the final day of the season, finishing with 11 points from his seven games in charge. Read on for the full pre-appointment odds breakdown and analysis.
The 2025-26 season became one of the most turbulent in Tottenham Hotspur’s recent history, with the club cycling through three permanent or interim managers between the summer and the end of March and spending much of the second half of the campaign fighting to avoid relegation from the Premier League for the first time since 1977. What had started with genuine optimism after the appointment of Thomas Frank in June 2025 unravelled badly, leaving the club in crisis and the bookmakers’ odds markets in a state of constant flux as speculation about replacements grew louder throughout February and into March.
OddsBoom looks back at the full manager odds market that formed around the time of Frank’s sacking, the candidates who were in the frame, and how the situation ultimately resolved itself by the end of the season.
How Tottenham’s Season Fell Apart
Thomas Frank arrived at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in June 2025 as the successor to Ange Postecoglou, whose Europa League triumph in the 2024-25 season had not been enough to save his job given a poor domestic campaign. Frank brought with him a strong reputation earned over seven seasons at Brentford, where he had taken the club from the Championship into the Premier League and secured consecutive top-half finishes in the top flight. His appointment was broadly welcomed, with many believing his organised and direct style of football could help stabilise a squad that had underperformed in the league for two consecutive seasons.
The early signs in Europe were encouraging, with Spurs reaching the Champions League round of 16 and finishing fourth in the league phase. Domestically, however, the picture was far more concerning. Tottenham managed only two wins in their first 17 Premier League matches of the season and failed to win a single league game throughout January and into February 2026. A 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle United on 10 February extended the winless run to eight matches and left the club in 16th place with 29 points from 26 games, sitting just five points above the relegation zone. The board acted immediately, releasing a statement the following day confirming Frank’s departure after eight months in charge.
Igor Tudor’s Brief and Damaging Stint
Rather than immediately appointing a permanent replacement, Tottenham turned to Igor Tudor as an interim manager, confirming his appointment on 13 February 2026. The Croatian had experience managing clubs including Juventus, Lazio, Marseille, Verona and Galatasaray, and had most recently guided Juventus to a fourth-place finish in Serie A before being dismissed in October 2025 after an eight-match winless run. The plan was for Tudor to take charge until the end of the season while the club conducted a proper search for a permanent appointment in the summer.
It did not go to plan. Tudor’s reign began with three consecutive defeats against Arsenal, Fulham and Crystal Palace, making him only the second Tottenham head coach in the club’s history to open with three straight losses, following Martin Jol in November 2004. His only point from five Premier League matches came in a 1-1 draw with Liverpool, and he also oversaw a Champions League last-16 exit at the hands of Atletico Madrid, with Spurs losing 7-5 on aggregate across the two legs. After just seven games and 44 days in charge, with Tottenham sitting one point above the relegation zone and seven league matches remaining, Tudor was dismissed on 29 March 2026.
Next Tottenham Manager Odds (At Time of Frank’s Sacking, February 2026)
Odds correct at time of original publication, February 2026.
| Candidate | Odds |
|---|---|
| Roberto De Zerbi | 2/1 |
| Mauricio Pochettino | 2/1 |
| Robbie Keane | 6/1 |
| John Heitinga | 6/1 |
| Ruben Amorim | 10/1 |
| Marco Silva | 16/1 |
| Oliver Glasner | 16/1 |
| Edin Terzic | 18/1 |
| Ryan Mason | 20/1 |
| Xabi Alonso | 20/1 |
Roberto De Zerbi at 2/1 (Got the Job)
Roberto De Zerbi was one of two joint-favourites at the time of Frank’s sacking, and his position in the market made considerable sense given his availability and his track record in English football. He had left Marseille by mutual consent in February 2026 after one full season in Ligue 1, where he guided the club to a second-place finish, and was widely regarded as one of the most tactically progressive coaches in European football. His two years at Brighton between 2022 and 2024 had earned him admiration far beyond what his club’s size would typically attract, with the Seagulls qualifying for European competition for the first time in their history and reaching the FA Cup semi-final. Pep Guardiola was among those who publicly praised his methods, describing Brighton under De Zerbi as playing in a way that no other team in the Premier League could replicate.
He was confirmed as Tottenham’s new head coach on 31 March 2026 on a five-year deal, inheriting a squad in the relegation zone with seven games remaining and without a league win in 2026. The task was as difficult as it sounds, but De Zerbi chose pragmatism over the high-risk positional football he had become known for, simplifying his methods and selections to get immediate results. Spurs beat the drop on the final day of the season with a 2-0 win over Everton, collecting 11 points from their final seven matches and finishing the campaign in 18th place but safe, with enough points to stay up by goal difference. De Zerbi described the achievement as incredible and made clear his focus immediately shifted to rebuilding the squad for a much more ambitious 2026-27 campaign.
