Why is Levy treated like the Messiah?

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Smoked Salmon

Smoked Salmon

Finest human being of all time
I've seen many posts over the years going on about how Levy is the best chairman in the league, great businessman, etc. Some fans even refer to him in almost mystical terms. On and on we hear about how "Levy will bring us out on top", etc.

But just how good is he? I have no real view on it either way, but I was listening to the radio tonight and they were talking about how sacking Redknapp could be our biggest mistake. That in a year's time we could look very silly indeed. It then got me thinking about his record.

Levy has brought a great deal of commercial stability to the club. He has got some great transfer fees for us. The new stadium plans are very, very exciting and will really make the difference for us.

But, at the same time, he has also bungled countless transfer windows (often due to his quite over the top hard bargaining), appointed only one good manager in his time (Jol doesn't count since Santini was the appointment) and seems very impatient for success. He also doesn't seem quite the buddy of the fans that people think he is, and I cite his frequent attempts to arse rape our wallets with the stuff put out by way of merchandise, which frankly sometimes is well over price and takes the piss - have a look for the Spurs chocolate bar next time you are in the Spurs Shop.

Now, personally I wouldn't swap him for another chairman as I think he will see our stadium plans through which will allow us to compete with the big boys. But at this time of change I am wondering if he has the pulse of football in the same way he has of business deals? Or are his skills regarding football choices open to debate?
 
Smoked Salmon said:
I've seen many posts over the years going on about how Levy is the best chairman in the league, great businessman, etc. Some fans even refer to him in almost mystical terms. On and on we hear about how "Levy will bring us out on top", etc.

But just how good is he? I have no real view on it either way, but I was listening to the radio tonight and they were talking about how sacking Redknapp could be our biggest mistake. That in a year's time we could look very silly indeed. It then got me thinking about his record.

Levy has brought a great deal of commercial stability to the club. He has got some great transfer fees for us. The new stadium plans are very, very exciting and will really make the difference for us.

But, at the same time, he has also bungled countless transfer windows (often due to his quite over the top hard bargaining), appointed only one good manager in his time (Jol doesn't count since Santini was the appointment) and seems very impatient for success. He also doesn't seem quite the buddy of the fans that people think he is, and I cite his frequent attempts to arse rape our wallets with the stuff put out by way of merchandise, which frankly sometimes is well over price and takes the piss - have a look for the Spurs chocolate bar next time you are in the Spurs Shop.

Now, personally I wouldn't swap him for another chairman as I think he will see our stadium plans through which will allow us to compete with the big boys. But at this time of change I am wondering if he has the pulse of football in the same way he has of business deals? Or are his skills regarding football choices open to debate?
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Bungled countless transfer windows is harsh -- we don't operate with the same cash cushion as other top teams, so I think his careful, conservative buying and selling has actually been quite savvy. I mean, the Adebayor deal alone this past year was genius, a loan is one thing, but getting City to pay the majority of his ridiculous wages to play for us? And the reason for all the financial conservatism is of course the very stadium plans you rightly cite as the most important issue for the future of THFC.
 
A lot of the praise is right on the money as far as I'm concerned, but treating anybody in a position of power like a god among mortals is always sketchy.

A lot of people who Levy rubs the wrong way are frustrated with what you called his hard bargaining, and I'd say this borderline insane fiscal shrewdness is based on the fact Levy is planning very, very long-term (if you consider the stadium especially, which could be started as soon as 2014 and finished as late as god-knows-when if you believe the many various reports and rumors). Some of Tottenham's great teams were partially thwarted/broken up by financial problems, and without those roadblocks could have gone on to more sustained success instead of only three or four years at the beginning of a decade, spaced out every twenty years.

I'm behind Levy on the condition that at some point we start to see ground being broken. If it gets to 2016 and there's still no stadium progress well, that'll be a different story.
 
He runs a business, simple as. If it wasn't for crazy transfers or wages for idiots who can kick a ball about paid by the "big" teams then we'd be up there pushing for the title but as that isn't the case, we have to accept that we are as high as we can be with ENIC in charge
 
Well, he's definitely made his fair share of mistakes. The perception is Levy has always drawn too harsh a bargain but he's learnt his lesson the hard way. The fees splashed out on Bentley, a returning Keane, Bent, etc made us a laughing stock and I hated the way people used to say we spent all this money but still did nothinng.

