The biggest downside of today is that these losers are still owners .
-
The Fighting Cock is a forum for fans of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Here you can discuss Spurs latest matches, our squad, tactics and any transfer news surrounding the club. Registration gives you access to all our forums (including 'Off Topic' discussion) and removes most of the adverts (you can remove them all via an account upgrade). You're here now, you might as well...
Management ENIC
- Thread starter The Fighting Cock
- Start date
Latest Spurs videos from Sky Sports
Ornstein and Henry Winter laying into them on SSN just now. Saying they’re useless.
Sell and free this beautiful club.
ENIC have a massive bridge to build to reconnect with the supporters if they are going to stay .
Have shown huge disrespect to fans over the last season .
Time to step up or jog on .
Have shown huge disrespect to fans over the last season .
Time to step up or jog on .
Kehl in for Lange is a start.
I don't expect the CEO to go annoyingly.
But I want a minimum of Alex Scott or Angelo Stiller by 9am tomorrow, combined with Robertson, Senesi and Pahlinha confirmed.
Finally, confirming Vuskovic will be in the 1st team next season.
Any less, fuck you.
I don't expect the CEO to go annoyingly.
But I want a minimum of Alex Scott or Angelo Stiller by 9am tomorrow, combined with Robertson, Senesi and Pahlinha confirmed.
Finally, confirming Vuskovic will be in the 1st team next season.
Any less, fuck you.
These owners don't give edam
I never get the hate and venom spewed towards Nev by our fans in the other threads.
He's a top pundit and calls it how he sees it and sometimes the truth hurts, I guess.
I think how quickly they deal with Lange and Vinai will have a big impact on the atmosphere.
They clearly aren’t selling up but those two individuals were culpable for that shitshow last year. Their inability to react when Frank clearly had lost the fans and the dressing room dragged us very close to the brink. Their positions are untenable
They clearly aren’t selling up but those two individuals were culpable for that shitshow last year. Their inability to react when Frank clearly had lost the fans and the dressing room dragged us very close to the brink. Their positions are untenable
Kehl is as bad, if not worse than Lange.
Its a Gouda job we stayed up
Another article hammering ENIC, love to see it
archive.is
Tottenham’s deluded executive deserved to be relegated until De Zerbi…
archived 25 May 2026 05:08:29 UTC
Tottenham Hotspur love to tell us that “to dare is to do”. However, it is another D-word – delusion – that resulted in the club leaving it until the final day to secure their Premier League survival.
For all of the untold stories and behind-the-scenes briefings, the biggest examples of that failing are hidden in plain sight in two interviews – one in June last year and another this February.
Had it not been for a João Palhinha goal and a stunning save from Antonin Kinsky against Everton on Sunday, then Tottenham might have been contemplating trying to win the Championship next season.
Levy and Venkatesham’s soundbites proved to be nothing more than delusional drivel and both men should cringe with embarrassment if they ever watch it back. The video was released less than a month after Tottenham had sacked their first winner in 17 years and replaced him with a man who had never won a trophy and had never managed in the Champions League.
Events since have shown Daniel Levy and Vinai Venkatesham’s interview from June last year to be delusional Credit: Marc Atkins/Getty Images
If ever there was a wrong man at the wrong time, then it was Thomas Frank at Tottenham. He is a talented coach and an impressive individual, but Spurs were the worst fit possible for somebody who had come from such a settled and supportive environment at Brentford.
Levy, Venkatesham and sporting director Johan Lange were delusional in their belief that Frank could somehow pick up where Ange Postecoglou had left off by winning the Europa League. They conveniently forgot the squad the Dane inherited had finished 17th in the Premier League table and had, along with supporters, been desperate for Postecoglou to stay.
Frank quickly found he had a group devoid of any real leaders, the type of quality Tottenham’s so-called rivals would be envious of, or any tangible culture within the club to fall back on. At the end of Frank’s first transfer window at Spurs, in September, Levy was shown the door by the Lewis family owners and Venkatesham was placed in charge of the entire football operation.
One of his first acts after the departure of Levy was to formalise the return of Fabio Paratici as joint sporting director. After resigning from his post following his ban for his role in alleged false accounting at Juventus, the Italian had been working as a contracted consultant for the club.
