ENIC...

[fishhhandaricecake]

Let me put this so simply for people:
-Levy does care about the club and probably does want success on the pitch BUT…
1) He thinks he knows best on the football side of things and is too involved and he absolutely doesn’t know best and his continual involvement and influence on every single football aspect has held us back and even sabotaged us for 20+ years ON THE PITCH, over and over again.

2) Levy & ENIC’s motto is literally “English National Investment Company” they INVEST to make profit, add to that the fact that Levy has a finance background by trade, he in combination with ENIC are extremely risk averse and prudent financially which means we never ever push the boat out financially to try and achieve success/trophies on the pitch, 4th place is fine for them and spending the bare minimum to sustain that is the ultimate efficiency goal.

Now yes we have to give him credit for the stadium and training ground and for building the club up to where it is now but we are also well within our rights to criticise Levy/ENIC for the constant mismanagement of the football side of the club given we are first and foremost a FOOTBALL CLUB not first and foremost a profit making business.

At this point anyone defending Levy on the above is either too young to have experienced his influence on the football side of the club for the last 20-25 years and/or are blindly ignorant to it.

If you/we as fans are happy with 4th-8th placed finishes from now on with a constant mess of a squad rinse and repeat cycle with zero chance of success and no sustainable successful project to get behind then fine but if we still harbour an ambition to be a successful football club that genuinely is set-up to and has ambition to try and seriously compete and win things then Levy has to be replaced or ? removed from absolutely any involvement at all with regards to the running of the football side of our great football club Tottenham Hotspur FC. ?? ⚽️ ?

 

[KaribYid]

For those of you calling for ENIC out, do you have a plan or wish as to what/who you want them replaced with?

I'm not calling for ENIC to go but people need to stop with this poor argument.

There are thousands of billionaires (and companies/consortiums) who can buy a football club.

They aren't known quantities in the way that players and managers are. Did you know of Daniel Levy and ENIC before they bought us? Boehly and Clearlake before they bought Chelsea?

Most football fans can't suggest owners as until a club is up for sale you don't really have a clue who is possibly interested.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Unfortunately, Levy being anywhere at the club will always result in doubts as to who exactly is in charge of what, is he getting his sticky little fingers involved and all sorts of uncertainty. I think it's fair to assume he can't help himself, anyway, IMO he won't give up that sort of control so we find ourselves in the situation where the best thing for the club is that he goes. Proper goes. None of this cosmetic stuff, not now, the time for that has long since past. It's unfortunate for him and it's unfortunate for us that we're where we are with it all, it's a shitty situation all round.

As much as I want him to, I don't think he'll go and I don't think he'll step aside from the football side and the ghosts of transfer windows past, present and future ain't gonna bring about some sort of Scrooge like epiphany either. I think that short of someone buying the club, we're probably stick with him. I so hope i'm wrong.

Winner 1,000x unfortunately

 

[Japhet]

I'm not calling for ENIC to go but people need to stop with this poor argument.

There are thousands of billionaires (and companies/consortiums) who can buy a football club.

They aren't known quantities in the way that players and managers are. Did you know of Daniel Levy and ENIC before they bought us? Boehly and Clearlake before they bought Chelsea?

Most football fans can't suggest owners as until a club is up for sale you don't really have a clue who is possibly interested.

Like Mike Ashley, the Glazers, Stan Kroenke you mean? I think we should be very careful what we wish for right now. There would be a huge element of luck in getting the right owners, especially since it would likely be another investment fund.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

"There appears to be real concern growing at the top table regarding the negativity at recent games and on social media."

Keep it up guys and gals, at the very least it may mean we spend more to ease the tension.

And why is this happening…. Antonio fucking legend Conte.

Because Conte isn’t being a yes man to Levy, he’s using the media very very cleverly to influence the perception of the fans and media but without directly slagging off Levy/ENIC, the fans and media are picking up on this and reading between the lines and the momentum is snowballing with things like fans signing “levy get out of our club” at matches, mainstream media running stories about it, THST and former players questioning Levy and the clubs ambition etc etc #everylittlehelps!

Even those saying Jamie O’Hara is a nobody and him saying stuff won’t have an effect, WRONG, he’s publicly questioned and slated the board on sky sports news ? which has millions of viewers, he’s continued that via Twitter and on talkSPORT channels, this message then spreads via other media and channels, it’s called a movement.

Momentum is finally building and about bloody time but thank you Conte because without a manager of his pedigree and strength or character this wouldn’t be happening.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Like Mike Ashley, the Glazers, Stan Kroenke you mean? I think we should be very careful what we wish for right now. There would be a huge element of luck in getting the right owners, especially since it would likely be another investment fund.

Let’s dare to do and roll the dice because we’ve had 20+ years of Levy/ENIC and unless you’re happy with our ceiling being 4th-8th moving forwards with a mess of a football strategy then it is worth rolling the dice for.

Also everything is set up for the club to be successful on the pitch financially it’s just that so much of the internal football set-up is below par, not many owners could do much worse in that regard in terms of the state of our medical team, scouting set-up, squad management / player recruitment, academy set-up, managerial hire and football strategy.

