Levy, ENIC and DC

[shelfmonkey]

Few bad results on the pitch and it could go very pear shaped. What should have been a glorious time for the club, could turn into an absolute disaster. Don’t underestimate how a bad vibe or disappointment with club staff can filter down to players. I’d imagine there’s a lot of very upset people in the club right now at all levels. When things aren’t right within a club it very quickly transfers onto the pitch as seen with Chelsea Arsenal West Ham last season.

Hone yer pitchforks folks!!

 

[shelfmonkey]

My friends son who now lives in NY wanted to come here with his wife to see the first game at the new stadium i.e. the Liverpoolgame .
He spent £2k on flights and accommodation only now to be told that the game is now at Wembley. Had he known it was at Wembley he wouldnt have come and would have waited for the new opening date.
He sent an email to the club explaining his frustration and the reply he got from DC said she didnt know what he was complaining about as the game was still being played on the same date and at the same time.
This in my opinion typifies the clubs attitude towards us supporters. He wasnt asking for a rebate on his fares abut for an explanation as to why this has happened. A simple apology or some sympathy would have bee nice .but not the curt repl he got.
I love the club and have been going to home and away games including Europe for over 60 years. I have watched probably over 1800 games but the club now sickens me .
I have a ST but this year will be my last,as under the present ownership I think they have lost their soul and Im very sad.

I bet if he pointed out that he was using the corporate facilities and was really looking forward to sampling some rare, expensive cheese he would've got an entirely different reply!

 

[TottenhamMattSpur]

Agree. We missed at least two in the last two summer TWs, Harry Maguire last summer and Maddison this summer, particularly Maddison, I thought he fitted our profile perfectly!!

Maddison looked pretty decent against United the other day too.

 

[Shadydan]

Agree. We missed at least two in the last two summer TWs, Harry Maguire last summer and Maddison this summer, particularly Maddison, I thought he fitted our profile perfectly!!

Harry Maguire?

We weren't in for him and rightly so, he's slow and we needed pace in our back line hence going for Sanchez.

Maddison would have been good though, not sure we could have guaranteed first team football though where as Leicester can.

 

[TottenhamMattSpur]

No one should be guaranteed first team football.

If some one isn't firing, they should be off. Everyone should have a chance, then they should have to work to keep themselves in the team.

 

[HW61]

Not knocking your view just interested really. How do you think levy compares to sugar or scholar?

I liked the Scholar days. They were exciting. But I’m aware they were rose-tinted. I preferred the days when it wasn’t all about money. There was loyalty and a connection between players and fans. Sugar was shocking in every way. The PR under Sugar was horrible.

Poch was a master stroke after years of poor decisions and appointments. He deserves praise for getting it right but he’s now doing his best to strain the relationship. He gets this wrong he deserves to be vilified. I’m not ITK in the slightest but in the circles I work in I heard disturbing news as regards how some at Board level operate to protect Levy.

Bottom line is. I think this is more a tiredness with the game I used to love rather than just Spurs.

 

[Shadydan]

No one should be guaranteed first team football.

If some one isn't firing, they should be off. Everyone should have a chance, then they should have to work to keep themselves in the team.

You like a straw man don't you.

 

[TottenhamMattSpur]

You like a straw man don't you.

*strikes match whilst looking menacing/unbalanced.

 

[shelfboy68]

I think the concern is if we sell in the next few weeks with European clubs still being able to buy rather than us selling for financial reasons.

The likes of Alderweireld are said to want out.

Yes I know it's going to be a struggle with what we have seeing as we have not invested can you imagine if we let people go I think that could have a serious impact on the team later in the season

 

[dontcallme]

A

Yes I know it's going to be a struggle with what we have seeing as we have not invested can you imagine if we let people go I think that could have a serious impact on the team later in the season

Absolutely.

Last summer we bought Davinson, presumably as an Alderweireld replacement. He has settled in very quickly so we can sell Alderweireld without buying a new CB.

But fans, and I hope the manager, would want to then strengthen a different area.

If we sell now knowing we can’t buy it will look awful.

 

[Lilbaz]

A


Absolutely.

Last summer we bought Davinson, presumably as an Alderweireld replacement. He has settled in very quickly so we can sell Alderweireld without buying a new CB.