Shortly after Paratici’s official return in October, Frank prepared for a Champions League game against Monaco by going for a dip in the Mediterranean Sea and it was clear he was already swimming against the tide at Spurs.
Thomas Frank proved to be the wrong man at the wrong time for Tottenham Credit: Glyn Kirk /AFP
Paratici had wanted Frank out before Christmas and put forward alternatives, one of which was thought to have been a certain Igor Tudor. However, he was overruled and three months after officially returning, Paratici left Tottenham to join Fiorentina and create even more instability at the London club.
Just as Levy’s Champions League and Premier League ambitions had been delusional, so too was the belief of the Lewis family that they could simply pick up the reins and do a better job. An equity boost of £100m was small change in the billionaires’ playground that is the Premier League.
Sources claim that Peter Charrington did not know how many players were on a football team when he first took up his post as non-executive chairman and in many respects it has been the blind leading the blind.
A familiar sight the season: a Tottenham fan looking less than impressed
Left to fend for himself, Frank did not do himself any favours by holding up Woolwich as the shining example for his players to follow. He referenced the Gunners in his first press conference and continued to do so in team meetings – much to the frustration of members of his squad.
As the relationship between players and the fans broke down completely, with the issue even being raised in team meetings, Frank simply lost control. Rebel captain Cristian Romero escaped any serious punishment for accusing the club’s hierarchy of telling “lies” shortly after a 3-2 defeat by Bournemouth.
It was before that game, at the start of January, that Frank invited ridicule by holding an Woolwich-branded coffee cup and by then the writing was already on the wall. That did not stop Tottenham adding John Heitinga to Frank’s staff less than a month before they sacked him.
Frank’s holding up of Woolwich as the team to emulate and then holding an Woolwich-branded cup did him no favours with players or fans...
...and led to humiliation in the stands with his face plastered on to an Woolwich inflatable Credit: David Klein/Reuters
Appointing a man whose pragmatic approach was almost the polar opposite of what had gone before under Postecoglou was never going to work, particularly in the space of eight turbulent months.
Frank will be all the better for his Spurs experience, however bruising it was. Tottenham trumped their own pre-season delusion by believing that replacing him with Tudor – one of the men Paratici had recommended – as interim head coach was the right move. Heitinga responded by following Frank out of the exit door. Deckchairs and the Titanic sprang to mind.
Talking about a January transfer window that Tottenham started by selling Brennan Johnson and finished by failing to sign a replacement – despite what proved to be a season-ending injury to Mohammed Kudus – Lange insisted that players of sufficient quality had not been available.
Well-placed sources, however, claim that Tottenham could have signed versatile forward Ademola Lookman, who was available and deemed good enough for Atlético Madrid.
The Tottenham players, until recently, have looked far from happy this season Credit: Andrew Couldridge/Action Images via Reuters
It was Atlético who knocked Spurs out of the Champions League a month after Lange’s interview, in which he also claimed that Tottenham’s lack of transfer activity in January was partly down to the challenges it would have presented in terms of European registration.
If Lange really thought that registering new players for the Champions League was Tottenham’s biggest problem, then he was living on another planet.
Tudor’s abrasive approach immediately failed with the Spurs players, who had already proved themselves to be a fragile bunch. Postecoglou had mollycoddled them to Europa League glory. Frank was ignored when he tried to get tough, illustrated by Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven snubbing his attempts to make them acknowledge supporters.
Igor Tudor’s abrasive style did not sit well with the Tottenham players Credit: Marc Atkins/Getty Images
So being constantly shouted at and sworn at by Tudor came as an unwelcome shock and Tottenham’s unhappy players quickly realised there was no point pushing themselves for a guy who was scheduled to leave at the end of the season regardless.
The treatment of goalkeeper Kinsky – who was substituted and then ignored by Tudor as he made his way off the pitch just 17 minutes into a calamitous performance at Atlético – was the final straw for many of the Spurs players.
