So, another Transfer Window saga is almost over. This time it’s a fruitful one. There’s little doubt that this was one of the most interesting TWs in recent times for Spurs. And it sends a clear message to anyone who follows football. That message is; Tottenham is serious in its intent.
Levy and the THFC Board have long been criticized by many supporters for keeping his hands in his pocket. Many considered that his long-term plan involved making money rather than building a team that can bring trophy success on the park. And he certainly was not a risk taker.
Levy’s detractors are mainly those supporters who do not have the patience or the vision to understand what he hopes to achieve. They demand instant success on the pitch and silverware for the trophy cabinet. Life rarely works that way…. and football never does.
Obviously everyone associated with THFC, especially the Chairman, want success, too. But to achieve long-term success there has to be a solid foundation on which to base all of the club’s operations. Levy has long been committed to making his vision a reality and has worked steadily toward that end. We have all witnessed the amazing development of our facilities in recent years. He is wise enough to know that he cannot please every supporter because, well, because everyone is different. But he is focused and motivated enough to maintain his efforts to make his vision a reality. The product that is THFC today is a vastly different product than it was fifteen years ago …. and in a good way.
The perception by some seems to suggest that the THFC members of the management Board are either stupid or out of touch with reality. And I don’t think anyone considers Levy to be stupid. Without doubt he understands that to make money in business (and football has become big business) a football club needs to achieve success on the park. That’s what Levy wants, too.
It takes a great deal of time, and many things have to come together, for a club to reach the heights of its aspirations. Few have the financial resources to try. Few achieve it. And there are so many very good reasons why they fail. Not long ago Tottenham looked, and played like, potential champions. But it wasn’t to be. That chapter, and opportunity, has now passed and Tottenham have had to start rebuilding again. All clubs go through the same process every few years.
Levy progresses the club in his own time and in his own way. He’s the boss. That’s how it works. He won’t progress the club in the way I want, or in the way anybody else wants. He has a plan and he is intent on following it. Comparing the club now to how it was fifteen years ago suggests he is going in the right direction.
Levy has taken a huge risk by bringing Gareth Bale back to The Lane in view of his age, lack of recent game time, and tendency to suffer injuries. He has taken another risk by appointing Jose as the club manager. For despite his trophy success with his previous clubs he remains an enigma. His ability to manage and support his players when the going gets tough poses a few questions. Tottenham have the players. It’s up to Jose to make them winners. In the past Jose has not been one for the long term in his managerial career. Levy is planning for the long term.
All transfers are risks but the risks posed by bringing Bale and Jose to The Lane are at the upper end of the scale. Maybe Levy is a risk taker after all. He has made some sound signings, and he has opened his wallet and negotiated some clever deals in the most economically troubled times the world has seen since he became Chairman.
But Levy is not just the Chairman of THFC; he is a supporter. Come the day when he leaves his current position behind I would still expect to see him at the ground on match days.
THFC is a strong club with world class facilities. It is a club which is respected wherever the game is played. All Spurs supporters can be proud of this. And the vision that leads Daniel Levy onwards is alive and well. Levy should get credit for this. My overall sense as I write this is that, for THFC, the good times are coming.
EJ, Bale does not come free of charge. I’ve read that he will probably cost THFC around £15m for the 1 year duration of the loan. That is for the loan fee and Spurs’ percentage of his annual wage. And that was with Levy negotiating the loan fee down because Gareth would not be fit for about a month.
Even so, sometimes I wonder where people get these figures from and the ones that you have laid out, when so often these sums (transfer fees and the like) are also reported as being undisclosed.
As for the market value of the club. This is complex thing and cannot be simplified in the way you have done. And it can change drastically in very short space of time. That link you provided bases it’s figures on the 2018-19 season. Which saw Spurs annual income markedly increase due to reaching the CL final, 4th in the PL and a lot of new sponsorship money generated, due to the new stadium completion and opening…
The clubs current situation is vastly different to then… And for all the obvious reasons, pre and post the Covid pandemic and lockdown etc…
And the huge borrowings of the club and those ongoing and long term debt repayments have a huge impact on how a market value is then calculated. And this can also fluctuate considerably.