But fans, and I hope the manager, would want to then strengthen a different area.

If we sell now knowing we can’t buy it will look awful.

We have players not in the 25 man squad we need to sell or loan.

 

[Led's Zeppelin]

I liked the Scholar days. They were exciting. But I’m aware they were rose-tinted. I preferred the days when it wasn’t all about money. There was loyalty and a connection between players and fans. Sugar was shocking in every way. The PR under Sugar was horrible.

Poch was a master stroke after years of poor decisions and appointments. He deserves praise for getting it right but he’s now doing his best to strain the relationship. He gets this wrong he deserves to be vilified. I’m not ITK in the slightest but in the circles I work in I heard disturbing news as regards how some at Board level operate to protect Levy.

Bottom line is. I think this is more a tiredness with the game I used to love rather than just Spurs.

Rose tinted you say? Just a bit...unfortunately it's been all about money for a very long time.

Scholar's reckless bluster and lack of judgement virtually bankrupted THFC, and that is not one iota of exaggeration. And in doing so he built the least efficient, least cost-effective stand that any football ground in the UK has probably ever been lumbered with, which is a big part of why it was impossible simply to redevelop WHL on anything remotely approaching a viable commercial basis. It's why Levy (not Sugar, who had no vision beyond trying to boost sales of Amstrad into the expanding TV market) had to spend so many years including this one putting almost all the club's resources into solving that monumental millstone of a problem.

 

[dontcallme]

We have players not in the 25 man squad we need to sell or loan.

Not really relevant to what was being discussed.

 

[TottenhamMattSpur]

A


Absolutely.

Last summer we bought Davinson, presumably as an Alderweireld replacement. He has settled in very quickly so we can sell Alderweireld without buying a new CB.

But fans, and I hope the manager, would want to then strengthen a different area.

If we sell now knowing we can’t buy it will look awful.

So when Vertonghen is injured for 5 weeks, do we play Dier at CB or throw Foyth in there?

I'd say we barely have enough class CB options now, with Tobes in the squad.

 

[Singaspur]

I liked the Scholar days. They were exciting. But I’m aware they were rose-tinted. I preferred the days when it wasn’t all about money. There was loyalty and a connection between players and fans. Sugar was shocking in every way. The PR under Sugar was horrible.

Poch was a master stroke after years of poor decisions and appointments. He deserves praise for getting it right but he’s now doing his best to strain the relationship. He gets this wrong he deserves to be vilified. I’m not ITK in the slightest but in the circles I work in I heard disturbing news as regards how some at Board level operate to protect Levy.

Bottom line is. I think this is more a tiredness with the game I used to love rather than just Spurs.

There's a lot here that resonates with me. Yeah we were mediocre for long stretches and never consistently good but, in a way, it was more fun, there was more simple passion (a word Poch uses a LOT - and I love him for it) in being a fan.

Paradoxically, the huge money flooding into the game - especially in the EPL but also globally - seems to be draining the game of real passion, particularly at the top. In the premier league era, the gap between the haves and have nots has grown so massive that the smaller clubs have no real chance of winning the league (Leicester's win I put down to... well, an anomalous alignment of the stars and a big dollop of arse luck - envy their fans!). For say the first 10+ years of the millennium, I found myself increasingly disenchanted with and cynical about the game. Why would anyone give a fuck - if you have more money, you're going to win. Aspiring to win became almost synonymous with aspiring to be richer than your competitors - and what could be less inspiring of passion than that?

And for a long period, I did basically pray that the club would be bought by a bigger sugar daddy, a richer gulf state than those already in the game. The funny thing is that while ENIC clearly are not that, over the last few years, they/Levy have tantalizingly held out the dream (fantasy?) that we could be a great, beautiful, title-winning team WITHOUT outspending everyone else to do it. And that would have been infinitely better than winning like Chelsea or (regardless of the fact I do think they play great football) City.

What has me feeling really glum right now is that that dream has taken a big hit this TW. Money - or our relative lack of it - has taken centre stage again. Feels like a wake up call, and reality aint pretty.

 

[[email protected]]

I hate seeing our members tearing the heck out of eachother, especially when it's mostly over things that we literally have no control over, or can affect in any way whatsoever.

