In light of yet another managerial sacking down the Lane, will Daniel Levy take any responsibility for the failings of Tottenham Hotspur during his tenure?
An Open Letter to Daniel Levy
Dear Daniel
well, you’ve done it again. That makes nine managers since you arrived at the club in 2001 – and that’s the conservative estimate counting caretakers David Pleat and Clive Allen/Alex Inglethorpe just once (and the latter pair as one manager).
Don’t get me wrong. Spurs fans are grateful for much that you have done. Never mind the results on the pitch, the club was a laughing stock off the pitch when it nearly went bust in the early 90s. How could a club that had been relatively successful for three decades and had such a big fan base nearly go under?
You couldn’t make it up. So compared to some of the boards we’ve had at Spurs, we’re grateful to have yours. Moreover, while you can’t please all the fans all the time, we generally all welcome your ambition for the club both on and off the pitch. We all want to see great players at a great stadium playing in the Spurs way lifting trophies and competing in the Champions League.
But key to this is what we do on the pitch and key to that is the manager and this is the challenge you have. You are clearly not very good at hiring managers.
Since you joined the club our record is nine managers, one league cup and one Champions League qualification; the record of Arsenal is one manager, two league titles, several trophies and continued Champions League qualification. You don’t need to be a business or football genius (or any sort of genius) to see what might be going on here. You need a coach for the long run.
When you appointed AVB we thought that you’d figured this out. There’s no way, given what happened at Chelsea, that you could in all sanity have hired him on his Premier League credentials. The only plausible basis on which you could have hired him was on the potential you saw in him. That being so, you should have had courage in your convictions and given him the players and back-room staff he wanted – at least as far as you could. Obviously the fans don’t know exactly what goes on behind closed doors at the club but can you honestly say you did that?
Nobody would criticise all those sackings since 2001. If there is a risk of relegation you have to act. You may argue that today for Spurs, with our financial commitments and ambitions, missing out on the Champions League is as bad a relegation.
I would argue that if true, your gambling the club’s future on the top four lottery makes you every bit as reckless as those who nearly brought the club to its knees 20 years ago. So let’s assume that failure to qualify for the Champions League would not be the end of the world.
The really weird thing about your collection of managers is that most of them are decent managers with good track records but only Martin Jol and Harry Redknapp really delivered at Spurs.
You’ll know better than me why that is. Maybe they just got lucky with players. But maybe the board need to look at their role down the years too. The sword of Damocles always seems to be hanging over the Spurs manager.
At WHL you’re not five or six bad games away from the sack but always about two. We read that some of your board wanted AVB sacked after the City defeat. Really? Ours was the worst mauling at the Etihad but not the only one. Even Arsenal let in six. So, if these stories are true a little perspective from the board would be welcomed.
Again, anybody in football will tell you that getting the right blend between a manager, the players and the club’s tradition takes time. This was the case to an exponential degree at Spurs this season. Why?
First, because this particular manager has very strong ideas on tactics and how to play. (You must have known this when you recruited AVB. Everybody else in the game did.)
Second, because this group of players was so raw. Seven first-team players is arguably too many to bed in at anytime but add in their lack of English experience and the loss of our one genuine world class player and it was always going to be a tough ask of a young manager without a free hand, almost impossible.
Third, because the Spurs tradition is a very strong one. We want our teams to play in a certain way more than many other group of fans. That’s probably a good thing but for a team in transition it’s another complication.
All this means you simply cannot justify the firing of AVB without implying that you were a fool to appoint him in the first place. Don’t be a fool again, Daniel.
When you choose your tenth manager, think long and think long-term. Choosing a manager is the toughest thing you will ever do as chair of a football club. If you can’t do it, be a man about it and admit it – at least to yourself.
Do whatever it takes to get the decision right. Given your track record it may even make sense to get in some consultants. That’s what you’d do in business if a particular area of the business were consistently failing, isn’t it?
Whoever you choose let him run the team 100%.
It may be different on the continent but there isn’t a single successful manager in English football history who hasn’t had pretty much complete control. Look no further today than Ferguson and Wenger. Look no further than the troubles Chelsea have had when they have deviated from this model.
Don’t pick a back room team for your new manager. Don’t pick the squad for him. Carry on playing hardball in the transfer market – you do it well – but put your ego second to the team. Don’t quibble over a few quid or a few days. Let the boss be the boss.
And once you’ve made the decision give them at least two full seasons.
Good luck and COYS
[author name=”Jim Pollard” avatar=”http://i.imgur.com/LHJaICC.jpg” twitter=”” website=”www.malehealth.co.uk” tag=”JimPollard[/linequote]
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28 Comments
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17/12/2013 @ 7:10 pm
Good ratio do I hope he reads it!
