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.
Irving. His name was Irving. Irving with a G!
BS …. The clubs you mentioned did well, but for how long will it continue? Will Leicester, Sheffield, Wolves, or Burnley, still be challenging in 15 years time? Spurs have been a force at the top of the PL for many seasons (not just two or three). Spurs have enjoyed consistent involvement in European competitions for many seasons (not just two or three). Every season is a new journey. I am so grateful to have witnessed the Spurs journey through the last 10-15 years, despite not winning a trophy. I’m pretty sure most of the supporters of the clubs you mentioned would swap their recent history for ours. Do you think Levy just wants to win the odd cup or two. I think he wants much more than that.
BS. Leicester’s owners have more wealth than Lewis for example. As do Wolves and now even Aston Villa.
So I suppose that they should all be doing much better than Spurs do, from now on.
That’s of course if it were just about the wealth of the owners and nothing much else…
HT – you can cherry pick one specific season when Levy spent some money to back MP, but over his 5 year reign, our net transfer spend paled in comparison to most PL clubs. Including a period of 18 months when we spent nothing.
So on the whole, the idea that Levy backed MP adequately is very debatable. And the fact that Levy and MP remain friends has absolutely nothing to do with that. You can be friends with someone yet fail that person in a professional setting – the 2 are not mutually exclusive.
I’m not going to go through the hassle of quoting every single ex-player who has had something bad to say about his time at Spurs after leaving – what would be the point? But finding such quotes isn’t exactly hard.
The most recent one I can think of is when Modric published his autobiography last year. He had this to say about Levy: “However, I resented him because on a couple of occasions he had promised to let me move to a bigger club and then broke his promise. For me, one’s promise and one’s word are more important than anything.”
I don’t think anyone can make a generic statement that “ex-players always speak fondly of the club”. As always, some good, some bad, but let’s not be mistaken: Levy has certainly burned bridges along the way.
If I am perfectly honest, and in the interest of remaining fair, maybe that can be said about any football chairman. But detractors and supporters alike will find more than enough ammunition one way or another to justify their opinion, and there can be no overall consensus.
I am too young to remember any ownership era much older than Sugar. I can only look back at what the history books say, but I can’t testify as to what the club was like back then.
This being said, it may be arbitrary, but I don’t think it’s completely unfair to judge the ENIC era compared to the club’s previous eras. And, it must be said, purely in terms of results, the ENIC era is found lacking, overall, when compared to the previous eras.
And that is perhaps where the expectation comes from: the realisation that a few decades ago, Spurs were always firmly in the conversation for trophies. There is a feeling that “we are due”, when looking at the situation historically.
For a club commonly quoted in the “top 6” conversation, we’re the only club out of that top 6 that hasn’t won anything in a really long time. It’d be one thing if we were a club like Aston Villa – rich history, but arguably more time spent in the Championship than in the PL in recent years. Having expectations of winning trophies in the short term would be unrealistic. But we have been there or thereabouts for quite a few seasons now -certainly 5 – with nothing to show for it, while much smaller clubs have won things in the meantime. Therein lies the frustration, the expectation, perhaps the sense of entitlement.
Agreed, there is more to running a football club than just results, but results should be one of the priorities – always. And from a results perspective, no mater how highly ENIC/Levy rate on other matters, there is definitely something to be said about the lack of results, overall, compared to previous eras.
That wasn’t cherry picking, BS. I was just comparing the last TW of MP’s season, to this one just gone…. I wasn’t about to make a long list of every single manager and TW spending for the entire time of ENIC……
I did say I could go on and on…… But who would read it…. I’d have to have a long running series on the subject in order to cover every single angle…
Geof – it’s all a question of perspective. If you look at the last 10 or 15 years, maybe those clubs would swap their history for ours. In the last 5 (which isn’t an insignificant amount of time), I’m pretty sure Leicester fans would not. Those last 5 years imply a PL title, a rather impressive CL campaign and several seasons where they have finished above us.
Even looking at the last 10, would one swap Leicester’s last 10 years, Championship included, but title included, for say 10 years of top 4 but no trophies? I’m quite sure many fans might prefer the former.
It doesn’t matter what Levy wants. Ultimately, he will be judged on results, not intentions.
“BS. Leicester’s owners have more wealth than Lewis for example. As do Wolves and now even Aston Villa.
