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It’s time to get behind Pochettino and Levy

5 min read
by Dan Cefai
Dan Cefai argues that regardless of the lack of signings, Pochettino and more importantly Daniel Levy need the unwavering support of all fans.

A wise man once said ‘It is better to fail aiming high than to succeed aiming low. And we of Spurs have set our sights very high, so high in fact that even failure will have in it an echo of glory.’ – Bill Nicholson. Pochettino recently gave a passionate and open press conference I have read certain quotes from him that resonate strongly with my views on all things Spurs, the manager himself, ENIC & the “Project”.

However, I’ve also read the views of many Spurs supporters over the years, which are completely contrasting to mine, especially following our recent cup exits, and in fact, immediately following any moment of ‘failure’ I read this mix of apathy and disdain, sometimes hatred, from so many, that it got me thinking.. how did there become such a huge disconnect with what is being done here to our beloved club.

Now, I’ve never been ashamed to say it, but I’m a ‘happy clapper’ and I mean generally in life, not just with Spurs. My glass is always half full and bubbling with positivity. Therefore certain criticisms of the project, Daniel Levy and especially Poch, wrangles me immensely. Not because some opinions differ to mine, but due to what I believe are fundamental misunderstandings and misinterpretations of what’s involved here.

I’ll start by saying, neither Poch or the Chairman deserve any of the stick they’ve been levelled with this past few days – from fans, the media and anyone else with an agenda sticking the boot in. Before questioning their intentions, let’s not forget, Poch could’ve left the club sweating by not committing himself to see out this project, he would not have been short of offers. Which in turn would’ve precipitated much apprehension among our top players about doing the same. Conversely, the Chairman could’ve decided not to make Poch one of the highest paid coaches in Europe or signed up key players on bumper new contracts, because “he’s too tight” and could’ve decided to just cash in and reload.

Instead, unlike most in football, they stuck to their commitment and have shown they are in this project together, a common determination and collective goal to make our great club great again and be great for generations to come.

They share the objective to deliver the promised land for Tottenham. OUR club. A club that, thanks to the vision and commitment from the Chairman, will be around long after we’ve all gone and in a far stronger position than when he found it. They’re future proofing it beyond our wildest dreams. Let that sink in. Our performance on the pitch during Poch’s reign is remarkable, but the project started long before he arrived and he is a beneficiary of the years of hard work that came before him.

Sometime in the 1990’s Daniel had the backing from Joe Lewis to go and invest in football clubs due to the boom in sport on the back of the Premier League and explosion in media coverage. No great secret or surprise and nothing wrong in that, they are an investment company after all! After investing in multiple teams across Europe, in 2001 the opportunity to take a controlling stake in Spurs presented itself. ENIC divested from all other football interests to focus on transforming Tottenham into one of the best football clubs in the world. We became the project!

ENIC could not achieve this by ploughing 000’s millions of Lewis’ personal wealth into the project, like one or two other clubs have from owners for different reasons, (1) because Lewis is not an idiot or ‘parking’ money and (2) more recently because owners are no longer able to due to FFP, but what he did do was give Daniel complete backing and trust to go and implement the vision and to 100% focus on making Spurs one of the best clubs in world football. That it had to be self funded makes the Chairman’s achievement to date so amazing for me and why he “penny pinches” on every deal. 16 years of hard stressful and generally thankless work later, for the club and the area of Tottenham, the vision is finally becoming a reality. A stadium to grace any event on the global stage (that we own not rent, thank you Chairman) and in which our beloved club will soon call home. A training complex and player “sanctuary” that is second to none in Europe, and one of the poorest boroughs in the country being given a major regeneration including new homes and major social development.

It’s been a painful Journey for all at times, but have a step back and remember where we’ve come from. This kind of project doesn’t happen overnight, and takes years and years of planning, management, patience commitment and foresight to deliver, And yet, through it all, we’ve managed to compete on the pitch, as one of only 12 teams to have won silverware in 18 years, such has been the domination of the ‘top 5’ that none of the other seven trophy winners have more than a solitary trophy to their name during this time. More recently, despite the project at its most obvious, we’re competing against the best clubs in England and Europe for all the titles on offer. It really is an unbelievable achievement. And yet, all we hear from many is it’s been a huge failure due to a lack of investment.

It’s true, there has been failures along the way, but as a wise man once said, if you aim so high, even your failures will have in them an echo of glory, glory being the final chapter of this project.

Poch said it best – “It is easy to destroy, it is so difficult to build. It has taken 18 years to build the new stadium. White Hart Lane was destroyed in one day.”

So come on, let’s all get behind the chairman, Poch and all those committed to the collective goal to bring the glory back home to White Hart Lane, and make a wise man very proud.

All views and opinions expressed in this article are the views and opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of The Fighting Cock. We offer a platform for fans to commit their views to text and voice their thoughts. Football is a passionate game and as long as the views stay within the parameters of what is acceptable, we encourage people to write, get involved and share their thoughts on the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.

Dan Cefai

5 Comments

  1. Siggy
    01/02/2019 @ 4:35 pm

    Wonderful words!

    • Øivind Lundberg
      01/02/2019 @ 6:27 pm

      Great read, and 100% my thoughts.
      I wrote a similar piece today, trying to demolishing every argument the #levyout and #enicout uses. They don’t see what’s right in front of them, still talking about Modric and berbatov and Spurs beeing a breeder club for the big clubs…

      Tottenham status report February 1 from a norwegian supporter.

      This is Tottenham in my eyes.
      Time to take a deep breath.

