Again, stupid of a decision as that would have been (and I don't fully believe the reporting on it), declining a Tielemans deal, which was in January anyway, is not the same thing as embargoing all incoming players for an entire summer.
It's ludicrous to suggest Poch demanded no incomings, can be dismissed out of hand, not to be taken seriously, period.
And ultimately, a process breakdown so severe that the only empty summer in the history of the Premier League was the result falls squarely on the club leadership regardless of the particulars.
Around the time of the dodgy wiring fiasco at the new stadium Spurs just broke as a football operation, it ceased to function. A disgraceful leadership failure that caused enormous long-lasting damage we're only just now digging our way out of.