‘It wasn’t good enough’: Spurs to refund fans who attended Newcastle thrashing

Tottenham’s players have pledged to refund travelling supporters who endured their side’s 6-1 humiliation at Newcastle on Sunday that resulted in caretaker manager Cristian Stellini being sacked a day later.

After Stellini had unexpectedly started with four at the back, they were cut apart at will by their rampaging hosts, who took the lead in the second minute and were 5-0 up by the 21st. Spurs are fifth in the Premier League, six points from the last Champions League place, currently held by Manchester United, who have two games in hand.

The players’ statement read: “As a squad, we understand your frustration, your anger. It wasn’t good enough. We know words aren’t enough in situations like this but believe us, a defeat like this hurts.

“We appreciate your support, home and away, and with this in mind we would like to reimburse fans with the cost of their match tickets from St James’ Park. We know this does not change what happened on Sunday and we will give everything to put things right against Manchester United on Thursday evening when, again, your support will mean everything to us. Together – and only together – can we move things forward.”

Stellini was replaced by another interim appointment, with Spurs naming Ryan Mason on Monday until the end of the season. It added to a tumultuous spell at the club, who parted company with their managing director of football, Fabio Paratici, last Friday after he lost an appeal in Italy against a ban for alleged false accounting while he was at Juventus.

A note on Tottenham’s official website added: “Supporters who travelled to Newcastle should allow 24 hours for the refund process to be completed. Fans are advised that the funds will appear in the accounts used for the