Besides which; (I may be wrong) but I’m sure that jod was thinking in terms of Liverpools on the field success in relationship to the clubs financial standing. Not just purely market value etc…
And this is the shame really. Because after a great week such as we have just had on the pitch, it’s money that can still dominate the debate.
You may have shares in the club, EJ., And so market value is high on your list. But it is still winning football matches that helps pay the bills… Hence the huge increase in THFC’s income when we reached the CL final etc…
As for me, 6-1 is what I like to talk about… I watch and support a London football club for my thrills. Not the London Stock exchange! For me it’s Footie and THFC. Not the FTSE!
HT – I’ve read no loan fee and 40% of wages at £600K! I’ve actually rounded it upto £250K (instead of only £240K) and at 40 weeks (not 52 as many seem to think) it adds up to £10m tops – but like I say that’s wages and pretty much everywhere I’ve read there’s no loan fee involved!
If you go very basic as some even many appear to have done – 50% of £600K is £300K x 52 = £15.6m – so maybe that’s where that £15m figure comes from but I’m almost certain it is indeed wrong!
I might add if Levy did very cleverly secure a £1m discount then it could in fact be £9m (or even slightly less at £8.6m if take £240K instead of £250K and it all adds up at the end of the day) instead of £10m but I’m happy to stick at an average of £10m for argument’s sake and it’s all based on wages – cracking deal all hands down!
HT agree 100% – indeed I did say I looked forward to ON and OFF the pitch sustained success at last and obviously one follows the other generally – ON to OFF – no doubt whatsoever! All the debt is secured over an average of 25 years for argument’s sake at only 2.66% per annum total average – very good IMHO – I know current base rate is 0.1% and there’s talk of even going negative but it never works out like that – not for borrowers – so to get that kind of debt secured for only 2.66% average per annum is great going – respect to DL, etc!
Even as non-shareholders as most fans are – ON leads to OFF as OFF leads to ON indeed no club relies exclusively on the academy, quite the opposite especially in the PL and other top league’s – it’s mostly based on recruitment and to do that you need money and healthy finance and as I am a share-holder on top it means I’m even more interested in the OFF field success also, but still any and every fan should be concerned with the finances of the club overall – eg it defo helps bring success and nobody wants a Leeds (00’s situation, etc even my very own Depor in Spain) on their hands either even if only worst case, etc!
Finally as for the market valuation – of course you are right in all that you say but to keep it as simple as possible and not get too bogged down the way we are heading and given the popularity and money involved in the PL, etc and also the fact our debt is perfectly secure and easily sustainable, etc – if someone wanted to buy the club – it would come at a premium for sure – so £2.5bn seems reasonable enough and I’m pretty sure that JL/DL, etc won’t sell it for less, in fact I reckon it would take £3bn+ for them to seriously consider selling and that’s not at all an impossible valuation in the next 3-5 yrs indeed each year that passes should mean less debt, quite probably more revenue, more success, etc, etc, etc – that’s indeed how we’ve been and are being set-up and built for – long may it continue and I’ll be extremely happy sitting here watching and prospering on top also! Double bubble – LOVELY LOL!
I’ll leave you with the following:
https://www.investorschampion.com/channel/blog/tottenham-hotspur-still-great-value
“bargain basement price” – at the time this was written they were worth around £2.75 (highest ever been), now worth £1.80 last auction indeed (ridiculous but currently many companies are indeed priced pretty ridiculously), but realistically if a take-over was to happen even at just around £2bn – that’s nearly £10 a pop – JL/DL are no idiots and they are not going to to sell their baby for anything less than premium and as I don’t need what I’ve got invested here – I’m more than happy to let them keep appreciating given as I say especially with ON and OFF the field success very likely on the way – Wooooooooooooooooo LOL!
Keep well matey – off for me dinner LOL!
P.S. But yes perfectly happy to stick to the ON field discussion as is generally the case – not like we ain’t got plenty to look forward to and even potentially discuss also ……….. LOL!
EJ, I just stated that the finances mean nothing to me whilst also stating that I understand why they mean something to you…… I’ve said it before. You say your bit and I’ll say mine…….
