The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust (THST) have met with the club’s hierarchy, but expressed their disappointment with what Spurs have had to say about the meeting.
Many Tottenham fans have been left frustrated with the club’s January transfer window, which they felt did not live up to the ambitious rhetoric coming out from N17.
Just ahead of Thomas Frank’s sacking, THST released the findings of Five Principles Survey, which judges the Tottenham ownership against five tests, which the Trust agreed with the board of the club itself.
The result showed that in all five tests, the fans gave the owners the lowest scores ever recorded since the survey began.
THST accuse Tottenham of leaving out key points from meeting
The Trust met with the Spurs hierarchy on February 3, following which the minutes of the meeting were released.
However, the Trust have now expressed frustration that key discussions held during the meeting were not included in the final version.
THST’s latest statement reads: “There were a number of specific points raised during the meeting which the club did not agree to include in the final published version, despite our request. As a democratic supporters’ organisation elected to represent fans’ views, we believe it is vital that supporters can see what issues are being raised with the club, how those issues are being discussed and what responses are being given.
“Publishing a full record of the points raised helps ensure accountability and allows members, and the wider fan base, to understand how the Trust is fulfilling its role on their behalf. Transparency is integral to our role and in our dealings with the club. For that reason, we are also publishing below the paragraphs which THST asked to be included in the Minutes but which were not accepted by the Club for inclusion in the final version.
“Points omitted from the Minutes – Under THST’s Five Principles of Ownership survey. Lines not included – The Club declined to include the descriptions of our Five Principles of Ownership.
“Paragraph not included – Fans are concerned at the current position and the direction of the club. The team is not winning, and change is not visible. Having watched just four home league wins in a year, this anxiety and pessimism is not surprising. Fans are genuinely concerned at the risk of relegation. The belief generated by the Europa League win has now been lost. Fans are concerned at a perceived lack of ambition and at results, performances and the failure to strengthen the team despite injuries to key first team players.
“Paragraph not included – The club had not filed financial statements demonstrating that it was able to generate profit since 2018 and needed the cash generated by the share issue for cashflow purposes (this point was discussed later in the meeting under the heading “Finance”).
“Under Future-proof success & Young player development – Paragraph not included – THST observed that young players were not coming through from the Academy to the first team. Players are on loan repeatedly. Despite injuries and the current shortage of players, Luka Vuskovic had not been recalled from loan and nor had other players.
“Paragraph not included – THST said fans want to see authenticity to stick to Spurs’ DNA and a style of play that transcended as a ‘golden thread’ from the youth system right through to the men’s first team.
“Paragraph not included – THST noted a slightly higher sentiment from supporters towards sustainability, which may reflect the underlying infrastructure possessed by the club. However, this alone will not make the club successful which explains why the score remains low overall.
“Fans First and relationship between the club and supporters. Line not included – The club welcomed the input of THST.
“Paragraph not included – THST asked to see the underlying KPIs behind each of the strategic principles – these had not yet been agreed by the club internally. THST stated that the detail of these KPIs were important. If the strategic objectives were geared towards winning trophies, this should be directly referenced in the KPIs.
“If, however, the KPIs referenced “European qualification” (a stated desire of the previous leadership), this could suggest that the club was prioritising financial performance over football performance.”
THST questions the timing of Thomas Frank’s sack decision
Tottenham finally decided to call time on Thomas Frank’s stint at the club last week following the defeat to Newcastle.
While THST welcomed the decision to sack Frank, they questioned the timing of it, suggesting that it could have been done before.
The Trust posited that if the club had acted decisively earlier and strengthened in the January window, they could have avoided being dragged into a relegation battle.
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