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Pink 'Un delivers verdict on Spurs

The Financial Times gives its verdict on the challenges facing Spurs:

'The next three days will be crucial for Tottenham Hotspur, one of English football’s “Big Six” clubs. Having won only once in the past eight games, the London team are in the drop zone, and the expectations among bookmakers and data wonks have now shifted: Spurs are increasingly expected to be relegated.

Demotion would be calamitous and unprecedented for such a wealthy club.

Some roots of the current crisis run shallow. A newly appointed manager failed to improve results after last year’s dismal league finish, the worst in decades. New players, bought at considerable cost, did not deliver what was hoped for on the pitch. And injuries to key squad members piled up. In an increasingly competitive league, such things can snowball quickly.

Without the experienced hand of Daniel Levy — Spurs executive chair for almost 25 years until his ousting in September — perhaps the club reacted to those problems too slowly. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

There’s certainly a case that the causes of today’s malaise date further back, possibly as long as a decade ago when Spurs were building their flashy new stadium. Such projects absorb huge amounts of time, energy and money — some fans say the football was not given the attention it deserved. The Spurs wage bill, a strong indicator of sporting results, has been much lower than at clubs of a similar size.

Divided ownership groups — Levy owns about 26 per cent of the club, with the rest held by the Lewis family — can also lead to drift, decay and poor decision making. It’s worth remembering that when Levy was pushed out, those close to the Lewis family said they were seeking more success on the pitch.

Even if Spurs avoid the drop, this season is surely a warning to owners (both current and aspiring) everywhere. The Premier League is a tough place, and even the biggest clubs can stumble towards the cliff edge. The sporting side must always be the top priority for those running the business, otherwise the most valuable asset — Premier League status — can be put at risk.

But sporting success is inherently expensive, and far from a sure thing. As we’ve seen again this week, nobody is really making any money out of operating a football club at the moment. So does investing in a football club, however big, still make sense? And are stadium upgrades, which undoubtedly boost revenue, too big a gamble?'

Let the Pink 'Un know what you think: scoreboard@ft.com
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