So I suppose that they should all be doing much better than Spurs do, from now on.
That’s of course if it were just about the wealth of the owners and nothing much else…”
And Liverpool’s owners are worth less. So how accurate of an indicator is that, really?
You tell me… You was the one that said the Foxes and Wolves (among other clubs) are somehow in a worse position than Spurs, by inferring that our chairman should have an advantage over them… What advantage is that, if not talking about the relative wealth of these clubs?
BS; My statement about ex-players speaking fondly of the club cannot be dismissed simply as a generic statement. I made that statement because it is evident to me that ex-players do it all the time. Otherwise I wouldn’t be saying it. Whereas I haven’t heard any of them bad-mouthing the club at all…. I just haven’t.
And, when it comes to discussing the club as it is at the present. It is more than fair to put it into context of the immediate history not long before ENIC took over…. The whole point I made was to do with a club that in the late 80’s into the early nineties was a hairs breadth away from bankruptcy……. If this isn’t significant to my argument, then why not? Everything needs perspective to give it its own clear standing, and us a better understanding of where we have come from to where we are now. Just because you are too young to remember it, it doesn’t mean it’s not worth mentioning….
Afternoon BS, I see your back then, fresh as a daisy ready for never ending discussions lol! glad to have you back mate, maybe to keep us on our toes lol!
Hope you and your family are keeping safe, esp the getting bigger little one. COYS
BS…….you lay the blame for the lack of spending during Poch’s reign firmly at Levy’s door, do you have any concrete evidence for this? It was widely reported at the time, and there has been a fair bit of anecdotal evidence since, that it was Poch who wouldn’t compromise on his specific targets so if they couldn’t be obtained (for whatever reason) then we didn’t buy anyone. Didn’t he himself regularly say that it was difficult to find and buy better than we already had?
When we beat United on Sunday, 9 of the players that started the match were bought before Jose arrived. And likewise with 5 of the 7 on the bench. Nearly all of those pre-Jose players were brought in under MP’s watch. United in that time, since MP’s full reign and now during Jose’s, have spent how much money on their squad?
If Spurs have been run so badly how is it we can compete so strongly with the likes of MU in recent years? How is it that we can have just 1 world class player, let alone a few? (Bale, Son, Harry, Hugo). And almost now an entire squad of internationals with many young players that are considered some of the best in the world and with WC potential…… What magic trick did I miss.
BS – 15 years and still going strong …. it’s all about the long term. Of course Levy will be judged on results, but that won’t be for a while yet. He hasn’t finished. all of the other clubs you mentioned, including Leicester, have not come close to the consistency of our performances over the same period of time. Every season has thrown it’s own brand of excitement and entertainment at us. Every season!
Glad someone else said it indeed now 4 worldie’s minimum at the club – respect HT LOL!
Hi Geoff
My point exactly was to question Jods sweeping statement re Liverpool.
I did say in my earlier post that the Talk Sport item may have been subjective.
And that the figure given in “The i” were probably subject to change.
However our league position in relevance to Liverpool over the last decade was much higher.
Regardless of Leicester winning the league that year. Many of us know we were robbed by the amount of pens given their way.
Re Liverpool similarly the CL final we were robbed in the pen decision there which saw us having to chase the game for 80 odd mins.
So in reality we’re Liverpool better run or just luckier on the night.
These last points were not directed at you Geoff just a general observation.
HT
Excellent last post there.
As I, PY, I think yourself and many others have said let’s judge Spurs on this season.
We have our new ground settled our manager settled in place with the players he wants.
Geoff thanks again for opening up a great debate.
I think Jod said lies damn lies etc.
But there are arguments for our case.
Which goes back to an earlier debate do we want to be the best team who won nothing…
Jod
Couple of good signings.
Yep Liverpool we really no where until a couple of good signings came in.
Those being Van Dyk and replaced Mingolet and Karius.
So yes a couple of good signings.
I do get what jod was saying about Liverpool. I think they have been run very well.
But, they do have a long history of being a well run club, and with a long stream of successes to match. As do Man U and dare I say Arsenal.
It’s the likes of City and Chelsea that were struggling, even more so than Spurs were in the years leading up to firstly ENIC at THFC and then subsequently the hugely wealthy, current owners of City and Chelsea came along and bought their recent success with heavy, personal investments. into their playing staff and club.