I don’t actually care how much Bale is costing the club or not…. I just hope that he can play some good football, score and create goals and that then helps us to win matches…
The biggest shame for me, is one that does affect the clubs finances hugely, is that there are no supporters in the grounds. And it’s us supporters that are missing out. And no doubt most of the players miss the crowds too…
What a shame that our fantastically vocal and encouraging away support couldn’t be at Old Trafford……. I was at OT when Spurs have won there and it was one of the best nights at a football match I’ve ever had.. The atmosphere was worth it alone and even regardless of the result!
As for what we can talk about that isn’t about transfers, transfer fees and market values…. I’m posing football related questions on here all the time and no one joins in!……. I mean what are Jose’s possible tactical and formation variations? Are defences conceding more goals this season because of no crowds? And, not just IF Jose is simply looking for a new ( affordable) CB but what type of player and how will he fit in? Not that we need a Jan replacement but is it more that we are looking for a Toby replacement? And could it be that JM is considering to then play a back three more often? Blah blah…. All questions that I have posed in these past few days!
I can think of plenty more… 🙂 But, i’ll probably just bore!
HT
I’m 100 %with you re finances and club business. I quoted some of these figures as Jod made a sweeping statement. As I said they were subject to change even from the time they were printed.
It was just something said on TS some time ago re – how to run a club.
But much like you it’s the results and the style of pay that truly makes it for me. I think we have a trophy in us this season.
Re formations I look forward to seeing Bale fit in and in reference to an earlier post of yours maybe see Reg at LB with Davies at LCB.
Not a gr8 fan of international breaks (as our national team is crap) so looking forward to Tottenham’s next game.
Hi HT (back from din-dins LOL) – first of all not boring at all – very valid as is usually the case with you – personally I’ve been trying to keep up with everything but finding it hard to have time to post also!
Yes I want the same from Bale – exactly like you said – score, create, help win and also indeed EXCITE with all of this …………!
I must admit it’s still a bit weird watching without crowds – even the buzz you get hearing our home crowd roaring as we push forwards hoping for a goal, etc – hopefully sooner rather than later this will return – indeed with the new stadium, the “new” manager and “new” squad and the fact we now appear to be going places and all moving in 1 positive direction – plenty for all of us to look forward to indeed!
I’ll try and give some of my opinion on your very pertinent questions – here goes LOL:
JM now has pretty much 2 good solid option’s for every position (respect to him and the powers that be on this – brilliant indeed), this means he can pretty much try different formations and tactics to suit his perceived needs. I’m still thinking he’ll be sticking to a back 4 generally, then midfield and attack could get very interesting though 2-3-1 or 3-3(2-1 really with wing forwards and a central STR), maybe even traditional 4-2 given has HK10 and Vinicius now and can drop HK10 easily off leaving Vini up top and when you factor in the wing options – ridiculous quite frankly – especially given how Lamela, Moura and Bergs have kicked off already in reserve – assists, goals, etc! No need even bothering to relay Sonny’s and HK10’s stats – off the scale end of LOL!
I’m thinking:
Lloris
Doh Davy Dier Regi
Hoj N’Dom
Bale Lo Celso Sonny
HK10
This for me is probably as good as it gets – but the way the likes of Aurier, Davies and Lamela especially have been performing so far is incredible – especially as these were 3 who were regularly heavily criticised (myself at times included especially regarding Serge – but I did say if JM wanted him to stay which eventually he did, I’d back it as fully trust JM 100%, etc)!
The fact that regular’s from our top 4 exploits and CL final run like: Toby, Davies, WInks, Sissoko, Moura, Dele, etc are now seen as basically squad players says it all really about where we appear to be heading – even the likes of Trippier, Vert’s and Rose having been or in the process of basically being gotten rid of!
I did read a report last week that if there was a crowd would we have come back against Chelskia, etc and that in such the pressure is not as heavy especially at home for us and we could indeed be profiting – similar has even been said on here especially regarding the end of last season and lack of performances, etc even in getting quite a few results – would the crowd be accepting, how would it affect us on the pitch, etc! This certainly appears to be changing especially with the last 4 games this previous week – real attacking intent and performance in all of them barring the 1st half v Chelski but then that seemed to be the ploy all along and then hit them as hard as possible in the 2nd half with all we had and it pretty much worked thankfully LOL!