Football on TNT Sports
@footballontnt
·
Follow
“It broke my heart” Joe Hart and Steve McManaman criticise Igor Tudor for his handling of the substitution of Antonín Kinský…@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK
Watch on X
9:48 PM · Mar 10, 2026
1.5K
Reply
Copy link
Read 35 replies
Shortly before that 5-2 defeat in Madrid, Venkatesham had used a fans’ forum to try to shift the blame for Tottenham’s embarrassing campaign towards Levy – the man he had claimed he would form “a really powerful partnership with” in June last year.
Venkatesham admitted that he had misread the club’s situation ahead of his appointment and outlined where he believed Levy had got it wrong.
It may be some time before the two men get together for a glass of red wine again, given an ally of Levy responded to the comments made at the fans’ forum by saying: “Do you really believe supporters believe such s---?” The same ally also pointed to Tottenham’s record of qualifying for Europe 18 times in 20 seasons under Levy.
Levy certainly could not be blamed for the fact that Tudor lasted 44 days as interim head coach and picked up just a single Premier League point. It was a return that was not a surprise to anyone who had spoken to agents of players and staff who had worked under him at previous clubs.
For the most part this campaign has been embarrassing for Tottenham Credit: Ben Stansall/AFP
Tottenham’s due diligence had been so lacking that they had even failed to account for the fact that Tudor’s trusted right-hand man, Ivan Javorcic, did not qualify for a work permit in time to join the Croatian in London. Given Lange had needed help from a club official when asked how long his own contract ran for, perhaps it was not surprising.
“I need to get this correct on English employment law, but I’m on a rolling contract,” said Lange, before the club clarified that he is on a standard employment contract with no set end date, rather than a rolling deal.
Finally, Venkatesham and Lange came to their senses and threw money and control at Roberto De Zerbi to convince the Italian to take on the Spurs rescue mission as the club’s permanent head coach.
De Zerbi turned to YouTube for help, making his players watch highlight reels of their careers to remind them what they were capable of.
When he arrived, Roberto De Zerbi made sure he lifted the players’ confidence by showing YouTube clips of them playing well Credit: Dylan Martinez/Reuters
With Guglielmo Vicario needing surgery on a hernia, De Zerbi’s positive attitude helped Kinsky complete a remarkable personal redemption arc, as the Czech produced superb saves that secured precious points against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leeds United and Everton.
Sky Sports Premier League
@SkySportsPL
·
Follow
What a SAVE from Kinsky!!
Watch on X
5:06 PM · May 24, 2026
1.7K
Reply
Copy link
Read 29 replies
Anybody deluded enough to think Tottenham’s self-inflicted problems had been cured in a few short weeks by De Zerbi, however, was brought back down to earth by a limp defeat at Chelsea and a final act of nonsense from Romero.
A few days before Sunday’s survival showdown against Everton, it emerged that the Argentine was back in his home country preparing for the World Cup. He had not been scheduled to return to England for Tottenham’s final game, but managed to get himself back following a barrage of criticism.
Breaking from Levy’s tradition of using the last home game of the season to write a message to supporters, the Lewis family and Venkatesham chose not to address fans in the match-day programme. One Spurs observer remarked: “No surprise the owners cower away. Their leadership summed up.”
The Tottenham fans deserved to celebrate wildly when the final whistle blew against Everton on Sunday to confirm Premier League safety. Those who spent much of the season in a state of delusion, however, should be thanking their lucky stars. It is time to get
For all of the untold stories and behind-the-scenes briefings, the biggest examples of that failing are hidden in plain sight in two interviews – one in June last year and another this February.
Daniel Levy and Vinai Venkatesham – June 17, 2025
Rewind to just over a year ago and Spurs released a video on the club’s YouTube channel in which Levy, the former chairman, and Venkatesham, the chief executive, went on a smarm offensive about their shared love of red wine and boldly declared: “We want to win the Premier League. We want to win the Champions League. We want to win.”Had it not been for a João Palhinha goal and a stunning save from Antonin Kinsky against Everton on Sunday, then Tottenham might have been contemplating trying to win the Championship next season.
Levy and Venkatesham’s soundbites proved to be nothing more than delusional drivel and both men should cringe with embarrassment if they ever watch it back. The video was released less than a month after Tottenham had sacked their first winner in 17 years and replaced him with a man who had never won a trophy and had never managed in the Champions League.
