Revealed: How Igor Tudor is already losing the Tottenham dressing room as players fume at his 'disrespect' and 'mockery', why caretaker's training sessions are hurting team spirit and how Spurs chiefs reacted to Atletico humiliation behind the scenes

Morale was rock bottom when Tottenham arrived in Madrid and by the time their team bus crawled up the ramp from the depths of the Metropolitano for its short ride to the airport and a flight home to London it was through the floor.

More than another crushing defeat, the battering at the hands of Atletico Madrid was another night of embarrassment for the players and their interim boss Igor Tudor.

Perhaps when they employed the Croatian to replace Thomas Frank , Spurs liked the idea his stern and taciturn manner would be good for kicking a few backsides and bringing those players who are not quite as good as they like to think down a peg or two.

If that was the plan, it appears at this point to have backfired. Some players seem to suspect Tudor’s charmless brand of passive aggression is designed to belittle them.

These are the very same players he needs to perform if this salvage operation is going to work.

Friends of Tudor say he has hidden warmth. If true, he is keeping it well hidden.

Igor Tudor has lost all of his games in charge at Tottenham, with his side slipping to a new low in Madrid on Tuesday night

Spurs' players looked utterly dejected at the final whistle of their 5-2 defeat by Atletico Madrid, and Tudor is said to have been making matters worse behind the scenes

Some players feel he has worked them hard in training for the sake of it, rather than conditioning his depleted squad carefully through the match schedule, and has set out to impose his authority, being disrespectful almost to the point of mockery.

This was the feeling before Madrid, so imagine the private conversations they were sharing after his brutal treatment of back-up goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky.

Tudor and his staff, which includes two first-team goalkeeper coaches, threw Kinsky into his first game for five months then hauled him off after two mistakes in the first 17 minutes without a word of consolation.

The goalkeeping union led the criticism of Tudor. Former Spurs and England goalkeepers Paul Robinson and Joe Hart on broadcasting duty at the Metropolitano. Former Atletico and Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea on social media. More scorn followed from ex-Spurs players.

The showy substitution may have satisfied Tudor’s ego, but it leaves Kinsky’s reputation in tatters. Same as his confidence. Guglielmo Vicario, who has endured his own struggles in a season when he has been booed by his own fans, will continue in goal at Liverpool.

What if he is injured or sent off? Back to Kinsky or straight to third-choice Brandon Austin.

It is a mess of many dimensions and relegation fears eat away.

Kinsky, according to the Daily Telegraph , has already accepted he will probably have to look for a loan move away from Spurs to restore confidence and reputation.

Players don’t like seeing a team-mate humiliated.

Tudor refused to acknowledge Antonin Kinsky despite hooking the goalkeeper early on in the first half in Madrid

Some players feel their caretaker boss has worked them hard in training for the sake of it

One of very few admirable decisions made during the game against Atletico was by those who ran to offer consolation and support for the goalkeeper as he was replaced and those from the substitutes who jogged after him to the dressing room.

'You wouldn’t wish this on anyone,' said Micky van de Ven when asked about Kinsky by Dutch TV.

As for the mood in the dressing room, Van de Ven pulled no punches. '(It's) terrible to be honest,' said the Spurs vice-captain. 'A doomsday scenario. I could give you the standard talk that we all have to stick together and work hard but we’re just being dealt blow after blow.

'It is really difficult. Everything that could go wrong in the first 20 minutes went wrong. Everyone slips, including me. Those are moments you simply can’t do anything about. I can’t just stand here and start blaming the pitch.'

As Tudor performed a series of tense and terse post-match interviews, most players put their heads down and trudged to the bus. Only Kevin Danso ventured into the mixed zone areas where players can field questions from the non-rights holders.

Danso is a positive force in the dressing room. He speaks different languages and links together different groups. He was all about ‘looking in the mirror’ and ‘digging deep’ and ‘bouncing back’.

For the first time in history, Spurs have lost six in a row, and few are betting against seven when they go to Liverpool on Sunday with Tudor still in charge.

Van de Ven is suspended, and Cristian Romero and Joao Palhinha are doubts after a sickening clash of heads in stoppage time in Madrid, something of a metaphor for the season.

Tudor looks set to stay in situ for the trip to Liverpool this weekend - but will that be his last game in the Spurs dugout?

Defender Micky van de Ven (left) admitted the mood in the Spurs dressing room was 'terrible' after the thrashing by Atletico

Tudor has made a misfiring team worse by frantically thrashing around for a solution from one tactical plan to another, throwing players in one minute and discarding them the next.

Frank went through a similar process but over time and without the burning fuse there was not the same undercurrent of panic.

Tudor in fairness had made clear in Madrid on the eve of the game that he would prioritise Premier League survival, which was perhaps behind his decision to give Vicario a breather and rest Dominic Solanke, who spent the first six months of the season out injured, and Palhinha, who has been playing on despite a niggle.

Solanke has been effective in Europe with goals in each of the previous two Champions League games against Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt, and he scored from the bench against Atletico.

Without Palhinha, Spurs lack physical presence in midfield. Without Xavi Simons, who also excelled against Dortmund and Frankfurt, there is a creativity void. Yet Tudor has cast him aside as with Conor Gallagher, signed for £35million in January.

Captain Romero meanwhile seems to be advertising for a move, and Spurs are unlikely to stand in his way if someone offers north of £60m but this was the case last summer, when Atletico were said to be keen on the Argentina international but did not show with a bid.

Any concept of a summer clear-out is easier said than done. Those players Spurs want to keep will be the ones attracting the most interest. Bayern Munich are becoming increasingly interested in Archie Gray, one of the few whose stock has risen despite the crisis.

Chelsea and Aston Villa plan to test resolve over Lucas Bergvall. Bayern and Barcelona are among the clubs in pursuit of Luka Vuskovic, a teenage centre-half on loan at Hamburg who has yet to make a competitive appearance for Spurs and is not keen to return.

Former player Ryan Mason (left) has experience of working as Spurs' caretaker boss, but hasn't been approached about replacing Tudor

Chief executive Vinai Venkatesham (pictured) was at his desk before 9am on Wednesday and locked in his office for most of the day

The sombre flight from Madrid to Stansted touched down in the early hours of Wednesday morning, by which time the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust had issued a statement branding the performance ‘a total disgrace’ and demanding a ticket refund.

Chief executive Vinai Venkatesham was at his desk before 9am and locked in his office for most of the day.

Venkatesham and sporting director Johan Lange have been thumbing through contingency ideas and making calls since the shambles against Crystal Palace last week and holding tight to the idea that it is better to avoid another change in case it sets them back a month to the point of the Frank sacking.

Former Spurs boss Harry Redknapp, among the popular options, told reporters at the Cheltenham Festival he would love to do it but had not been approached. Nor has Ryan Mason, a former Spurs player and popular coach who has twice stepped into the breach on an interim mission.

Sean Dyche tops the ‘next Spurs boss’ betting and it makes some sense, but Tottenham have always been cool on Roberto De Zerbi, another who features prominently with bookmakers because of his availability after leaving Marseille.

If they can reach the summer as a Premier League club, a limited field of candidates will open up. But for now relegation stalks the scene.