Pitch forks and torches are put to one side as Hayden Smith takes a calm and collected look at the reign of Daniel Levy.
Levy makes his case
Daniel Levy is far too savvy an operator to give succour in public to petitions and protests, but his statement this week seemed to betray a man fighting back.The Tottenham chairman may cut an aloof figure, speaking publically only a handful of times a season, but he knows his tenure at the club is now under more scrutiny than at any time since ENIC took over 13 years ago.
Buried in the nuances and caveats, a message emerged that appeared to say: we’ve got a small ground and we’ve been punching above our weight.
This argument carries some weight but it also begs the question: if the club has over-performed then why do they persist in sacking managers, for, at least on the face of it, failing to achieve or look like achieving a top 4 finish.
It feels at times as though Tottenham are eternally building for some unobtainable distant future while at the same time craving success yesterday.
Levy’s suggestion that Tottenham were among seven clubs who ‘fiercely’ competed for the top 4 was questionable to say the least. Anyone who has seen the team regularly this season knows that the latest attempt to achieve a Champions League place has been anything but fierce.
He also took the opportunity to champion the club’s progress since he assumed control from Alan Sugar. ‘We have come far in the last decade’, he said.
[linequote]There is a tendency among some supporters to confer a messianic status onto Levy for rescuing the club from the barren wastelands of the Sugar years[/linequote]
There is little doubt that Levy deserves credit for moving the club closer to the top of the league after a dismal spell in the 90s and in particular for the team that included Bale, Modric, Van der Vaart and Adebayor – arguably the club’s best side since they won the double. But the decline of the quality of the team in the last two years has been so precipitous that a return to those dark days early in the Premier League era currently feels more likely than a repeat of the more recent apogees.
There is a tendency among some supporters to confer a messianic status onto Levy for rescuing the club from the barren wastelands of the Sugar years. It is not to be argued that progress has been made since the dismal 1990s, but it should be remembered that that period was itself a nadir for a club that had in the decades before won several major trophies and established itself among the country’s elite. This is a club which was the first in England to win the league and cup double in the 20th century and the first to win a major European trophy. Expectations were, are, and always will be high.
Many arguments have been proposed to explain Tottenham’s malaise. Few have hit at the heart of the matter – their players are not very good.
[linequote]Levy has and still does enjoy support among many Spurs fans, but there is little doubt that there is an element which is growing increasingly dissatisfied[/linequote]
Of the seven signed using the Gareth Bale money last summer, only Christian Eriksen has produced enough to be sure the club will retain him for next summer (and even his contribution has been overstated in some quarters-Modric he is not).
Some will always make an argument for selling players when enormous offers are received but Tottenham is a football club not a bank and its performances should be judged on the pitch not on a balance sheet.
Levy has and still does enjoy support among many Spurs fans, but there is little doubt that there is an element which is growing increasingly dissatisfied. The near annual managerial changes and last-minute transfer dealings feels like a tired routine.
If Levy were the head of a company in any other domain than football, he would be lauded unreservedly for his achievements. He is, without doubt, a consummate businessman – probably the best at what he does in the Premier League. Unfortunately the game is played on grass, not in the boardroom.
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20 Comments
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07/04/2014 @ 9:53 am
Thoughtful stuff but “arguably the club’s best side since they won the double”? Set that against the side which contained the likes of Hoddle, Ardiles, Crooks, Villa, Archibald, Galvin, Clemence, Roberts, Perryman etc and I think it definitely comes up short. Don’t see an argument at all.
07/04/2014 @ 9:56 am
I would second that and think they were unfortunate that they didn’t land the title.
07/04/2014 @ 10:05 am
Very unlucky. The fixture pile-up did for us on at least one occasion.
07/04/2014 @ 12:39 pm
Xactly bluds….and also you would have to look at each situation and not generalise…why do they sack som any mgrs??? Well they were nt good enough…how many has it taken Lpool and even Real Madrid,,,Rednapp…no choice…was trying to sxxg the pretty girl next door…AVB…an expert in…well …what i dont know…but Spurs have never been so consistenly humiliated that many times…kept together with Bale last minute wongdergoals last season..but it was there for all to see….a brave gamble i thought…Chelsea did it…coud have paid off…didnt and he had to go…i would have if it were my company….obviously he wasnt expecting to …cos Sherwood would be there otherwise…so nice article…but very general.
07/04/2014 @ 9:54 am
Your statement ‘But the decline of the quality of the team in the last two years has been so precipitous that a return to those dark days early in the Premier League era currently feels more likely than a repeat of the more recent apogees.’ shows that you are immature and have not studied ‘new foreign imports’ and how long it takes them to gel. I don’t think Levy is doing a good job either but the team we have now will (with a manager that knows what he’s doing) mature into one of the best in the Premiership in the next two seasons.
07/04/2014 @ 10:04 am
Levy out and the sooner the better.
07/04/2014 @ 10:09 am
Careful what you wish for. Would you have Sugar back then, for example?
07/04/2014 @ 10:33 am
Do you think City fans are upset they changed owners?
All this nonsense about what a clever businessman Levy is is wearing a bit thin.