Events since have shown Daniel Levy and Vinai Venkatesham’s interview from June last year to be delusional Credit: Marc Atkins/Getty Images
If ever there was a wrong man at the wrong time, then it was Thomas Frank at Tottenham. He is a talented coach and an impressive individual, but Spurs were the worst fit possible for somebody who had come from such a settled and supportive environment at Brentford.
Levy, Venkatesham and sporting director Johan Lange were delusional in their belief that Frank could somehow pick up where Ange Postecoglou had left off by winning the Europa League. They conveniently forgot the squad the Dane inherited had finished 17th in the Premier League table and had, along with supporters, been desperate for Postecoglou to stay.
Frank quickly found he had a group devoid of any real leaders, the type of quality Tottenham’s so-called rivals would be envious of, or any tangible culture within the club to fall back on. At the end of Frank’s first transfer window at Spurs, in September, Levy was shown the door by the Lewis family owners and Venkatesham was placed in charge of the entire football operation.
One of his first acts after the departure of Levy was to formalise the return of Fabio Paratici as joint sporting director. After resigning from his post following his ban for his role in alleged false accounting at Juventus, the Italian had been working as a contracted consultant for the club.
Shortly after Paratici’s official return in October, Frank prepared for a Champions League game against Monaco by going for a dip in the Mediterranean Sea and it was clear he was already swimming against the tide at Spurs.
Thomas Frank proved to be the wrong man at the wrong time for Tottenham Credit: Glyn Kirk /AFP
Paratici had wanted Frank out before Christmas and put forward alternatives, one of which was thought to have been a certain Igor Tudor. However, he was overruled and three months after officially returning, Paratici left Tottenham to join Fiorentina and create even more instability at the London club.
Just as Levy’s Champions League and Premier League ambitions had been delusional, so too was the belief of the Lewis family that they could simply pick up the reins and do a better job. An equity boost of £100m was small change in the billionaires’ playground that is the Premier League.
Sources claim that Peter Charrington did not know how many players were on a football team when he first took up his post as non-executive chairman and in many respects it has been the blind leading the blind.
A familiar sight the season: a Tottenham fan looking less than impressed
Left to fend for himself, Frank did not do himself any favours by holding up Woolwich as the shining example for his players to follow. He referenced the Gunners in his first press conference and continued to do so in team meetings – much to the frustration of members of his squad.
As the relationship between players and the fans broke down completely, with the issue even being raised in team meetings, Frank simply lost control. Rebel captain Cristian Romero escaped any serious punishment for accusing the club’s hierarchy of telling “lies” shortly after a 3-2 defeat by Bournemouth.
It was before that game, at the start of January, that Frank invited ridicule by holding an Woolwich-branded coffee cup and by then the writing was already on the wall. That did not stop Tottenham adding John Heitinga to Frank’s staff less than a month before they sacked him.
Frank’s holding up of Woolwich as the team to emulate and then holding an Woolwich-branded cup did him no favours with players or fans...
...and led to humiliation in the stands with his face plastered on to an Woolwich inflatable Credit: David Klein/Reuters
Appointing a man whose pragmatic approach was almost the polar opposite of what had gone before under Postecoglou was never going to work, particularly in the space of eight turbulent months.
Frank will be all the better for his Spurs experience, however bruising it was. Tottenham trumped their own pre-season delusion by believing that replacing him with Tudor – one of the men Paratici had recommended – as interim head coach was the right move. Heitinga responded by following Frank out of the exit door. Deckchairs and the Titanic sprang to mind.
Lange – February 20, 2026
There was no more talk of red wine when Lange sat down with external media in February and, fortunately for him, the interview was not filmed for YouTube. But it was every bit as delusional as Levy and Ventakesham’s horror show.Talking about a January transfer window that Tottenham started by selling Brennan Johnson and finished by failing to sign a replacement – despite what proved to be a season-ending injury to Mohammed Kudus – Lange insisted that players of sufficient quality had not been available.
Well-placed sources, however, claim that Tottenham could have signed versatile forward Ademola Lookman, who was available and deemed good enough for Atlético Madrid.
