Daniel Levy reveals what frustrates him every day and gives Glazers verdict

[mawspurs]

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has admitted that "probably every day" he has been frustrated at not being able to justify decisions to the fans. The 61-year-old is notoriously a very private person and very rarely comments on club matters.

Source: Football London

 

[gloryspur]

What's frustrating from us fans is everything Levy does from a football perspective seems to backfire. We are starting to slip away from the top and fall into the depths of mid-table. The Paratici appointment has proved a disaster and the longer he's at the helm you feel the longer there will be no reward. Funny how Paul Barber has gone onto great success at Brighton. It just seems a mess from top to bottom with our structure as it is.

After Mourinho I said this was last chance and he still remains for god sake sell up and go can't you see your failing. No wonder some fans are not interested whilst Levy/ENIC remain in charge because it's proving a road to nowhere one where they pocket and the fans continue to get short changed. So Levy how do you justify continued failure? You ignore the question when asked it seems.

 

[Twizzle]

I'm sure his so called justifications are just spin doctoring much like the statements he posts after unsuccessful TWs, and why should it frustrate him, he is free to make a statement any time he likes, so there is no reason why he can't "justify" anything.

 

[FloridaSpur]

What's frustrating from us fans is everything Levy does from a football perspective seems to backfire. We are starting to slip away from the top and fall into the depths of mid-table. The Paratici appointment has proved a disaster and the longer he's at the helm you feel the longer there will be no reward. Funny how Paul Barber has gone onto great success at Brighton. It just seems a mess from top to bottom with our structure as it is.

After Mourinho I said this was last chance and he still remains for god sake sell up and go can't you see your failing. No wonder some fans are not interested whilst Levy/ENIC remain in charge because it's proving a road to nowhere one where they pocket and the fans continue to get short changed. So Levy how do you justify continued failure? You ignore the question when asked it seems.

"We are starting to slip away from the top and fall into the depths of mid-table"

For God's sake grow up.

 

[PLTuck]

In the 10 years prior to Enic, our average finising position was 11th. In the 20 years since, it's 6th. Just because the progress isnt as quick as we all want it to be, doesn't mean there isn't progress. Progress isn't linear.

 

[TonyK]

In the 10 years prior to Enic, our average finising position was 11th. In the 20 years since, it's 6th. Just because the progress isnt as quick as we all want it to be, doesn't mean there isn't progress. Progress isn't linear.

Just because progress isn’t as quick!

it’s been 23 years of ENIC ownership. How much slower can it possibly be!!

 

[PLTuck]

Just because progress isn’t as quick!

it’s been 23 years of ENIC ownership. How much slower can it possibly be!!

When was the last time Nottingham Forest, Everton, Villa, or Newcastle, all historically massive clubs, won something (not promotions)?

I'd love a trophy or 4 too. I just recognise that it isnt quite as simple as do x, y, z and you are guaranteed to win the PL. The last 4 years have been horrendous and yes a lot of that is on Levy. It doesnt change the fact that we are in a much, much better place now as a club than when Enic took over.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Since ENIC bought the club, our average PL finish has matched our financial clout. This may seem like a par performance at first glance, and it would be if the club had stayed where it was at the time of purchase in a footballing sense. However, the club’s financial clout has grown under Levy (relative to other clubs) - because of how the club has been run - and performances on the pitch have kept pace with this financial growth. How can this be viewed as underperformance or evidence of Levy constantly messing up the footballing side of things?

I consider generally managing to perform within our means and occasionally punching above our weight to be success.
It seems that a lot of fans want those "punching above our weight" moments to be domestic cup wins. Personally, finishing 3rd, 2nd, 3rd and reaching two cup finals (LC & CL), under Poch, felt far more exhilarating (and was a far greater feet) than winning an ELC and achieving par performances in the league (i.e. outside of the top 4). The first time we qualified for the CL, under Harry, that felt like a much bigger deal than the two occasions in my life-time that we've won the League Cup.
It also seems that performing within our means is considered failure by some fans. Any time we're not punching above our weight (i.e. sitting 5th or 6th in the league), people start calling for new owners and accusing Levy of neglecting / mismanaging the footballing side...when actually things are going as they should be. I understand the desire for more, but not the extreme hyperbole that often seems to come with this.

EDIT:
I normally get bombarded with negative ratings and accusations of being too defensive of ENIC / Levy , in response to posts like this, but I'm simply taking a reasonable perspective and defending reality against baseless criticism / delusion. Anyone who disagrees with this post should have a serious think about whether they're being rational or living a pipe dream, before screaming "BSoDL". My loyalty is deeply rooted in the club, not its owners (just as my opinions are deeply rooted in reality, not fallacy). I supported the club before ENIC and will continue to do so after (although I would seriously reconsider this stance if the next owners are anything like Newcastle's!).

 

[TOLBINY]

Since ENIC bought the club, our average PL finish has matched our financial clout. This may seem like a par performance at first glance, and it would be if the club had stayed where it was at the time of purchase in a footballing sense. However, the club’s financial clout has grown under Levy (relative to other clubs) - because of how the club has been run - and performances on the pitch have kept pace with this financial growth. How can this be viewed as underperformance or evidence of Levy constantly messing up the footballing side of things?