It's long been a popular complaint that Redknapp has failed to rotate the squad and as a result, lots of players costing lots of money have been consigned to the scrapheap. No doubt Levy has not taken kindly to watching so much money go to waste.

I don't think for a minute that Levy is without blemish. His treatment of Jol is an obvious one. The Stratford issue led me to stay away from the Lane for a few months as I felt quite disillusioned.

But I like the way he has shown that he learns from mistakes, which is why I don't get as angry as some about the low transfer spending in recent years. I'd say on balance he's extracted great value for what he's spent. Almost absurdly good value in some cases. And after Carrick and Berbatov, Levy has grown balls. I love the fact he told Modric he can't have his way last season and showed those disgusting cunts in Fulham they can't always get their way.

If what has happened now is that Redknapp made an unreasonable demand, I'd feel hypocritical attacking Levy for taking a tough stance.
 
penpen said:
Bungled countless transfer windows is harsh -- we don't operate with the same cash cushion as other top teams, so I think his careful, conservative buying and selling has actually been quite savvy. I mean, the Adebayor deal alone this past year was genius, a loan is one thing, but getting City to pay the majority of his ridiculous wages to play for us? And the reason for all the financial conservatism is of course the very stadium plans you rightly cite as the most important issue for the future of THFC.
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I appreciate this, but, at the same time, it didn't take a genius to realise that, for example, if you leave selling a striker like Berbatov until deadline day your chances of a decent replacement are zero.

Furthermore, it's arguable that a lot of our squad deadwood would've gone by now but for LEvy holding our for large sums of money.

Plus, it's clear in many windows what our squad has needed and they have opened and closed without it being dealt with.

So really, I think you can argue it either way.
 
Your point about Levy hanging onto deadwood because of high demands is a good one and I agree to an extent. To put across my alternative view of this particular situation though, could it not be argued that some of the players we now label deadwood, would not necessarily be seen that way if they'd been given more chances?

I don't want to hijack the thread with the age old Dos Santos debate but he's a good example of a player another manager may have made a lot more use of. In his very limited opportunities this season, he looked decent. He was the best player on the pitch against Shamrock Rovers, he came on for the last ten minutes at Wigan and put in a vital block. He's not shit.

Bentley is another one IMO. I know he was underwhelming at first, but in the CL qualifying year he did a good job filling in for Lennon. This season, Lennon's absence caused us major problems, the manager pulling the entire shape of the team into stultifying contortions in a desperate bid to plug the gap.
 
Smoked Salmon said:
He also doesn't seem quite the buddy of the fans that people think he is, and I cite his frequent attempts to arse rape our wallets with the stuff put out by way of merchandise, which frankly sometimes is well over price and takes the piss - have a look for the Spurs chocolate bar next time you are in the Spurs Shop.

Now, personally I wouldn't swap him for another chairman as I think he will see our stadium plans through which will allow us to compete with the big boys. But at this time of change I am wondering if he has the pulse of football in the same way he has of business deals? Or are his skills regarding football choices open to debate?
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I think there are a few factors going on here. The first, as has been mentioned, is that he seems to be learning on the job. Jol's ousting was misplayed. Harry's? Not so much. Second, sometimes you bring in the next Beckham and he turns out to be Google Wave. Business is risky. But Levy, as far as we know, has not paralysed the team with his bungled, big signings. We have a flexibility that I remain proud of.

But you know all this. So here's what I'll add:

Our merchandising is still not quite that of Barça's. Let me know when there's a Spurs doggy bowl, Spurs dog perfume, and Spurs beef strips for puppies. But even so, big deal? He thinks there's a market for this kind of stuff, and he's in the business of selling things to people who want it. I don't own a dog, and I was almost swayed by the dog perfume… such a ridiculous thing!

