‘Generations of the Lewis family support this special football club and they want what the fans want – more wins more often,’ was the declaration of the Lewis family after ousting Daniel Levy as Tottenham chairman in September.
The statement of intent was welcomed by the majority of Tottenham fans, with the hope that the club’s majority shareholders had finally woken up and were prepared to offer the backing that could lead to major honours.
The Lewis family had put its faith in chief executive Vinai Venkatesham and head coach Thomas Frank, stating it had the ‘right team to deliver on this’ and welcoming ‘a new era’.
Just months on, Tottenham are staring at the doomsday scenario of dropping into the Championship with the club appearing in total disarray under interim boss Igor Tudor.
Tottenham’s first team squad is riddled with injuries and devoid of confidence, the club the only Premier League side yet to record a win in the top flight in 2026.
With the club just one point above the drop ahead of a daunting trip to Anfield on Sunday, Daily Mail Sport has taken a closer look at some of the key mistakes made by Tottenham’s hierarchy that have led the club to the brink of a seismic relegation.
The Lewis family promised ‘more wins more often’ after ousting chairman Daniel Levy in September, but Tottenham now look to be hurtling towards relegation
A series of major errors have contributed to the dismal situation Tottenham find themselves in
Failing to identify gaping holes in the squad
Speaking after the summer transfer window, Tottenham’s sporting director Johan Lange made the bold claim that the first team squad had the ‘right balance with the right qualities to compete on all fronts’.
Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons had been the notable summer arrivals, while Kevin Danso and Mathys Tel saw their loan moves made permanent.
Yet the mood had been significantly dampened by the embarrassing failures to land either Eberechi Eze or Morgan Gibbs-White in one of the final acts of Levy’s tenure as chairman.
In addition to those failed moves, there were clear deficiencies within the squad that the club failed to address during the window and have come back to haunt them.
Tottenham had a glaring need to sign another left back amid Destiny Udogie’s continued injury problems. Udogie’s fitness issues last season had forced the right-footed Djed Spence to deputise at left back, leading to right back Pedro Porro being run into the ground.
Udogie has only been able to manage eight starts in the league this season, with Tottenham once again forced to line up with Spence on the left. As a consequence, Spurs’ attacking threat down the flank has been limited, leading to a focus down the right.
The obvious question around who could fill the void left by Son Heung-min also went unanswered in the summer, along with the recruitment of a creative passer.
Djed Spence has been forced to operate at left back for much of the campaign, blunting Spurs in attack, after the club failed to sign cover for the injury-prone Destiny Udogie
Long-term injuries to James Maddison (pictured) and Dejan Kulusevski have hindered Spurs, but these were known in advance of the season and the club failed to react effectively
Xavi Simons has failed to shine at Tottenham but was handed the task of shouldering the entire creative burden while needing time to adapt to the Premier League
Tottenham’s lack of technical quality had been an issue even prior to the long-term injuries sustained by Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison.
While Spurs could point to the loss of these two stars as major contributing factors to their dismal season, their injury situations were known before a ball was kicked in August.
The £52million signing of Simons would be put forward as an attempt to resolve those issues. While the Dutch international has clearly flattered to deceive, it was an unfair ask to place the entire creative burden of the team on the shoulders of a player who would need time to adapt to the Premier League.
Taking an age to sack Frank
For all the criticism of Levy – which includes his role in the club’s downturn in recent years – the former Tottenham chairman was often quick to act when he sensed the mood had turned against a manager.
One of the most notable times was his decision to sack Nuno Espirito Santo after just four months in charge back in 2021, when results combined with dour football led to a mass revolt from home fans.
Frank faced many of the same criticisms as Nuno, with the former Brentford boss seen to have failed to make the transition to leading a ‘Big Six’ club. A reactive style of play and repeated comments downplaying the club meant fans were never likely to warm to the Dane.
Spurs fans will each have the moment they knew Frank’s tenure was doomed, with alarm bells ringing as early as November when Spurs produced 0.05 expected goals in a 1-0 home defeat to Chelsea, before managing a similarly pitiful 0.07 in a 4-1 North London derby loss by Arsenal.
A large number will point to a 3-0 defeat away to Nottingham Forest on December 14, when a near full strength Tottenham side were ripped apart by another struggling side at the City Ground.
Tottenham’s hierachy allowed Thomas Frank’s ill-fated reign to go on for far too long, despite no indication that performances or results would improve under the Dane
While Daniel Levy carries responsibility for Tottenham’s decline in recent seasons, the former chairman was largely decisive when he sensed the mood had turned against the manager
Frank would go on to oversee a further 10 Premier League matches after that dismal showing, with a fortunate 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace the only win of that run.
The Dane managed to survive a 2-1 home defeat to a West Ham side who had gone 10 matches without a win, as well as needing a last-minute equaliser to prevent Burnley snapping a 14-match winless run at home.
When at Arsenal, Venkatesham had backed Mikel Arteta when the Gunners were 15th in the table in December in 2020, before the Spaniard eventually reversed their decline.
Expecting similar at Tottenham when there were no visible signs of improvement under Frank proved a major error.
By the time the club conceded a change was needed on February 11, Tottenham’s squad were broken and devoid of any confidence.
Tottenham’s complacent January window
It is arguable that Tottenham’s winter transfer window may go down as one of the worst in the club’s history. Which is some going for a club that famously became the first to not sign a player in the summer transfer window back in 2018.
Tottenham’s activity in January stunk of complacency and at worst arrogance.