The Tottenham players, until recently, have looked far from happy this season Credit: Andrew Couldridge/Action Images via Reuters
It was Atlético who knocked Spurs out of the Champions League a month after Lange’s interview, in which he also claimed that Tottenham’s lack of transfer activity in January was partly down to the challenges it would have presented in terms of European registration.
If Lange really thought that registering new players for the Champions League was Tottenham’s biggest problem, then he was living on another planet.
Tudor’s abrasive approach immediately failed with the Spurs players, who had already proved themselves to be a fragile bunch. Postecoglou had mollycoddled them to Europa League glory. Frank was ignored when he tried to get tough, illustrated by Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven snubbing his attempts to make them acknowledge supporters.
Igor Tudor’s abrasive style did not sit well with the Tottenham players Credit: Marc Atkins/Getty Images
So being constantly shouted at and sworn at by Tudor came as an unwelcome shock and Tottenham’s unhappy players quickly realised there was no point pushing themselves for a guy who was scheduled to leave at the end of the season regardless.
The treatment of goalkeeper Kinsky – who was substituted and then ignored by Tudor as he made his way off the pitch just 17 minutes into a calamitous performance at Atlético – was the final straw for many of the Spurs players.
Football on TNT Sports
@footballontnt
·
Follow
“It broke my heart” Joe Hart and Steve McManaman criticise Igor Tudor for his handling of the substitution of Antonín Kinský…@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK
Watch on X
9:48 PM · Mar 10, 2026
1.5K
Reply
Copy link
Read 35 replies
Shortly before that 5-2 defeat in Madrid, Venkatesham had used a fans’ forum to try to shift the blame for Tottenham’s embarrassing campaign towards Levy – the man he had claimed he would form “a really powerful partnership with” in June last year.
Venkatesham admitted that he had misread the club’s situation ahead of his appointment and outlined where he believed Levy had got it wrong.
It may be some time before the two men get together for a glass of red wine again, given an ally of Levy responded to the comments made at the fans’ forum by saying: “Do you really believe supporters believe such s---?” The same ally also pointed to Tottenham’s record of qualifying for Europe 18 times in 20 seasons under Levy.
Levy certainly could not be blamed for the fact that Tudor lasted 44 days as interim head coach and picked up just a single Premier League point. It was a return that was not a surprise to anyone who had spoken to agents of players and staff who had worked under him at previous clubs.
For the most part this campaign has been embarrassing for Tottenham Credit: Ben Stansall/AFP
Tottenham’s due diligence had been so lacking that they had even failed to account for the fact that Tudor’s trusted right-hand man, Ivan Javorcic, did not qualify for a work permit in time to join the Croatian in London. Given Lange had needed help from a club official when asked how long his own contract ran for, perhaps it was not surprising.
“I need to get this correct on English employment law, but I’m on a rolling contract,” said Lange, before the club clarified that he is on a standard employment contract with no set end date, rather than a rolling deal.
Finally, Venkatesham and Lange came to their senses and threw money and control at Roberto De Zerbi to convince the Italian to take on the Spurs rescue mission as the club’s permanent head coach.
De Zerbi turned to YouTube for help, making his players watch highlight reels of their careers to remind them what they were capable of.
When he arrived, Roberto De Zerbi made sure he lifted the players’ confidence by showing YouTube clips of them playing well Credit: Dylan Martinez/Reuters
With Guglielmo Vicario needing surgery on a hernia, De Zerbi’s positive attitude helped Kinsky complete a remarkable personal redemption arc, as the Czech produced superb saves that secured precious points against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leeds United and Everton.
Sky Sports Premier League
@SkySportsPL
·
Follow
What a SAVE from Kinsky!!
Watch on X
5:06 PM · May 24, 2026
1.7K
Reply
Copy link
Read 29 replies
Anybody deluded enough to think Tottenham’s self-inflicted problems had been cured in a few short weeks by De Zerbi, however, was brought back down to earth by a limp defeat at Chelsea and a final act of nonsense from Romero.