And thank you for your kind words, John. All as good as can be, but as long as your family and yourself are all well, nothing else really matters, buddy.

You are an absolute gentleman, thank you Coops! The exact same to you, top fella.

 

[[email protected]]

Completely agree with you on this - the huge amount of money in football at the moment is bound to get people riled up. It's such a "hot" issue that we even get royally pissed off about the way other people spend money.
The reason I tend to reply to stuff about Levy/ENIC is because I think there's a common misconception about their motives that is very easy to keep rolling because we see it so much in society in general. For example, I went to Thorpe Park the other day and they charge you a tenner to use their car park! It's money grabbing in the extreme.

Levy wants to make THFC profitable so that money can be invested back into the club and the local community. That re-investment has been happening over the past however many years - possibly to a larger extent than any other club in the country. Off the top of my head I can't think of anyone else who has built a new training facility and stadium in recent times.

But the misconception is that he is going home each night with a lorry full of £50 notes he skimmed from the club's petty cash. The idea that he turns down Grealish at £35m (for example) because he's going to steal that money and buy a volcano with it or something.

No doubt people would complain about him not securing a volcano naming rights deal with HSBC!

Mate, he literally wanted to take the Club OUT of the local community and move it to the Olympic Park in Newham! And if you think that was just "sabre rattling" or posturing to give him some sort of leverage with Haringey Council, then I'm afraid you're very much mistaken. The proposed move to the Olympic Stadium was very real. I'm sure @Breezer would confirm this to be the case; he certainly has in the past.
THFC is already profitable, mate. And we certainly didn't see any of that money reinvested into the squad this Summer, did we? Assuming they're still around, I think ENIC/Levy's activity - or lack of - in the next 2 Summer windows will be telling: do we see them investing significantly in the football team? Or do they just tread water and do nothing as they wait to sell the Club.

 

[Led's Zeppelin]

Mate, he literally wanted to take the Club OUT of the local community and move it to the Olympic Park in Newham! And if you think that was just "sabre rattling" or posturing to give him some sort of leverage with Haringey Council, then I'm afraid you're very much mistaken. The proposed move to the Olympic Stadium was very real. I'm sure @Breezer would confirm this to be the case; he certainly has in the past.
THFC is already profitable, mate. And we certainly didn't see any of that money reinvested into the squad this Summer, did we? Assuming they're still around, I think ENIC/Levy's activity - or lack of - in the next 2 Summer windows will be telling: do we see them investing significantly in the football team? Or do they just tread water and do nothing as they wait to sell the Club.

Since treading water and doing nothing will see the value of the club diminish, I think the prospect of that happening and then selling the club is extremely unlikely. If they want to make as much money as possible, it's the last thing they'll be doing.

 

[[email protected]]

Since treading water and doing nothing will see the value of the club diminish, I think the prospect of that happening and then selling the club is extremely unlikely. If they want to make as much money as possible, it's the last thing they'll be doing.

What you mean like this summer mate? Perhaps you're right Zed, but they certainly "trod water and did nothing" in this summer's window didn't they. If ENIC are indeed looking to sell the Club as soon as the stadium is built, perhaps they'd see something as "frivolous" as buying expensive footballers unnecessary and unprofitable: they can just leave that financial "burden" to the new owners? As I said previously, it would be a good indication of where ENIC's motives truly lie: do they stick around to invest the increased revenue in the football team, or do they minimise spending as they wait to sell up. I guess we'll soon find out mate.

 

[Led's Zeppelin]

What you mean like this summer mate? Perhaps you're right Zed, but they certainly "tread water and did nothing" in this summer's window didn't they. If ENIC are indeed looking to sell the Club as soon as the stadium is built, perhaps they'd see something as "frivolous" as buying expensive footballers unnecessary and unprofitable: they can just leave that financial "burden" to the new owners? As I said previously, it would be a good indication of where ENIC's motives truly lie: do they stick around to invest the increased revenue in the football team, or do they minimise spending as they wait to sell up. I guess we'll soon find out mate.

Do you really think that they see buying good players as frivolous?

The better the players, the greater the value of the club. If Levy knows nothing else, you can be sure he knows that.

So we need to look elsewhere for the reasons that they trod water and did nothing in the transfer window. I think you can be sure it's not because they're about to sell.