Tottenham civil war erupts as Romero in middle of row with bosses | Football | Sport

Tottenham defender Cristian Romero took to social media to blast the club’s hierarchy for “lying” following Spurs’ defeat at Bournemouth, in an Instagram post he later edited. The Argentine, who wears the captain’s armband, extraordinarily suggested senior figures only emerge when results are positive “to tell a few lies” before subsequently deleting the damaging claims.

Romero issued an apology to Tottenham supporters after their 3-2 loss on the south coast. Despite taking an early lead through Mathys Tel within five minutes, Spurs found themselves trailing by the interval following an Evanilson leveller and Eli Junior Kroupi’s goal, which put the Cherries in front.

Joao Palhinha restored parity in the second period, appearing to earn Thomas Frank’s side a share of the points. However, Antoine Semenyo struck a dramatic 95th-minute winner in what is expected to be his final appearance for Bournemouth.

Following the match, Romero posted on Instagram: “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.

“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. They only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies.

“We’ll stay here, working, sticking together and giving our all to turn things around. Especially at times like this, keeping quiet, working harder and moving forward all together, is part of football. All together, it will be easier.”

Romero has subsequently amended the post to delete “to tell a few lies.”

Both Pedro Porro and Richarlison responded to the post prior to its modification.

Porro wrote in a comment translated from Spanish: “Amen. Keep going brother. We have a lot of battles left.”

Richarlison responded with the clapping hands emoji.

Prior to that post, numerous Spurs players had tense confrontations with away supporters. Micky van der Ven appeared to target one particular fan and required intervention from a club official to be led away.

Both Palhinha and Porro also interacted with supporters following the final whistle, before stewards intervened to create a distance between them and the fans. Palhinha scaled the advertising boards to confront those who had made the journey to the south coast.

The Tottenham midfielder clarified the incident when speaking later. He explained: “It was just that the supporters were sharing their frustrations.

“We, of course, understand; we respect them first of all. I just said we’re fighting for all the same.

“We want to win – not just the players – but the staff and the supporters. We’re trying to get the wins that, in my opinion, we have deserved in the last games.”