A few days before Sunday’s survival showdown against Everton, it emerged that the Argentine was back in his home country preparing for the World Cup. He had not been scheduled to return to England for Tottenham’s final game, but managed to get himself back following a barrage of criticism.
Breaking from Levy’s tradition of using the last home game of the season to write a message to supporters, the Lewis family and Venkatesham chose not to address fans in the match-day programme. One Spurs observer remarked: “No surprise the owners cower away. Their leadership summed up.”
The Tottenham fans deserved to celebrate wildly when the final whistle blew against Everton on Sunday to confirm Premier League safety. Those who spent much of the season in a state of delusion, however, should be thanking their lucky stars. It is time to get
SELL SELL SELL.
We have stayed up, the value of the club has been maintained.
Move aside.
We have stayed up, the value of the club has been maintained.
Move aside.
This is odd from G Nev. He usually talks us down and just says we are historic failures and that we demand too much as fans etc but he even gave the 'This is
I suspect he gets on with Levy and is these days a lot happier to go heavier on the board. Either way, good. This lot getting a public lashing by a prominent neutral public figure should be making those top of the club squirm.
I did find it interesting that he said we've been trying to sell for a couple of years now. I thought those were just unfound rumours.
Well wasn't that the brutal truth .
We'll see if those mentioned have enough character for self reflection .
We'll see if those mentioned have enough character for self reflection .
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM — So little of Tottenham Hotspur’s season has been pleasant that it caught you completely off guard when something went their way. Joao Palhinha’s header hit a post, came back to his feet, hit Jordan Pickford’s stud and then just rolled over the line. Roberto De Zerbi sprinted down the line like one of the former managers who failed here.
Spurs have at least escaped the worst news. For those who pay exorbitant prices to watch football here, that is reason for enormous cheer because what’s the point if you can’t take joy in the momentary exceptions to a nine-month drudgery?
And for one afternoon at least, Spurs looked like a Premier League team with conviction. They hassled a half-paced Everton without the ball and hurt them with it. Mathys Tel made Jake O’Brien look clumsy and unresponsive. Micky van de Ven swept up behind and Pedro Porro and Djed Spence took turns to flee down the right wing.
There were lots of performative screams after tackles by players who have spent far too much of the season not making enough of them. There were some nerves when news filtered through that West Ham had scored. But mainly it was… competent? Lo and behold, it worked. Note to self: try this again.
Tottenham fans have done all they can this season to try and force change, on and off the pitch: bus welcomes, pre-match and post-match protests, begging underperforming football misanthropes to be better and angrily telling them that they are letting everybody else down. Maybe it worked, maybe it didn’t – but they earned the right to cheer in exultant relief.
Tottenham’s fans did not deserve a season like this (Photo: PA)
Those who pay to wear this shirt, rather than get paid or charge others, are the only ones who get that pass. Those trusted as guardians of the club have not earned that privilege. This is a construct entirely of their own making, a self-implosion that took Spurs from the Champions League to the edge of the Championship in months.
You might consider “Big Six” to be an outdated moniker in the age of Aston Villa overachievement and Newcastle United owned by the Saudi state; it isn’t. The latest revenue figures cover 2024-25, a season when Spurs weren’t even in the Champions League. Their revenue was £581m, a full £190m above any club outside of that VIP club. “Big” refers to income generation and thus advantage, not performance.
Which is just as well, really, for that hints at the great scandal of this Tottenham Hotspur failure. The clubs within the established financial elite don’t just have the greatest spending power as a one-off. But when they get things wrong repeatedly, they remain insured against the worst calamities because of that spending power.
Despite all of those advantages being carved into stone, Spurs have finished in the bottom four of the Premier League in consecutive seasons. This is not a club in financial disarray and so forced into austerity and slumping as a result. Tottenham were given a golden ticket and they are left with only scraps of dog-eared paper.
Vinai Venkatesham (centre) must take his share of the blame for Tottenham’s fall (Photo: PA)
To finish 17th once with this club and this team is careless – to do so twice is an act of gross negligence. And it can only be on the leaders: Enic, Vinai Venkatesham, Johan Lange. Different managers, different styles, different players, same grim mood. Those at the top of the food chain determine the survival of those below them.
