Tottenham held a meeting with supporters on February 3 when many concerns were raised during the final days of Thomas Frank's reign as manager, but the club edited the minutes
Tottenham have been accused of selectively editing the minutes of a fans’ meeting held earlier this month, including taking out a line saying the club “welcomed the input” of supporters.
Representatives of the Spurs board, including chief executive Vinai Venkatesham, met with the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust on February 3, just over a week before Thomas Frank’s dismissal as head coach.
THST says there were a number of specific points raised in the meeting “which the club did not agree to include in the final published version, despite our request”. Among the lines THST says were taken out were: “The club welcomed the input of THST.”
Also edited out, THST claims, was a section outlining fans’ concern at the risk of relegation from the Premier League, and that the belief generated from winning the Europa League last season had now been “lost”.
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One of the missing sections read: "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."
Concerns around the lack of young players coming through, the club’s ability to generate profit and what specific on-field targets lay beneath ‘strategic principles’ set out by the club were also requested to be included but left out, THST said.
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“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,” a statement published on the THST website read. “Transparency is integral to our role and in our dealings with the club.”
Tottenham declined to comment, but sources close to the club indicated there was no intention to sanitise the minutes and had sought to produce a factual account of the matters discussed.
The meeting saw the findings of the trust's recent survey of 4,500 supporters presented. Dissatisfaction is a high among the fanbase, with Spurs sitting 16th in the Premier League with 12 matches to go, five points above the relegation zone.
It is into this situation that Igor Tudor has been parachuted after the sacking of Frank. The Croatian, who was sacked by Juventus in October following an eight-game winless run, has joined Spurs until the end of the season.
His first match will come against rivals Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday. Tottenham are winless in their last eight Premier League games and have won just two from their last 17 in all competitions.