I think we both agreed and said so on here last season already and over the summer (and this has just been added to with the likes of Doh, Regi, Bale and Vini indeed) that we had some quality attacking players and eventually JM would get the best out of them – just needed time to get it all functioning and right basically! N’Dom, Lo Celso, Lamela, Moura, Bergs, Dele, Sonny, HK10 – and then the 4 above and now even Aurier and Davies getting in on the act as well (even Hoj with a superb through-ball on Sunday) etc, etc, etc – very inspiring for sure LOL ……………..!
I have said all along I wanted a L(CB) to take Vert’s place which I know you don’t agree with BUT (indeed at 1 point I even said keep Vert’s for 1 more year and still sign his likely replacement already this summer and settle him in – but neither was to be unfortunately) who had a bit of everything – this guy Rodon sounds interesting for sure and within the PL he will be home-grown being Welsh which is a great bonus – and with this has Davies and Bale (now back at the club obviously) – so could settle a lot quicker and easier. Although right-footed he typically plays as a LCB so that’s already very good news. Then he’s tall, strong, quick (according to Giggsy who knows a thing or 2 about pace LOL) and also apparently very composed and a good passer (Giggsy again, etc) – sounds very interesting indeed and for JM, etc to possibly be interested and given the state of our squad now you’d have to say he may well indeed be a good player and thus a good addition – let’s see if he comes in during the next 10 days in fact!
As regards Toby – lost pace for sure – so maybe next Summer at least start looking for a replacement – Skriniar sounded very interesting indeed to do this – maybe we’ll go back in Jan/Summer?! I mean Benfica just paid 15m Euros for 32 year old Otamendi in this crisis hit time so why can’t we look to do something similar next Summer also?! Indeed Toby still has 3 year’s until his contract is up at 34 so we’re definitely protected. This season good to have him around especially for Dier to get fully settled in, etc and above all Tanganga but next season we might be able to look to move him on and sign a long term replacement – like I say maybe we go back in for Skriniar because he did sound ideal – just Inter wanted a permanent deal for top money and paid up front also – impossible for us currently unfortunately!
My own curve ball – was/am worried for Dele ATM but glad JM is praising his work ethic in training, etc (super important and re-assuring as JM is not 1 to mince his words especially when for example called him a lazy trainer, etc and now the opposite by saying he’s working hard, etc) – he was and could still be 1 of the best ACM’s in the PL and thus the world – just hope his talent does not go to waste indeed he’s only 24 for goodness sake and that we can benefit fully from it as we did in his 1st 3 season’s with us which indeed helped catapult us as it did!
The rest pretty much everyone playing well, very well, even ridiculously well so no real worries currently elsewhere – which is quality given how big our 1st team squad now is indeed – long may it continue ………..!
Just to clarify current market cap is under £400m given the most update price is £1.80 and there’s just over 210m shares in total! Also the guy who wrote the report is an expert on football related finance so credence I think can be given to a certain degree/point to what he was writing! Sure with the pandemic currently now is not the time to sell nor the time for top price and even premium, etc but JL/DL are not looking to sell and certainly not desperate (like myself also basically LOL) and happy to ride this out and come out the other side – indeed like I say the club is set for reasonable and sustainable covering of the overall debt and definitely looks like it is going places both on and off the pitch so happy days so far and it can only get better for all once this pandemic is brought back under control and the fans can get back to normal – plenty to be excited about most certainly already this season (something I never thought would be the case for most of the summer unfortunately as discussed on here, etc) – just listen to old HR (Harry Redknapp) last night indeedy LOL ………………!
BUENAS NOCHES AMIGOS!
Maye I should clarify what I meant by Liverpool being the best run club. There are many similarities between us and them, similar sized fan base, both need to balance the books. One big difference is we decided to build a new stadium, they didn’t. But Anfield already holds 54,000 people and they are planning to expand it to over 60,000. That option wasn’t open to us with our old stadium. So they avoided the debt we incurred in building the new stadium. But the significance of the debt can be overstated because firstly interest rates are on the floor and have been for years and secondly the repayment period is 35 years. Short term it gives them a financial advantage, long term it may hurt them as our stadium looks to be something of a money machine with fans in. The thing that for me Liverpool do better than anyone else is data analysis. I can’t remember the last time they made a bad signing and they don’t just run the numbers on potential players they did it on Klopp before they appointed him. Essentially they get more value for their money than anyone else which to me makes them the best run.
