soccer

What Tudor must do to win over 'increasingly apathetic fanbase'

[BBC]
Igor Tudor
[Getty Images]

Is hiring Igor Tudor a stroke of genius or a disastrous appointment by the board?

The fact that no-one seems able to answer this question with any great conviction has done nothing to either calm my nerves or excite me.

On the one hand, the Croat has a reasonably impressive track record of improving teams over a short-term period. Essentially, this is all we really need from him so we can avoid relegation, before we appoint a permanent head coach in the summer.

However, Tudor is also known for his high-intensity style of play, with training sessions and fitness work testing players to their limits.

Normally this would not concern me, but given our current injury crisis and ongoing issues within our medical department, I am not sure the ghost of Antonio Conte past is the wisest approach right now.

Ultimately, as long as Tudor can do enough to keep us in the Premier League, I am not particularly fussed.

However, therein lies the problem.

As a fan, I was excited to see who the board would call upon to rescue our season.

I appreciate the options were limited, given we needed someone who was available on a short-term basis mid-season, but this was also a priceless opportunity to unite an increasingly apathetic fanbase.

If we are to play our part in redeeming this season, we need to feel invested in our team.

Hopefully Tudor can win us over by inspiring – or scaring – the players into delivering something we have been missing so far in this campaign: football that is worth watching.

Get us scoring some goals, winning some games, and keep us in the league.

Then we can bring home everyone's favourite Argentine in the summer and forget this sorry season ever happened.

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