07/04/2014 @ 11:22 am
I don’t get this point at all. Manchester City didn’t make a decision to change owners, a bunch of billionaire playboys made the decision to buy Manchester City. Sticking the boot into Levy won’t make this any more likely to happen. As for whether it should, well personally I think City lost their identity after that takeoever and it has always made me chuckle considering their fans used to make a big song and dance about being “the real club in Manchester” etc etc and how wonderfully down to earth they all were. Still that is largely by the by.
07/04/2014 @ 12:00 pm
Spot On !
07/04/2014 @ 12:01 pm
No not Sugar but certainly not Levy either, I have never known so much negativity at a club as we have had for this season and Levy is responsible.
07/04/2014 @ 10:37 am
Spurs is run as an investment by ENIC, and that colours every business decision made by the owners. That said, there are far worse models for running a club than this. We do punch above our weight, and are far better off than we were under Sugar. (read some of his tweets and you’ll see what a bitter and twisted old arsehole he really is.) Harsh economic reality dictates that in the absence of an egomaniac oligarch owner, we have to find other ways of raising enough cash to compete with top four regulars. Where Levy needs to learn is in running the football side of things. His interference and lack of patience and judgement have hindered our progress – no argument there. I’m prepared to stick with the status quo, and keep all digits crossed that Levy can learn about football, as well as finance.
07/04/2014 @ 12:43 pm
He is a horrible nasty son of a bitch…he made Spurs cheap unnactactive and nasty like his sxxt computers from the 80s and his personna…..SCUMBAG..in the classless mould off Sullivan @ West Ham….PORN KING and NASTY NONCE…but at least keeps his ugly face shut///Sugar has a cheek..Spurs fans protested to get rid of The CxxT.
07/04/2014 @ 2:51 pm
totally agree… some fans, sadly have no grip on reality and see to think there are Billionaire owners, just waiting in the wings to give us all there money. Well there simply NOT and with FFP, even if there was, it would be too late now to do another City style spending splurge. Why do you think the CHAVS are now so pro FFP. I’ll tell you why, because they have already fudged the system, taking them from nowhere to champions league regulars and now they don’t want anyone else doing the same, as City have. Levy is far for perfect, but they have invested and I do believe they want us to be a success, but there is no magic wand and considering we have an attendance in the top 10 and pay wages just about keeping in line with the top 6, what makes us think that we will be top 4 regulars.
07/04/2014 @ 11:50 am
Mr.Taylor totally agree,I hate to think what mire we be in now if it wasnt for Levy and ENIC.Football these days is not won on lost on the playing field its won and lost by money,the abundance of ,or lack of.In this day and age of stratospheric wages ,the Barnets of this world are never going to get much further than they are,I think financially we’ve reached our level,we can move on ,but need some seriously astute selection and development of our players.I’m a Spurs supporter,I always live in hope COYS
07/04/2014 @ 11:58 am
I take on board all of your comments supporting Levy “The Whale” but totally disagree with you! is this the same man that sacks managers for fun, promised us a new ground for the past 13 years and tries every dodge and excuse going to delay the building, he also wanted to move into West Ham territory, he cheapens our club with his negotiations for players, he also left us without a recognised striker after selling Berbatov at the 11th hour, he held on for god knows how long in the Bale saga so that we had to spend very quickly on some poor choices. He employs Baldini to make the decisions on buying and selling and look what happened to England during his time with Capello. I could be on here all day with reasons why Levy should go and go now, he could be replaced by someone else from ENIC as with any company if the head person does not do his job properly “he could be removed” as I am sure you could if you didn’t perform at yours. Also for the record how many other clubs would put up with his failings? if he was in charge of a certain couple of teams nearby he wouldn’t be sacked he would be lynched. As I have said previously and I will say it again Levy Out!!!!
07/04/2014 @ 12:40 pm
I don’t think that replacing Levy with somebody else from ENIC would make a blind bit of difference to the overall strategy frankly.
As I think I pointed out elsewhere, after ENIC bought out Sugar they initially appointed David Buchler as chief executive (I think that was his job title). Buchler fairly rapidly sacked Gooner George and installed Hoddle in what I would characterise as a very “ENIC” decision. I believe Buchler probably would have taken very similar decisions to his successor had Levy not materialised. I honestly think that singling Levy out for personal criticism misses the point: he is just sticking to the script. Whoever they bring in would act in a very similar if not identical way.
So what you are left with is wanting a takeover really. My concern is that it could end up being a hell of a lot worse.
07/04/2014 @ 1:00 pm
The Whale understand your comments totally but we are going nowhere fast; sometimes a change is for the better perhaps a new Chairman and or owners who knows but surely we cannot be in such a mess as we have been lately?
07/04/2014 @ 1:37 pm
We were in a far worse mess before Sugar’s takeover though and in fact in a worse mess throughout his tenure as well. I am far from a staunch Levy acolyte but a bit of perspective in necessary. Between 1991 and 2005 our highest league finish was 7th. We were the epitome of a mid-table outfit. Since 2005, we’ve finished 5th four times and 4th twice. I know what they saw about statistics but that has to mean something.
07/04/2014 @ 12:44 pm
Id like to fuck ure mother.