17/12/2013 @ 7:12 pm
I dont think hes read it
17/12/2013 @ 7:14 pm
Do you think he will read this? No, neither do I.
A bit pointless then!
17/12/2013 @ 7:21 pm
DL could usefully consider Chris Hughton who has managed at Newcastle, Birmingham, and currently Norwich.
17/12/2013 @ 7:29 pm
Nine managers, one league cup and a supermarket. Time for ENIC to sell up.
17/12/2013 @ 7:41 pm
If the avb £100 mill thing had worked thats what they were planning to do.
07/04/2014 @ 7:40 pm
TMWNN has hit the nail on the head!!
Of course they want to at a huge profit
why can’t we be more like ZE Germans and buy 51% of the club and have some standing (bring back the shelf) and realistic ticket prices.
OK OK I’m dreaming
17/12/2013 @ 7:29 pm
Good letter!!! That’s why bringing back ‘arry as some people want or hiring Capello will be the wrong thing to do – neither can be thought of as long term! I can understand why fans wanted AVB gone and I felt the same way after the game sunday but we mustn’t forget Villas-Boas also had a good record overall as Tottenham manager, averaging 1.83 points per league match, and a win ratio of more than 53 per cent, the highest of all Spurs bosses in the Premier League era! No to ‘arry Not to BMJ and no to Capello. How about Jürgen Klopp???
17/12/2013 @ 7:38 pm
I am totally puzzled by the avb appointment,virtually no credentials at all,lacking man managment skills see Chelsea,so why Daniel why?Sacking him ,best thing you’ve done recently.He’s gone ,good riddance.But please let the next manager manage,you didnt let Harry ,he demanded it ,which is why you were always looking for an excuse to sack him and the chump provided it.Please take some time with this one and unlike the FA listen to the fans their judgment aint to bad ,so COYS and lets win some tinware,we’ve got the players ,now lets get the manager.
17/12/2013 @ 7:42 pm
I have great respect for Daniel Levy, but we are all human and make mistakes, and he is no exception. Like us, Daniel has a deep love for our Club, and I think he is a good chairman. There are some very valid points raised in this open letter, and I think he will read it. We are all entitled to an opinion, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we are right.
17/12/2013 @ 7:43 pm
Good read until…
Give them all at least 2 full seasons.
That’s pretty much what he does so you’re telling him not to change
17/12/2013 @ 7:56 pm
Can you count?
17/12/2013 @ 7:46 pm
AVB had to go in my opinion and I honestly believe Daniel Levy backed him he gave him £110 million to spend surely thats backing him. If it’s not the players AVB wanted i.e Baldini buys, then why didn’t he man up grow a set and stand up to baldini and say no I don’t want him I need him. As for this highest win ratio of managers well of course he has he had the worlds most expensive playe in it along with some of the worlds most sought after, compare that with pacal chimbonda, stffen Iversen and andy reid anyone would get more points and wins. He should take some flack for hiring him in the first place and tbh should never of got rid of Redknapp, but again not much loyalty from Redknapp was there so I can see Levy’s point there aswell. AVB has gone good ridance I say now go and get a manger give him 6 months bedding in and the season starts August 2014, anything this year would be a bonus. An attacking manager Klopp wont come (would you ?) Hoddle for me 6 months to get back in the swing of things and we’re away next season attacking with flair.
17/12/2013 @ 7:50 pm
Raffa or Gus are the only two he should be thinking about, and Gus won’t want it.
There is not a better Manager out there more suited to coming to Tottenham.
He did a great job for Chelsea and he would do the same for us.
17/12/2013 @ 7:52 pm
Nothing none of us don’t already know. Just another disillusioned rant. All over social media these days, aren’t they?
Levy’s ego isn’t going anywhere. We all know Redknapp dug his own grave when openly courting the England job. Didn’t sit well at all with Dan. And that was separate from overseeing an historical implosion.
AVB was the wrong appointment from the get-go. And here we are today. The new guy has a wealth of talent to draw on, no question. If he can get them clicking in the right system, with a consistent 11, not endless rotations, we may still have a shot at top 4. But, don’t be surprised if we finish 9th or 10th instead. The team that spanked us Sunday have only just emerged from a long and lean spell themselves, remember.
