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Cristian Romero has taken an apparent swipe at Tottenham’s board for staying silent amid the team’s struggles. The captain posted a strongly worded message after Wednesday’s 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth that initially appeared to accuse the hierarchy of telling “lies” before being edited to remove that incendiary reference.
What remained on Romero’s Instagram post, though, was what an apparent call for the Spurs directors to speak up. The players were again subjected to abuse by some of their fans after a latest loss that leaves Tottenham with five points from their past six matches, three of which have ended in defeat.
“At times like this, it should be other people coming out to speak, but they don’t – as has been happening for several years now,” Romero’s post said. “They only show up when things are going well.” In the initial post the second sentence had read: “They only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies.”
Since Daniel Levy, who rarely spoke publicly, was forced out of his role at Spurs chair in early September, a new leadership team have been running the club. Peter Charrington, who was brought on to the board in March, stepped into a newly created role of nonexecutive chair. Vinai Venkatesham has been the chief executive since June. The club are run by the Lewis family through a family trust. They are relations of the British businessman Joe Lewis, the former Spurs owner.
Romero posted: “Apologies to all fans of you who follow us everywhere, who are always there and will continue to be. We are responsible, there’s no doubt about that. I am the first. But we will keep facing up to it and trying to turn the situation around, for ourselves and for the club.”
His message concluded: “Especially at times like this, keeping quiet, working harder and moving forward all together, is part of football. All together, it will be easier.”
The Spurs midfielder João Palhinha spoke on Wednesday about the exchange of some strong words between Spurs players and fans after the final whistle at Bournemouth: “It was just the supporters were sharing their frustrations,” he said. “We, of course, understand. We respect them, first of all. I just said we are fighting for all the same. We want to win, not just the players – the staff and the supporters.”
The Spurs head coach, Thomas Frank, is under growing pressure after taking charge in the summer. The team are 14th in the Premier League, with the division’s fourth-worst home record, and host Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.