I consider generally managing to perform within our means and occasionally punching above our weight to be success.
It seems that a lot of fans want those "punching above our weight" moments to be domestic cup wins. Personally, finishing 3rd, 2nd, 3rd and reaching two cup finals (LC & CL), under Poch, felt far more exhilarating (and was a far greater feet) than winning an ELC and achieving par performances in the league (i.e. outside of the top 4). The first time we qualified for the CL, under Harry, that felt like a much bigger deal than the two occasions in my life-time that we've won the League Cup.
It also seems that performing within our means is considered failure by some fans. Any time we're not punching above our weight (i.e. sitting 5th or 6th in the league), people start calling for new owners and accusing Levy of neglecting / mismanaging the footballing side...when actually things are going as they should be. I understand the desire for more, but not the extreme hyperbole that often seems to come with this.

EDIT:
I normally get bombarded with negative ratings and accusations of being too defensive of ENIC / Levy , in response to posts like this, but I'm simply taking a reasonable perspective and defending reality against baseless criticism / delusion. Anyone who disagrees with this post should have a serious think about whether they're being rational or living a pipe dream, before screaming "BSoDL". My loyalty is deeply rooted in the club, not its owners (just as my opinions are deeply rooted in reality, not fallacy). I supported the club before ENIC and will continue to do so after (although I would seriously reconsider this stance if the next owners are anything like Newcastle's!).

As you rightly state our average league position has improved under ENIC and matched our financial clout. Therefore Levy / ENIC deserve praise for the infrastructure and commercial aspects that have improved our financial clout.

In the 22 years prior to ENIC we played in 7 cup finals (+ 2 replays), won 5 (+ 2 draws) and scored in every single game. In the 22 years under ENIC we have played in 6 cup finals, winning just one, and have not scored a goal in our last 4 finals. Some might suggest that this is an area where, factually, our performance under ENIC has declined.

The crucial area for me is player recruitment. I am not one who believes you have to spend fortunes on players to achieve success, what matters is how well that player performs for your team, not how much you paid for him. However, there seems to be an strong element of board influence in the finer details of our transfer dealings. I think the board should set the transfer and salary budget and let the footballing staff do the player recruitment / retention.

We are well aware of ex managers of ours publically stating that they wanted player A, B or C but ended up with player X, Y and Z. In recent times we couldn't / wouldn't pay the 10M for Kim Min-Jae - offering just 5M. We have seen the likes of N'Jie, Nkoudou, Gill, Rodon , Spence and many others get very little game time - typically because the manager has not sought those players but has had them thrust upon him. We tried to low ball Villa for Grealish, we opted for GLC instead of the more expensive Fernandez.

Player recruitment is challenging, no team gets them all right, but buying players who the manager has not real desire for doesn't seem like a good recruitment policy to me.

The counter argument that is often citied to this, is what happens if / when the manager leaves, you have a load of players that he has requested and the new manager has to deal with that. I would argue that no incoming manager has had a say in player recruitment prior to him joining the club, so in any event the new manager has to deal with a squad of players he has not recruited no matter who has identified and purchased those players.

Would you want a heart surgeon operating on you with the equipment he has specifically requested or equipment that has been procured for him by someone who has never performed an operation in his life and is constantly on the look out for bargains?

So whilst factually we have been performing in the league at or around par relative to our financial clout, I would suggest that our cup final performances have been below par and that our approach to player recruitment / transfers in general is somewhat flawed.

I am not ENIC / Levy out per-se, but I am for them recognising where they might have done better in the past and implementing a strategy to improve in those areas.

 

[Japhet]

What's frustrating from us fans is everything Levy does from a football perspective seems to backfire. We are starting to slip away from the top and fall into the depths of mid-table. The Paratici appointment has proved a disaster and the longer he's at the helm you feel the longer there will be no reward. Funny how Paul Barber has gone onto great success at Brighton. It just seems a mess from top to bottom with our structure as it is.

After Mourinho I said this was last chance and he still remains for god sake sell up and go can't you see your failing. No wonder some fans are not interested whilst Levy/ENIC remain in charge because it's proving a road to nowhere one where they pocket and the fans continue to get short changed. So Levy how do you justify continued failure? You ignore the question when asked it seems.

'The Paratici appointment has proved a disaster'? I wouldn't say signing Romero, Bentancur, Kulusevski, Richarlison, Bissouma, Porro, Udogie, Sarr etc. has been a disaster at all. Conte was a bad appointment but nobody was moaning at the time.

 

[michaelj70]

In the 10 years prior to Enic, our average finising position was 11th. In the 20 years since, it's 6th. Just because the progress isnt as quick as we all want it to be, doesn't mean there isn't progress. Progress isn't linear.

I didn't know the stats but that was my gut feeling
As a season ticket holder pre Enic things were some times way more depressing than now That's how I managed to get ST
COYS

 

[Neon_Knight_]

In the 10 years prior to Enic, our average finising position was 11th. In the 20 years since, it's 6th. Just because the progress isnt as quick as we all want it to be, doesn't mean there isn't progress. Progress isn't linear.

And in the last 8 years, our average finishing position has been 4th, despite a poor two seasons under Poch/Jose, which further evidences the non-linear progress.