Despite disastrous league form and a growing injury crisis, only Conor Gallagher and Brazilian teenage left back Souza were brought in, while Brennan Johnson was sold to Crystal Palace.
While many fans viewed the sale of Johnson to Crystal Palace for £35m as the correct decision at the start of January, that came with the assumption the club had plans in place to upgrade his position. As it happened Kudus, who had taken Johnson’s place, was injured days after the Welshman’s sale.
Venkatesham, in comments made in Tottenham’s club programme on January 17, had admitted the squad needed ‘more quality, experience and leadership’ and acknowledged the club needed a ‘more proactive approach to recruitment, alongside a wage structure that supports our ambition.’
‘Our priority is to make signings that genuinely move us forward and we will be disciplined against that aim,’ he added.
Only Souza – a player seemingly not yet trusted for Premier League action – was brought in after those remarks.
Brennan Johnson was allowed to leave Tottenham in January – but was not replaced
Venkatesham and Johan Lange stressed the need for Tottenham to be disciplined in the January transfer window, but their comments appeared complacent amid an injury crisis
Tottenham failed in their attempts to sign Andy Robertson from Liverpool to add leadership, while Frank tried to defend the lack of activity by stating that the Lewis family had backed efforts to sign Antoine Semenyo.
By contrast, West Ham, who were rooted in the bottom three at the time, acted by bringing in Pablo, Taty Castellanos, Adama Traore and Axel Disasi in January in an attempt to rescue their situation.
With Tottenham nine points above the relegation zone when the transfer window closed on February 2, there seemed to be an assumption that the club could not be dragged into the relegation battle.
That assumption appeared borne out in comments by Lange addressing Tottenham’s January window, where he highlighted the importance of not making a ‘stress purchase’ and began looking forward to the summer transfer window.
‘We will go into the summer window with big ambitions of strengthening the team. We know there’ll be more movements, we know there’ll be more opportunities, so the plans are already drawn up,’ Lange said.
‘We have a clear picture of which position and also which profiles. Could we have brought one or two more in this January window? We would have been delighted to do so, but that was not a possibility.’
Lange’s later assertion that European squad registration rules had also been a factor appeared bizarre given Tottenham’s worsening league position.
A lack of options has increasingly led to Tottenham relying on players like Yves Bissouma and Randal Kolo Muani to drag them out of a hole, two players who have no future at the club when the former’s contract and latter’s loan come to an end.
Failing to tackle Romero’s outbursts
‘Unbelievable but true and disgraceful,’ was how Cristian Romero viewed Tottenham only having 11 fit players for their 2-2 draw against Man City on February 1.
The Argentine’s Instagram post was widely viewed as a dig at the club’s hierarchy over the lack of January activity.
Unsurprisingly, Tottenham fans were quick to agree with Romero’s scathing assessment and a chant of ‘Romero’s right, the board are s****’ has become increasingly common in recent weeks.
Frank had declined to disclose whether Romero had been punished for his comments – perhaps fearing the outcry from a fanbase.
Given that the club captain has appeared to have taken on the board on multiple occasions over the past two years, it reflects a view that there is a leadership void running throughout the club on and off the pitch.
Publicly confirming a club sanction for Romero would have certainly been unpopular, but it would have sent a powerful message to the players about who is actually running the show at the club in the post-Levy world.
Cristian Romero hit out at the club’s hierarchy in February with his comments hinting at a lack of leadership and accountability
Development of young players
Antonin Kinsky’s horror show at Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night was another damning indictment of Tottenham’s handling of younger, developing players.
Having been signed in an emergency last January with Vicario out injured, Kinsky made 10 appearances in the remainder of the campaign. Since May, the 22-year-old has featured in just two League Cup matches before being thrown into the deep end of a Champions League last-16 tie.
What was anyone really expecting? Having identified Kinsky as a developing goalkeeper for the future, how did the club expect him to progress further by sitting on the bench for months on end?
It is a similar story for Mathys Tel, who was signed for £30million in the summer off the back of an underwhelming loan spell in the second half of last season.
Antonin Kinsky joined Tottenham as a promising young goalkeeper, but has seen limited action this season before being thrown into the deep end against Atletico Madrid
Archie Gray has been a rare impressive performer in recent weeks but has been forced to plug gaps in the Tottenham team rather than play in his preferred position
Tel has started just seven league matches this season and suffered the blows of being left out of the Champions League squad twice, reflecting a lack of faith in the 20-year-old.
While Archie Gray has been one of the few bright spots amid Tottenham’s continued crisis, the 19-year-old has been a victim of the poor squad planning having been forced to continually plug gaps in the squad rather than develop in his natural position.
The left-field appointment of Tudor
It goes without saying that the appointment of Tudor as interim head coach has proved to be a major error.
Granted, injuries and suspensions saw the Croatian arrive with one arm tied behind his back, but it is clear he has made a bleak situation even worse.
Team selections have been scattergun with systems looking ill-suited to the players he has had available.
The disciplinarian approach has also seemed at total odds with a squad that was already devoid of confidence.
The left field appointment of Igor Tudor has made Tottenham’s bleak situation even worse
Tudor was a left-field appointment, with the suggestion former sporting director Fabio Paratici had put his name forward earlier in the season as an option.
The appointment of your classic Premier League firefighter, presumably would have gone down like a lead balloon amongst an already furious fanbase.
However, needs must and while fans would not have welcomed it, they would have stomached such an appointment until the end of the season to preserve their Premier League status.
Less than a month on from appointing Tudor, Spurs are now faced with an even more alarming situation with no wriggle room for another error by the club.
