Tottenham's under-fire CEO Vinai Venkatesham has claimed the club's training facilities more closely resembled a five-star hotel than an elite performance environment when he joined last June.
Venkatesham also insisted that a 'complete reset' is required as the club seeks to restore supporter confidence after one of the most difficult periods in its history, having avoided relegation by just two points on the final day.
Since the departure of Daniel Levy last September, Venkatesham has become a lightning rod for fans' ire this season, with the CEO among the primary decision-makers during a turbulent campaign.
This included the mid-season appointment of Igor Tudor, who presided over one of the most disastrous reigns in recent Premier League history, failing to win any of his five matches in charge before being dismissed after just 44 days.
Now, Venkatesham has said conditions at Tottenham when he arrived a year ago were 'significantly worse' than he had initially realised.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Venkatesham said: 'On my very first day, what I thought would be a realistic target for the men's first team would be competing for European places.
'If you'd have asked me a few months after I joined, when I was no longer an outsider, I would have told you the club was in a significantly worse state in some places than I thought.
'That is absolutely not meant to be a criticism of anyone or anything. It was just what I found. It was very clear that this wasn't some form of turnaround that was required of the club in quite a few areas. It was really a complete reset.'
Asked to expand, Venkatesham said: 'I think if you look at the football side of the club, over a timeframe of five years or so, there has just been an explosion in progress across the Premier League.
'I'm not saying that Tottenham didn't improve in that period. But what I can tell you is that when you look at where Tottenham were in many of those areas, compared to where I believe other Premier League clubs are, there was a significant gap. In some areas really quite worryingly so.
'Our training centre is amazing, one of the best, if not the best in the world. But when you look around, it looks more like a five-star hotel than it does a performance environment. That will change over the summer.'
Thomas Frank, who began the season in charge, picked up just 10 points at home in the league, overseeing a poor run of form from November until his sacking in February.
Frank’s relationship with supporters began to sour in November when he criticised them for booing goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario after the Italian’s error against Fulham led to Spurs conceding twice in the opening six minutes, with Frank claiming they were 'not true fans'.
In January, Spurs supporters chanted 'boring, boring, Tottenham' during a 1-1 draw against his former side Brentford.
'There's been plenty of coverage that the club was passive during this period. And that's absolutely not true,' Venkatesham said.
He added that the appointment of Tudor was a 'risky' move which 'didn't work out', following Roberto De Zerbi's initial reluctance to leave Marseille and join the club in February.
'Obviously, we were very disappointed when it became clear that we wouldn't be appointing Roberto on a permanent basis (in February),' Venkatesham added.
Asked whether he would accept the Tudor appointment was a mistake, Venkatesham replied: 'It didn't work out. I think it's very clear it didn't work out.'
On dealing with intense criticism from fans, Venkatesham – who previously worked for Arsenal – added: 'It's a game of opinions, and I have absolutely no problem with being criticised. The challenge in football is that that criticism frequently goes way past the line for players, referees, executives.'