      The season so far has been very good.
      – 3rd in PL with 7 point gap to 4th, 2points off City in second.
      – through to last 16 in CL
      – semifinal in Carabora cup

      Concern
      – 4th round loss in the FA-cup.

      Overall:
      Without any new signings this season, we have developed a very profound style of play, who seem to work just as good away to Barcelona or “home” to huddersfield. Our 11 wins away in the PL, is a PL record for us, and still 6 games to go. We lead the away table comfortably. This means that the lack of home advantage may cost us a Premier league title this season. Playing our 2. Season away have obviously been hard. Last season at WHL we had a record 17-2-0 form.

      We do seem to have the upper hand in most of our games. Like against Manchester United, where we despite loosing played some fantastic football forcing DE Gea to make a record 11 saves in the second half.

      Pochettino has build a squad with not only great football players, but a squad who are best friends and like a family. This is probably why some think we are overachieving, but I don’t think we are. Our squad is well put together, and all players have a great understanding of what is expected from them and the team.

      Pochettino always demand 100% from himself and the players. This is probably the main reason for lack of signings. Pochettino is working on the edge of a very thin line. How will a new player fit in here. Will other feel they are forced out, will the harmony suffer.

      Another issue is that it’s difficult to find players who will strengthen the first XI at Spurs. Or to refrase that. I don’t think Pochettino is looking for players for the first XI. I think he likes the team he got.

      We are playing our 2nd season without a home advantage, but still we are at the best point tally ever in the PL after 24 games. Usually under Pochettino we have been strongest the second half of the season, and this is the closest we have been to the leaders at this stage. However. Playing without home advantage must be taken to consideration when we evaluate the season. It’s a huge disadvantage.

      We have also been given the worst fixture setup ever in the PL this season. From the quarter final against Arsenal 2-0 win, we have played 8 games where the opposition has had 1-3 days more rest and time to prepare than us. In comparison. Liverpool has 6 times had 1-3 says more than their opponents, and never had less. Just examples.

      Injuries

      We gave suffered 37 individual injuries this season. Almost like Anderton is back.
      No other club has had to deal with so many injuries.

      All this without Pochettino once looking for excuses, but opportunities. A challange.

      Media

      The media is constantly making up fake rumours and stories. Like Pochettino is going to United, not getting the backing, has taken Tottenham as far as they can. Etc.
      The truth is we are just in fase 2 of Pochettino and Levy plan. A plan that will (according to Pochettino) takes the last steps and win the PL and CL. Pochettino has no plans of jumping ships now, that we are so close to moving into new stadium and open a new chapter in Tottenham history.

      Lack of signings

      Tottenham is the first team ever to not make any new signings for a full season. Some might say this is crazy, unacceptably or just madness, but it also shows the confidence Pochettino has in his players and in his philosophy. There are obviously more than one way to Rome…

      However. The summer 2019 will be a very important one. I feel, if we keep our best players, we are just a few signings away from going from challangers to favorites.
      Our team lack a little x factor, and I feel confident we will be going into the market with a big budget.

      If I were in charge I would go for

      Gareth Bale. Won everything he can with Real, maybe a new challange is tempting…

      Wilfred Zaha.
      Probably the best player outside the top 6, and a young version of Bale. Would give Kane so much more space.

      Matthijs de Ligt
      Will be ridiculous expencive, but the perfect replacement for Aldervereild and/or Vertonghen.

      Someone says, the stadium will make it impossible to sign players like that.
      Not true. The stadium will not influence the transfer budget. Atleast not in a negative way. Levy is a “genius” and the stadium is already taken care of through long term deals.

      New Nike deal is a 15 year deal, the longest Nike has ever done (shows belief in our project) and worth 30m£a year = 450m£.

      New NFL deal is atleast 30m£ a year for 10 years = 300m£. These two deals alone will pay for interests and down-payment.

      In addition we have plenty of other high profile sponsors like Audi, Leagoo, Aia, etc

      TV money from both PL, CL and NFL are enormous.

      Player sales,
      Revenue from new stadium.
      You get the picture. We will now be able to compete with anyone.

      Some people claim Enic is just an investment company and will sell as soon as everything is done.

      Wrong. Levy has been working for 18 years on his dream. Do anyone actually think he will walk out when everything is finally falling to place. Remember Levy is a lifelong Tottenham fan and goes to every game. He will be there again next season. Count on it.
      Also, would they make 15 years contracts if they planned to sell the club? New owners might want different deals…

      The future looks really bright.
      I’m happy to been part of this journey from midtable small club in London, with the “worst” facilities, to become a top 10 club in Europe with the best facilities. All without selling our soul and history. Staying at WHL.

      COYS
      TTID.

  2. Jonathan Rosenthal
    01/02/2019 @ 4:37 pm

    Could not have been better said. It has been mentioned on the podcast, (I think by Flav?) but bears repeating: If you’re not happy with Tottenham now, you never will be. COYS.

  3. Hootspur
    01/02/2019 @ 6:54 pm

    Glory, glory hallelujah!! After all the impatient comments on Twitter (aptly named) it is a joy to read something sensible for a change. The media are a bunch of disrespectful, headless chickens (come back Hugh McIlvanney and show them how it is done professionally) and I much enjoyed Poch’s response in the Press conference to someone who gives journalism a bad name.

    Yes Dan, we’re with you and right behind our Manager and Chairman. I believe!

  4. David
    04/02/2019 @ 11:52 am

    There doesn’t seem to be many of us feeling this way. I am enjoying every step of this journey and constantly have to remind myself that we’re lucky to have what we’re getting and it’s just going to get better.

    COYS!
    TTID!

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