17/12/2013 @ 8:23 pm
You can feel when you’re going in the right direction, and when you aren’t. We weren’t and AVB had to go. Don’t keep for keeps sake. Some may argue it was therefor wrong to appoint him? If the team had won against Liverpool we’d be joint third. That’s playing under-par with our best left-back in the wilderness and our only target-man being ignored. Players being played in alien positions within a detrimental system. AVB’s a good manager, but he isn’t for Spurs. These stats say as much about how good our squad is, as much as AVB. But he lost them, and that’s a bridge that can’t be repaired. But he was fairly close to being quite a good call. Redknapp was a good call. I didn’t think so at the time but he won me over, then neglected his duties shaking his ass where Hodgeson now sits… He had to go. He weren’t about Tottenham. He’s about Harry. Ramos came in and won a trophy. But once again couldn’t keep the squad onside. Levy hasn’t been too bad appointing people. It’s usually character/chemistry that lets us down. Very hard to predict that. AVB’s just a few years from being a very good manager. And already nearly there. He’s getting the adversity quallies as we speak but needs to know how to manage a group and get the best from what he’s got. So nearly joint third despite the mistakes, with half a team of newbies from overseas… Impressive, but you’re nothing without the players behind you. I’m liking the idea of Sherwood.
17/12/2013 @ 8:40 pm
Good article except I have point out avb wanted the structure , rightly pointed out we don’t know what gies on behind scenes. . I think the two bad results show how we were not competing wit our rivals, top is still there to be had, I wanted avb to do good n be a success he failed spurs brand of football has been awful.. manager for long term bring it coys
17/12/2013 @ 8:45 pm
I feel levy needs to take some responsibility in all this. He should never had sacked Redknapp thus never employing someone with limited experience, especially in the one thing the job description must have had. Must have experience in managing club/s in the best league in the world, the premiership. The premiership is vastly different than that of the Portuguese league where AVB was manager for one season managing the best team participating in that league. The team which was set up by possibly one of the best managers around Jose Mourinho. AVB inherited a great team full of some of the best talent in the world, in a second tier league, and continued that teams success for only one season therefore not really having must chance to really put any personal influence into that side. He went to Chelsea was found short on ideas and tactics and basically falling out with everyone. He came then to spurs under the back of all the hard work redknapp had done changed nothing for a year as instructed probably and rode harry’s team into 5th position not exactly a master stroke. The only truly obvious thing during AVB first season at spurs was the football was becoming slow, boring, defensive and if it wasn’t for Bale we would have finished in the bottom half. He was then given the chance to make the team his own and failed dismally. I am fed up with excuses for him he didnt choose the players blah blah blah. He had, except bale, a lot more quality under his control than redknapp ever had and redknapp overachieved with what he had. At the start of this season he had an abundance of international talent at his disposal that most managers even at man utd would have been grateful for. He then got rid of ekotto and caulker then moaned when he had no defensive cover. He continued to play a formation which didn’t suit our style of play. He then upset two of our strikers one by not playing him when he was the only one continuously scoring and he demoted the other one in to the childrens team an insult to any professionals. He continued to play awful, boring, slow football and playing people out of position. He had no idea of his best team and players best position, infact townsend the new saviour was then soon dropped for no reason. He should never have managed a club as big as spurs. Harry should still be in charge now and please stop criticising him for having his head turned by the only club who could have swayed most english managers ENGLAND.
I’m pretty sure most english people would find it hard turning down managing their country. He didn’t get swayed when chelsea seemed interested. I’m sorry to all spurs fans but when we all were young and dreamt of playing professional football and playing for England, managing England its a boyhood dream come true and Harry being personification of being english had no other choice but to get his head turned. I cant imagine anybody hasn’t ever dreamt of playing or managing england sad to think harry should be any different. I played professional football till i had my leg shattered under a clumsy challenge at 18 and have never played again, my dream was taking away from me but people shouldnt be judged on it. Levy needs to share blame for poor decsions he has made over his tenure.
17/12/2013 @ 9:59 pm
My sentiments entirely. I agree with everything you said. AVB had no credentials to manage Spurs. Porto had already won 7 of their previous 8 titles without AVB and had 2 strikers knocking in 70 goals between them in Falcao and Hulk. Once at Chelsea he was found out game after game. His 100 or so match experience was just completely unable to provide him ideas of what to do, what to say and what to change. He led Chelsea to there lowest finish in the league, yet once he was gone they won the champions league. Had he stayed on at Chelsea I have no doubt we would have been in the Champions League. Redknapp leaving and AVB joining was just a double whammy. Redknapp had taken the team from bottom relegation fodder with 2 points after 8 to champions league quarter finals and brought a buzz to the side that had not been there since Venables, Gascoigne and Lineker. He knew what to say to players, and understood football. Absolute best thing to happen to Spurs. Sacking him was a disaster but then hiring the absolute opposite personality – what was Levy thinking?? AVB must be one of the very luckiest men in football. Given 2 top jobs in the Premier League based on basically a romantic idea that he was a young Mourinho. He was basically learning on the job as far as I’m concerned. An apprentice, without much real evidence of promise either. But on proper wages. He will now have received MILLIONS from FAILURE at 2 clubs. Last season – Yes, record points tally blah blah BUT it’s the position that counts, not the points!! Points are RELATIVE to other teams and will depend on the standard of the league at the time. 4 other sides playing the same sides as we did finished with more points. That’s what matters. Again, he has to be one of the luckiest sods in football – last season Bale rose to levels which no one could have quite predicted. Basically we had one of the very best talents in the world in our team and that must have gained us 4 or 5 positions at least. Note the games he did not play we were desperately poor and devoid of any sort of incisive attacking ideas, unable to score. Same this season, games we’ve won – face it, LUCKY wins against Palace, Swansea, Hull. Home losses against West Ham….All this stuff about AVB having set ideas about tactics etc – what ideas? I can’t understand what his plans are to score goals. Last season it was “get the ball to Bale”…this season? It’s the worst football I ever saw in 38 years of supporting. Levy was right to sack him. All these people saying he deserved more time or feeling sorry for him having to cope with so many new signings? Well he’s just walked away with millions of our cash for a cowboy bodge job on our team.