 

[sammy1882]

I don't see why not. He seemed to step aside more last year but for some reason noises are that he's getting involved again. At the end of the day he still is employed as the chairman and if Lewis wants to hand transfers to Paratici he can. Its pretty pointless to have a form of football director if the chairman is the one making calls on transfers. Levy can still sign off to ensure we're not overspending but if it's a player Conte wants and is in our budget it should be a no brainer. The philosophy around transfers has to change and we need to act more like a big club. I feel Levy still has the old stadium mentality and can't get used to big spending now the new stadium is open. We should be able to flex our muscle now and compete with the rest. We need more players for now and not always one for the future with sell on value etc.

I guess personally I just wouldn't trust him not to get involved in some way. As you said he started to step away before and is doing it again so what's to stop him doing it again in future. Best he goes but as A&C said it's going to be difficult to achieve that.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

Like Mike Ashley, the Glazers, Stan Kroenke you mean? I think we should be very careful what we wish for right now. There would be a huge element of luck in getting the right owners, especially since it would likely be another investment fund.

I think the appetite for a pure investment fund to step in would be pretty small. ENIC have milked most of the investment from the club - already own the real estate, stadium, training grounds, etc. There is very limited room for growth.

Because of the price - I think anyone coming in, would have to be doing so for Ego purposes - and that means investing in the team.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

We've been told to be 'careful what we wish for' for the past 10 years at least

Other standards include the grass isn't always greener and we don't want to do a Leeds. Thankfully those bad boys haven't been given an airing for a while.

I understand the sentiment but IMO it's the wrong way to look at it. At some point ENIC will sell the club and all that being careful what we wished for goes flying right out of the window because we'll have new owners anyway.

Look at this way. New owners aren't nailed on to hammer the club into ruin, which is what being careful what we wish for suggests, they might actually do it properly and be good for the club.

It's all a great big beware of the bogeyman thing. IMO anyway, i'm sure a lot of people will disagree.

 

[danielneeds]

We've been told to be 'careful what we wish for' for the past 10 years at least

Other standards include the grass isn't always greener and we don't want to do a Leeds. Thankfully those bad boys haven't been given an airing for a while.

I understand the sentiment but IMO it's the wrong way to look at it. At some point ENIC will sell the club and all that being careful what we wished for goes flying right out of the window because we'll have new owners anyway.

Look at this way. New owners aren't nailed on to hammer the club into ruin, which is what being careful what we wish for suggests, they might actually do it properly and be good for the club.

It's all a great big beware of the bogeyman thing. IMO anyway, i'm sure a lot of people will disagree.

Whilst the TV deals keep rolling and *touch wood* no more pandemics rear their ugly head it’s pretty much impossible for the elite PL clubs to get in financial trouble these days.

 

[mil1lion]

We're certainly a great club to buy right now. People talk about Liverpool and Utd being on sale making it difficult. There's a lot of wealthy people out there and those clubs don't have the infrastructure in place that we do. So if ENIC are not going to be ambitious and push us forward they should sell. The stadium is open now and they have zero excuses left not to spend like a big club. For too long we've been hearing about the new stadium being required to compete. Now it's done we need to compete.

 

[Japhet]

Best case scenario from my point of view is for Joe Lewis' daughter to get involved, get Levy away from the football side of it and allow him to continue what he's really talented at. New ownership is a massive risk and generally speaking, the only people who are likely to be able to afford us are pretty unappetizing. I know many will disagree, but I remember where we were before ENIC got involved and it was horrible.

 

[carmeldevil]

We're certainly a great club to buy right now. People talk about Liverpool and Utd being on sale making it difficult. There's a lot of wealthy people out there and those clubs don't have the infrastructure in place that we do. So if ENIC are not going to be ambitious and push us forward they should sell. The stadium is open now and they have zero excuses left not to spend like a big club. For too long we've been hearing about the new stadium being required to compete. Now it's done we need to compete.

Denver Broncos was sold for $4B. Phoenix Suns too. If they can go for these sums, Tottenham can be sold for somewhat similar sums. Just depends on what Lewis wants.

 

[Rob]

#GiveVivAGo

 

[Trix]

#GiveVivAGo

 

[For the love of Spurs]

Sad state of affairs though, if they only want to spend money to save their own necks rather than genuinely wanting to do it of their own volition and a genuine desire rather than being pressured.

Nothing will change. Smoke and Mirrors Levy, short term fix. Been here a million’s times.

May mean we have to keep the pressure on for a good while then

 

[Albertbarich]

What do I want from my owners?

Well obviously success is primary but I'd say start from the beginning.

Highest prices for everything -
We get told it's a London tax and there is some truth to that but there is also truth to the fact that if you charge what they do then the product should be the best. It isn't and never has been. They have taken full advantage of the fanbase here and given very very little back.

My first thing I'd like to see the owners do is not take full advantage of being in London and give their incredibly loyal fanbase something back. The two tables were top of shouldn't be highest ticket prices and highest kit prices.

Connection to the club-
None of us know very little about Joe Lewis, he's so distant it's almost like he doesn't care. Levy isn't much better either, he says very little and when he does it's incredibly guarded.
I believe they said they would put a fan on the board. I'd like that from any new owners. Of course they don't have to reveal everything but I feel like the current owners make it quite clear that were a nuisance (just my opinion) so that relationship could definitely be worked on.

