Threat of ‘unprecedented’ Spurs relegation dominates Premier League run-in

{"text":[[{"start":8.2,"text":"On Sunday afternoon, Manchester City host Arsenal in what should be the defining moment of the Premier League season. If Arsenal win, they will be on the cusp of their first title in more than two decades."}],[{"start":20.44,"text":"Yet for many football fans and pundits, the focus this weekend will be on Tottenham Hotspur’s efforts to escape what would be the most shocking relegation in recent football history. Having lost seven of their past eight Premier League games, Spurs sit third from bottom in the league and face Brighton & Hove Albion at home on Saturday."}],[{"start":41.2,"text":"Both bookmakers and data-led final league projections now have Spurs as the most likely candidate to join Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley in dropping down a division. With just six games left, time is running out to avoid the team’s first demotion since 1977."}],[{"start":59.16,"text":"The Premier League season kicked off with several plot lines vying for top billing. City’s legal battle with the Premier League, Arsenal’s efforts to end their trophy drought, Liverpool’s influx of big-name signings and Chelsea’s wild transfer spending spree all had the potential to dominate the narrative."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":75.76,"text":"Yet it is now the prospect of Spurs, one of English football’s so-called Big Six clubs, exiting the league that is proving the most captivating."}],[{"start":83.68,"text":"“There’s not much hope. There is anger, just disbelief really that we’re in this situation,” said Flav Bateman, host of The Fighting Cock, a Spurs fan podcast. “I think a lot of Spurs fans feel the same. We’re not even talking about it anymore.”"}],[{"start":99.6,"text":"Spurs’ miserable season follows a period of turbulence off the pitch. In September, the Lewis family that controls the north London club pushed out Daniel Levy, who had been executive chair for almost 25 years. At the time, those close to the Lewis family said the move was aimed at improving results on the pitch."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":117.84,"text":"But the injury-plagued team itself has instead floundered. Danish head coach Thomas Frank, appointed last summer, was sacked in February, while his replacement, Igor Tudor, lasted just seven games. Tottenham hired former Brighton head coach Roberto De Zerbi on a five-year contract late last month."}],[{"start":135.54,"text":"Under Levy, club executives focused on growing Spurs’ commercial operations, including building a new £1bn stadium. Those efforts have delivered financially, putting the club firmly in football’s moneyed elite. Last year, the club had revenue of £565mn, the ninth highest in world football, thanks in part to additional money earned through hosting big music concerts and NFL matches."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":159.8,"text":"However, the club’s place in the Big Six has not chimed with performances on the pitch. Spurs have not won the league since 1961, while their last FA Cup trophy was 35 years ago."}],[{"start":172.28,"text":"Fans complain that the emphasis on the business side has led to years of under-investment in players. Spurs have spent about £1.3bn on transfer fees for players in the past decade, the sixth highest in English football and similar to Liverpool and Arsenal, according to estimates from Transfermarkt."}],[{"start":189.32,"text":"However, Spurs spent just 43 per cent of revenue on player wages in the 2023-24 season, the joint lowest amount with newly promoted Luton Town, according to Deloitte. In that same period, Arsenal spent 53 per cent of revenue on wages, while Liverpool’s figure was 63 per cent. Historically, wage spending has correlated strongly with sporting performance."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":213.8,"text":"Problems have been brewing for some time. Last year, Spurs finished 17th, one place above the relegation zone, in what was the team’s lowest league position since promotion from the second division in 1978. However, Spurs did win the Europa League last year, earning them a spot in this year’s Champions League."}],[{"start":232.16,"text":"Other big clubs have been relegated over the years, including Newcastle, Leeds and West Ham. Yet Spurs dropping out of the Premier League would be “unprecedented”, said Omar Chaudhuri at sports data consultancy Twenty First Group, and could even cool investor interest in buying teams in England’s top division."}],[{"start":249,"text":"“We’re not being stoical about this. It’ll be terrible if we go down,” said Bateman, adding that his big fear was the club simply “being forgotten about”."}],[{"start":257.88,"text":"Among the 10 wealthiest clubs in European football, the only comparable relegation in recent years would be that of Italian club Juventus, who were forced to drop down a division in 2006 by the authorities following a corruption scandal rather than through sporting underperformance."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":270.76,"text":"Although Spurs’ predicament is an extreme case, Chaudhuri said it was a further sign of increasing volatility in the Premier League. While previous league table positions have often been a good indicator of the following season’s performance, that relationship has been eroding, he said, as smaller clubs punch above their weight and a handful of big clubs slump."}],[{"start":290.16,"text":"Alongside Spurs, Manchester United and Chelsea have both recorded their lowest league finishes in decades in the past three years."}],[{"start":298.56,"text":"Spurs’ fate now rests largely with De Zerbi, who will have to do without captain Cristian Romero for the rest of the season due to a knee injury suffered last week. Several other key players are also unfit. Speaking after last weekend’s result — a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland — the Italian manager said his players were good enough but needed to rediscover their self-belief and begin trusting in each other."}],[{"start":320.24,"text":"“It’s not a problem of time . . . the crucial part is to win a game. One game,” he said. “With one win, we can change everything.”"}],[{"start":320.74,"text":"Data visualisation by Dan Clark"}],[{"start":333.44,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1776486254_3969.mp3"}