One of the main complaints about the Spurs lack of trophy success during ENIC’s time, is that our billionaire owner Joe Lewis hasn’t done this himself. By using personal funds to invest in better players over the years.
But I say check the owners of City and Chelsea and tell me this. Are they honourable people? Has their huge wealth been gained by good means, or foul and dishonourable means? Have their club investments been fair or underhanded?
If our answer to these questions are in the negative, then should we really want to emulate them in their ways? Should we envy them? Should they have our respect in all this?
I’m a Spur through and through. And, I just cannot bring myself to care too much about how others ‘get there’. by whatever means…
But if I thought that we were about to fold anytime soon because of the club being poorly run, then I might just join in with the anti this n that mob. But we’re not. We’re looking strong, against all the odds. And we’re looking strong at a time when all is against almost all clubs. Even many of those those with a history of big spending. If we had been run as badly as we saw in the late 80’s and early 90’s, we would probably now go under.
And just as I said on here, early in the TW. With football (as it is in life). Just when we think it’s all going in one direction it can end up in completely the opposite direction. Just when we thought that Spurs will most definitely suffer, we now look to be getting stronger.
One minute we’re debating the likes of King and Deeney and the next we’re talking about Reguilon, Vinicius and Bale. I said back then that Levy will surprise us, and he has. I wonder how I knew?!
Anyway, we still ain’t won nothing yet, and so maybe I should shut up shop and just pray that somehow we do!
Sorry
Replaced Mingolet and Karius.
With Becker and Adrien.
As was seen on Sunday with Becker injured they conceded 7.
Only saying.
Sorry to go back to this BS, but after reading back your post in which you refer to that Modric quote from his autobiography. I must presume that you either had his book to hand or that you googled it.
I haven’t read his book but I do remember you using that quote before in a similar context. So this time I googled it. 🙂
And it turns out that it’s you that has been doing the cherry-picking. Because in the same passage of his book where you gleaned that quote from, he also had this to say:
“Despite all the turbulence in the summer of 2011 and what followed later, I always had a good relationship with Daniel Levy,” he revealed.
“First and foremost, he was the one who brought me to Tottenham – for a record fee in the club’s history. That only showed how highly both he and the club thought of me.
“They gave me a big chance. My status at White Hart Lane was excellent, and I think I earned it with my behaviour, performances and by always giving my best for Spurs.
“Generally speaking, Daniel Levy is an excellent chairman who fights for Spurs interests. The club’s recent results only attest to this.
“However, I resented him because on a couple of occasions he had promised to let me move to a bigger club and then broke his promise. For me, one’s promise and one’s word are more important than anything in the club’s or the player’s best interest.”
And even given that last bit of the quote, Levy did actually keep his promise in the end, didn’t he? And Modric got his move to “a bigger club”. He’s still there! …. And they all lived happily ever after….. (Sorry Geof!)
Quite apart from this, I did actually say that ex-players tend to speak fondly of their time at the CLUB. I didn’t say they all spoke fondly of Levy… You even quoted what I wrote but still got me wrong! (I also said pundits that are ex Spurs players, not all players).
What is also telling is that it was Jose at Real pestering Levy to get the Modric deal done… So, between Real, Jose and Levy, no bridges were burned there by our Chairman…. Like I said there is so many media and fan based myths around our club and Chairman….
He’s a tough nosed businessman that drives a hard bargain on behalf of the club he has supported all his life… I can’t see anything wrong in that……. Hey, he has made mistakes and he has pissed a few people off in his time. So what!
And all that has nothing to do with Spurs not winning trophies. Hugo conceded the two goals in the CL final. Not Levy!
And, why is it that Levy made it tough for Modric to leave in the first place? Remember he refused to let Modric leave for Chelsea the year before he left for Real.
It’s because he didn’t want to lose one of his best players. The same went for Bale…… He didn’t want those two to leave….. Which quashes another Levy myth. The one in which he’ll not keep hold of the players he can make a big profit on. He has proved this time and again. Levy didn’t want Eriksen to leave. Or Ndombele or Dele… He wants to keep his best players and for all the right reasons….. It’s then up to them what they do on the pitch to brin g the club success. Them and our manager.
HT …. Do you have to keep bringing up Modric? I’ve had to start counselling sessions again!