Tottenham held a meeting with supporters on February 3, where a number of concerns were raised in the final days of manager Thomas Frank’s reign, but the club redacted the minutes.
Thomas Frank was sacked earlier this month (Image: James Gill – Danehouse, Getty Images)
Tottenham have been accused of selectively editing the minutes of a fan meeting held earlier this month, removing a line that said the club “welcomed the views” of supporters.
Representatives of the Spurs board, including CEO Vinay Venkatesham, met with the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust on February 3, just over a week before Thomas Frank was sacked as head coach.
THST said a number of specific issues were raised at the meeting and “despite our requests, the clubs did not agree to include them in the final published version.” Among the sentences that THST said were deleted was one that said, “The club welcomed THST’s opinion.”
THST also claims that a section outlining fan concerns over the risk of relegation from the Premier League and that the belief born of last season’s Europa League win has been “lost” has also been edited.
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One of the missing sections reads: “Fans are concerned about the current standings and the direction of the club. The team is not winning and no change is visible. Having seen only four home league wins in a year, this anxiety and pessimism is not surprising.”
“Fans are genuinely concerned about the risk of relegation. The belief generated by the Europa League victory is now gone. Fans are concerned about a perceived lack of ambition and an inability to strengthen the squad despite results, performances and injuries to key first-team players.”
THST said it was also asked to include concerns about the lack of young players, the club’s ability to generate profits and specific on-field objectives under the club’s “strategic principles”, but this was omitted.
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Vinay Venkatesham (right) participating in a meeting with fans (Image: Getty Images)
“Publishing a full record of the findings raised will help ensure accountability and enable our members and wider fan base to understand how the Trust is fulfilling its role on their behalf,” a statement on THST’s website reads. “Transparency is essential in our role and in our dealings with clubs.”
Tottenham declined to comment, but sources close to the club suggested they had no intention of sanitizing the minutes and were seeking a factual explanation of what was discussed.
The meeting presented the results of the Trust’s recent survey of 4,500 supporters. There is a lot of dissatisfaction among the fanbase, with Spurs sitting 16th in the Premier League, five points above the relegation zone, with 12 games remaining.
It was in this situation that Igor Tudor parachuted in after Frank’s dismissal. The Croatian was sacked by Juventus in October following an eight-game winless run and joined Spurs until the end of the season.
His first game will be against rivals Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday. Tottenham are without a win in their last eight Premier League games and have won just two of their last 17 games in all competitions.
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