Tottenham Hotspur CEO Vinai Venkatesham has described the club’s recent season as “embarrassing” and “unacceptable” in a wide-ranging interview published on the club’s website.

The interview, which runs to approximately 15 minutes, has not been promoted across Tottenham’s social media channels, unlike other recent communications from the club’s leadership.

Spurs finished 17th in the Premier League, escaping relegation by just two points following a final day victory against Everton that sent West Ham down into the Championship.

It marked Venkatesham’s first season leading the club after stepping in following Daniel Levy’s departure after 24 years at the helm.

Non-executive chairman Peter Charrington’s open letter to fans and head coach Roberto De Zerbi’s club interview were both promoted across Tottenham’s X and Facebook channels, as was a letter from the owners, the Lewis family.

Venkatesham was direct in his assessment of the campaign, stating: “The men’s first team should never, ever be involved in a relegation battle. It is just so far beneath the standards that this football club has.”

He added: “I know for our supporters, it has been impossibly difficult. It has been exhausting. It has been painful. It’s just been embarrassing.”

The CEO acknowledged that the club’s problems run deeper than he initially anticipated before taking the role, saying the club “was in a much worse state when you’re able to look at it from the inside than I thought when I looked at it from the outside.”

Venkatesham pointed to a failure to prioritise football decisions as a root cause, explaining that the club had not “ruthlessly prioritised” whether decisions would directly help the team win matches.

He stated that Tottenham had been “left behind” as Premier League clubs accelerated in quality over the last five years, and that a “fundamental rebaselining” was already underway since September.

On the squad, Venkatesham accepted it lacked “the right blend of youth, experience, leadership characteristics and robustness,” and confirmed the wage structure had not been “fit for purpose.”

He confirmed the Lewis family would support the club financially, saying they “have been very, very clear, they will support the club from a cash perspective to get the squad to where it needs to be.”

Regarding the January transfer window, Venkatesham accepted the squad balance was not correct and that summer windows represented the primary opportunity to address those shortcomings.

The CEO also outlined plans for the training ground, stating that three of the four most important performance areas needed “fundamental change to be more focused on performance.”

On the injury crisis, Venkatesham confirmed two major priorities: assembling a “world-class team” in the performance department and restructuring the training ground environment around performance.

He expressed strong confidence in De Zerbi, saying: “We really, really believe in Roberto and think he will be a really important part of our future.”

Venkatesham also highlighted progress with the women’s team, noting the appointment of Martin Ho as head coach and describing the women’s side as having “maybe their best ever” season.

On reconnecting with supporters, he acknowledged “a massive disconnect between the club and its supporters,” and confirmed both himself and chairman Peter Charrington would attend the fan advisory board meeting in June.

He closed with a direct message to fans, saying: “We will fix this, and that is the absolute focus of everybody here. Not just me, the owners, the board, everybody who works at this club is completely focused on getting the club back to where, not just where it should be, where it absolutely has to be.”

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