Tottenham leadership promises change after team narrowly averts Premier League relegation 'disaster'

“Disaster” has been averted.

“Uncomfortable truths” have come to the surface.

For Tottenham's players and leadership, there was little to celebrate after the club — one of the richest in European soccer — narrowly escaped relegation from England's top division for the first time in nearly 50 years.

“We will not dress it up,” chairman Peter Charrington said in a letter to fans published Monday, “as anything other than falling well short of what this club expects.”

While Tottenham's 17th-place finish last season was viewed as an aberration amid the team's ultimately successful bid to win the Europa League, there was little excuse — except, maybe, a long list of injuries — for a repeat 12 months later.

Yet there Spurs were, heading into the final round of this season on Sunday just two points outside the relegation zone and in danger of dropping into the second tier for the first time since 1977.

It would have been the most unlikely relegation since the Premier League was founded in 1992, with Tottenham a member of England's so-called “Big Six," at the forefront of plans to launch the quickly-aborted Super League just five years ago, and owner of one of the most stunning stadiums in Europe.

However, Tottenham beat Everton 1-0 — rendering third-to-last West Ham's win over Leeds irrelevant — to complete a late-season revival that included three wins in its last five games under recently-hired coach Roberto De Zerbi, who was brought in late in March to lead the rescue act.

“Without that appointment," Tottenham midfielder James Maddison said, “disaster could have maybe struck.

"But it didn’t.”

It was too close for comfort, though, for a club hierarchy that has undergone profound change over the last couple of years, including the departure of long-time chairman Daniel Levy in September — five months after the arrival of Vinai Venkatesham as chief executive, a role he previously performed at fierce-rival Arsenal.

Charrington said that during this “full reset” of the boardroom, the club had taken its eye off the ball.

“As part of that process, we discovered some uncomfortable truths. The qualities that make Spurs distinct, our football, our ambition, the connection between the team and its supporters, had been allowed to fade,” he wrote in his open letter.

“Football success had not been driving our decisions.”

Charrington gave a five-point list of commitments to fans, including that the club “will invest across multiple transfer windows to rebuild, balance and strengthen” the team for De Zerbi, who was given a five-year deal when he joined.

“There has been speculation about ownership and the future direction of the club,” Charrington added. "Let us be direct. Tottenham Hotspur is not for sale. The Lewis family are wholly committed to this club and to this rebuild.

“They will provide the stability and investment needed at every level to move us forward, and they see that as a long-term responsibility, not a short-term fix.”

Maddison is happy De Zerbi, the former Brighton and Marseille coach, will be leading Tottenham through tough times.

“I am really happy for the manager who came in and steered the ship clear," Maddison said, “because I think without him, it could have been doom and gloom, if I am honest.”

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Tottenham's head coach Roberto De Zerbi greets fans after the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Everton in London, England, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Tottenham's fans celebrate after beating Everton during the English Premier League soccer match in London, England, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Tottenham's Pedro Porro celebrates after beating Everton during the English Premier League soccer match in London, England, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Tottenham's head coach Roberto De Zerbi, right, embraces Mathys Tel at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Everton in London, England, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Tottenham's James Maddison celebrates after beating Everton during the English Premier League soccer match in London, England, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

PLANO, Texas (AP) — Voters in Texas will see little of the Republican candidates for U.S. Senate on Monday. But that's only if they stay away from screens.

There were no public campaign events scheduled for Sen. John Cornyn nor state Attorney General Ken Paxton on the final day of their more than yearlong quest for the GOP nomination. Instead, their fight for Tuesday's runoff continues as it has for months — intense and unabated — through advertising that has topped $109 million, heavily from Cornyn's side.

Cornyn is scheduled to host an annual, non-campaign event in San Antonio to recognize high school graduates attending the nation's service academies. The senator seeking a fifth term held his last public campaign event in Corpus Christi on Friday, ahead of Tuesday’s voting.

Paxton headlined his last events Thursday in the Austin area and in San Antonio, content to let his campaign and a super PAC carry his primary message: that President Donald Trump endorsed him on May 19.

Trump's announcement and accompanying dismissal of Cornyn, who has had an awkward public relationship with the president, came on the second day of early voting, which ended Friday.

Though the candidates were quiet over the weekend, Trump reaffirmed his support for Paxton on Sunday, and disparaged Cornyn as insufficiently loyal to him.

Paxton, Trump posted on social media, “was also very loyal to your favorite President, ME,” while calling Cornyn “VERY disloyal to me.” It was Trump's strongest rebuke of Cornyn, who had dismissed his 2024 comeback chances, and echoed the president's reproach of Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy before he lost in the May 15 GOP Senate primary.

Following Trump's call for retribution, Republican voters in Indiana and Kentucky have also chosen GOP primary challengers over incumbent GOP officeholders who have crossed the president or opposed his agenda.

For a contest that is expected to draw a fraction of Texas’ 18.7 million voters, the two candidates’ campaigns and supporting groups were continuing to bombard all Texans with advertising, though more by Cornyn's backers than Paxton's.

"It’s just a slug fest, with the campaigns and third-party groups slugging it out,” said Wayne Hamilton, a former executive director of the Texas Republican Party.

The combination of Cornyn's campaign and supporting super PACs have far outspent pro-Paxton groups over the past year, by almost nine-to-one. But the gap has shrunk as the runoff has approached. In the final week of the campaign, the combination of pro-Cornyn ad spending was less than twice Paxton's group.

Cornyn's network continued to air spots attacking Paxton over ethical and personal questions that have shadowed him with little effect throughout the campaign. Cornyn’s campaign also had reprised an ad noting his tendency to vote in the Senate for Trump’s priorities.

Paxton's campaign and groups supporting him transitioned midweek to all ads noting Trump's endorsement, though Paxton's primary super PAC, Lone Star Liberty Fund, began airing one over the weekend aimed at raising questions about state Rep. James Talarico, the Texas Democratic Senate nominee.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks to supporters at a campaign event in McKinney, Texas, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Darlee Foster, left, and Debbie King talk before the Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, campaign event in Lubbock, Texas, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Annie Rice)

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, listens to State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, during a campaign event in Lubbock, Texas, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Annie Rice)

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, smiles at a campaign event in McKinney, Texas, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)