Tottenham chief executive Vinai Venkatesham has strongly disputed reports that the club was inactive during a deeply troubled period of the 2025/26 Premier League season.
Spurs sacked head coach Thomas Frank in mid-February following a 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle United, with the club sliding dangerously close to the relegation zone.
Before Frank’s dismissal, Tottenham had endured a miserable run of just one win in 11 top-flight matches stretching back to December last year.
Many supporters believed the club delayed the decision too long, given that results and performances had fallen well below acceptable standards for a considerable period.
Speaking to the BBC, Venkatesham fired back at the narrative that Spurs had been sitting on their hands during the club’s slide toward relegation danger.
“There’s been plenty of coverage that the club was passive during this period. And that’s absolutely not true,” Venkatesham said.
Igor Tudor was appointed on a short-term basis as Frank’s replacement, with Roberto De Zerbi identified as Spurs’ preferred permanent option following his departure from Marseille.
At the time, Tottenham were unable to convince De Zerbi to take the role immediately, so Tudor stepped in before leaving the club by mutual consent after just seven matches.
De Zerbi ultimately took charge and guided Spurs to safety, winning three and drawing two of his seven matches, helping the club finish 17th, two points above relegated West Ham.
Venkatesham acknowledged that back-to-back 17th-place finishes fall well short of expectations, and said he fully understands why supporters have grown increasingly angry.
“I understand the frustration around supporters,” Venkatesham said. “I think Tottenham supporters have been frustrated for some time. This is two 17th-place finishes in a row.”
“It’s clearly not good enough. I think that is rational, normal, sensible, and, is what we would expect from supporters. The club had some serious challenges that it needs to address on the football side. We know what those are. We are addressing them. We are fixing them. Those challenges have not disappeared overnight.”
“They built up over many years. I wish I could wave my magic wand and fix them overnight, but that is not possible. It takes some time to fix those issues. So I have complete confidence in what we’re doing, how we’re doing it. But supporters are rightly impatient. So I have to weather that storm.”
The club have reportedly held talks with Borussia Dortmund’s departed sporting director Sebastian Kehl as they plan extensively for the summer transfer window.
Venkatesham also confirmed that Tottenham have raised their wage bill with the aim of attracting higher-calibre players to the club this summer.
“The squad needs work and the squad hasn’t got the right balance,” he continued. “We need experience and leadership and also that kind of physical robustness to play in the most demanding league that exists. We need to strengthen the club over multiple transfer windows but this transfer window, in particular, is going to be critical.”