07/04/2014 @ 7:27 pm
MUG
07/04/2014 @ 7:32 pm
Harry the Motivator
Where was that famous motivation when he lost an 11 point lead to Arsenal eh????
Go on lads have a pie and some ketchup (obviously when Juande had just had them on diets which probably saw thud and robbo lose at least a stone.
You need a plan b and c if you want to be title contenders and he struggled to have anything other than creating a happy atmosphere which was probably what carried him as far as he got. He balls up the best chance he’d ever have and should have concentrated on Spurs. If he had we would have had CL and he may have got the England job.
Have fun in div 1
17/12/2013 @ 8:54 pm
I’ve been in discussion with Donna Cullen over the recent events and have forwarded this onto her requesting she passes it onto Daniel, we deserve some frank answers from the club as many of us are now struggling with the direction and decision making from those in charge.
It’s time someone accepted there is something more fundamentally wrong with the clubs ideas and publicly address us on how they are going to correct this going forward.
17/12/2013 @ 9:29 pm
Well written. The pressure from the board and Joe Lewis in particular must be intense. These decisions are not made with the game of football and how its played in mind; they are made by business men with profit and growth in mind.
That said, I am glad AVB is gone. The style of football he engineered was not the kind that I — and many other long-time supporters — like to see Spurs play.
Trouble is, I cant think of any available managers with top-flight experience that would fit the bill. Only Martinez and Rogers come to mind, but their project’s are too satisfying at the moment to tempt them to a club like Tottenham that continually over promises and under delivers when the season’s points are tallied.
20/12/2013 @ 12:38 pm
What – Rodgers and Martinez??? You must be joking. Let’s not get carried away with half a season… Both of them have proved absolutely nothing. Remember Bentake? The most in-demand striker in the premier league? Todays flavour of the month is not the answer… We need proven, tried and tested – Make an offer for Klopp or De Boar. Yes, they are already at big clubs, but this is the BEST league in Europe and hopefully they will feel it’s time to step up to a challenge. With the squad we have, the new ground on the way and where we are in the League and Europa, it’s really not that bad an option for anyone…
07/04/2014 @ 7:24 pm
REALLY
No CL unlikely even EL
What ground????
More like players will want to leave Lloris, JV, Paulinho, Erikson etc etc
REALLY not a bad option I really can’t believe my ears
17/12/2013 @ 11:34 pm
I LOVE YOU LEVY ! YOU DID THE RIGHT THING ! WOULD BE MAD AS HELL IF AVB STAYED ! MERYY X LEVY :D
18/12/2013 @ 8:47 am
Wenger won the league in his first season in charge, and qualified for the champions league in his first part season in charge, why the comparison? If that had happened with Christian/George/Glenn/Jacques/Martin/Juande/Harry/Andre they would have stayed too
07/04/2014 @ 7:20 pm
The usual mindless followers who don’t see all he is after is lining ENIC’s pockets. Jol just needed some support and did great. HR inherited a great team and threw it away when he became charlie big potatoes with the England job (yea great motivator who let the lead he had over Arsenal slip). We all were prepared to give AVB a chance when he gave up so much cash to come to us and all expected it would take time. Then you sack him at the wrong time of the season and bring in SHERWOOD you really are having a larFFFF.
At very organisation structure you put in place a manager gets the blame and you cover your arse by sacking them.
IT’s your fault. Bad structures (Commolli & Baldini) wrong manager wrong tech director.
Whenever it s your time to stand up and get sacked you misdirect and someone else gets the chop.
Well it’s your turn NOW
Where’s our stadium you promised?
What happened to the £30 mil clear out, £35mil CL takings, further £30 mil clear out then you sell Bale and cover up the rest of the monies by spending stupidly with Baldini.
We really ARE mugs down at the lane and I am embarrassed that only a few know this.
And NOW Sunderland score (bottom of the fucking league) against us at home
fuck me has it EVER been so painful
Let me know where the Levy protesters hang out I’ll bring a placard