Furthermore, I don't think he's a great friend of the fan. I think our interests are aligned at this time: he thinks the best way to make Spurs more profitable is by bringing in medals and by building a new stadium. Both of these are, I suspect, basically, unambiguously, unanimously supported by the supporter base. But he's simply fighting a different war than we are, and in many ways, that fact bubbles to light ("Customer ID#" or whatever) as a persistent reminder. But again, big deal? We can't have medals without money. We can't be in the PL without money. We certainly can't be in Europe without money.

It may be the case that this forum's most ardent nostalgists eagerly await seeing their THFC in non-league matches—holding fast to its decades-old wage cap—and sniffing with unambiguous superiority about how they, and only they, are the true fans. But I think the visage of football is already sufficiently scarred that there is no nose left to save, regardless of whether doing so spites the face. Levy understands this (as do we all, at some basic level), but he also reminds us of this, and that, I think, makes us sad.

Finally, regarding his specific football acumen, a good chairman knows how to delegate. Surely Levy didn't learn of Sandro on FM and sign him because of that. So critiquing him for something as outrageously specialised as player scouting is tough—we don't know how things work back there, in comparison to the big money deals. I'd say the odds of a DoF coming in are better than even, and then we might be able to better grasp the football side of things.
 
that ^^ the thing is, when England came calling (and Harry was only too willing to hitch his skirt) he was as good as gone to Spurs... he was 'dead to us'...

...the only difference is, Harry HASN'T got the England job, but we're still looking for a new manager (albeit a few months later than first thought)

Nothing has changed, except we've been spared all the jingoistic Euro 2012 headlines of;
"Cry God for Harry, England, and Saint George!" in the Soaraway Sun!

Thank fuck for small mercies I say!
 
The reason lots of people like DL is the fact that he keeps this club financially safe , he drives a hard bargain and the way he handled the Stratford business , the selling of fringe players, the position he took towards Modric and so on makes him look like a winner

A manager once told me he never met a man like DL before and that he is the toughest nut to crack in the football business , he really does frighten lots of the greedy bunch (probably because he is even greedier) but we cant deny the fact that the Spurs of today are worth more in results and financial value than the spurs we all knew from a few years back.

Is this all the work of DL , hell no but he does seem to be the man calling the shots and as such plays a major role in that evolution. We are one of the few non german clubs in the top 20 of richest football clubs in the world that can balance the books. In modern football that is one hell of an achievement.
 
I think Levy is a fucking Ninja. I would not want to be an agent trying to do a deal with him.

Just look at where we were when he and his team arrived and where we are now, that should be enough for anyone really.

Also, for people saying he's bungled teransfers and so on, whats to say half of them arent out of his hands? maybe he knew there was no way Berba would stay and Man U knew that so were offering shit money. He always does what's in the best interest of the club, thats his job. Would people rather he sold Berba right away for 10/15mil and got someone like Carlton Cole to replace him?

Fact is, we dont know the ins and outs of trasnfers, there are probably LOADS throughout a season that all sorts of clubs miss out on for silly litte reasons.

What we do know is we were in a pickle going nowhere when he rode in, and look where we are now.
 
Bottom line;

LEVY = TOTTENHAM FAN
REDKNAPP/RAMOS/SANTINI/GRAHAM = NOT TOTTENHAM FANS




(Jol/Hoddle are exceptions to the above rule!! Hoddle will always be Spurs, and Jol was converted!)
 
Dru said:
I think Levy is a fucking Ninja. I would not want to be an agent trying to do a deal with him.

Just look at where we were when he and his team arrived and where we are now, that should be enough for anyone really.

Also, for people saying he's bungled teransfers and so on, whats to say half of them arent out of his hands? maybe he knew there was no way Berba would stay and Man U knew that so were offering shit money. He always does what's in the best interest of the club, thats his job. Would people rather he sold Berba right away for 10/15mil and got someone like Carlton Cole to replace him?

Fact is, we dont know the ins and outs of trasnfers, there are probably LOADS throughout a season that all sorts of clubs miss out on for silly litte reasons.
What we do know is we were in a pickle going nowhere when he rode in, and look where we are now.
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Preach brother Dru , preach !
 
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