Ferdinand says he could 'feel the toxicity' at Tottenham
Rio Ferdinand could ‘feel the toxicity’ walking into Tottenham’s stadium ahead of Man United clash… with Cristian Stellini sacked, players reeling from 6-1 thrashing at Newcastle and fans protesting against Daniel Levy
- Tottenham experienced one of their darkest days in 6-1 defeat to Newcastle
- Rio Ferdinand and Jermaine Jenas outlined the problems surrounding the club
- Former Tottenham midfielder labelled Sunday lowest moment he can remember
Rio Ferdinand has claimed he could sense the ‘toxicity’ as he walked into the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday evening.
Widespread protests were held outside the ground ahead of Tottenham’s clash with Manchester United, just days after their chastening 6-1 defeat to Newcastle on Sunday.
The defeat saw Cristian Stellini sacked, and replaced by Ryan Mason until the end of the season, while the players agreed to reimburse the travelling supporters for their match tickets.
Speaking ahead of the clash on BT Sport, Ferdinand outlined the issues the club currently face, arguing there is no coherent strategy running from top to bottom at the club.
‘You sense the toxicity in here,’ he said. ‘You can sense it when you walk in, the fans are angry, they have not seen improvements on the pitch.
Fingers are being pointed at chairman Daniel Levy for the current state of Tottenham
Rio Ferdinand claimed he could sense the ‘toxicity’ when he walked into the ground
Jermaine Jenas said that the Newcastle defeat on Sunday was the lowest moment he can recall
The strategy in terms of the resources, signings, managers, it’s so fragmented. Do they [signings] fit? The frustration then creeps into the stands. Then you get black cab drivers all over London, half of which are Tottenham or West Ham fans, telling you about the problems at the club.
‘They are angry. They are coming in here because they want their voices to be heard, they have seen three managers come in that play negative football.’
Jenas added: ‘I think the game against Newcastle is as low as I can remember. It was a representation of what is going on at the football club right now.
‘Everything that (Antonio) Conte said [in his post-Southampton comments], came to light. It’s as low as I can remember, yeah.’
Tottenham are currently being managed by their head coach in less than two months, sparking accusations that the club are lost in their thinking. Much of the blame is being pointed at chairman Daniel Levy, who issued a statement on Tuesday accepting responsibility for the defeat at the weekend.
‘I think one of the biggest problems they have is trying to compete,’ Owen Hargreaves said. ‘That is not them – they are best when trying to overachieve.
‘I know they have the best stadium and best training ground in the country, but I think they’re best as the underdog. Ryan is a better fit for them [than Conte or Stellini].’
Faced with some pushback by Jenas, who said the supporters, who haven’t seen the club lift a trophy since 2008, Hargreaves clarified his comments.
‘My point is, Levy tried to go winners in Jose [Mourinho] and Conte – it didn’t suit this club because they didn’t like the football.
Eric Dier said that the players would seek to apologise with their actions for the defeat
Widespread protests were seen calling for the owners to go ahead of kick-off on Thursday
Owen Hargreaves said the club needed to find a ‘new [Mauricio] Pochettino’ after four years of poor decisions
‘My point is they need to go and find a new [Mauricio] Pochettino, whether that’s a Mason or Nagelsmann, this club was at its best when they had Pochettino and building towards something. They can do it, as getting to the Champions League final showed.’
‘There has to be an improvement year on year, you can’t settle for being an underdog. When I joined Tottenham, Levy said to me, “you’re joining this club because I want to play in the Champions League”.
‘We finished fifth, fourth, had a couple of campaigns and then it was about kicking it on from there, and I think the frustration is the club has not kicked on. It’s remained dormant as a club, despite the stadium and the facilities.
‘The mindset of the club is a monetary one, rather than of success and developing a winning culture to win trophies. A big part of that is bringing in that type of player – that’s where they’ve failed.’
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