The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust, the officially-sanctioned organization that represents Tottenham fans to the club hierarchy, has come out with a statement in opposition to the appointment of Roberto De Zerbi as the next Spurs permanent head coach, according to the BBC.
Reports emerged this morning that Spurs had reached a full agreement with De Zerbi, the Italian manager formerly at Brighton and Marseille, despite a vigorous fan-led campaign in opposition to his appointment based on his controversial
temperament and his past defense of credibly-accused rapist and former Manchester United player Mason Greenwood. Earlier, fan groups including Proud Lilywhites, Women of the Lane, SpursREACH, and THFC Flags had also released statements in opposition to the hiring of De Zerbi.
But the THST is a whole different matter. This is the most prominent fan group yet to oppose the appointment of De Zerbi; they are one of only a few groups that are officially recognized by the club and able to engage in negotiations directly with the upper club hierarchy.
In quotes given to the BBC, THST chairman Tristan Foot said the Trust held an emergency meeting last night which resulted in an email to club leadership registering their opposition to De Zerbi.
“We had an emergency meeting last night. That resulted in us writing to the chief executive and echoing those concerns and inviting them to reflect on the club’s values.”
Representatives from Proud Lilywhites were even more vociferous in their opposition. Alli Speechly, a member of Women of the Lane, said that she would stop attending matches over this appointment.
“The fact is that he hired him [Greenwood] as a player, and then continue to publicly back him and support him, sympathise with him. For me, that’s just unforgivable. I think that speaks to the character of De Zerbi.
“I don’t want him anywhere near my football club.
“This is about how we feel, this is about values, this is about integrity and, ultimately, it’s about safety. It’s about women feeling that they are safe around other men.”
De Zerbi is on record defending Greenwood while both were at Marseille:
“All I can see is that Mason seems a good lad, he paid in a strong way for what happened. He has probably here found the right environment for him, which gave him affection, and held out its hand to him.
“When I look at him as a person, I feel sad for what happened in his life, without getting into the details. Because the person I know here is very different to the one that has been described, especially in England.”
That’s bad enough, but it gets worse — A 2024 article by Goal indicated that not only did De Zerbi support Greenwood after he arrived at Marseille, but he was an active participant in convincing him to sign with the Ligue 1 club, notably “calling him every day.”
Despite criticism from some Marseille fans over signing Greenwood – which stemmed from the one-time England international previously being accused of attempted rape, assault and coercive and controlling behaviour, before all charges were dropped – De Zerbi has stuck by the 22-year-old. Before Greenwood signed, he said: “What I can say is that once a player signs with Marseille, all the players, he becomes like a son to me and I will protect him from anyone. If I have to pull their ears or put him against the wall I will — but in front of people, I will defend him like a son.”
The Athletic says that De Zerbi’s words ‘resonated’ with the former Getafe loanee, who later gave his approval for the transfer to Marseille.
—Goal.com
The THST is by far the most high profile organization to publicly oppose the appointment of De Zerbi as head coach at Tottenham, but at the moment it appears that opposition, along with that of the other public organizations and countless fans, are falling upon deaf ears. De Zerbi is expected to be confirmed as the new head coach of Spurs within the next 24 hours.