You could argue that the best run club every year is the one that wins the league. In fact you could probably argue that most clubs are the best run clubs depending on what you base your criteria on and which of all the contributing variables you wish to highlight. (that’s the universal ‘you’ of course). It’s a bit like statistics …. they can say whatever you want them to.
Jod
Glad you clarified your position on this point.
However re Liverpool over the last 10 years on average we were above them in the league.
What happened was a couple of good signings(as you said).
2 from Southampton a team which our manager at the time used to manage. But he couldn’t see their potential.
Again would less outlay on a stadium have been a better way to go. Who knows.
On Sunday Lpool were beaten arguably because they had 3 of their top players off the field.
Just like we had MOST of last season.
Time will tell this season let’s see how it ends and we will see who is the best run club.
Geofspurs – Bayern Munich have twice the revenue of any other German club, they win the league every year. That doesn’t make them the best run, they just buy the title.
Niall D – On average we’ve been above them, yet somehow they have won the league and the champions league and we’ve won nothing. Lies, damn lies and statistics I suppose. A couple of good signings, seriously ? Basically every signing they make is a good signing.
jod …. I agree. That’s what I was saying. It depends on the criteria … on however ‘best run’ is defined.
Good morning all, thought I had clicked onto an Exchequer website, lol!, though must admit some interesting reading and posts.
ND…. R.I.P Eddie…Eddie Van Halen, passed away after a 10 year battle with Cancer, one of my most fave guitarists of all time.
As for best run Club, It’s Spurs of course or am I being a bit bias. COYS
Thanks for the article Geof. In general, you know where I stand on Levy, so your article “irked” me a couple of times (in a good way, of course 😉 ):
“Levy’s detractors are mainly those supporters who do not have the patience or the vision to understand what he hopes to achieve. They demand instant success on the pitch and silverware for the trophy cabinet.”
This for me is a shortcut. You can understand a plan, show patience to a certain degree, and eventually still arrive at the conclusion that it’s been a long time/too long. Expecting trophies within the first 5 years of a new owner’s reign is perhaps unrealistic. But we are pushing 20 years, with still only one League Cup to show for it. Historically, looking at the periods between 1960-1980 or 1980-2000, the period of 2000-2020 pales in comparison. At some point Levy has to be held accountable for that to some degree. For me, that statement in your article lacks a bit of nuance.
The following paragraphs are all about expressing one general idea, in essence: “Levy is smart, but being chairman of a football club is a tough gig and fans underestimate that”. You put it more eloquently and in more detail, but that’s roughly a fair summary of the next 2 or 3 paragraphs.
Funnily enough, it ties back into a discussion I was having with Spurs fans not so long ago, about the Amazon documentary. We were discussing how the documentary gave great insight on how Levy really was.
To be honest, my biggest takeaway from the first episodes was “Levy never wastes an opportunity to talk up how hard his job is”. At various times he dismissed fans’ perceptions about transfers, defending “how incredibly hard” it was to get one over the line.
I am not disputing how tough being a PL chairman is. I just remarked that not other PL chairman goes quite as far to defend his actions/lack of action.
I just remarked that yes, I’m sure that getting a transfer done is hard, and that there are lots of moving parts, but that’s the reality of every PL chairman. So stop complaining and get on with the job, or change jobs if you can’t cope.
And I just remarked that some other chairmen are either a lot more active, or at least just as active, without having to make so much noise around it. We get it, his job is hard. But it’s no harder than all of his counterparts at rival clubs, yet they sometimes seem to get things done far more easily than Spurs do, at certain points in time.
Levy shouldn’t be defending his job by comparing it to other jobs, Levy should look at what other chairmen around him are doing, and use those people as measuring sticks. It’s no good complaining about the difficulty of transfer if fans can for example look at Leicester’s recruitment over the last few years, probably with admiration. That is where I feel Levy loses credit/a bit of credibility, in my eyes.
All of that being said, he certainly has backed his manager this window, which is probably overdue, but at least it has finally happened.
And thank you for providing yet another opportunity to hopefully provide a different take on Levy’s antics ;-).
