New Tottenham Hotspur CEO Vinai Venkatesham has been one of the most maligned figures at the club this season, and there are many Spurs fans who would like to to see him deposed this summer along with acting sporting director Johan Lange - the only one who actually seems to be on the hot seat behind the scenes.
Venkatesham came from Arsenal, and for many Tottenham fans, there is a strong level of suspicion about having a former Gooner in charge of the club, especially when Tottenham were so historically poor in his first season in charge that they were nearly relegated from the Premier League in their worst ever campaign of the modern era.
But surprisingly, even Venkatesham is admitting the truth that over the years, Tottenham have made the mistake of putting the sporting second. He said, via The Spurs Watch, “In all the big decisions the club has made, I don’t think it ruthlessly prioritised ‘is this decision going to be a decision that is going to help us get more points on the pitch, which is going to help us be successful’.”
Vinai is part of the problem, too
Now, it is surprising to hear Vinai Venkatesham admit this about Tottenham Hotspur and their policies, but it is not necessarily relieving or praiseworthy news in the slightest for Spurs fans. Because for them, Venkatesham is part of the problem himself until proven otherwise, because when he talk about the club not taking the sporting aspect seriously, he can't just absolve himself of the blame and talk about the past tense.
Part of what makes Vinai's statement so surprising isn't just the admission that things are going wrong in that sort of pleasant surprise way, but it's also surprising because it's as if Vinai doesn't realize what Spurs fans are openly saying about him.
Remember, Tottenham had a chance to sign top attacking players in the last summer and transfer windows to bolster the left wing and striker positions. Ademola Lookman was right there for the taking. Spurs signed nobody and almost got themselves relegated from the Premier League. How can Vinai sit there and think that he isn't just as much as Daniel Levy a part of the problem for Spurs in the grand scheme of the things and realizing that he needs to be that change in the summer.
Hopefully, with a driven manager who will not settle for less like Roberto De Zerbi, Venkatesham, after delivering this quote, will be pushed into actually caring about upgrading this team more. You are only as good as your last action in sports, but you are also only as bad as your last action.
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