Mauricio Pochettino at 2/1 (Did Not Get the Job)
Pochettino was priced alongside De Zerbi as joint-favourite at 2/1, which reflected the enormous affection he still holds among the Tottenham fanbase and his enduring status as the most successful manager in the club’s modern era. The Argentine spent five years at Spurs between 2014 and 2019, transforming them into genuine Champions League contenders and guiding them to the final in Madrid in 2019, where they were beaten by Liverpool. His sacking that November, despite that level of achievement, remained a controversial decision among supporters, many of whom continued to call for his return throughout subsequent managerial appointments.
By the time of Frank’s sacking, Pochettino had been in charge of the United States national team and was preparing his squad for the summer World Cup on home soil. That commitment made any immediate return to club management difficult to negotiate, and the urgency of Tottenham’s relegation battle ultimately ruled him out as a realistic short-term candidate despite his position at the top of the market.
Robbie Keane at 6/1 (Did Not Get the Job)
Robbie Keane was the most eye-catching name in the market at 6/1, with his inclusion reflecting both his emotional connection to the club and his growing managerial credentials. Keane remains Tottenham’s all-time leading scorer and had two separate spells at White Hart Lane across his playing career, making him one of the most popular figures in the club’s history. His managerial work in Hungary with Ferencvaros, where he was in charge of the reigning champions, had given him credibility as a coach, but the scale of the challenge Spurs faced and the need for immediate Premier League experience made a more established appointment the only realistic option for the board.
John Heitinga at 6/1 (Did Not Get the Job)
John Heitinga was priced alongside Keane at 6/1, having built a reputation as a thoughtful and progressive young coach through his work in the Ajax academy system and a spell as interim manager of the first team. The former Everton and Netherlands defender had drawn positive attention from clubs looking for a modern, technically minded coach, and his presence in the Tottenham market at that price reflected genuine interest from sections of the media, though he was ultimately not part of the club’s deliberations.
Ruben Amorim at 10/1 (Did Not Get the Job)
Ruben Amorim featured in the Tottenham market at 10/1 having recently departed Manchester United, a situation covered in our Next Man Utd Manager Odds article. His availability at short notice made him a name that appeared across multiple manager markets simultaneously, and his record at Sporting CP had been strong enough to generate interest from clubs across Europe. However, his brief and difficult spell at Old Trafford had raised questions about whether his preferred style of play could be adapted quickly enough for a club in crisis, and Tottenham opted for De Zerbi’s Premier League experience instead.
The Rest of the Market
Marco Silva at 16/1 had been doing impressive work at Fulham and was not a realistic candidate to leave mid-season, while Oliver Glasner at 16/1 was similarly settled at Crystal Palace, where he had built a well-drilled and consistent side. Glasner had also been linked with the vacancy at Stamford Bridge, as detailed in our Next Chelsea Manager Odds piece from the same period. Edin Terzic at 18/1 had been out of work since leaving Borussia Dortmund and was a credible name in the market, while Ryan Mason at 20/1 offered a familiar internal option given his previous interim spell at the club. Xabi Alonso at 20/1 was by that stage one of the most talked-about managerial prospects in world football, though the likelihood of him moving to a club fighting relegation was always slim.
What Happened After De Zerbi’s Appointment
De Zerbi’s first match in charge ended in a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland, with Spurs having dropped into the relegation zone for the first time since January 2009 following a West Ham win earlier that day. The situation looked bleak, but the results gradually turned over the following weeks as De Zerbi simplified his setup and got a response from a squad that had looked short of confidence for months. The 2-0 win over Everton on the final day of the season was enough to keep Tottenham up, and De Zerbi was already speaking in the immediate aftermath about wanting to build a stronger and more competitive team for the season ahead.
The 2025-26 campaign will be remembered as one of the most chaotic in the club’s recent history, with four different individuals taking charge across the course of the season if you include the period before Frank arrived, and Tottenham finishing 18th and surviving only on goal difference. Whether De Zerbi can turn things around in 2026-27 is the question that now occupies supporters, but the manner in which he steadied the ship after Tudor’s departure at least gives grounds for optimism heading into the summer.
For more manager odds coverage across the Premier League, take a look at the Next Leicester Manager Odds and our tracker on the Next Premier League Manager to Be Sacked.
All odds correct at time of original writing. Please gamble responsibly. For help with problem gambling visit GambleAware.org. 18+.