BelgianSpur – “But it’s no harder than all of his counterparts at rival clubs,”, so managing Burnley on very limited funds is no harder than managing Man City with an unlimited supply of oil money ? That’s clearly nonsense. The more cash you have the less efficient you need to be, the more you can waste because if you make an expensive mistake you just buy another player. Its why I rate Liverpool so highly, on a third of City’s net spend they go toe to toe with them. What Levy has done is improve our financial position so the financial comparison with everyone, except City and maybe Chelsea depending on just how much cash Abramovich is prepared to burn, is a lot better than it was.
BS …. Good to hear from you. I always respect your opinion whether I agree or not. But you know that. Who knows, maybe this time, with this squad ….
There are a lot of fan and media led myths about Levy and Spurs football club. And over the years this has created a bias against Mr.Levy, ENIC and the way the club has been run, that doesn’t go away. Even when there is a lot of solid evidence that goes against many of the given reasons for this anti-Levy/ENIC bias.
Levy not backing his managers is one of these perpetuated myths.
He certainly backed Pochettino in the summer TW of 2019. After backing him all the way to the CL final. We can’t then blame Levy for losing in that final, or the poor start to the following season. And even after MP’s sacking, MP has said that he remains friends with Daniel and is grateful for being hired in the first place. Levy himself has also pretty much hinted that the door is still open for MP’s return in the future. No bad blood there.
I’ve read countless times about how Levy will lose his best players by not rewarding them with a fair enough wage packet. This has been proven to be wrong, time and time again. Some players even seem to outstay their welcome, if anything. 🙂 And ex-players always speak fondly of the club. Even those who’s stay was a short one, often show a bias toward Spurs when being pundits and commentating on the team. Likewise with some of our ex-managers. They were happy to be a Spur. With or without a trophy winners medal or an extra few quid in their back pockets.
I’m not going to go on and on with this, although I easily could… And, I get that Spurs supporters are desperate for the club to win trophies, and on a regular basis. But the fact that the club has progressed into its current status. First of all financially but also as a team to be considered bona fide challengers for those damned elusive trophies. It is quite remarkable to me that the club (Under ENIC/Levy, have got this far without winning many trophies in their time. And also to have had some of the best players the PL has seen. And now still to be attracting such players. Least of all, to attract Jose as our current manager. And then to back him in the way the club has, in these most desperate of times. Quite amazing really…
I wonder, if Jose doesn’t go on to succeed in helping this current squad to a trophy or two, who do we then blame? But if he does, all praise to Jose. But surely THFC supporting Levy will also have to take some huge credit too… No?
One more thing… Why is it that us Spurs supporters now feel so passionately that we should indeed be winning trophies on a regular basis these days? Is it because of our current standing in the PL hierarchy? Or, is it more to do with the mid-table, virtually bankrupt club, with a crumbling stadium and all too often, dull football, that we were witnessing under Scholar and before (firstly Sugar and Venables), and then since, ENIC came along and did their thing?
From virtual bankruptcy under Scholar, to having the best football stadium in the world and a recent CL cup final in just under 30 years! Is that such a bad thing? Is it? ……………….
By the way, Irvin Scholar, as with Levy, was also a Spurs fan when he took over the club. He also wanted what was best for THFC.
Ironically, the very poor financial situation that Spurs then faced with him at the helm, came about from over-spending on many new players and the excessive building costs of the new WHL “state of the art” stand at that time. As well as other poorly dealt, financial investment mistakes…
We did however win a couple of trophies during Scholar’s time, even if we did nearly go under…
HT….excellent post there, all so very true, could have been an article on its own or running in conjunction with Geof’s. COYS
jod – you have missed the point entirely.
The point I was making is that no matter how much Levy would like us to believe that his job is hard, some other PL chairmen’s jobs are arguably even harder, given the additional constraints they’re faced with (as you have just mentioned), and yet they manage to produce results which are proportionally even more impressive than Levy’s.
In other words, all things considered, is Leicester finishing above us last year, despite less funds, not all the more impressive? What about Wolves, Sheffield or Burnley finishing within 5 points despite having a fraction of the budget?
My point was that those chairmen’s performances put Levy’s own performance in perspective, no matter how much Levy tries to defend his actions.