The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust (THST) have written to the club asking them to provide immediate clarity on their vision following the North London derby defeat and Antonio Conte’s recent comments.
At the start of this month, THST had written to the club demanding answers regarding investment into the squad and their measurement of on-field success.
According to The Evening Standard, the Trust raised the following four questions:
“1) Will the club share its medium and long-term strategy for success, both on and off the pitch? How is the club measuring progress and how does it judge current outcomes against those expectations?
“2) The manager employed by the Club has not signed a new contract and tells us we should lower our expectations about on-field outcomes. He has said publicly that the club needs to spend big money every window just to compete. How does this align with the Board’s philosophy for achieving success?
“3) Are you satisfied with player recruitment in recent transfer windows and with the performance of the youth teams and development and supply of younger players through to the first team? Are there any plans to improve this?
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“4) Does the Club have a plan for further investment to ensure the Club remains competitive on the pitch in the face of substantial additional investment by other Premier League clubs? Is the Club closer to securing a [stadium] naming rights provider? Is there plans from further investment from ENIC or other potential investors or buyers?.”
THST revealed last week that Spurs had responded to them, stating that they are ‘very keen’ to answer those questions but would not be able to do until after the transfer window due to commercial reasons.
The club told the Trust that they will respond ‘in full’ to the four questions raised when the financial results are released in February.
However, the 2-0 loss against Arsenal has left some Spurs fans even more exasperated, with Conte suggesting in his press conference on Tuesday that perhaps sporting directors and chairman should also field questions to the media in England, rather than the head coach being the only public face of the club (Football.London).
On the back of Conte’s comments, THST have now revealed they have written to Spurs once again asking them to provide clarity to fans immediately. The Trust’s latest message to the club was as follows:
“Two weeks ago we asked the Board of THFC to outline its strategy and vision. Today Antonio Conte asked for the same thing.
“It is clear to everyone that, for there to be a chance of success at this Club, the vision and strategy of the Board and Manager must align.
“We understand the widespread discontent among Spurs fans who have loyally supported the Club through the 22 years of the current ownership, years in which success on the pitch has not matched the increase in the price of watching the team.
“It is time for the Club’s Board to clarify its approach to achieving success on the pitch and to commit the necessary resource and support to secure that. The Club cannot continue to drift from one approach to another.
“We urge the Club to reconsider their decision not to provide answers to the key questions raised by THST, and many individual supporters, until February and to provide those answers now. It is perfectly possible to do this without compromising the Club’s commercial position. Spurs fans deserve greater clarity about the Club’s aspirations.”
Spurs Web Opinion
The four questions that THST had put to the club at the start of the month were well-worded and the club should certainly respond to them. However, it is naive of the Trust to suggest that they can be answered without compromising the club’s commercial position.
The last thing that Spurs would want to do is to reveal information on how much they would be able to invest into their squad this window when they are currently in the middle of negotiations with Sporting and Brighton over Porro and Trossard respectively.
It is also clear that Conte’s statement in his press conference on Tuesday has been misinterpreted. The Italian was specifically asked about whether the ownership and the chairman should speak about the club’s strategy and said that it is a practice that should be common in England.
Journalists who simply tweet out the Spurs boss’ quotes, without the context of the questions, are to blame for this sort of confusion. The same journalists are often quite quick to have a go at aggregators if they slightly misinterpret what they are saying but they are more than happy to tweet out-of-context quotes from press conferences for the sake of engagement.
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