Where is the realistic faith in this improving? If you can mess this up this badly twice, despite so many warnings and so many mileposts along the sorry journey, why would it suddenly click now? Relegation, although a sorry indictment of pathetic underperformance, would have forced the entire thing to be ripped up. The fear is that deeply unimpressive people will now try to tweak their way out of this.
If so, Tottenham will make little progress. They may get a few less injuries, win a few more games and have a manager who stays a few months longer than the others. It seems unlikely that they will find themselves in this position again, although we said roughly the same a year ago and it got worse.
But until the leadership changes, either through being forced from their positions of power or by being forced to confront their own failures head on with systemic change that begins immediately, this is deckchair rearrangement on an industrial scale
Spurs have at least escaped the worst news. For those who pay exorbitant prices to watch football here, that is reason for enormous cheer because what’s the point if you can’t take joy in the momentary exceptions to a nine-month drudgery?
And for one afternoon at least, Spurs looked like a Premier League team with conviction. They hassled a half-paced Everton without the ball and hurt them with it. Mathys Tel made Jake O’Brien look clumsy and unresponsive. Micky van de Ven swept up behind and Pedro Porro and Djed Spence took turns to flee down the right wing.
There were lots of performative screams after tackles by players who have spent far too much of the season not making enough of them. There were some nerves when news filtered through that West Ham had scored. But mainly it was… competent? Lo and behold, it worked. Note to self: try this again.
Tottenham fans have done all they can this season to try and force change, on and off the pitch: bus welcomes, pre-match and post-match protests, begging underperforming football misanthropes to be better and angrily telling them that they are letting everybody else down. Maybe it worked, maybe it didn’t – but they earned the right to cheer in exultant relief.
Those who pay to wear this shirt, rather than get paid or charge others, are the only ones who get that pass. Those trusted as guardians of the club have not earned that privilege. This is a construct entirely of their own making, a self-implosion that took Spurs from the Champions League to the edge of the Championship in months.
You might consider “Big Six” to be an outdated moniker in the age of Aston Villa overachievement and Newcastle United owned by the Saudi state; it isn’t. The latest revenue figures cover 2024-25, a season when Spurs weren’t even in the Champions League. Their revenue was £581m, a full £190m above any club outside of that VIP club. “Big” refers to income generation and thus advantage, not performance.
Which is just as well, really, for that hints at the great scandal of this Tottenham Hotspur failure. The clubs within the established financial elite don’t just have the greatest spending power as a one-off. But when they get things wrong repeatedly, they remain insured against the worst calamities because of that spending power.
Despite all of those advantages being carved into stone, Spurs have finished in the bottom four of the Premier League in consecutive seasons. This is not a club in financial disarray and so forced into austerity and slumping as a result. Tottenham were given a golden ticket and they are left with only scraps of dog-eared paper.
To finish 17th once with this club and this team is careless – to do so twice is an act of gross negligence. And it can only be on the leaders: Enic, Vinai Venkatesham, Johan Lange. Different managers, different styles, different players, same grim mood. Those at the top of the food chain determine the survival of those below them.
Where is the realistic faith in this improving? If you can mess this up this badly twice, despite so many warnings and so many mileposts along the sorry journey, why would it suddenly click now? Relegation, although a sorry indictment of pathetic underperformance, would have forced the entire thing to be ripped up. The fear is that deeply unimpressive people will now try to tweak their way out of this.
If so, Tottenham will make little progress. They may get a few less injuries, win a few more games and have a manager who stays a few months longer than the others. It seems unlikely that they will find themselves in this position again, although we said roughly the same a year ago and it got worse.
But until the leadership changes, either through being forced from their positions of power or by being forced to confront their own failures head on with systemic change that begins immediately, this is deckchair rearrangement on an industrial scale
Another article hammering ENIC, love to see it
Tottenham’s deluded executive deserved to be relegated until De Zerbi…
archived 25 May 2026 05:08:29 UTC
Quite terrifying to read. There is nobody competent at executive level, not a single person. The Lewis children and their mandarins simply have no idea what they are doing.
That nobody from within the club had the courage to even write an end of season message in the programme, says it all.