So the second would be a closer relationship to the fans with an honesty based approach.

On pitch priority -
This has always been the bug bear. Even now through all the tension in e seem to be looking at players because they're bargains not because they're first choice
If so many of us feel the on pitch success has been a distant second priority to making money then surely there maybe something in it?

My third and final thing and yes most important thing is a person in charge who can set the budgets , agree the long-term strategy with the board but apart from that they stay out of footballing matters.
They don't get a say in recruitment, don't get a say in managerial choice and don't get a say in anything related to football unless we have got someone in from the world of football who is also a CEO.
For that you have a director of football who works with a set budget for the year and is managed like you would why other department manager.


I think we're a really accomodating set of fans. We have put up with so much shit over the years and never really kicked off apart from the Stratford thing but we deserve better.

20 years now of excuses and waiting. Sure they have built up the facilities brilliantly but they didn't go out there on their own and get that humongous TV money that would be paying for all that. Rather than prioritize on pitch success they have built infrastructure and that's fair enough but it's all done now. We don't care about the flats surrounding the ground or a climbing wall. No it's time to put the football team before everything.

A new owner could be bad but what we have right now is an owner who seems to feel they can't or won't compete financially with other clubs and one that involves himself in matters he is I'll qualified to be involved in.

I'll take the risk.

 

[arthurgrimsdell]

Best case scenario from my point of view is for Joe Lewis' daughter to get involved, get Levy away from the football side of it and allow him to continue what he's really talented at. New ownership is a massive risk and generally speaking, the only people who are likely to be able to afford us are pretty unappetizing. I know many will disagree, but I remember where we were before ENIC got involved and it was horrible.

It's worth pointing out that Joe Lewis's interest in ENIC has been run since October 2022 by trustees. They are Bryan Antoine Glinton and Katie Louise Booth. No members of Joe Lewis's family are either trustees or mentioned as an "'individual person with significant control' with respect to the family holdings in Tottenham Hotspur Ltd. What would happen on Joe Lewis's death is another matter, but until that happens I can't imagine the trustees would be too pleased if a family member specifically excluded from "significant Control" tried to rain on their parade.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

What do I want from my owners?

Well obviously success is primary but I'd say start from the beginning.

Highest prices for everything -
We get told it's a London tax and there is some truth to that but there is also truth to the fact that if you charge what they do then the product should be the best. It isn't and never has been. They have taken full advantage of the fanbase here and given very very little back.

My first thing I'd like to see the owners do is not take full advantage of being in London and give their incredibly loyal fanbase something back. The two tables were top of shouldn't be highest ticket prices and highest kit prices.

Connection to the club-
None of us know very little about Joe Lewis, he's so distant it's almost like he doesn't care. Levy isn't much better either, he says very little and when he does it's incredibly guarded.
I believe they said they would put a fan on the board. I'd like that from any new owners. Of course they don't have to reveal everything but I feel like the current owners make it quite clear that were a nuisance (just my opinion) so that relationship could definitely be worked on.

So the second would be a closer relationship to the fans with an honesty based approach.

On pitch priority -
This has always been the bug bear. Even now through all the tension in e seem to be looking at players because they're bargains not because they're first choice
If so many of us feel the on pitch success has been a distant second priority to making money then surely there maybe something in it?

My third and final thing and yes most important thing is a person in charge who can set the budgets , agree the long-term strategy with the board but apart from that they stay out of footballing matters.
They don't get a say in recruitment, don't get a say in managerial choice and don't get a say in anything related to football unless we have got someone in from the world of football who is also a CEO.
For that you have a director of football who works with a set budget for the year and is managed like you would why other department manager.


I think we're a really accomodating set of fans. We have put up with so much shit over the years and never really kicked off apart from the Stratford thing but we deserve better.

20 years now of excuses and waiting. Sure they have built up the facilities brilliantly but they didn't go out there on their own and get that humongous TV money that would be paying for all that. Rather than prioritize on pitch success they have built infrastructure and that's fair enough but it's all done now. We don't care about the flats surrounding the ground or a climbing wall. No it's time to put the football team before everything.

A new owner could be bad but what we have right now is an owner who seems to feel they can't or won't compete financially with other clubs and one that involves himself in matters he is I'll qualified to be involved in.

I'll take the risk.

Brilliant post ?

 

[vegassd]

So if ENIC are not going to be ambitious and push us forward they should sell. The stadium is open now and they have zero excuses left not to spend like a big club. For too long we've been hearing about the new stadium being required to compete. Now it's done we need to compete.

This is the crux of it I think. It would appear that every bit of the foundation (including Paratici) is in place for us to build a winning squad., so if that isn't attempted then there's little hope under ENIC. Time to shit or get off the pot.

The caveat is that it's not as simple as a lot of fans think/want it to be, which pretty much underpins a lot of this thread! You could argue there are green shoots of promise over the last two windows... but again you could argue it's not moving fast enough to work. We should know a lot more after January, and then again when the financials get published.