Tottenham manager Igor Tudor's conduct did not go down well with presenter Laura Woods
Laura Woods was left shocked by Igor Tudor's off-camera behaviour following his post-match interview with TNT Sports as the Tottenham boss marched off without saying goodbye. The interim Spurs manager endured the bleakest night of his disastrous tenure on Tuesday as he suffered his fourth loss in four matches.
The north London side conceded three goals in the opening 15 minutes of their Champions League last-16 first-leg clash away at Atletico Madrid. Tudor, whose position was already hanging by a thread before kick-off, responded by hauling off goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky immediately after the third goal.
Having been subjected to humiliation, Kinsky received no acknowledgement from his boss as the dejected shot-stopper trudged off the pitch and headed straight down the tunnel.
Tudor's side ended the game with a 5-2 defeat thanks to a series of defensive mistakes, though Pedro Porro and Dominic Solanke's goals ensured they're not entirely out of the contest just yet.
The manager was noticeably blunt with his responses and appeared irritated in his post-match interview with TNT Sports. Presenter Woods suggested Tudor didn't even shake hands with the reporter interviewing him as he stormed off from the frosty exchange - though the lack of handshake was not visible in the camera shot.
A baffled Woods said immediately afterwards: "Wow, that was a quick… I don’t even think there was a goodbye but we’ve seen tonight, he doesn’t really like saying goodbye to many people, does he?
"Straight down the tunnel after the game, no acknowledgement of the travelling fans. Look, he would rather not speak but questions need to continue to be asked and he must provide answers. He is the manager."
During the interview, Tudor was asked whether he felt confident about overturning Spurs' catastrophic run of form. He responded: "I need to have [confidence]. I need to keep working, not speaking too much and staying focused on things we can do. It’s not the moment to explain too much, in this moment we need to stay calm and less talking is better."
When pushed on why things aren’t working, he bluntly said: "Better less talking. Now is not the moment to try to give big explanations."
Pundit Joe Hart took issue with his comments, telling Woods: "How can your man who’s put in charge to steer Tottenham into a better direction not want to speak? What kind of message is he sending there?
"He’s sending no message to the players. Did he send a message to the fans? He said he apologised to them there but he didn’t acknowledge them in the stadium."
Tudor seemingly didn’t applaud the away supporters following the defeat - something widely seen as the bare minimum in English football.
Ahead of the match, the manager made the bold call to drop first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario after a difficult spell of form. Kinsky, 22, was handed his first start since October, which proved a catastrophic decision as the Czech stopper was at fault for two of the goals.